Big Jim's

Oh, so you are a Picksburger n'at, eh? If you’re an East Side yinzer, you know where The Run is and you get 3 bonus points and a gold star for the day. Good job! For everyone else, The Run is an odd little community at the bottom of Greenfield, right next to 2nd Avenue. You turn right at the bottom of Greenfield Avenue before you go under the train tracks...n'at. There is a great park down there and it is the beginning of the nine mile run. But this is not a blog about neighborhoods, it is about drinking! If you want to read a blog about neighborhoods, check out 90 Proof Pittsburgh. Let's get to the drinking.

Big Jim's was, as the name suggests, founded by a man named Big Jim. Sadly, as we were informed by our very nice and attentive bartender, Big Jim passed in 1984. You can see his picture below and get an idea of how big Big Jim was. 

Why was Big Jim so big? Huge frigging sandwiches. Holy cow! We tried to put A's sandwich into perspective, but it still does not capture how huge it was. It is called the:

Two-Bill Sandwich

Corned beef, slaw, Swiss cheese, 1000 island dressing and a fried egg on Russian Rye. $9.79

And it was amazing.

This is a neighborhood bar and restaurant. There were lots of families and a big dining room. They are involved with the community and sponsor a little league team every year. The bar itself is nothing to write home about. It is old but well maintained. Drink prices were average, and we were pleasantly surprised that our bartender was exactly the opposite of what you would expect to find at a place called Big Jim's. They have a "Big Jim's Special Ale" on tap (also pictured below,) which was kind of cool. We are going to stop by later on some night. We are curious to see what it is like after all the families have left.

If you are feeling adventurous, check out Big Jim's. Just make sure you come hungry. Big Jim would have wanted it that way.

Address:	201 Saline St, 15207    http://www.bigjimsrestaurant.com/	Games:	Magic Touch
Façade:	A Little Scary	Scene:	Greenfield Greasy Spoon
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Come Hungry	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Mon-Thurs 11am-11pm, Fri-Sat 11am-12am,  Sun 10am-10pm	Cig Machine:	Yes but Out of Order
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	6
Bathrooms:	Sit, but man they are old	Specials:	None posted
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	4	Size:	Normal

The Loft

The Loft is the bar upstairs from D's Six Packs and Dogz in Regent Square. It's been through a couple of remodels since it first opened as a cigar bar. It's now a nice sized bar divided into three separate areas. The main area around the bar has a couple of high-tops, but mostly bar seating. The second area has dart boards and some lounging space and high-top tables. Then there is a third area which is an enclosed smoke shack with a TV and horseshoe bench seating. It’s a good compromise; the smokers don’t have to go outside in winter while at the same time not killing everyone else. 

The bartenders at The Loft are always really friendly. The prices are average, but they have great daily specials. They even have the fancy copper mugs in order to make a proper Moscow Mule or Dark and Stormy. And, honest to god, they have something in a slushy machine that is not half bad. We were not expecting it, but the frozen mojito was actually pretty tasty and refreshing.

The downside is that it can get obnoxiously crowded on Friday and Saturday night. It’s not a constant thing, so it's hard to say to avoid it altogether, just be warned. The other negative is the music. The selection is pretty mixed depending on what night you are there, but it is almost always WAY TOO LOUD. CAPS LOCK LEVELS OF LOUD. Especially when it's busy, the music is booming. It can be almost impossible to have a conversation. It's not like The Loft is a club or is even trying to be a club, so the volume is incongruous and unpleasant. They could use some curtains or something to absorb some of the noise. Or just turn it down.

Still, most of the time the bar isn't crazy crowded and the music is just a little too loud. It's right in between our houses, so we go there with some frequency. And, really, maybe we're just old and screaming about the loud music is what we do now. What’s that saying?  If it is too loud you are too old? (J & A look at each other nervously)

Address:	1118 S Braddock Ave, 15218	Games:	Darts
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Older Scenester
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	None	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None-separate smoking lounge in back	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	Mon-Sat 6pm-2am, Sun 12pm-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	10
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Daily-Saturday is $3.50 Jameson day
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$7.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	6	Size:	Normal

The Map Room

There is nothing really wrong with The Map Room; it's just that there is never anyone in The Map Room. It feels weirdly like you're intruding on something when you're there, or like the place is a front*.

They always have East End beers on tap, which is great. They have plenty of room. There are booths and tables and a nice sized bar. There are, obviously, maps, lots of maps. They have a small sidewalk space roped off out front which is actually pretty nice for two people. The food is not great, but it's passable. It's just always so very empty there. And we find this oddly disconcerting.

It's right in between D's and Murphy's, so it should get a lot of traffic. Especially when D's is packed, you'd expect spillover in The Map Room. But it never comes. Maybe they need a rebranding.  Or maybe that’s exactly how they want it to be (see earlier front theory).

It seems like this should be a much more popular bar. There's nothing that we can pinpoint that's going wrong here and so we have decided that it must be full of ghosts. That's the most logical answer and we are sticking to it.

*We have no proof that it is a front and we are very hard to find if you happen to be the owners of this possible front.

Address:	1126 S Braddock Ave, 15218	Games:	Darts
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Very Quiet
Parking:	Easy	Patio/Outdoor:	Kind of-Sidewalk
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	4pm-11pm	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	10
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Happy Hour
Live music:	Never	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	3	Size:	Normal

Mario's South Side/Blue Lou's

To save us time, sanity, and to keep us from writing "this is a typical South Side bar" over and over, we're taking a different approach: haiku. Assume everything you know about the South Side to be true, our haiku will fill in the gaps.

smoking in Blue Lou's
smoke-free in Mario's
both full of douchebags

Address:	1510-1514 East Carson St, 15203    http://www.mariospgh.com/southside/	Games:	Pool, Darts
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Serious D-Bags
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	No
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None in Mario's, Some in Blue Lou's	Jukebox:	Internet Crap
Hours:	11am-2am	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	10
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Nightly
Live music:	Sometimes	Riley Factor:	$7.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	A Lot	Size:	Friggin' Huge

SkyBar

Apparently there is a pool bar on a roof in the South Side. Who knew?! We did not. We were kind of shocked and amazed. It just opened in June of this year. We were wandering down Carson Street, and stopped to ask the door guy what kind of place it was. He invited us to go up and check it out. We probably are not their target audience, but it was a slow and chilly Sunday night and our money is as good as anyone’s.

As you can see in the pictures, it was worth our climb up to see it. We were greeted with a nice view of the city, plush seating areas, and of course, the main attraction: a rooftop pool. The bar fits perfectly with the theme and is staffed exclusively by young girls in bikinis.

One bikini clad bartender had to keep warming herself by the fire pit. It was an unseasonably cold July day. We had a very nice talk with another bartender who had smartly put on a hoodie. She gave us a rundown of the operation and how it works.

It opens like a normal pool during the day and has very strict capacity standards. You can get a membership to this place which gets you priority admission. They'll let you in if you aren't a member, but apparently there can be a line to get in on a hot summer day. On Friday and Saturday nights they place a giant glass cover over the pool which increases the amount of people they are allowed to let into the space and probably helps their insurance rates substantially. Drunk people and pools sound fun to people, but not to insurance companies.

We would love to rent this place out for a private party, which you can do. No one was swimming when we were there so we can't say what this place is like during the day or on a weekend night. We are pretty sure it is a huge meat market. If that is your thing, you should definitely check this place out. If not, it is totally worth it to drop by on a random week night. It is a sight to see.

Address:	1605 East Carson St, 15203    http://www.skybarpgh.com/	Games:	Swimming pool
Façade:	Not Scary	Scene:	Sleazy Pool Party
Parking:	Wear Walking Shoes	Patio/Outdoor:	Yes
Kitchen:	Bar Food	Cleanliness:	Normal
Smoking:	None	Jukebox:	None
Hours:	Th 6pm-2am, Fri-Sat 12pm-2am,  Sun 12pm-close	Cig Machine:	No
Drink Prices:	Average	# taps:	0
Bathrooms:	Sit	Specials:	Nightly
Live music:	DJs at night	Riley Factor:	$8.00
ATM:	No	Cash Only	No
TVs:	0	Size:	Normal