Review: E2 (“E-Squared”)
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
I firmly believe that a good staff makes a restaurant. Front of the house employees play a big role in defining the overall atmosphere, and — for me — atmosphere is really what makes or breaks a dining experience. One even hopes that it reflects the chef’s or owner’s sentiments. That’s not to say food [...]
Review: Salt of the Earth
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
Everybody has been talking about Salt of the Earth. Usually, I try to focus on places that don’t get enough attention, so I’m somewhat hesitant to post something about Salt…but I can’t resist. If you haven’t been paying attention, Salt of the Earth is the work of Kevin Sousa. He set out to open his [...]
Review: Brgr
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
From the name, you might think that Brgr is the last place that I would ever want to go. You would be wrong. It’s true, the place is highly meat-focused and healthy is the last thing on the menu. Only one of their burgers fits a vegetarian slant, but I do like what they’re going [...]
Review: Spoon
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
While the rest of the universe has been going crazy over Salt of the Earth, I decided to switch it up. I gathered up some friends and made my way over to Spoon. I can go to Salt any time (and will soon). Spoon just happened to jump onto my list when I bumped into [...]
Review: Gran Agave
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
I have to admit, I didn’t expect much when I noticed Gran Agave popping up in the big box-oriented Waterfront area. After all, the vast majority of dining options in that area are big chains. Sure, there are some less common chains with pretty good food, but it’s basically the land of the average American [...]
Review: Juice Box Cafe
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
I think I have a new Pittsburgh favorite in the Juice Box Cafe. This is actually the tail of my queue—my most recent restaurant visit. I’m bumping it to the top of the order because they really deserve it. My backlogged posts tend to go up in priority order anyway. There’s a funny story in [...]
Preview: Penn Brewery Sampler
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
For the past few months, Penn Brewery has been slowly easing into the whole grand re-opening thing. First a kick-off event, then growler hours, and now some appetizers. At this point, we’re just a week away from from the return of the full restaurant (give or take). I already made it out to growler hours [...]
Review: Beer Nutz
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
It’s about time for some FoodBurgh cleanup: going way back in my stack of review score sheets, I have notes for a place called Beer Nutz. I really don’t like the name, but one of the owners emailed me a while back to suggest I might check them out. I’m always on the look out [...]
Review: Avenue B
Posted by mike | Filed under Reviews
For whatever reason, Avenue B has been high on my list of culinary destinations from the time I first heard of the place. Judging from the number of other foodies that have suggested the place, I’d say I’m not alone. Really, all I needed was a good excuse to make my way over there. Lacking [...]
Review: The Bar at 2132
Posted by mike | Filed under Beer, Reviews
Just before things got really busy for Christmas, I made my way over to the South Side after work to exchange gifts with a pair of friends. For the sake of some new FoodBurgh content, I had suggested we do the exchange at a relatively new place: The Bar @ 2132. I had been there [...]
