Grant Street Tavern

The Gang at GST

You can't order food at the Grant Street Tavern. So if you intend to make dinner plans, prepare to be disappointed. However, if you are in the neighborhood, and you are in the mood for a stiff drink and some free snacks, this is your place. Wednesday through Friday the Grant Street Tavern puts out free food for patrons. I asked my friend Sara Heald (red candy-striper shirt) why and she explained that this is the food left over from lunch and the GST makes a habit of putting it out for everyone to enjoy. The few times I've been there the offerings have consisted of small finger sandwiches, pepperoni rolls, marinated cheese, meatloaf, Italian hoagies and other various bits.

The food isn't worth making a special trip for, but it is free and pretty tasty. The bar has a very strange atmosphere. It is located in the Grant building downtown, but you would think you were drinking at a desolate country bar in Venango county. The interior is dark with wood paneling, mis-matched furniture, cherry master machines and brown carpeting. The patrons are noisy and often quite excitable as the drinks at the GST are very strong. They heard our happy hour was coming and provided us with our very own chicken wings and relish plate! The wings were very good and I can't wait to go back for my next stiff drink and free snack-time.

Grille on Seventh

I really want to give Grille on Seventh a positive review. The staff was great, they even provided us with our own special happy hour deals and a number of free drinks. However, I just thought the menu was lackluster and devoid of any interesting options. It consisted of fairly standard bar food with extravagant price tags. I think this bar is able to capitalize on their prime location due to their proximity to the theater scene. In general, all of the bars in this part of town are somewhat expensive and mediocre. Apparently old people who go to the theater don't have good taste buds or financial constraints. (Who knew??)

Here are the chicken wings I ordered from Grille on Seventh. They weren't awful and the presentation in particular was quite nice, but I would have liked them to be a little crispier with some additional kick. One of the other happy hour guests thought they were plenty spicy, but they just tasted buttery to me. After Grille on Seventh we stopped by Meat and Potatoes for some dessert. I noticed they had a leg of prosciutto on the bar for serving, so I inquired. I was told, "that is an Iberian prosciutto which came from a pig that was fed nothing but truffles and chestnuts." I called bullshit and insisted the pig probably eats its own feces just like all other pigs. The server looked at me nervously and asked if I'd like to try some. I think it may have been the best prosciutto I've ever had, even if the pig did eat its own feces.

The Squirrel Hill Cafe (The Squirrel Cage)

 The Squirrel Hill Cafe, known by regulars as the Squirrel Cage, is astonishingly smokey with a dirty hipster charm. I was here on a weird date once - but I had never even thought to try the food. Everyone insisted that I just had to order the hamburger. Always the contrarian, naturally I refused.  Pictured to the right is one of the happy hour patrons enjoying a burger - it did look quite good and he woofed it down like a boss.  Also, it only costs $3.50!! You can't even get bread at some restaurants for that price.

If you've been following the happy hour the past few weeks you've noticed my obsession with cheese and charcuterie. They are the purest and most unabashed forms of flavor, just meat or cheese on a plate. Here is a picture of the Squirrel Cage cheese plate. It is not fancy, but it cost $4.75. This is less than half of what a typical cheese plate will cost you anywhere in the city. And although the ingredients weren't breath taking, I've been served dressed up cheese plates with similar ingredients for well over $10. What I can say about the food at the Cage is that you really get value for your dollar. (Notice they even gave me an entire basket of crackers, so I can't make my normal complaint that there was too much or too little bread. After finishing all the cheese we had a cracker fight.)                                                        

Cheese Plate

I've been having a difficult time deciding what to order lately. After many drinks and much comradorry I ordered the chicken wings. They were surprisingly good, crispy and very very spicy. By the fifth wing my mouth was burning like the devil and I was out of blue cheese. The wings were obviously fried on the spot, as opposed to the take out pizza restaurants and other joints that heat wings in the microwave or bake them in the oven. I have to say that I was impressed by the food for a smokey and crowded bar. You really can't beat the prices at the Squirrel Cage, probably not even by eating at home.

Cioppino

I probably have high cholesterol. I need to stop eating anti-pasta and charcuterie every week, but it is just so delicious. This anti-pasta plate from Cioppino, pictured above, was really fantastic. The meats were fresh, recently sliced and flavorful. I was very appreciative that the plate came with a variety of vegetables and two different types of cheese (buffalo mozzarella and provolone.) The prosciutto in particular was so good that I think they must have purchased it from a specialty vendor in the Strip District.

If you look at the very top of my picture you can see the pate I had as my second course. The pate was not good at all - I'd even venture to call it lousy. We could not get it to spread and spreading is half the fun. If the flavor had been acceptable I might have forgiven the pate for the poor texture, but the flavor was also lackluster. Don't get the pate!

I've heard very mixed reviews of Cioppino, but overall I really liked it and I would go back. The happy hour was well attended and there was even a band afterwards. Be sure to dress for success as I noticed that everyone in attendance was very well kempt. (One patron even commented how out of place he felt in his sports apparel.) Also, make sure to check out the cigar room. It was surreal, almost what I would expect a country club to look like in the 1950's. If I knew Don Draper, I'd take him to Cioppino.

1947 Tavern

The 1947 Tavern is charming. There are no televisions on the wall, the fireplace creates a nice cozy atmosphere and the bar is rather stylish. I found the menu engaging, this is to say that I was actually interested in ordering more than one of the selections. I cannot say this about every restaurant I visit. (Note that they did not have short rib during my visit, this made me a sad panda.)

I like gauging the quality of a restaurant on something basic, such as the meat plate pictured above. I thought the meat was quite good, especially the roast beef. The menu claims that they are house meats and I found them very delicious and well paired with the bread and sauces. I must say though, please include something else on your charcuterie plate other than just the meat. Throw some olives on there, maybe some miscellaneous vegetables, something. I think you need a little roughage to round out an entire plate of meat, perhaps I've grown soft in my old age.

Overall I have to give this bar a strong recommendation. They have a great bourbon selection, a fantastic atmosphere and the service was pretty decent considering how crowded they were. Apparently 1947 is owned by the same people as Bites n Brews. If you've been to Bites n Brews please leave me a message as I'm interested in possibly visiting.

The Beerhive

If you've read my posts, you know that I'm not overly critical of bar food. Really, the only purpose of bar food is to allow you to have something to munch on while you slam brew-dogs. The bar food at the Beerhive was terrible. I ordered the meatballs to start. They were incredibly salty. So salty I found myself wishing I had more bread so that I could cut down on the massive amount of salt I was consuming.

Following the meatballs I decided I had better play it safe and order something healthy. After all, I'm not 21 anymore and I can only imagine that a myriad of health problems will be coming to haunt me in the next decade. I went with the chicken lettuce wraps. SO SALTY. The chicken was spicy, but so ridiculously salty I once again had difficulty consuming the concoction. Unfortunately, lettuce does an even worse job of cutting down on saltiness than bread does. Additionally, there was not enough lettuce to use all of the materials on the plate. What a disappointment.

I can't say I disliked the bar, the atmosphere was good, the service was decent and the guy running trivia night was pretty cool. Just don't eat here.

EDIT

WoW! These guys are commited to service - check this email out!!! 

"Hi P.H.H. My brothers and I recently came across your review of our establishment. First, we would like to sincerely appologize for your over salty dining experience. We have taken immediate action to get to the bottom of why your meal was so salty. We've spoken with our cook on duty the night you dined, and questioned their obvious over-salting of meals. We appologize for not catching this mistake sooner, and are grateful that you've brought it to our attention. It is our goal to make sure that every one of our customers receive the experience and product they deserve. Secondly, we would be more than happy to refund you for your meal that evening. Nobody should have to pay for an unsatisfactory product. Thank you for your time."

Nine on Nine

I'm consistently impressed with the quality and presentation of the food at Nine on Nine. A week before happy hour I stopped by for a lunchtime steak  - it was easily one of the best steaks I've had in months. I'm not sure if it was the shallot butter or the A-9 sauce, but the meat was amazingly well seasoned and tender.

Pictured above is the charcuterie plate I enjoyed during happy hour last week. It was very good, but not quite as good as the charcuterie plate I was served at Braddock's. In particular I was disappointed by the mortadella. What is mortadella but fancy bologna anyhow? I find the texture and flavor disgusting. If you do decide to order the charcuterie plate from Nine on Nine, keep in mind that it is not half price during their happy hour like many of their other items. I was a bit disappointed when the check came. However, I've never been disappointed by Nine on Nine. Their food is some of the best in the city and their happy hour is pretty decent as well. Three dollar domestics, helpful staff, half price bar food and six dollar specialty drinks.