Year End Round Up

Obviously we did not meet our goal of getting to every bar in the city, but we made a pretty good dent! Here are our best and worst of the year.

Bars visited: 177
Reviews Published: 171
Neighborhoods hit: Downtown, South Side, North Side, Mt. Washington, Lawrenceville, Point Breeze, East Liberty, Greenfield, Bloomfield, Oakland, Shadyside, Strip District, Regent Square, Squirrel Hill, Polish Hill, Larimer, Swisshelm Park

• Best Bar: brillobox. Even in a year where we went to 177 different bars, we still ended up there quite a bit.
• 2nd Best Bar: If we're not at brillo, we may be at Remedy. It all depends on whether we can deal with the smoke.
• 3rd Best Bar: Benjamin’s was one of the first bars we went to on this adventure and we’ve been back several times since. They’ve earned a place in our hearts and bar rotation.

• Best South Side Bar: Birmingham Bridge Tavern has a good space, good beer, and is off the beaten path enough to not be obnoxious.
• 2nd Best South Side Bar: Winghart's on the South Side is a little better than the Market Square location and we liked them both quite a bit.
• 3rd Best South Side Bar: Dee's just doesn't change and we don't want it to.

• Worst Bar: Peanutz. It’s a lesson in replacing S with Z. Don’t do it. 
• 2nd Worst Bar: Rumshaker's
• 3rd Worst Bar: Grille on Seventh went from being a completely nondescript place to being one of the weirdest and worst experiences we had.

• Best New Bar: Definitely The Summit. It’s a great space with nice drinks and very little pretense.
• Best Dive Bar: Gooski’s. And by “best” we mean “stay the hell away, goddammit.”
• Best Sports Bar: In terms of traditional Sports Bars,  Carson City Saloon.
• Biggest Surprise: Brewer’s Hotel has always looked so terrifying when you drive by, we had no idea such a cute little bar was inside.
• Biggest Disappointment: We should love The Beer Market, but we don’t.
• Want to spend more time at: If we worked downtown, we would stop in at the Grant Street Tavern every day.
• Will never go back to: Levelz. It was the worst and has been shut down, so that’s two reasons we’ll never go back.

• J's Honorable Mentions: Allegheny Wine Mixer, Blue Moon, and my local bar The Loft
• A's Honorable Mentions: Butterjoint, 5801, Kelly's, Take a Break, New Amsterdam

• What did J learn: There are way more bars in Pittsburgh than you realize. Having a good or bad bartender can really change your perception of a place. There’s a bar out there for everyone, you just have to find it.
• What did A learn: Sometime it's really Jameson and sometimes it's not.  They are betting most people can't tell the difference.  Also, don't be scared of places, they are mostly just normal bars.  Additionally, there is a huge difference between getting eye-fucked and getting the stink-eye.  Finally, as J said, holy crap are there a lot of bars!