January/February Round Up

Bars visited: 29
Reviews Published: 23
Neighborhoods hit: Squirrel Hill, Greenfield, North Side, South Side, Downtown, Lawrenceville, Bloomfield

A:

• Best Bar:  Birmingham Bridge Tavern
• Worst Bar:  Mullen's on Carson
• Biggest Surprise:  The food at The Blind Pig!
• Biggest Disappointment:  Monterey Pub
• What did A learn:  That he needs to keep better tabs on his "secret shopper" scorecards. 

J:

• Best Bar: Benjamin's
• Worst Bar: Mullen's on Carson
• Biggest Surprise: Ruggers
• Biggest Disappointment: The Modern
• What did J learn: That she can't wait to retire to an old person bar.

Ruggers

Huh. Who knew? Off the beaten path in the South Side there is a Rugby bar. And it is nice! It is kind of an upscale hole-in-the-wall Irish bar. It's a small space with lots of gorgeous wood, good lighting, and, naturally, rugby memorabilia.

Apparently, there was a group of Rugby players who banded together after a friend's death. They created this great little place as a home for themselves and as a memorial to their friend. They did a great job. Got us thinking, maybe instead of trying to find the perfect bar we should just create our own (feel free to donate to our cause).

We had just gorged ourselves on food at The Blind Pig, so we didn't order anything here. The guy sitting next to us ordered 16 wings, though. For himself. And they looked good. Really good. Like, we might go back good. They have a surprisingly vegetarian friendly menu for a bar, too. Not many places will make you a Seitan Cheese Steak. In fact, they may be the only ones.

All in all, Ruggers was nice.  We felt comfortable there.  We are not sure if we will ever get back there...but we hope so.

Address:	40 S 22nd St, Pittsburgh, PA 15203  http://ruggerspub.com/	Games:	Nope.
Façade:	Don't judge a book by its cover	Scene:	Irish Bar, lots of nice wood, rugby obviously
Parking:	South Side, but off the beaten path	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Come Hungry	Cleanliness:	Nice
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Monday - Friday 11AM - 2AM Sat. & Sun 12PM - 2AM	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average for the South Side	# taps:	16
Bathrooms:	No clue, but probably nice	Specials:	http://ruggerspub.com/
Live music:	Doesn't seem like it	Riley Factor:	$8.50
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	No
TVs:	5	Size:	Hole-in-Wall

Tiki Lounge

All of the fun! What can we say: our cynical inner-selves really want to be critical of this South Side staple bar. We REALLY want to bitch about the potential clientele issues, and the owners’ addiction to cheesy themes (Tiki Lounge, Lava Lounge, and Double Wide Grill); the occasionally terrible music...but fuck it. It is a Tiki bar!  

It is fun there! It is huge. There are booths and a long bar. There is a big back room for dancing. There is a secret padded alcove for more intimate conversations. There is a waterfall and a downstairs bar, and the bathrooms are awesome. They have crazy drinks in awesome glasses. You would have to try to not have fun there. Don't be that person. You are in a tiki bar! Be a fun person with an umbrella in your drink! Let your hair down and have some fun! This is a great bar to do it in.  

Address:	2003 E Carson, 15203  http://www.tikilounge.biz/main/html	Games:	Pinball/Pretend you're in a Tiki Village
Façade:	Tiki	Scene:	Tiki
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Nice
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	None
Hours:	4pm-2am (Sunday 8pm-2am))	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Nightly
Live music:	DJs	Riley Factor:	$8.50
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	1	Size:	Friggin Huge

New Amsterdam

New Amsterdam opened in 2008, and was one of the first new bars of the Lawrenceville hipster renaissance. It has a hip dark interior, rolling garage doors that open to the street, a good sized bar, lots of tables, and a rotation of pretty cool artwork.

Now, don’t get us wrong, we really like New Amsterdam. It is a really good bar, almost top tier. For some reason, it just never seems to come up in the conversation of “where should we go.” Sometimes we end up there by accident or by going bowling (it is right by the best bowling alley in the city), but it is never our group destination.  It’s always a back up. We’re not sure why that is or why we are telling you, but it is something.        

The scene in the bar is varied. Any given night, you never know what crowd you are going to get. Some nights there is a DJ and it is loud and packed with people, and some nights it is perfectly chill and laid back.

The food is actually pretty good and varied for bar food.  New Amsterdam was bar number 4 of the night when we were there, and A was VERY glad the kitchen was still open.  The mac & cheese with bacon really hit the spot! 

So, yeah, if you have never been to New Amsterdam then get your ass over there!  

Address:	4421 Butler Street 15201 http://www.newamsterdam412.com/	Games:	Magic Touch
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Hipster
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am (kitchen -11pm)	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	11
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour
Live music:	DJs	Riley Factor:	oh shit, we forgot to ask!
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	No
TVs:	2	Size:	Normal

Mullen's on Carson

It's a chain! We've been had!

Our approach to tackling the South Side has been to pick a starting point and then try to hit as many nearby bars as possible. So, we wandered into Mullen's on a cold winter night because a) it was there and b) it was crazy cold out. As such, there was no due diligence and our "no chains" rule has been broken.

So, screw this place. It's a chain Irish sports bar on the South Side. If you live in Pittsburgh, you already have an idea what that means.

There were two things of note here, though. First, they poured us the tiniest thimble of whiskey there ever was. Picture proof is provided below, but we couldn't quite give it the perspective that it deserved. Two, there is a whole wall of dart boards. They are arranged over the dining tables. This seems...dangerous. So, you know, screw this place.

Address:	2100 E Carson St 15203 http://mullensbarandgrill.com/pittsburgh/	Games:	Darts
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Sports Bar, high d-bag potential
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Richie Rich	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$9
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	>10	Size:	Normal

The Blind Pig

We learned a surprising amount at The Blind Pig. They've got a prohibition theme with both the name (which was another name for a speakeasy during prohibition) and the 18th Amendment hand-painted on the wall behind the bar. The bartender was friendly and had lots of prohibition history for us. People would pay a fee to see a blind pig, then get a complimentary beverage with it. It's a liquor law work-around still used today by sketchy strip clubs and some after hours bars. Look at all this learning we get from drinking! He also showed us the novelty bottles behind the bar: the Little Whizzer (unfortunately, only full of water) and a bottle with a music box ballerina inside. They have nothing to do with prohibition, they were just cool.

Given the name, we made sure to only eat pig at The Blind Pig. We had BBQ Pork Nachos and Bacon Cajun Pizza. We, literally, wiped the nacho plate clean with our pizza crusts...we obviously hated those nachos. The pizza was also delicious, though it was a bit on the greasy side. So, if that bothers you, be warned.

We were there on a Sunday night, so the bar was pretty empty. It's safe to assume that it gets packed on the weekends, given its location, but it's hard to say what kind of crowd it attracts. 

The prices were good, the food was great, and they have a good beer selection. All in all, it was a totally enjoyable stop, aside from the jerk talking loudly on his bluetooth. He was pretty obnoxious, loudly offering to buy a cigarette for $2 from anyone in the bar. He totally convinced us all that he was a super important dude with lots of important people to talk to.  The strengths of the bar far outweighed the obnoxiousness of that one dude, though. So, go to The Blind Pig. Unless you're that guy, in which case go somewhere else.

 

Address:	2210 E Carson, 15203	Games:	Darts, Golden Tee
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	undetermined
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Come Hungry	Cleanliness:	Nice
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	8
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour and Late Night
Live music:	Sometimes	Riley Factor:	$6.50
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	No
TVs:	3	Size:	Normal

Eclipse

Eclipse: A Cautionary Tale

A long time ago in a land called Lawrenceville, A and J were trekking through the wilds when they came upon a place they had never seen before! “Eclipse?” asked A. “Is it a strip club? Because...it kind of sounds like a strip club," answered J.

It was not. It was a new bar in Lawrenceville! It was a slightly fancy, dimly lit, non-smoking bar with cool decor. It even had games of skill: when you finished a bottle of wine you could try to throw the cork into a vase above the bar. Winner received a free drink! J was excellent at this game. The owners were very engaged and clearly wanted to make the place special. It seemed like a place that we were going to really like. Maybe, just maybe, we had found a new home.

Then, along came a Wild Riley. “Bah!” he proclaimed. “It is nice here!” we cried. “Bah!” repeated the Riley. “This Riley costs too much for Riley!”

You see, The Wild Riley is really only comfortable in one place and with one price for his namesake drink. Eclipse just could not compete. The Wild Riley left Eclipse, never to return.

For a while, we ignored The Wild Riley’s belittling and continued going to Eclipse.  But, as the weeks rolled on, the bar tabs grew more expensive and the chasm in the group grew unsustainable. We stopped going. We returned to the cheap smoky hole from whence we crawled.

In a small way, this is the bar that started this blog. We didn’t know it at the time, but we had begun the quest: the quest for a new bar! We needed a bar where we could all live in peace and harmony. Gauntlet thrown, we sallied forth on this brave new adventure.   

The moral of this cautionary tale: don’t try new things, they will only lead to blogs.  

About Eclipse: Go. It is nice. They’ve cultivated a pretty serious DJ culture and even though A does not like house music, maybe you do. It was nice to visit again and we hope to go back soon. We'll definitely be back after they redo the façade. (See picture below the proposed façade.)  When we do go back, you can be certain of one thing - The Wild Riley will not be there with us.

Address:	3705 Butler Street Pittsburgh, PA 15201 http://eclipseloungepgh.com/	Games:	Wino cork toss
Façade:	Soon to be not scary	Scene:	Hip / DJ / L-Ville Upscale
Parking:	OK	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	Upscale Snacks	Cleanliness:	Nice
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	None
Hours:	http://eclipseloungepgh.com/hours/	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	8
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	http://eclipseloungepgh.com/happy-hour-specials/
Live music:	DJs	Riley Factor:	$9
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	0!	Size:	Hole in the Wall