Teabags

We've always been curious about Teabags. It's right down the street from brillobox, so we pass it fairly often. We have a friend who lived across the street from Teabags and enjoyed watching the comings and goings of the patrons as a type of sport. Plus, it’s named Teabags, so how could you not be curious?

We were expecting a little bit more than we got. We were expecting some kind of seriously shady deathtrap, withering glares and unfriendly faces. Everyone was totally nice to us. Dammit. Teabags is just a sad little neighborhood dive bar like any other. The most scandalous thing that happened was a dude outside smoking some weed.

Dammit, Teabags.

It's a small bar with some obvious local clientele. Everyone seemed a little sad and down on their luck, but they were all friendly and engaging. Being the season and the town for it, we had a lively discussion with the other patrons about zombies and whether they should shuffle or run. J and A demonstrated how inefficient a shuffling zombie attack would be, you could just walk away. Not even run, just walk. Slowly even. Then we left.


We probably won't ever stop back into Teabags. It's lost all the allure of mystery for us now. You shouldn't be scared to stop in though. It may look intimidating from the outside, but it's just another neighborhood bar on the inside.

Address:	4114 Main St, 15224	Games:	Poker, Pool, Darts
Façade:	Scary	Scene:	Neighborhood Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Dirt Cheap	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	$1 Jell-o Shots
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	2	Size:	Normal

Howlers

We like Howlers. It is a good dive bar on the left side: smoky, dark and dirty. On the right side, it is one of the better small performance spaces in the city. There is a large stage in a big room with lots of high-tops. If you were an aspiring Pittsburgh band and you filled this place up, you are probably doing pretty well for yourself. Plus, it is non-smoking on the performance side. So, that is nice.

This is one of those bars that we should go to more, but we never think about going to unless there is a show. Not sure why, although it has been suggested that their drinks are a bit pricey and on the weak side. Also, the previous owners had a giant Confederate flag hanging in there for years, so maybe we still have some subconscious resistance to the place. Mostly, it is a pretty solid bar now. Go there.

Address:	4509 Liberty Ave, 15224 http://howlerscoyotecafe.com/	Games:	Darts
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Local Dive with Music
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	Some	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Mon-Fri 4pm-2am Sat-Sun 6pm-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	12
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Daily plus $12 12packs of PBR to go
Live music:	Sometimes	Riley Factor:	$9.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	4	Size:	Normal

Bloomfield Bridge Tavern

We could really write an epic tale of our relationship with BBT over the years. There have been ups, there have been downs. There has been anger and there has been heartache. There have been good beers and there have been skunked beers. There have been good bands, bad bands and even an Emmett Otter Jug Band cover band.

In the mid to late 90's, the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern (BBT) was one of the only places in town to get good beer. They had several coolers full of hard to find microbrews. Bands played there frequently and toys were occasionally given out from behind the bar. J actually filled out her first voter registration in the apartments above the BBT. Good times were had.  Then things changed.

 As with many old Pittsburgh bars, an owner dies and someone new takes over. The beer gets skunky, the staff gets argumentative, and the coolers full of great beer disappear one by one. The bartender tries to charge you for a glass of water to go with your expensive whiskey. Bad times were had. We stopped going there.

During all this time, other people have apparently continued to go to the BBT, as they remain in business. They have built a really nice enclosed deck overlooking their parking lot, which is another feature of the BBT: parking. They have had a Drum and Bass night on Wednesdays for more than ten years. This is an odd niche to fill, but kind of cool of them.  

To say that we had some trepidation going back to the BBT is an understatement. The words "ugh" and "blah" were used in discussion leading up to it. But, you know what, it wasn't that bad.

The bartender was really nice and personable. The food was actually good. The beers were, well, they were cheap. Don't get us wrong, weird stuff still happened there and it was not entirely pleasant. The cops were called on a family that was there to eat dinner. They seemed like a shitty family that was trying to be shitty, but it was still all very weird and uncalled for. There was a guitar jam group thing going on in the back room that happens every Tuesday night.  They apparently get upset when the bar gets loud, which seems counter-intuitive, but jam on you crazy hippies!


So, what's the takeaway on the BBT? It’s hard to say. For us it’s like running into an ex. You remember the good times and the bad times, but they’re just not a part of your life anymore. 

Address:	4412 Liberty Ave, 15224 http://bloomfieldbridgetavern.com/	Games:	None
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Polish
Parking:	Easy!	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	Come Hungry	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Closed Sun-Mon Tues-Sat 5pm-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	9
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Daily
Live music:	Sometimes	Riley Factor:	$9.35
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	2	Size:	Normal

Silky's Pub

The Silky's in Bloomfield has a slightly better vibe than the one in Squirrel Hill,where we were offered our first and last bribe. They have shuffleboard and pinball so they made it into the "better than okay, but still not quite great" range, but no more than that.

It's hard to say what's missing here. They've got a decent beer selection. They've got some tables outside. They've got the aforementioned games. There's just something not quite right.

It has a slightly claustrophobic feel: too many tables, too many kitschy knickknacks. It looks like it was decorated by a drunk lady with a QVC card. The service is adequate, but not super. The food is decent bar food but not great. These are not ringing endorsements, but they're not censures either. 

Is it a bar that has a lot of tables and waitresses? Is it a small restaurant with a big bar? We just don’t know and it doesn’t seem that they do either. Our suggestion is to get rid of the tons of tables that no one ever uses cluttering up the floor. Put in a couple of high-tops with stools and, for goodness sake, take out half of the lights.  The bar area is nicely lit, but the table area is blinding.

If you can get a turn at the shuffleboard table or a nice table outside, we would recommend you check it out. Otherwise, there are better places to eat if you are looking for a restaurant and better places to drink if you are looking for a bar.

Address:	5135 Liberty Ave, 15224	Games:	Darts, Magic Touch, Pinball, Shuffleboard
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Bar Kitsch
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	12
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Nightly
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$10.50
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	8	Size:	Normal

Armand's

This is a dive-bar: cheap strong drinks, no frills, full of smoke and permanent fixtures on the barstools. They do a lot of take-out business in 40 ounces. It is dark and not clean. You should avoid the bathrooms at all costs. "A" almost gagged at the overwhelming smell of urine in the men's room, and he has been in some nasty bathrooms. Welcome to Armand’s: home of the famous fish sandwich.

 Now, it was late when we got there and we had already eaten that night, so we did not try this mythical fish sandwich. We have read great reviews about how this is a truly amazing sandwich. It is supposed to be freshly made, hand prepared and enormous to boot.

However, as intriguing as it may be to order a sandwich from a place that has been filled with a cloud of constant smoke since 1976, and lets its bathrooms smell like that, we think we will pass. Don't get us wrong, we have both eaten in many tiny smoke-filled dive bars. We are not snooty like that. But we draw a line for minimal sanitary standards in the places we eat, and Armand's definitely crosses that line. For all we know the kitchen is spotless and very clean, but as the saying goes, where there is smoke there is fire, and Armand's is full of smoke.

Address:	4755 Liberty Ave, 15224	Games:	None
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	1970's Pittsburgh	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Dirt Cheap	# taps:	4
Bathrooms:	Hover	Specials:	Nothing noted
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$6.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	Yes
TVs:	2	Size:	Normal

Lou's Little Corner Bar

J lived right around the corner from Lou's in her later college days and spent a lot of time in what was affectionately called, "Lou's Little Corner Shithole." The drinks were cheap and strong, the clientele laid back and local, the atmosphere dark and dingy enough for everyone to feel comfortable. A lot of good times were had there, stumbling distance from home.

When we tried to stop in a month or so ago the place was packed full. There was a hockey game on so that wasn't too surprising. What was surprising was the number of young punk kids in there. Had Lou's really changed that much?

When we went back on a non-hockey night, the answer was no. Lou's is still pretty much the same. It's cleaner and better lit than we remember, but the beer is still cheap, the clientele still live within stumbling distance, and the place is still smoky like a factory.

Other than the uptick in cleanliness and light, the only change we could see was that they now carry at least one "fancy beer" from Dogfish Head. There's something utterly charming about the drop ceilings, the handwritten notes on the walls, your grandma's old silk flowers in the bathroom, and the complete lack of pretense. This might not be a bar that we end up in often now, but if J still lived around the corner, we would still be there.

Address:	4924 Liberty Ave, 15224	Games:	Pool, Magic Touch, Video Poker
Façade:	A Little Scary	Scene:	Yinzer Punk Dive
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	1970's Pittsburgh	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	-2am	Cig Machine:	Yes
Drink Prices:	Dirt Cheap	# taps:	4
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$6.00
ATM:	Yes	Cash Only	No
TVs:	3	Size:	Hole in the Wall