OTB Bicycle Cafe
www.otbbicyclecafe.com

2518 Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
(412) 381-3698

For the second visit, I invited “the community;” this was the third outing of the FoodBurgh Meetup—my little experiment in reader participation. For the OTB trip, about 8 people made their way, and I’d say it went pretty well. The diversity of the group made for some interesting conversation, and one discussion even inspired another outing, to Las Velas (in Market Square).

If you don’t remember, OTB is a South Side bar with a definite bicycle theme. The interior artwork includes colorful murals, and dangling old-time bicycles (and bicycle parts). They serve a “relatively small” number of draft beer options, but take care to focus on some more worthwhile options than just macro-brews. For the veg heads in the crowd, the menu also does a pretty good job of offering up vegetarian version of several meals (thanks to seitan and tofu substitutes). For the more carnivorous crowd, I’m told they serve up a pretty good burger.

For this trip, the bar was definitely busier. The staff was more than willing to save us a large-ish table in the back, which is notable given the number of restaurants that refuse to accept a reservation for any group. A quick email to one of the owners (an earlier FoodBurgh connection), and a call to the restaurant the night before was really all it took.

Fun and knowledgeable server. In my original review, the service was effective but not very interactive. This time, the situation was far different: the bar was packed, and we had a far larger group. Despite the crowd, our server was attentive and friendly—she even knew something about the beer. That’s not to say she was a “beer person,” but at least she knew some basic styles. Actually, my second beer came as one of her recommendations: a Singletrack Ale from Boulder Beer.

Good ingredients, but way too much seitan. I discussed the menu in my previous post, so I’ll spare the details here. For my meal, I ordered an Allegheny Cycling Salad—with seitan, though chicken is also available. What came out of the kitchen was kind of a mixed bag. The ingredients were top notch: quality greens, tomato with some actual flavor, shredded carrot, and red onion. They top it with big pieces of seitan and will optionally present it ‘Burgh style with fries cheese for $1.50 more. The seitan, unfortunately, was the problem.

Allegheny Cycling Salad (w/ seitan)

I like seitan, and this seitan had great texture, but the pieces were far too big—really out of proportion with the rest of the salad. Smaller pieces would have offered up just enough flavor to complement the salad, but the big chunks drowned out the veggies and came across as bland.

Recovered by a great server. Being good at her job, our server noticed that I lacked enthusiasm in my consumption of the seitan. She suspected I was looking for more flavor and offered to bring out one of their wing sauce options, which are apparently available with really anything on the menu. I went for the standard wing sauce, which she explained is actually vegan, thanks to a kind of butter substitute. Granted, a lack of flavor wasn’t the whole problem, but the fact that the waitress took note and gave me a chance to effectively munch on a few “winged up” says to me that they’re trying.

From the rest of the table. I picked up photos of a few additional items around the table: mainly the Clipless Pedal (a crusted tuna appetizer) and the Granny Gear Salad. The clipless pedal looked outstanding (see below) and was complimented by a meetup-goer as having an excellent sauce. The Granny Gear was well received, but looked to me like it went a little overboard on the candied walnuts—a little reminiscent of my experience with the seitan.

The Clipless Pedal Appetizer

Granny Gear Salad

Getting past the winter beers. The beer list over at OTB isn’t huge, but they do lean almost entirely toward craft beer. They have a pretty good relationship with East End Brewing, and always have something from Scott on tap. In fact, this year’s keg ride (and reverse keg ride) ended (and started) at OTB.

One thing I’ll note about the beer: this time around, I ran into an overwhelming number of big heavy beers. Given the season, that kind of spread is fairly standard. The problem? Winter beers tend to be big beers—delicious, but also high in both alcohol and calories. This time I was aiming for something a little “smaller” and more sessionable (lower in alcohol and caloric content). With guidance from our server, I found something, but could have used a few more options from the category.

Good for a drink, okay for dinner. It’s not a must visit, but you can certainly find good beer and a place to hang out with friends. I tend to appreciate the less noisy, less crowded scene than what you might find at the South Side’s far western bars, but that comes at the expense of a smaller beer list. On the food side, the ingredients are fresh, and they make a strong effort to please a veggie (and even vegan) diet. Even if you’re not a health nut, they actually offer up a few rather interesting burger options. All that aside, I wish the execution was a little more reliable, and others in the group seemed to echo much the same. Even so, it’s at least worth a shot.

So Long Star Ratings!

At the end of the day, every place is a little different. There are high points and low points, and condensing a very complex emotion that I have for a particular place into a single metric just isn’t workable. Sure, I could use a multi-variate scoring system, but that’s just complex and burdensome. I write this blog to call attention to restaurants than I want to promote, and a numeric scoring system doesn’t let me do that any more effectively.

If you want to know how I feel, read the review. If your pressed for time, then skip to the last paragraph or two, where I tend to summarize my thoughts. Even that is bound to give you a better perspective of how I feel than a single score.

Last week, various meetups gave me two chances to strike south of the Monongahela, starting with a Beer Meetup at the Birmingham Bridge Tavern. The took me to OTB (a FoodBurgh Meetup), but that will have to wait for another post.

Birmingham Bridge Tavern
www.barsmart.com/bbt

2901 Sarah St
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
(412) 381-2739

Unless you’ve gone looking for it, you may not have ever noticed the BBT. It’s tucked away on Sarah St, East of even the Hot Metal Bridge. Questions of why they called it the Birmingham Bridge Tavern come to mind, but I’ll let that one go. If you ever do drive down that section of Sarah St, you’ll probably notice the lights—they stand out in a part of the South Side that’s otherwise residential and, well, dark. One benefit of being tucked in a far corner: I actually found a parking space within a block of the door.

First a bar and second a dining establishment. BBT does have a full menu with all the standard bar fare, but, at least in the main room, most the tables on the first floor are within an arm’s reach of the bar. That doesn’t necessarily say anything about the food; it just says you really ought to order a beer while you’re there.

On this visit, I really only entered aforementioned “main room”—a rather narrow room on the corner of the building. I’m also told there’s a second floor for larger groups, but didn’t get a chance to see it. Focusing on the first floor, the bar sits on the longer interior side, with stairs and restrooms on the short interior side. The lighting is somewhat less dim than the usual bar—but still not bright (because it is a bar).

…and, of course, flat screen television pop out at every angle.

An attentive waitstaff of one. When I showed up, members of the Beer Meetup were situated at a long table downstairs, and a single employee served as bar tender, server, and restaurant spokesperson—though I can only imagine there was at least one other person in the kitchen. That “uni-server” turned out to be quite personable, and very much in touch with the beer: both traits I appreciate when I go out.

Got beer? 20 Drafts, 100 Bottles. If I were to drive past BBT and maybe even peek my head in, I would be quite sure of what kind of beer to expect. Sure, there’s the requisite neon out front—from the likes of Sierra Nevada, I seem to recall. But it’s still sometimes hard to tell. Fear not, BBT offers up a respectable number of “good beer” options. They even had something from 21st Amendment—just weeks after it first arrived in the ‘Burgh.

Beer travels faster than ink. Good selection aside, both the draft and bottle lists were slightly outdated. The first two drafts and first bottle I asked about had recently been replace by something else. That actually ended up working out pretty well for me: the uni-server suggested a bottle that wasn’t on the list: Pandora’s Bock from Breckenridge Brewing. That was both new to me and a far better bock than expected—a welcome outcome out of possible disappointment.

Complete menu, but it’s not online. Working from memory and sparse notes, I’ll say the menu is fairly complete (even relatively large): appetizers, salads, sandwiches, wraps, burgers—just about everything you would expect in a good pub. Sadly, I can’t verify that memory with anything on the web: the closest I’ve found to a menu online is a catering menu over on BarSmart. One thing I did take note of: vegetarian options in every category, which were much appreciated.

So I ordered a shrimp wrap. Despite ample vegetarian options, I took the seafood route: a shrimp wrap with a side salad. All sandwiches came with a choice of sides that included even a side salad, and that’s exactly what I ordered. The shrimp came served along side a pretty good mound of quality greens along with greens and croutons. The wrap itself included a reasonable quantity of internal veggie matter: lettuce and tomatoes along with large chunks of shrimp and some cheese—though not so much that I felt guilty for eating it. I found the big chunks of shrimp to have a somewhat pleasing texture that shined through everything else—that familiar not-quite-chewiness, which I rather enjoy.

I ended up eating all of the salad and half the wrap. Both were good. That’s not to say that either qualified for gourmet cuisine, but they were definitely worth eating. I enjoyed a nice shrimp texture with every bite with enough flavor to keep it interesting, but not so much flavor that the shrimp itself was hidden.

Not all that unhealthy. The best part: neither the salad nor the wrap was all that unhealthy. Both included a more than adequate supply of veggies, and the thick balsamic that came along side the salad went along way in tiny drizzles, and the veggie to shrimp/cheese ratio of the wrap was well within reason. I didn’t even feel compelled to add extra veggies when I ate the second half at home the next day—a practice I seem to follow almost anytime I’m eating leftovers.

In general, I’m a fan of BBT. The uni-server was friendly enough to make me (and the entire meetup group) feel welcome, and the food was good enough (and healthy enough) to make it a good place for a beer. I wouldn’t call BBT a “must visit” ‘Burgh establishment, but it definitely holds it’s own. BBT actually makes for an excellent alternative if you’re driving in circles around the rest of the South Side and can’t find a place to park. Chances are, there’s a spot somewhere not too far from the BBT. Plus, if you’re really desperate, they’re even within a few blocks of the parking structures on Sydney.

Beer Nutz Bottle Shop
beernutzplaza.org (broken link!)
2 out of 5 stars

1335 Freeport Rd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
(412) 963-6882

As a place to grab a beer (or buy a case at the adjoining distributor), Beer Nutz does a pretty good job. With different sets of coolers and some un-chilled shelving, they have a lot of beer options. That’s not to say they outdo either D’s or Bocktown, but there’s little chance you won’t find something worth enjoying—unless you’re that one friend that doesn’t like beer at all (we’ll call her #5 in my group).

Situated way out in Aspinwall, they aren’t anywhere close to local for me, but if you’re out that way, it’s a solid place for a beer. Sadly, that didn’t seem to be the case relative to food: I and multiple others at the table were somewhat disappointed by our meals.

Inside: bright, clean, and spacious. When you first drive up to the place, it’s not clear what to expect. Some of my companions were even a little nervous about even walking in. Fear not, there’s absolutely no reason to fear. A step inside shows off a well-kept, bright room with a decent row of tap handles, an open kitchen, and plenty of beverage coolers. The main room offers up a decent amount of seating at bar-height tables—in this case, all of those tables were filled. A second, smaller room on the other side of the kitchen offers up dart board and a few more (normal-height) dining tables. The second room was empty, so I and my 5 companions found a table there.

Open Kitchen and Bar

Front Room (Bar-Height Tables)

Back Room (Normal-height tables)

An adjoining distributor. Though I didn’t stop in, I should note that the same building houses both a beer distributor (i.e., cases of beer) and a bottle shop (i.e., food and individual bottles). This is the first I’ve heard of such an arrangement, and one can imagine using the bottle shop as a method to decide what to pick up next store. I’m not sure I would ever make use of that possibility, but somebody out there might. In general, the trip I take to the bottle shop and the trip I take to the distributor are two very different use cases that don’t really tend to overlap.

Holes in the menu. Though the “placeholder” site (on around-foxchapel.com), suggests they have a “large menu,” I didn’t find that to be the case. I found only burgers and salads and various piles of fries—plus some wings. The whole list is up on Urbanspoon for anyone looking to check it out. The unitary vegetarian option: a pita platter with hummus, feta, pita, and a few veggies didn’t really make sense as a meal. To be fair, the focus is clearly on beer, and they never promised to serve up healthy or vegetarian options, but I wish they had done better on that angle. I would have liked to see at least one vegetarian salad or maybe some kind of wrap.

Based some positive trending salad sightings, I suspect I’ll be ordering one of those in any future visits. I’m sure they would have no problem serving up a grilled chicken salad sans grilled chicken.

Beer selection? Good, but no surprises. Departing from my normal format, I’m going to talk about beer options before I go on to nit-pick the food. That follows and the Beer Nutz approach and gives me a chance to start with the positive. I found options from just about every brewer I expected to see and even a few I didn’t. Somewhat notably, I found multiple “He-Brew” options from Shmaltz—something I haven’t exactly started to see everywhere.

One category in short supply: less common options. Most places will have a few 750mL bottles of some more interesting options or just beer that I hadn’t heard of. Sometimes I’ll even find 12 oz bottle I never expected to see. Those are winning stories: I consider a bottle shop to be successful when they show me something I didn’t know about before walking in. Beer Nutz didn’t really manage to do that.

Not seeing something new and unexpected may just mean that I’ve been saturated with beer awareness, but, given the industry’s rate of change, I find that hard to believe. My hope is that this is just a characteristic of being relatively new. My hope is that they’ll start to reach a little once they turn through a few more iterations of their regular inventory.

The Mediterranean Platter. While this “platter” did provide for a vegetarian option, I was somewhat disappointed by the execution. The platter consisted of kalamata olives, peperoncini, slices of feta, sliced tomato, soft pita, and hummus. First off, there are some positive notes: they could have done far worse on the olives, and the presentation was fairly well done. As the pita, I find that it usually comes in one of two varieties: hard pockets from a “lean” dough (i.e., minimal fat or other additives) and softer, “flat bread” without much in the way of a pocket. Beer Nutz served up an example of the latter.

Mediterranean Platter ("Grilled Hummus & Pita")

What went wrong? A couple of issues. First, the tomato slices were the kind really meant to top a sandwich. For the platter, I would have liked to see a different variety (or at least thicker slice). The tomato the did use was flavorless and not particularly easy to consume with the pita. Second, the hummus was…lacking in complexity and overly salty. Hummus is a relatively easy to make in-house, but I’m fairly certain the Beer Nutz hummus wasn’t: it was wet, overly salty, and otherwise dull—basically, cheap manufactured hummus. They could have done a lot better—even without making their own.

Continuing with the nitpicks, the feta pieces were somewhat large for consumption without first being broken up, but that’s was difficult with the sparse collection of toothpicks and notable silverware shortage. Even dining companions who ordered a salad had to go hunting up front and make special requests for a fork. I decided not to go to the trouble.

Some brighter notes on salads. Two of my companions ordered a salad, so I did get a chance to see if they turned out any better. Thankfully, the situation seemed to be an improvement from the platter. Though neither salad-ordering companion was extremely happy with the salad, I should note that their only complains surrounded off flavors of the chicken/steak on top. Somewhat unexpectedly, all of their salads sat on ample beds of mixed greens. That much was a plus. By default, all salads came topped with fries and a handful of cheddar. I also noted a peperoncini floating on top of each.

Grilled Chicken Salad

Steak Salad

Overall, the salads came with plenty of greens, but that’s where any notion of healthy eating collapsed. Fries, cheese, and off-tasting meat were just about about the only other components. More veggies on top would have been a a big plus.

Don’t forget the burgers. Two of my dining companions ordered burgers, and their reviews were somewhat contradictory. One was overall moderately happy with his cheeseburger, the other was frustrated by an aggressively charred and overcooked patty. I’ll give Beer Nutz the benefit of the doubt and assume that was a fluke. Based on appearance, and at least one success: I’ll say the burgers are probably pretty decent.

Cheeseburger w/ Provolone

Will I be going back? Well, there’s a lot of room for improvement, and I’m actually quite interested in what happens over time. I’d like to go back to check in on them, but I wasn’t really impressed. As I’ve said before, both D’s and Bocktown have better food and a better beer selection. Those places lack an adjoining beer distributor, but I’m not sure what use case requires the two to be connected. If Beer Nutz is a convenient destination for you, then by all means give them a try. If you’re in the city like me, then I don’t really see the need.

Blue Grotto Pizza
www.bluegrottopizza.com
3.5 out of 5 stars

1610 E. Carson St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
(412) 904-3277

Blue Grotto is what I would call a “high end pizza parlor.” The place isn’t exactly a full service restaurant, but it is the kind of place that is sufficiently comfortable to justify eating in. According to Munch, the restaurant was opened by the Girasole family (of Girasole restaurant fame, of course). Based on a conversation with one of the employees, they seem to have gone through a couple of different names: starting with Giotto’s (a reference to the artist and his circle) and eventually landing on Blue Grotto. Somewhere in the middle, they lost their pizza chef and original owner: Gino Girasole. Despite that setback, Blue Grotto continues—and I was still reasonably impressed by the food.

Only partially inviting. Compared to just about every other pizza place I’ve walked past in the South Side, Blue Grotto is beautiful. Compared to an actual restaurant, well, there’s always room for improvement. The employees behind the counter were talkative, helpful and just friendly in general. While waiting for my dinner partner, I asked about taking some photos and camped out for a bit at a table without too much interaction (or hassle). Eventually, I made an effort to kick off a conversation with one of the two employees to gather some background. The who experience, which could have been awkward, went off fairly well. Score one Blue Grotto.

What, no bathroom!? I don’t know about you, but I drink a lot of water. It’s a general good practice, but makes me highly dependent on the availability of facilities…somewhat more so than tends to be convenient. When I head out for dinner, I really depend on a restaurant “facilities.” That’s the problem: Blue Grotto had nothing for me. I asked, and was told they had nothing available “at this time.” I’m guessing that means they had something down the somewhat frightening and only partially visible stairwell into the cellar. The net results is that we didn’t exactly hang at Blue Grotto for long. We ate, then quickly made our way up the road to Piper’s where we could finish our conversation over a beer.

Minimalist menu, but fine by me. There’s almost nothing to say about the menu; imagine the bare minimum required by a pizza parlor and that’s about it. You’re basically looking at slices, full pies, pizza rolls, sandwiches, and a unitary salad option. I should note that not every pizza place has a salad, and Blue Grotto does deserve some FoodBurgh credit for having one. I’ll spend some time raving on that salad in a little while.

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The "stack" of already prepared pizza options.

In terms of pre-designed pizzas, Blue Grotto presents three choices: Neapolitan, Margarita, and Bianco. See the menu on their site for all the details. All three are vegetarian, and all three are presented on a convenient display platter next to the register. In fact the only meat-based options are special concoctions that you build up from a list of toppings. From one angle, the counter presentation is good—in the sense that you know what you’re ordering. That choice could just as easily play off negatively: your pizza is sitting out and getting cold for who-knows-how-long. If you’re lucky enough to head out with a big enough crowd, you could probably do far better ordering a whole pie.

First, that side salad. It doesn’t actually have to be just a side salad: they serve up a large version as well. To ensure that I actually had something to say about the pizza, I went with a small salad and a slice of pizza. Having been largely disappointed by salads from pizza parlors, I honestly didn’t expect much. Fortunately, my expectation couldn’t have been further off target.

The salad was made with a good assortment of fresh greens and topped with exactly the sort that I like to see in a good italian salad: tomatoes, olives, shredded carrots, chick peas, roasted sunflower seeds, and blue cheese. The proportions were to my liking, but the plastic serving container was a little awkward. Still, that’s par for the course for an establishment limited to paper and plastic. I certainly can’t fault them for it.

The Grotto Salad (small)

Also worth noting, the house dressing, a balsamic vinaigrette, was right on target—basically the standard recipe. The only potential issue: you better like balsamic—that’s the only option available. Overall, I’d say the salads at Blue Grotto are definitely worth a try. A side salad and a slice of pizza is is more than a sufficient meal.

Neapolitan and Margarita Slices. In an effort to maximize FoodBurgh material, my dining companion and I each ordered a different slice: one Neapolitan and the other Bianca. As one would expect, they pulled slices from the display then tossed back in the oven for a few minutes before serving. Sadly, I think they pulled it out a little bit too early: the slices were mildly warm but not sufficiently so.

Bianco and Neapalitan pizza slices

Extreme close-up for the Neapolitan crust.

Ignoring the need for just a tad more re-heat time, the flavors for each was well balanced. The amount of cheese wasn’t excessive, and the subtle basil from the margarita slice had plenty of clearance to shine through. Overall, pretty good flavor.

Being a bit of a baker, I’m also fairly attentive to a quality crust, and Blue Grotto stood up. I would call it just chewy enough to be a pizza crust with a moderately crisp exterior. Again here, that extra time re-warming could have been helpful—provided that the crust wasn’t heated to the point of continued cooking.

Would I go back? For take-out, I’d definitely give them another shot. At $16 and $20 for a pie, you’re definitely paying for premium pizza. Fear not, I suspect you do get your money’s worth: the pizzas are huge, and a fresh-baked pie would eliminate my only real criticism. If you do stop in for a slice, I also highly recommend the salad. If I ever needed a quick, healthful meal in the south side, I would definitely consider a large salad to go.

For those of you that aren’t completely lost in the layers of friends, I’ll give the follow-on friends names: Kate and Brad. Brad is a fellow computer geek professional that works in an office building the street from my own. Kate is one of my two photographer friends, so she volunteered to do all the photo work for my post. If you like what you see or happen to be seeking a photographer for a special event, go ahead and seek her out over at Captivating Imagery. The lighting at Franklin Inn was less than condusive to quality photography, and she still managed to pull of some good shots—without a flash, no less.

Now on to that review…

Special Note: This and all photos for this post from a professional photographer (and friend): Kate Miller of Captivating Imagery

Franklin Inn Mexican Restaurant
www.franklininn.net
3 out of 5 stars

2313 Rochester Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
(412) 366-4140

Franklin Inn is way up in the North Hills—somewhere along Rochester Road between I-79 and Route 19. It’s not really near anything else—largely in the middle of a largely residential area. According to the restaurant’s web site, it was founded by the Cibula family in 1978 and is currently owned and operated by the original owners’ children. Here’s the funny part: you won’t find even a hint of Mexican blood in the Cibula family tree—though they have traveled to Mexico in efforts to refine their craft.

According to various sources, the restaurant was founded as the “Franklin Inn” in 1978. During the first few years, the Cibula’s found some success in Mexican-themed nights. By 1980, the restaurant had been converted to an almost entirely Mexican theme—with the pesky exception of a decidedly American name (and Logo). The “Franklin” here refers to good ol’ Benjamin of US history fame.

Complete packed on a Saturday night. Remember, Franklin Inn is a little off the beaten path. The parking lot is a reminder of that fact. It’s definitely a big lot, but all gravel and, when I showed up, completely packed. Thanks to the gravel, the parking spots aren’t exactly delineated very clearly. Walking into the restaurant explained the overflowing lot: the place was packed. I made my way out on a Saturday night, so it wasn’t unreasonable to be that packed. More than anything else, I was impressed; who knew a place I had only recently heard of could attract such a large (and seemingly devoted) crowd?

Once we waited in a (somewhat cramped) waiting area, we were seated in the front dining room. The wait for the table was long, but once we sat down, things started moving very quickly. Given the mass of people, and a lively conversation at my table, conversation with our server was minimal. That said, he seemed friendly and was quick to help out when I was looking for a recommendation for my order. With everything else going on around us, it’s hard to say much else about that all-important customer-server rapport that I’m always looking for. In this case, there was some potential, but no real opportunity.

Fairly standard menu with some noteworthy options. The menu over at Franklin Inn is rather large, but it’s available online for anyone who wants to review before you head out (it’s available in PDF as well). The first section, soups, actually lists some rather exciting-looking options—all very clearly made in house. I think the next time I go, I might have to go non-veg and give the Aztec Chile a try. Interestingly, the next section features some not-so Mexican sandwiches and pseudo-Mexican salads. I’m guessing this is an homage to their not-so-Mexican origins.

The Story of the Franklin Inn

The real meat of the menu gets into Mexican combos, dinners, and “house specialties.” In those sections, I found the following vegetarian options:

• Black bean and feta burrito
• Pinto and cheese burrito
• Grilled portobello and vegetable burrito
• Chile Relleno
• Portobello and vegetable fajita

Trying to be a wee bit healthy, I was aiming for a decent amount of vegetable matter (rather than just beans and cheese). That left me with either the portobello and veggie burrito or analagous fajita. Quite honestly, a number of other options on the menu—both seafood and beyond looked appealing (and possibly open to being veg-ified). The net time I hit up Franklin Inn, I would definitely consider going a little wild and trying a non-veg option or seeing what they can do to pull the meat out of something else.

The owners are paying attention. While writing this post, I actually received an email message from one of the owners (Wendy). She sent me a personal note in response to my comment card and Urbanspoon review. Based on her feedback alone, I think I definitely need to schedule another trip out to the Franklin Inn. She was actually the source of several points in the previous paragraph. (Thanks Wendy!)

In addition to giving me the full details on veggie options, Wendy put in a plug for the Mason Jar Margaritas. I noticed several of the jars on tables throughout the restaurant and imagine some of my readers would be rather interested in such an option. If you’re one of the people that likes Big Azz Margaritas from Mad Mex, well it sounds like you found your next adventure.

Chips and Salsa. When I was a kid, I lived fairly close to a Mexican restaurant with a daily ritual of making their own chips—you can only imagine how good my bus stop smelled in the morning. Wendy was sure to point out that the Franklin Inn’s chips are made in house. Once she made that comment, I pulled the pieces together: the Franklin Inn chips were almost identical to the fresh chips of my youth (and those were made by a couple straight out of Mexico).

Franklin Inn also makes their salsa in house.  Saturday night’s salsa was a fairly straightforward cooked salsa. It’s the wrong time of year for fresh salsa, so that made sense. The result was well-rounded with just enough heat to be good for a full range of restaurant-goers. According to Kate and Brad, the salsa served up over the summer is made with fresh tomatoes (making use of a better season for tomatoes).

Homemade Chips with House Salsa

Portobello and Fresh Veggie Fajita. There are times when I might be a little bit more lax in my search for vegetarian options, but plans for a FoodBurgh write-up tend to make me lean ever so slightly more vegetarian. It was in that vein that I decided to go for either the veggie fajita or veggie burrito. My water was rather quick to recommend the Fajita as the better option, so I went with it. I pondered such veggie options as chile relleno or the bean and feta burrito, but both seemed like they might be a little heavy on the cheese (i.e., unhealthy). Plus, I was hoping to get some actual vegetable matter—beyond just beans and cheese.

Huge on veggies; subtle on flavor. I actually made this same comment in my review on Urbanspoon (on the night of my visit). The fajita involved a larger quantity (and variety) of fresh vegetables than I ever expected to see: I counted zucchini, broccoli, green/red peppers, and onions—plus the portobello. Served in the traditional style of fajita’s at an Mexican restaurant, the veggies occupied the entirety of the an oblong skillet. Tortillas came on the side, along with a dollop of sour cream, guacamole, and salsa—each in a small plastic cup.

Portobello and Fresh Veggie Fajita

Less seasoning than anticipated. The veggies themselves were varied and still slightly crisp, but I really expected a little bit more from the seasoning. Wendy responded to this comment, by indicating that most of her clients were looking for a minimal amount of heat. The veggies served with fajitas are prepared with only olive oil and garlic (and presumably at least a little salt/pepper). Wendy also pointed out that hot sauce was definitely available. I’ll accept that; heck, I even used a little hot sauce (and salsa) from the table to season the veggies to my liking—though I ran out of salsa fairly quickly.

Photos from around the table. Brad and Kate also ordered some good-looking dinners. Brad hit up the Frisco Enchiladas: chicken, corn tortillas, sour cream, corn, cilantro, and lime. Kate hit up the chicken enchilada—which was a quick switch-up from the Diablo Relleno special she originally planned. Neither of my companions had all that much to say about their orders, but I’ll post photos (from Kate!) below.

Kate's Chicken Enchiladas

Brad's Frisco Enchiladas

Don’t order salad in a mexican restaurant. Being a salad aficionado, my official stance on salads in a Mexican Restaurant is simple: authentic mexican and a good healthy salad are mutually exclusive; you can’t have both. I say that because Brad ordered a side salad as one of the sides with his dinner and was a little disappointed. The smarter option in this context would have probably been the black bean and corn salad (which Kate did order).

How about the beer? This is yet another situation where I’ll say, “at least they tried.” They do serve up a few different mexican beers: notably bottles of Negra Modelo—a classic example of Vienna Lager, by the way. I also caught a reference to Dogfish 60 Minute on the bottle list, which has apparently become the de facto craft beer option for restaurants that traditionally wouldn’t have craft beer on their beer list. I went with a Newcastle Brown Ale, and it was…enjoyable enough. My advice, if you’re looking or alcohol, order up a margarita. They serve those in rather exciting mason jars and offer up a number different flavors—some of which you probably haven’t seen in a margarita.

Good overall, but I need to head out again. There are times when I hit up a restaurant, order some vegetarian dish, and write up a review while thinking how good my next order could be. That’s exactly where Franklin Inn stands. I’m giving them 3 stars here, based on difficulty finding healthy vegetarian options, a desire for more flavor in their vegetables, and a beer selection with room for improvement. That said, I have a feeling some of those issues would be overcome if I went back and hit up some of their other vegetarian options along with a margarita in place of a beer. Clearly, that’s exactly what I need to do in this case.

Should you try for yourself? Well, yes. If you’re interested in trying a Mexican option you might not have hit up just yet, then you should definitely head up to Franklin Inn and give them a try yourself. This place is exactly the type establishment I like to support.

I see two possible use cases for the FoodBurgh Meetup.

1. An opportunity to revisit some of my FoodBurgh favorites
2. An excuse to try out completely new destinations

I suspect most of my meetups will lean more toward (1), but I leave (2) open as a possibility. In fact, the first (pre-announcement) outing of the FoodBurgh Meetup was to a completely new place: Avenue B. As you can see form my write-up, heading out with a group gave me a chance to see far more menu items than I could have possible ordered alone.

That outing included mostly friends of mine that I had roped into the outing. Now that I’m actively promoting the group, I’m hoping that some of my readers will be inspired to come out and give it a try. I view the outings as an excellent way to meet people with a common culinary interest.

If a Meetup group sounds like a good idea to you, why not stop by the Meetup page and join the group. If your not a member of Meetup, it’s free and easy to sign-up. Some groups are better than others, but I’m a big fan of the overall operation.

Avenue B ($$$)
www.avenueb-pgh.com

4.5 out of 5 stars
5501 Centre Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
(412) 683-3663

From what I’ve read, Avenue B aims to be a casual establishment with up-scale cuisine. If you’ve ever read me grumbling about “stuffy” restaurants that try to hard, you have a pretty good idea of how well that placement suits my tastes. Founded by Chris Bonfili, the former executive chef from the Red Room, Avenue B does a pretty good job of hitting that target—though with an up-scale price point.

Clean, crisp, and slightly rustic. The restaurant sits on Center Ave in the space previously occupied by the Istanbul Grille—just up Center from the Giant Eagle Market District. The view from the street is clean and crisp with solid colors and somewhat rustic brick walls. The sign is simple but effective—though it would be easy to miss if you were just driving by.

The interior follows the straightforward look of the main storefront. The dark green colors and high ceilings really make the right impression: clean, but also rustic; exceptionally comfortable. The tables are topped with brown paper tablecloths, which probably sounds horrible in writing, but make for a much more laid back environment than tablecloths of any color. That brown paper also makes for an interesting contrast with nicely presented place settings and napkin-wrapped menus.

An awkward start. Because I was heading out with a fairly large group, I made a point to call ahead and make reservations—for 8. Despite my planning, things were a little awkward when I showed up—mostly because the rest of the group was running late. I ended up sitting around, posting a quick photo to Twitter, and trying not to feel out of place. For the first stretch, our waitress seemed just a little too eager to get everything right. That was by no means a bad thing, but completely unnecessary and slightly strained. Thankfully, that weirdness quickly improved.

By the end, an amazing wait staff. Once everyone arrived, the all important server-customer rapport started to improve significantly. One of my fellow diners in the back of the table felt a little ignored for a few minutes after arriving, but I’ll write that off as completely acceptable given the burstof new people; our waitress was pretty busy.

Once we all started ordering and our waitress got the message that we were an easy-going crowd, the interactions started to get much more light-hearted and fun. By the end of the meal, the table’s corner occupant was being addressed with an “Okay, dude” and an arm around his shoulder. It was great to have a waitress so quick to realize that such informalities were fine by us.

The menu: tiny buy sufficient. The menu at Avenue B is thin—literally; it covers only a single side of a single column page. That brief menu changes seasonally and is accompanied by about the same number of items on a list of nightly specials—presented on elevated chalkboards on either side of the restaurant. Sometimes a sparse menu can be a challenge, but this one seemed to have enough variety that most everyone found something to get excited about.

Separated into just three sections—”beginnings, “main events,” and “desserts,” I counted only a single salad: mixed field greens (though, another appeared as a nightly special). In terms of vegetarian options, I counted one of the three from the printed menu’s main events—crispy eggplant over tagalini with a red pomodoro sauce. On paper, 33% veggie-friendly is pretty good, but facing just a single option can be hard to stomach. Luckily, the specials list included a few veggie options and the lasagna appetizer was veggie as well—so there’s a good chance you’ll have more than just the one. It’s also worth noting (as our server did) that big chunks of the menu could easily be made vegetarian by request. Our table took up that possibility by ordering an order of flat bread with beans and greens…minus the sausage.

The picture below is the standard version—with sausage; we ordered one of those too.

Beans and Greens Flatbread (w/ Sausage)

If you’re interested in details, the Avenue B web site has a copy of the print menu available for download. Presumably, they update the PDF with each seasonal update.

The field greens salad. None of the salads on the menu were what you might call an entree salad. That kind more robust salad was actually what I was looking for, so I compromised by starting my meal with the field greens salad. Actually, I was going to just order the salad and maybe have a piece of flat bread. The waitress convinced me that the salad was a little small for that—and she was right.

Field Greens Salad

The salad was basic, but extremely well prepared. At just about any other establishment, I would request dressing on the side to avoid a greasy, and even unhealthy salad. I gave Avenue B the benefit of the doubt and ended up with a nice balance. Just a light coating of a balsamic vinaigrette—sufficiently light that none of it dripped on to the plate. The curly things on top are some type of seasoned, fried potato—basically, potato chip in curly thin strips. I picked up a sweet tangy flavor reminiscent of barbecue flavored potato chips—only without the aftertaste.

Seared ahi with soba noodles. Because I had ordered the salad, I went with an appetizer for my main course. I was actually leaning toward the eggplant dish for the sake of being veggie, but ended up skipping it in favor of something a little lighter. To my (strictly) vegetarian readers, I’m sorry to let you guys down.

Seared Ahi Tuna w/ Soba Salad

Like every item, the serving size was “right-sized.” It was small enough that I could eat the whole plate and not feel guilty for the rest of the night. The fish itself was very nearly raw—in a sushi kind of way. Despite a seared exterior, the fish was cold throughout. That cool temperature seemed to really prop up a nice texture and some rather subtle flavors, so it was more than welcome.

The tuna came propped up against a mound of cold soba noodles seasoned very lightly with something close to soy sauce, and maybe some rice vinegar. I suspect greens on top were some type of seaweed, and the red on top—well that’s roe (further apologies to the vegetarians). Overall, I’d say all pieces of the ensemble were light and refreshing. You might think soy sauce would stick out, but that must just means that we’re all used to using too much in our own kitchens.

Others at my table ordered a number of other dishes, so I’ll post some pictures of the highlights below. I should note that I heard minor complaints from my companions regarding bland mashed potatoes accompanying the meat loaf, but nothing else.

Pequillo Pepper Lasagna

Kobe Meatloaf with Whipped Potatoes

Steak Frites w/ Brussel Sprouts and Sweet Potato Fries

Some screamed for ice cream. It’s also worth noting that two of my companions went so far as to order desert. One opted for a multicolored arrangement of three ice cream flavors—basil, pistachio, and one other I can’t seem to recall. The other ice cream recipient has an egg allergy, and our waitress took it as her personal mission to identify a desert he could actually eat. The chef sent out a dish of (presumably non-custard) ice cream on top of homemade graham crackers—all with a drizzle of chocolate on top. He was both impressed and very pleased with the result.

Cream Cheese Ice Cream w/ Homemade Grahams

Bring your own beer. Avenue B is a BYOB establishment, which is always a mixed blessing. On one hand, you get to pick up whatever beverage you want (and probably pay less for it); on the other, you need to do a little planning. For this trip, I had done sufficient planning to hit up Growler Hours over at East End Brewing Co before dinner, so I definitely have to give a shout-out to Scott for making that an option.

I knew ahead of time that several of my dining companions weren’t open to beer with much of a hop backbone, so I went with Fat Gary (East Ends’s highly sessionable standard) and the 32nd iteration of East End’s experimental session beers: a Belgian Pale Ale. I won’t really try to describe each of them; if you’re interested, then make your way over to growler hours and try some for yourself. Get a move on it, though, I’m not sure how much longer that Belgian Pale Ale will last. :-)

Worth every penny. A trip to Avenue B can be pricey—that’s just the genre it fills. That said, it’s worth noting that the pricing at Avenue B is nearly identical to another restaurant I just reviewed: Palomino. If you can recall, I came out of Palomino somewhat dissatisfied with what I got for my money. Avenue B was very much the opposite. I left Avenue B thrilled with the experience and truly excited by the quality of food and the quality of our experience—thanks in part to an exceptional waitress. Given that enthusiasm, I had no problem dropping a sizable chunk of change for an exceptional experience—at least on a somewhat rare occasion.

It’s always nice to get some attention for FoodBurgh outside Urbanspoon, my friends, and my regular readers. I also think it’s good practice to point back at some ‘Burgh bloggers not finding their way into the article.

Who did Pop City miss?

• Burghilicious
• Corduroy Orange
• Brown Eyed Baker
• A Lusty Bit of Nourishment
• Snickie

Especially if your finding this page via a link, check those guys out.

One more thing, the photo of me was taken at 61C Cafe in Squirrel Hill, which is by far one of my favorite places to write up a review. Big thanks to the 61C baristas for letting Pop City do an impromptu photo shoot inside their cafe.

Palomino
www.palomino.com
2.5 out of 5 stars

444 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 642-7711

Turns out, Palomino is a chain—according to the Post Gazette, they’re based out of Seattle. Really, my biggest problem with chains is lack of variety, so in this case the fact that Palomino is operated by a larger organization doesn’t really both me. It’s new to me, and I don’t exactly see Palomino’s popping up everywhere. To me, that means it’s at least worth a try; I just want to make sure everyone is aware of it’s status: this isn’t exactly a local/independent business.

Up-scale but not too pretentious. Don’t be confused, Palomino is “classy,” but they do manage to pull it off in at least a somewhat unpretentious way. I showed up wearing—well, exactly what I wore to work: jeans and a cotton shirt. The place is casual enough that I didn’t feel at all out of place, but it only feels casual; it’s actually leaning toward up-scale. The servers are well-dressed and well trained. They care about what they do, and they’re good at it. A good half the restaurant is glass and looking out on the very center of town, which seems to emphasize the “you’re in a nice restaurant” theme without being too over the top.

Comfortably up-scale. If I had to wrap it all up, I’d say Palomino is “comfortably up-scale.” I have a strong distaste for restaurants that feel uncomfortably stuffy in an effort to make it feel like a nicer place than it is. Along those same lines, it’s quite refreshing to see a place like Palomino that undershoots. They feel a little more approachable than they actually are. If that makes any sense.

Low quality photo, but Amy made a special request to show up in this space.

Bit of a calorically-intense menus. Though the Post Gazette goes so far as to call their appetizers “light,” I didn’t find that to be the case. I wasn’t thrilled with the meat and starch tendency, but the fish entrees improved the situation—slightly. Finding a vegetarian option was nearly impossible.

Others in the group were interested in other items on the menu—Kobe Ravioli and Baked Four Cheese penne among them, but much of the options seemed a bit heavy for my appetite. Salad-wise, I almost went crazy with the (non-veg) Chop Chop chopped salad, but backed of thinking it would be a good place to go out on a limb and order some grilled salmon.

From the brick oven. Pizza is another option that they seem to push, but I don’t remember seeing any orders among those in my group. A house-baked pie would have been $5 if we ordered from the bar, but that price balloons into $10-12 in the dining room. Either way, it would be been interesting to see what they did with it. Fancy-pants pizza can go either way.

If I ever go back, I’m thinking I’ll hit up that Chop Chop Salad. If you want to do a little pre-dining perusal, they do offer the full menu online (minus any specials). I found it easier to grab the PDF than to navigate the site.

Grilled salmon—from the rotating fish menu. Please, hold off all the warnings about ordering any type of “fish special;” I get it. In this case that all the fish options were offered off a rotating list—presumably to stick to what’s available and in season. For this visit, there were two salmon entrees on that list, and I went for the one with grits and asparagus—at least partially drawn in by the asparagus. The alternative was pecan-encrusted, whereas my order was grilled and more lightly seasoned.

I was pleased with the salmon itself. The seasoning was light—possibly just a dash of salt and pepper, so the flavor of the fish itself was really able to shine through. Texture-wise, the exterior was just slightly crisp with an easily flaked interior—just about what anyone could hope for. Basically, the fish itself was good.

As for sides, the asparagus was fresh and fairly well prepared—I would call it grilled, with a little bit of crunch still remaining. Along with the asparagus, I received a balsamic-marinated tomato salad. That salad was actually quite good: plenty of tart vinegar augmented what could have been flavorless fall tomatoes. The tomatoes also seemed to lack a heavy oil component, which was a welcome (even surprising) change.

“Tartar” sauce? Really? The only real problem I ran into food-wise was the dollop of sauce on top. Reminiscent of tartar sauce, it really rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed to be haphazardly dropped on top of the fish, so there was no easy way to avoid it either. That was hugely disappointing, as I hadn’t exactly set out to pay $25 for the not-so-delicate flavor or tartar sauce. Save that for the fish sticks. That said, my distaste for that decision is largely personal preference.

Photos from around the table. Others in my group ordered everything from lobster ravioli to a spit roasted pork loin. The ravioli came out in two over-sized pouches in a splattering of marinara. The pork loin looked, well, like a piece of meat. Honestly, I didn’t get much of a chance to take note of other meals around the table. I did pass around the camera and collect a few pictures (below).

The beer list: not so “crafty.” This is one of those times when I’ll say, “at least they tried.” I say that mostly with a memory of experiences years ago when you could go to a restaurant with only a single viable option—and even that was typically Yuengling. Nowadays, most everyone tries; that’s just the price of entry. In this case, they offered Dogfish 60 Minute, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, and Widmer Hefeweizen—plus our regional standard Yuengling. There were also some decent macro-brews on the list but certainly nothing to write home about. If you’re looking for a craft beer destination, well, keep looking. If you’re just looking for dinner out and at least one or two decent beer options, then go for it.

A Mint Julep straight from Gatsby. Several in the group ordered the night’s drink special: a mojito—served in a 12-oz pilsner glass. Others ordered a mint julep, served in a slightly more traditional glass. The drink reviews from my cohorts were good—and the presentation noteworthy, but I didn’t sample any and can’t really comment.

So what is my opinion? You might read my review and notice that…I’m not horribly excited about this one. That’s not to say it was bad—ignoring poor decisions involving a tartar-like sauce; rather, it just wasn’t notable. It was also unnecessarily pricey; I’ve run into several other places around town with better food and an even more comfortable atmosphere for far less. Better yet, some of those better options offer up a vastly superior beer list. If I had to guess, I’d say you’re paying primarily for a highly skilled waitstaff and impressive center-of-town location. Personally, I’d rather invest that in better beer.

To end on a positive note, I did go out with a fun crowd and was received by an attentive (and friendly) server. Overall, I had a good time; I just won’t be spouting out Palomino praise in conversation for the next few weeks.