THE FOLLOWING DINING LISTINGS ARE RESTAURANTS RECOMMENDED BY CITY PAPER FOOD CRITICS
DINING LISTINGS KEY J = Cheap K = Night Out L = Splurge E = Alcohol Served F = BYOB
1844 RESTAURANT. 690 State Route 66, Leechburg. 724-8451844. This restored 19th-century farmhouse offers a classic finedining menu with intriguing updates suited to 21st-century tastes. Thus, prime rib sits alongside tempura shrimp with orange cayenne, cucumbers and bleu cheese, and the stalwart shrimp cocktail is now dressed with sofrito lemon sauce. LE
Tacos & Caribbean Fusion Monday & Thursday CHECK OUT OUR
$2 Yuengling 16oz Draft ____________________
Tuesday
NEW MENU!
1/2 Price Wine by the Bottle ____________________
NOW OPEN
Pork & Pounder $10 ____________________
SUNDAYS
Friday
Sangria $2.95 ____________________
Saturday & Sunday
Beechview 2056 Broadway Ave.
Brunch Specials & Bloody Mary Bar
412.344.4700
1/2 OFF SNACKS $2 OFF DRAFTS $5 WINE FEATURE
Pittsburgh, PA 15216
casarastapgh.com
BISTRO 19. 711 Washington Road, Mount Lebanon. 412-306-1919. Bistro 19 fits within the upper echelon of the region’s dining scene, while keeping its cozy neighborhood feel. It offers a broad range of surf and turf, pastas and poultry. Its inventive preparations, and the kitchen’s attention to detail, make even now-familiar items such as pot-stickers and flatbreads exciting. LE
Wednesday
10:30am-3pm
----- HAPPY HOUR -----
BRGR. 5997 Centre Ave., East Liberty (412-362-2333) and 20111 Rt. 19, Cranberry Township (724-742-2333). This casual restaurant celebrates — and in many cases, imaginatively re-creates — America’s signature contribution to global cuisine. BRGR keeps its patties to a reasonable size, which allows for a variety of gourmet toppings — plus room for excellent fried sides (French fries, onion rings, pickles), or milkshakes (traditional or spiked). JE
Mon- Fri 4:30 – 6:30pm ____________________ 900 Western Ave. I NORTH SIDE 412-224-2163
BenjaminsPgh.com
40 Craft Beers w
ontap w
BRUNCH 10am-2pm Sat & SUN
Famous BBQ RiBS! Vegan &Veggie Specialties,too!
24th & E. Carson St. in the South Side 412-390-1111 100 Adams Shoppes Mars/Cranberry 724-553-5212 DoubleWideGrill.com 16
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 07.29/08.05.2015
Randita’s Organic Vegan Café {PHOTO BY HEATHER MULL} larb salad, pad Thai and the popular street-food noodle dish, pad see ew, look for moo dad deaw, a fried pork appetizer or a pumpkin-tofu curry. KF DIAMOND MARKET. 430 Market St., Downtown. 412-325-2000. The tavern-like décor provides a comfortable, unpretentious setting for socializing, and the menu bridges retro and au courant in a now-familiar way, with grownup comfort food and big burgers on brioche buns with fancy toppings. Try the excellent mac-and-cheese, accented with bacon and truffle oil, or the donutsized onion rings drizzled with balsamic vinegar. KE
BZ BAR AND GRILL. 140 Federal St., North Side. 412-323-2924. This sports bar offers thoughtfully conceived and better-than-average fare. Lively sandwiches include brisket sliders and a Cuban, with pickled red onions. Or try the pear-andbleu-cheese pizza, or the “turducken burger”: a turkey burger with duck confit, sage aioli, fried egg and arugula. KE CARMI’S. 917 Western Ave., North Side. 412-231-0100. A soul-food restaurant offers traditional home-style Southern cooking on the North Side. On offer: waffles and fried chicken; hearty chicken-anddumpling soup; greens, studded with smoked meat; mashed potatoes; spare ribs; and a standout Cajun shrimp paired with creamy grits. KF CURRY ON MURRAY. 2121 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill. 412-422-3120. The menu here is fairly standard Thai, featuring your favorites but also offering few surprises. So alongside satay,
{PHOTO BY HEATHER MULL}
Curry on Murray
EGGS N’AT. 8556 University Blvd., Moon Township. 412-262-2920. This stylish and cheery diner offers a variety of pancakes, as well as sandwiches and combo platters of breakfast foods. The “Mama Evans” pancakes are filled with blueberries and bacon, a combination that is smoky, sweet and savory all at once. Also on offer: muffuleta, a New Orleans-style multi-layered and pressed sandwich. J
JOSEPH TAMBELLINI RESTAURANT. 5701 Bryant St., Highland Park. 412-665-9000. The menu at this convivial white-linen Italian restaurant straddles the ultra-familiar — the five choices in the chicken and veal section are trattoria staples — and the more unusual. There’s a strong emphasis on fresh pasta and inventively prepared seafood, such as crusted Chilean sea bass in an orange buerre blanc and berry marmalade. LE LUCCA. 317 S. Craig St., Oakland. 412-682-3310. This long-standing Oakland restaurant features an updated, pan-Italian selection focused on pastas and seafood, with very little in the way of red-sauce standards or the Northern Italian clichés of the ’80s. Salads are big enough to share, pasta is made in house, and in season, there is a charming outdoor patio. LE MEAT AND POTATOES. 649 Penn Ave., Downtown. 412-325-7007. This restaurant combines several current trends, including revisiting staples of the American pantry, the gastropub and nose-to-tail cooking, all in a lively Downtown space. Expect everything from marrow bones to burgers, flatbreads and chicken pot pie, as well as pots of rhubarb jam and hand-crafted cocktails. LE MONTEREY PUB. 1227 Monterey St., North Side. 412-322-6535. A welcoming neighborhood bar with a menu of classic pub grub and Irish standards (such as “bangers and mash”) But there is also the occasional Asian flourish or unexpected ingredient mash-up, such as Thai red curry wings, fried green beans, an Irish-Cuban sandwich and a BLT with salmon. JE