Review: Pepperoncini's in Oakdale

Oakdale is a little town just a couple of minutes from Robinson Town Center. I've been to Pepperoncini's three or four times since they opened about a month ago. I was surprised to find such a nice place in a out of the way small town like this. This was a pizza place that was expanded into a full service restaurant. The bartenders were very friendly (and cute) and service was pretty good, although it was not really crowded when I have been there. The place is new and very clean. I can't really comment on mixed drinks because we were all drinking beer. We have a pizza and an appetizer that were pretty good. They also have some great big screen TV's, all in HD so it's a good place to watch a game.

My only complaint: The bar area is long and narrow...It runs parallel to a glass wall with two entrance doors along it, so that no matter where you are sitting your back is about 10 feet from one of the doors and it is cold every time someone enters. Now I'm the kind of person that's always warm so I can imagine how uncomfortable it is some people. The guy next to me left because of this. I give them an 8 because I think they have done a great job with the existing space. I'll go back, but not on a really cold day! I'd give them an 8.

I wrote the above several months ago and just wanted to update. I stopped in this week with a friend and my sister. I was hungry and ordered a small pizza, which was very good. My friend Tom was slugging down Sam Adams and I was drinking Miller Lite drafts. We had three or four each, and my sister had one glass of red wine. The entire tab was only $18 and change! Now this was happy hour, but what a pleasant surprise! We decided that we will go back more often!

Billy's Roadhouse

I've been to Billy's in Wexford several times over the past years and thought it was time for a review. As it happened to be a nice day the three of us, my sister Jaye, Stacy and myself decided to sit outside. They have a few tables outside, in addition to a volleyball court and a unique set-up with a deer feeder. It's a table with deer feed that has a couple of spot lights so while you sit in the bar you can watch the deer! Pretty cool.

The food has always been very good here and this stop was no exception. Jaye ordered a lobster roll that was out of this world. I don't think I would have recommended trying that here, but it was a great success. Our other sandwiches, a Italia Panini and a burger were also both very good.

The bar and restaurant are warm and comfortable and I noticed that they always have a couple of newspapers for their patrons to read during lunch. The beer cooler probably had abut 40 different bottles and the draft selection seemed to be pretty good too. In addition, I know that they have entertainment a couple of times a week. Billy's may be a little out of the way for some of you in the city, but it's worth the trip if you happen to be in the mood for a nice lunch or happy hour at a new place.

North Park Lounge

The North Park Lounge (near Passavant Hospital on Babcock in the North Hills) has been a place that I've visited many times over the years for a beer or a snack. Now that I don't live in the North Hills anymore, I don't get there very often. Today we were in the area and stopped in for lunch. Stacy ordered a chicken salad which was very large and generous with chicken, but she forgot to ask for the dressing on the side and it was swimming in ranch dressing. I wish all restaurants would deliver salad dressing on the side! She also had a cup of spare rib soup. I've never heard of such a thing, but she said it was tasty. I got the fish and chips which consisted of three pieces of batter fried fish in a basket over the french fries. While it was not bad the fish was very bland. Being served in several pieces instead of one large fillet gave you a lot more deep fried batter than fish. The fries were so greasy that they were soaked and limp. I'm not sure if this was from the fries themselves, or if it was oil from the fish that was on top of them.

I'll go back to the North Park Lounge, but probably only for happy hour or a snack. While not bad, it wasn't memorable enough to be a regular stop.

Dining on a student's budget

I just got a request to print some suggestions for those of you that may be new to the area and need some ideas as to how to stretch your food dollar. Reader Pat mentioned that her "Darling Nephew" had just started at Duquesne and could sure use some ideas! Well, I don't know how helpful I'll be, but I'll try! I think that we can keep this post as a "work in progress". I'll start with a couple of places and just continue to add from there when I think of new ones or when any of you make suggestions. We can start a list here and I'll try to pay a visit and do a more thorough review of some of them.

Let's just start with a famous one:

The Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland. Also known as "The Dirty O"...You'll see why, but your college student won't care. Good dogs, with heaping orders of greasy fries at great prices.

Mike and Tony's Gyro's, Downtown on Liberty and on Carson St in the South Side. For less that $5.00 you get one of the best tasting food values anywhere!

Pamela's, several locations but ya gotta go to the Strip. Great crepe type pancakes. These are the pancakes that our President loves. They are thin like crepes with crispy edges but they don't taste like crepes, they taste like pancakes. For under $5.00 you get three cakes that are each about a foot around.

Pack's & Dogs, Shiloh Street on Mount Washington. While this is not as easily accessable to students as Oakland is, students from Duquesne can take a quick walk across the Smithfield St Bridge and a nice ride up the Mon incline to get to Packs & Dogs. It's also a great trip with the parents in tow. When you exit the incline, go 1/2 block to Shiloh St. If you have the Parents with you, forget Packs Dogs and stop at the Shiloh Inn to eat. If you are on your own budget, pass the Shiloh and continue to Packs & Dogs! First of all this place was a diner and still looks like it. It's not a bar atmosphere, but you can get a good brew with your dog if you like. They have over 200 varieties of beers on hand and the hot dogs are all named after dogs. The Chihuahua is a chili dog with cheddar cheese and onions. The Irish Setter has coleslaw and fries and there are several other good choices.

Yo Rita, I can't skip this one, Pat started this topic by commenting on my review of Yo Rita on the South Side. Kevin Sousa has put in place a great menu (you can read more below) at great prices. Gourmet tacos starting at $4.00. He's leaving there, so I don't know if the great quality will last, but for now it's the best value in the Burgh!

The Original Oyster House, Downtown in Market Square. This is an old (since 1870) place that has great cheap eats. The crowd can vary from those on their way to a show in the Cultural District to some that may really need to eat on a budget...The huge fish sandwich and oysters are a pretty good bet for the money.

I love chicken wings!

Talk about great bar food, there's nothing like an order of spicy chicken wings and beer. Not quite health food, but good! My problem is that I hate "mushy" wings. Not very many places seem to cook them until crispy. I love red meat rare or medium rare, and even eat pork pink inside, but to me wings are just better well done and crunchy. I've tried them at a lot of places but not very many are memorable. Hell, I've even been to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, which is supposedly where buffalo wings started...They were mushy and swimming in bottled hot sauce. Awful!

One of the better places I've found is Burg's in Bridgeville. They have a Cajun dry rub that's terrific! I've been told that Sauce (right up the street from Burgs) has some pretty good wings too. My favorite though is a place at Canadohta Lake called Sue's Mill. The problem is that it's about two hours from here. They are plump, well done and crispy but still juicy and every sauce I've had there has been great.

Anyone else have any suggestions? I'm trying to get some feedback as to the best wing places around the city.


Here's a simple recipe that everyone seems to really like. Of course cooking them until crispy is just as important as the sauce!

Deep fry, bake or grill 2 pounds of chicken wings UNTIL CRISPY! Meanwhile, make sauce by melting 1/4 cup of margarine (not butter) and adding the following ingredients:

1/4 cup hot sauce (most use Red Hot which is not a favorite of mine, but this recipe covers up the "orange" taste).

1 package dry onion soup

5 cloves of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

a pinch of basil

This sauce will be very thick, not watery like other sauces. When the wings are done, place them in a seal able bag or container, add the sauce and shake until coated. put wings on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for ten minutes. Serve with celery and blue cheese.

Ribs

One of my favorite summer picnic or BBQ foods is ribs. For years I tried to make them like you get at good rib joints, but could never duplicate the tenderness and flavor of the experts. Thankfully ribs are no longer a struggle and with a few simple tips anyone can make a rack of ribs as good or better than you will find at a rib festival!

I like baby back ribs, but many rib experts prefer spare ribs or beef short ribs. These have much more meat than baby backs but also much more fat. Forget country ribs, they are not ribs at all. They are cut from the shoulder without the bone. The following recipe will work great with any of these types of ribs.

Here's about the simplest way for anyone to turn out some great ribs. The key is "Low and Slow", meaning you must cook ribs at a low temperature, and slowly. Low temperature means less than 300, and slowly means at least three hours. You can experminent with these numbers, I sometimes cook at 225 or 250 for four hours or more.

Season ribs with a dry rub. You can buy prepackaged or mix your own. I use one consisting of equal parts of dried onion power, oregano, thyme, cayenne, garlic power, black pepper, salt and paprika. Sprinkle it on pretty heavy and rub in. Take two sheets of aluminum foil, each about 6 inches longer than the rack of ribs, and double wrap the ribs with the seam on top. Place the rack on a sheet pan (or something with sides in case of leaks) and put in the oven at 300 degrees, for three hours.

Be careful when you remove these from the oven. The foil will contain a lot of fat that needs to be drained away. Pour off the fat being careful not to break the ribs apart...That's how tender they will be! They will also be grey and ugly looking. Don't let that bother you!! Coat the ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce and finish them off either in the ovens broiler or (my favorite) on a grill. Cook them until the sugar in the sauce starts to caramelize and turn black in a few areas, about 10 minutes and serve. Perfect ribs!

There are a couple of ways to improve on this method if you want to take the time. I like to marinade mine for three or four hours before cooking with a mixture of white vinegar and water. It doesn't take much, a couple tablespoons of each right in the foil with the dry rub and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours, then they can go right in the oven.

You can also cook these right on the grill, but it's tricky to keep the temperature steady and as low as 300. If you use charcoal, and have a large grill, you can use indirect heat by placing the coals on one side and the meat on another. This requires a grill thermometer and you need to constantly add charcoal to maintain even heating without getting too hot. If you are not comfortable with this, I'd recommend you start with the oven method.


Another good touch is to make your own sauce. I use several, but here is a very good one that is also really easy to make:

Mix the following ingredients in a sauce pan:

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cup root beer
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
3 tablespoons A1 Steak sauce
1 teaspoon onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cloves minced garlic

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat only slightly to a low boil and simmer until reduced by about a third or until desired thickness is reached about 10 or 15 minutes.

Review: Yo Rita's Taco's???

The South Side is is full of beer and burger joints and nice restaurants, but some feel that the white tablecloth and linen napkins places are becoming a thing of the past in this section of the city. The closing of Allegro and Bruchetta's lends some support to that theory. There are plenty of customers on the streets, but most seem to be college age and may not be willing or able to spent the kind of money for those establishments.

Yo Rita's is a small bistro style restaurant. The menu consists of tacos. Yup, just tacos (and a few appetizers). Before you quit reading I want to say that this is absolutely the best quality and most innovative food for the least price I have ever seen or heard of! Stacy and I tried two different tacos starting with the Ahi Tuna. It was perfect tuna with gingered slaw, avocado, sliced jalapenos and fresh cialatro. As one of the pricier items it was $7.00. Tremendous. We then ordered the Flank Steak which had chunks of potato, poblano pepper, pickled red onion, mushroom, chimichurri, and cilantro, all for $6.00. The flank steak (see London Broil recipe) was as tender as I've ever tasted. Other selections that sounded tempting included a Mushroom taco with poblano pepper, white onion, green chile sauce, manchego for $4, and a Chorizo with manchego, sweet peppers, pickled red onion, aji amarillo for $5.

While I love a great sandwich and burger place like Fatheads, Yo Rita's has taken relatively lower priced foods and prepares and serves them with the skill and expertise of a great restaurant. How could this be?
Kevin Sousa, that's how.

Kevin has been building quite a reputation around Pittsburgh. He has been the chef at Soba, Kaya, Alchemy, and the Red Room. This is some of the finest food that can be found in the city. I guess he is doing some consulting work at YoRita while he is in the process of preparing to open his own restaurant to be named Salt of the Earth.

The menu at Yo Rita is really fantastic and a great way for those of us that can't always drop $100+ on a meal to experience truly excellent food at bargain prices.

Review: The Sewickley Hotel

The Sewickley Hotel along with all the other bars along Beaver Road in downtown Sewickley, use to be a shot and beer bar. Growing up just a mile from there, I have memories of a number of these places filled with working class men drinking their Iron City and shooting pool. Things have really changed over the years. Now it's a place where you could very possibly run into one of Pittsburgh's sports hero's. Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Lynn Swann, Franco Harris and others visit, probably because it's the kind of place where no one bothers them. On one visit, I spotted coach Chuck Noll sitting on a park bench across the street chatting with some friends.

As you walk in there is a long wooden bar to the right, and a number of booths and tables to the left with barely enough room for a few more in the back. It's a very comfortable, homey atmosphere. The staff has always been friendly and the crowd always seems to be in a pleasant mood.

The menu is basic American fare (which is fine with me) but it's is all excellent. I don't think that I've ever had even a bad item, let alone a bad meal there. Steaks, pasta and seafood are cooked with the help of a wood burning stove, which gives a great smoky flavor, yet it's not overpowering.

Wednesday evening's they have a tasteful jazz band and the recent addition of a beautiful outdoor courtyard has greatly expanded the seating area. Prices are just a little bit higher than average ($15.95 to $29.95 Hey, this is Sewickley!) but the exceptional food more than makes up for that in my opinion. If you enjoy comfortable places like The 17th Street Cafe or Tessaro's this is a place you should not miss.

Review, The 17th Street Cafe

The 17Th Street Cafe on the South Side has been one of my favorite local restaurants for years. It's located about a block off of Carson so it's very convenient but a bit away from all the noise and partying. It has a comfortable feeling and charm that I enjoy. It's a relaxing feeling that you notice as soon as you walk in the door.

This place is somewhat small, with an old time bar on the left as you enter and a few tables on the right. Another small dining room is to the rear of the building. The bar is always friendly and talkative but not noisy enough to bother the patrons seated close by. The crab and artichoke dip is tremendous, lump crab meat in a rich creamy cheese sauce. This is really one of the best appetizers I've ever had. Another one of the best that I've ever had just happens to be served here also. The Roasted Red Pepper Bisque is just a fantastic soup, and that's coming from someone that has to be convinced to ever order soup at a restaurant. I can't really describe it, it's just wonderful. On a previous stop during the Penguin's playoff run, I was treated to a real suprise when we were given bowls of Evgeni Malkin's mother's lucky borscht soup! I've never had a soup like this before. If all restaurants served soup like this, I might order it more often! Another very good appetizer is the Stuffed Banana Peppers.

The entree menu continues with a nice selection but the seafood really shines. I've tried many menu items, but some that come to mind are the Pecan Crusted Sole and the London Broil. Any of you that read my blog know how much I love "horse meat"!

I've never had a disappointing meal here, and highly recommend this place as one of the best kept secrets in Pittsburgh.

Big food? Big Jim's!

Big Jim's, or Big Jim's in The Run as it's called, is a place that I first learned of on the TV show Diners, Drive-in's and Dives. Their claim to fame is being a local watering hole with old time charm that also serves some pretty good food. Big food. The portions here are huge, but there's more to like than just large portions.

Big Jim's is in Greenfield, kind of under a bridge on the Parkway East. Going across the Hot Metal Bridge, it only took us a couple of minutes to get there from the South Side. It's an old place, kind of dated but that's OK with me. During the couple of times that Stacy and I have been there, the staff were all friendly and they seem to have a nice local bar crowd which lends to Big Jim's comfortable feeling. The menu is a nice mix, featuring Oven Baked Hoagies, Dinners, Pizza and a large number of Appetizers (mostly fried). These all looked appealing, but the section that caught my eye was "Big Jim's Speciality Sandwiches".

Stacy knew what she wanted immediatly...This is not normal! Sometimes I feel as though I should have ordered an appetizer while I wait for her to make up her mind...(I hope she dosen't read this). Anyway, the item that got her attention was the reuben. This thing was huge. A full 1/2 pound of lean corned beef on great Russian rye bread, topped with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and 1000 Island. She loved it. I chose the veal cutlet parmigiana sandwich. This thing wasn't just big, it was massive! Pretty tasty too, although I couldn't eat all of it in one sitting.

Big Jim's is a place that I will definetaly return to, although next time I'd like to go in the evening and see how the night crowd is.

Time to Redd Up Mount Washington

The Mayor and a bunch of "Redd Up" trucks were all working hard spiffing up the area around Grandview Avenue yesterday in preparation of our guests for the G-20. I'm really glad to see that. The entire city could use a good cleaning. I just wonder why we only do it when guests are coming over?

PIZZA!!! My filet mignon....

I love pizza. I also dislike a lot of pizza. As a matter of fact, I dislike pizza about 90% of the time that I have it. The fact that I rarely find really good pizza and continue to order it is some kind of indication of my deep desire to locate the next great pizza joint. Then again, maybe it just indicates that I'm not too bright...

I feel as though I've tried every pizza place in the Pittsburgh area, but of course I'm sure that I haven't even come close. Following are just a few that I've tried and a brief (very brief!) review of them:

Azzeria on Banksville-Pretty good, brick oven baked but not one of my favorites

Bado's in Mt. Lebo-OK

Bellissimos on Mount Washington-Near where I live so it's convienent. That's about it.

Beto's on Banksville-This pizza I really like and would rank it in the top five in the Pittsburgh area. This is thick crust, but it's not too doughy. It is a crispy crunchy crust with a good sauce and fresh cheese. Very good.

Capri Pizza in Homestead-Better than average

Cestone's on Mount Washington-Another better than average and convienent for me!

Cici's, everywhere-yuk

Domenico's in Cranberry-Nice variety and pretty good.

Domino's-yuk

Fioris Pizza on West Liberty Ave- Very good, kind of a sweet sauce and a thin crispy crust. You can order a pie and take it next door to the tavern which is nice.

Fox's Pizza Den, everywhere-Same old crap.

Frank's Pizzeria, Duss Ave. Ambridge-The Best. Ever. Anywhere. You can stop reading now, it dosen't get any better!

Giotto, South Side. One of the best, thin and crispy with a very good sauce. They also offer a variety of styles.

Harry's, McMurray on 19. Great, one of the best around. Thin crispy crust.

Juliano's, Stubenville Pike-Pretty good stuff

Little Chicago on the South Side-I ordered the Chicago style and didn't like it, but I'm going to go back and try the thin crust.

Luigi's, Lincoln Ave, Bellevue-This was always a pretty OK pie.

Michael's, Sarah Street, South Side-This is amazingly good pizza for a bar/restaurant. I don't hesitate to order it and it's a pretty good bar too!

Mineo's, Squirrel Hill and Mt. Lebanon-Considered one of the best in all of Pittsburgh, but not by me...Here we go, let the comments fly!

Monte Cellos's-OK chain pizza

Papa John's-See above

Pepperoncini's, Oakdale-Pretty good

Pizza Roma-OK for a chain, kind of like Monte Cello's

Police Station-In Ambridge. Excellent. Has a thick crust, which I usually don't like, but their's is very airy and crispy. One of the best!

Sir Pizza, off of Rochester Rd in the North Hills-very good and unique. Thin and cut into tiny squares

Tony R's, Sewickley-One of the best. Very fresh ingredients with the best cheese! Take your GPS!

Uno's-no damm good.

Vincent's in Greentree-Pretty good

Vincent's Pizza Park-Another that's considered one of the best in the city. I haven't tried it, but they have such a rep that I felt I had to list it here. I'll report back after I try it.

Vocelli, everywhere-OK

I always thought that pizza preferrence is really a personal thing. I mean, just about any steak lover will like any good steak house, but pizza is different. People either love it or they don't. Mineo's is very popular in Pittsburgh and is pretty good. They use very fresh ingredients and the pie tasts like it, but it's just not my style.

My favorite, without a doubt is Franks in Ambridge. It's a thin crust that is almost pastery like in texture (not it flavor!). This makes it very airy but still crispy...not mushy. They apply the cheese first and then pour the sauce over it. This way the cheese retains it's moisture. If you want extra cheese, they just add it after it comes out of the oven. When they close the box, the heat from the pizza melts it. YUM!!!

Tessaro's....Again!!!

I made another visit to Tessaro's in Bloomfield recently on a Thursday night and am I ever glad that I did! It turns out that Thursday is the night that they sell ribs and I love ribs. I almost always order one of their famous burgers but this time it was pork ribs. My sister, who has only been there once before, really wanted a burger. The burger came out juicy, and well condimented with lettuce, onion, and ketchup on a perfect bun. Check out the picture! The ribs were fall off the bone tender and splashed with a delicious sauce. The side of redskin potato's was the perfect touch to a great meal. I really like this place not only for the food but also for the atmosphere.

How about those Pens!!!!

I went downtown yesterday to the parade for the Stanley Cup Champion, Pittsburgh Penguins. What a great time. Stacy and I were going to walk to the Mon incline and take that down to Station Square and walk, but when we got to the incline there was a huge line. We decided to take our chances and try to park at Station Square. Luckly we were able to find a spot pretty quickly. The parade was really fun and we got some great pictures that I will post soon.

Ummmm....Mussels!

One of my favorite eating and relaxing afternoons in Pittsburgh is a trip to Roland's in the Strip for a few hours enjoying the sunshine and their deck overlooking Penn Avenue. Aside from the lobster sandwich (that's another post) I really like their mussels. Years ago, it was refered to on the menu as "A bucket of mussels" and was served in an old fashioned steel wash basin. This is a great meal for one and is big enough for a couple to share as a snack.

I love mussels but I've always really liked it when they are served with a tasty broth. They are really easy to cook at home and great for entertainment because it only takes a few minutes to prepare them to perfection. Following is my favorite recipe:

1 bag of mussels
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 cups of dry white wine
1 small chopped onion
1/3 cup minced parsley (fresh makes a big difference!)
1 or 2 stalks of diced celery
1 diced sweet red bell pepper

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onion and garlic and cook a few minutes until the onion is opaque. Add the wine, celery, red pepper, and parsley and bring to a boil. Add the mussels, cover and simmer until the shells have opened, about 5 to 8 minutes. Don't over cook and don't lift the cover!!! They need to steam. Discard any unopened mussels.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the mussels to individual bowls. Pour the remaining liquid over the servings and serve with melted butter for dipping.