Tailgaters

Do you live in Washington Plaza? You do?! Well this post is for you! Everyone else can go about their business.


We think it is awesome that you have your own private bar in your apartment complex. We are very jealous. It is cute and small and everyone there seems to know everyone else there, which makes sense, as you are all neighbors. You have a great outside patio area and a beautiful view of the city. We want to be a part of your little bar club; going to the bar in our pajamas seems like an awesome idea.

If you are still reading this and you do not live in Washington Plaza, you have wasted the last minute of your life. You will probably never go here. It is small, the parking is terrible and it is out of the way. This really is a bar for the people who live in the apartment building. Which is, again, awesome. We guess if you were walking to the Pens game from the Hill or something it would be cool to stop in on a nice day, but chances are you will never go here.

Address:	1420 Center Ave, 15229 http://www.tailgaterspittsburgh.com/	Games:	None
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Apartment Dwellers
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Mon-Sat 11:30am-2:30am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Game Specials
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$8.80
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	6	Size:	Hole in the Wall

Shale's Cafe

This bar looks completely sketchy and scary from the outside. There's no light on the sign and it looks dirty and dingy. We had to do a double take to determine whether it was even open.

Once inside, though, we realized it's our favorite kind of dive bar. It was a non-hockey night so there were just a few people in the bar. A couple of regulars were down the way and we sat next to a new Pittsburgh transplant from Russia who had also never been in the bar. The bartender was super friendly and engaging and made all of us feel at home. We had a nice chat about Pittsburgh, New York, and the history of the bar. Most importantly, she had a heavy hand on her pour. We contemplated getting another drink there and just hanging out because we were having such a nice time, but alas the next bar called.

She also totally caught us taking a picture of the exterior. It’s always hard to come up with an excuse as to why we do the things we do when pressed. We have a few stock answers, but sometimes we get caught off guard. At any rate, we had to be extra sly about reviewing the place and as a result we're missing a little info and a lot of pictures. You'll have to just take our word.

It doesn't have a great selection. It's a little worn down and smoky. But it was our favorite bar of the night. The next time we go to a Pens game we are looking forward to seeing what it’s like in full swing. 

Address:	1208 Fifth Ave, 15219	Games:	Pinball, Golden Tee, Poker
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Hockey Dive
Parking:	Easy (on non-game nights)	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	Some (non-smoking bar upstairs)	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Game Specials
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	Don't Know
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	3	Size:	Normal

The Blue Line Grille

It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh! With the NHL playoffs coming up, we figured we would hit up all the bars around the Consol Energy Center to see what kind of options there are for your pre-game drinks, post-win celebration or post-loss commiseration. We started at the newest bar in the area: The Blue Line.

The Blue Line, as the name suggests, is a hockey bar. It is not one of the gritty local hockey bars where locals go to scream at the TV and hit their heads off the bar when Fleury lets in a dribbler. This is a hockey theme bar. The bar itself is made of “boards.” There is hockey themed stuff everywhere and there is even a place called the “sin bin,” which is a mini hockey rink area that can accommodate large groups of people. It is all very shiny and new, and you can smell that it has not settled yet.

The bar is very adequately stocked, with a very nice beer selection. A ordered a shot of Jameson, which was real Jameson, and look how huge this thing was! However, buyer be warned, they charge about $7.50 for the giant shot and a half. So you are paying for that big shot. This is a bit underhanded. We ordered a shot, not a shot and a half.

The menu is full of fancied-up bar food and after much back and forth, we both ordered something small. A got the poutine, which was surprisingly delicious, and J had a chorizo and wild mushroom quesadilla, which got a bit messy and sloppy, but was also good.  The staff seemed young and slightly overwhelmed even though the bar was sparsely populated, which makes us wonder how they handle it when there is a game on. We are sure it is a madhouse in there.  We are also pretty sure they schedule a ton more people on those nights.

Since this is the new hockey bar next to the arena it is probably hard to get a seat if you don’t get there super early on game night. It is an interesting space with surprisingly good food and we definitely recommend dropping in one day if you can squeeze in.

Address:	1014 Fifth Ave, 15219 http://www.bluelinegrille.com/	Games:	None
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Hockey
Parking:	Easy (on non-game nights)	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Fancy Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Sun-Wed 11am-12am Thurs-Sat 11am-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	20
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Early and Late Happy Hour, Game Specials
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$10.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	>10	Size:	Normal

Murphy's Tap Room

We have mixed feelings about this bar. It is a great space with a huge bar and a back room that just keeps going. There are pool tables, a shuffleboard table and multiple dart boards as well as a back bar, which we have never seen open. Maybe it’s just for St. Patrick’s Day. A has had some great nights, even pivotal moments in his life at this bar and plays pool there on a regular basis. A has a special place in his heart for Murphy’s, J hates it. Why? It is SO FUCKING SMOKY!!

We go to a lot of smoking bars and most of them are okay. They have ventilation and you can open your eyes, but not at Murphy's. On a weeknight it is almost bearable; there are only 10 or 20 people puffing away. But on a Saturday night with 80 drunk people chain smoking you can barely open your eyes. It actually hurts. If the person who owns this bar or someone who knows the person who owns this bar reads this: please, please, please get some airflow or something. This is a great space, and we cannot go here on weekends.

Sadly, that colors everything about the place. It’s pretty cheap and the bartenders are always nice. In fact, we had a brief discussion with the bartender about the “sometimes it’s not Jameson” scandal and she agrees. The people are just a nice mix of locals. We go to Gooski's and Remedy without blinking an eye, even though they are very smoky bars, but Murphy's is just too smoky. However, A still loves it and will be there soon, but probably on a weeknight.

Address:	1106 S. Braddock Ave, 15218 http://www.murphystaproom.com/	Games:	Pool, Darts, Shuffleboard, Pinball
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Local Smoky Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	1970s Pittsburgh	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	12pm-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Daily
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	4 in front	Size:	Friggin' Huge

Squirrel Hill Sports Bar

This is a run-of-the-mill sports bar in Squirrel Hill. The waitresses are young and cute and wear skimpy referee shirts. The beer is cheap and the game is on. That is not what this post is going to be about.

This post is going to address something that, having been to around 200 bars now, we have noticed. We think it is critical to bring this to the public’s attention: it is not always Jameson.

Now, maybe you don’t drink whiskey. That is probably a good life choice, but if you do like whiskey, chances are you like Jameson. We here at TGPPC love all whiskeys and bourbons, but if we have to choose a shot at a bar, it is usually Jameson. Jameson has a unique sweet flavor that makes it very distinct from other whiskeys and it is pretty cheap. After you have drunk enough Jameson, which we have, you can tell when it isn’t the real thing.

Not Jameson

We do not mean to single out this bar. It is just one of many offenders. When the owner poured us free shots (in an effort to get us to be return customers), we looked at each other and without saying a word we both knew: this shit is not Jameson. Sadly, we have shared that look at bars all over Pittsburgh and have brought it up in a variety of posts. This just happened to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

We are sure most bar owners just assume that the public can’t tell the difference between whiskey A and whiskey B. To be fair that is probably true, especially at the bars where it tends to happen. There must be laws regarding this, but how would anyone enforce them?

So, what are helpless bloggers to do? Blog of course. We are going to bring this epidemic to the public’s knowledge! Raise awareness! Form a task force! Hold rallies! Lobby politicians! Make banners and shit!

We are not going to do any of that. Well, we guess this counts as the public knowledge and raising awareness parts.

Mostly, we would just like to say that it sucks. All we want is a shot of Jameson. If we wanted a shot of Old Crow or Banker’s Club, we would have asked for one. So if the offending bar owners are reading this, and you know who you are, knock that shit off.

Address:	5832 Forward Ave, 15217	Games:	Pool, Darts, Golden Tee
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Weird and Possibly Underage
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	12
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Daily Food and during games
Live music:	Sometimes	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	No
TVs:	9	Size:	Normal

The Independent Brewing Company

We are so happy that something else moved into the old Fanattics space. As we said in our review of Fanattics, just about anything would make more sense in that space. It's a bonus that something cool moved in.

The Independent's whole deal is that all of their beers are from within 100 miles of the bar. They're serious about beer and they're serious about local. They're also trying to focus as much as possible on local liquors for their cocktails. And why not? We've got great regional beers and our liquor production is getting better by the year.

They're premixing some cocktails and letting them stand in wooden barrels until the flavors are deemed perfect. It looked like a tough job, tasting the cocktails and adjusting accordingly, but someone's got to do it. We were fortunate enough to meet the guy who takes on this very difficult job and talk with him for a while about cocktails. After some prodding, he agreed to make A his currently favorite cocktail. He made a Manhattan using Wigle Rye Whiskey and it was delicious. We’re not sure we have ever seen anyone put that much time and effort into a drink, and it was greatly appreciated.

There's a small food menu and some specials. A had the Mac and Cheese and it was nice and smoky and filling; good comfort food for a really cold night. They also intrigued us with their Wednesday International Fries night. It doesn't take much to convince us to eat fresh-cut fries with a variety of toppings, we're in.

Everyone working was friendly and engaged. They all seemed really into what they're doing there and we can't blame them. Good beer, whiskeys, vinyl on the turntable. There's a part of us that doesn't want to tell anyone about this bar and keep it for ourselves, but fuck it, go check this place out. It is pretty darn cool.

Address:	1704 Shady Ave, 15217 http://independentpgh.com/	Games:	None
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Hip Local Beer People
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	None
Hours:	W-F 5pm-11pm Sat 12pm-12am Sun 11am-6pm	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	12
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Daily Food and Drink
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	N/A
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	0	Size:	Hole in the Wall

Nied's Hotel

We were pretty lukewarm about going to Nied's Hotel. We literally put a hand on the door, saw a guitar and fiddle combo playing and were like, "Do we really want to do this?" We decided it is our job to put ourselves into harm’s way for our semi-loyal readers and that we would take one for the team.


Nied's Hotel is an old bar. They have a "famous fish sandwich" which we are sure had its peak of fame 30 years ago, but it looked pretty good. They have an old-school menu, which reminds A of his time in Brooklyn. It was sparsely populated, with a table full of some suspiciously young looking kids. However, we can't tell how old the youngsters are anymore. They just keep getting younger and younger.


We walked in and found two bar stools as far away from the musicians as possible. They were really going at it and the fiddle player was pretty fierce. After all our trepidation, they were actually good and just finishing up a quick set. It turned out that she is a violinist for the Pittsburgh Symphony, which was the first of many surprises we encountered at Nied's Hotel. She was playing with resident musician Slim Forsythe to let her hair down a little. The lighting was nice until the music act stopped, and they turned on some very bright hanging globes for some reason. We both recoiled from the bright light; yes, we are Mogwais.

The place probably hasn't changed in decades. It has some charm to it, but it is definitely from a by-gone era. Then there is Jim.


Jim is the owner of Nied's Hotel, and you couldn't find a nicer guy if you tried. We know his entire life story. We also now know Slim’s life story. He bought us beers. He is having a ska band come in and he had no clue what ska music sounded like, so he gave A $10 to go play some ska on the jukebox. He showed A his amphitheater and tried to convince A to have his band play at the bar (A did not think it would be a good fit.) Regardless, Jim went out of his way to give A a great contact and some info to help him along. We would go back just to hang out with Jim again. Jim is a great guy.


We usually stick to one drink per bar when we’re reviewing, but we liked Jim so much that we stuck around for a second just to shoot the shit with him. Then all of a sudden, there were plates of Doritos on the bar. We’re not sure if there’s much better in life than surprise junk food at a bar when you’re having fun.


This is a bar for your parents. As with most parents, they are really thrilled when their kids come over to hangout, and that is kind of how we felt here: loved.

Address:	5438 Butler St, 15201 http://niedshotel.myfastsite.net/	Games:	Poker
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Fish sandwiches and nice people
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	7am-12am (closed Sun)	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	3
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Cheap Food
Live music:	Sometimes	Riley Factor:	$9.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	2	Size:	Normal