Meat and Potatoes

 

Chef Richard DeShantz has operated the upscale restaurant Nine on Nine successfully for five years now.  Seeing a need for a less formal eating option in the area, Chef DeShantz decided to open a gastropub.  What is a Gastropub?  It's simply a pub that serves great food, or in Chef DeShantz's own words, “food that a chef would eat after a busy day at work, food you grew up with, comfort food and street food.”  Well, that sounds good to me!




The interior is old time comfortable, with high ceilings and tables surrounding a large rectangular bar.  The place is noisy, but a good noisy.  People sitting at the bar, chatting over pots of Moules and munching on Devils on Horseback.  They also have a nice outdoor patio for nice weather dining.  The menu is a single page with a choice of a couple of daily specials. 

My choice was the Chicken Paillard, described as Parmesan crusted with arugula, tomato and pickled red onion. This was really pleasing, as was the Brisket that was served alongside a huge slice of jalapeno cornbread and a great slaw. On a previous visit I had the Torta sandwich which is pork shoulder, pickled red cabbage, jalapeno, and chorizo mayonnaise, served with house made chips. The mix of flavors was delicious!!!

Meat and Potatoes is on Penn Avenue, right in the Cultural District in Pittsburgh, right next to the O'Reilly Theatre.