Pittsburgh - New Beers & Local Breweries

Food preferences are just as subjective as beer, so maybe you'll find the pizza better than mediocre. Not sure where else you plan to be, but Troegs has fairly impressive small plates and Federal Taphouse has a yummy pork belly app, though their menu is $$ to $$$.

There is a place, very near Troegs, by the name of Smoked. While nothing there is spectacular, I usually end up going just for the donut burger. Medium rare with a dippy egg on top.

 

Just unnecessarily frustrating.

 

Looking at the donut burger pic now, in all its glory, makes me wish I would taken another for leftovers, which I could be eating now for lunch. Instead I have kale and quinoa salad.

 

I have been, won't go back. To each their own. Haha.

 

I have to say, after this weekend Sharper Edge is officially on my massively overpriced list. They had the Ommegang Belgian Independence Day for $15 a glass..........Must be made with pure gold......Oh no wait, its not. I can get a bottle of it for $15 at Shadyside GE.

 

With a side of your testicles? Sounds like you certainly don't need them...

 

Everything in moderation. Gotta keep my figure.

 

I don't see the point of going to any Sharp Edge. Selection you can get in many other places on top of high prices. Maybe someone can convince me otherwise, but I don't plan on ever visiting another location.

 

Only reason I stopped there was because they had Track #8 on tap. I hadn't been there in over a year and won't be going back any time soon.

 

It'd be different if the food was really good at Sharp Edge, but it's not.

 

So having only moved here a few years back, this is my assessment of Sharp Edge and could be wrong, but fuck 'em. They had a corner on the Belgian/craft beer market a couple years before the craze caught on in Pittsburgh and they could get away with charging premium prices because no one else had them on draft. Fast forward to 2013/14 and there are craft beer bars everywhere and no one gives a shit about having Duvel on draft when its $13 per glass. In conclusion, no one cares Sharp Edge.

 

There was only 1 other couple in there on a Saturday afternoon. Booming business they are doing.

 

Their food is very, very bad. Out in the hinterlands of St. Clair/McMurray, we don't have much, and I infrequently find myself at Sharp Edge, grumbling about their prices.

More often then not, I settle up at GE Market Express--I chatted with the manager there this past Sunday and asked about getting a social media presence and his process for requesting specific beers.

 

I've only been to the Sharp Edge that's downtown. I've not been there in ages, though. Felt like their food was OK but nothing worth coming back over.

 

I really think that GE will start putting some pressure on some of the "craft beer bars" and I think that its great. If a few more stores can get a formal bar/entertainment area like the one in Waterworks, I could see myself calling GE my "go to" bar.

 

So you avoid bread, but you'll partake in a donut burger...love it.

 

Sharp Edge is another one of those places like The Library and Mad Mex where you basically can only go during happy hour when it's half off, otherwise with tax and tip you're spending $8+ a draft. And that's not even mentioning their bottle prices, which are laughable.

I actually like their food. I think their appetizers are awesome, and I love their burgers. I get an Entertainment Coupon book every year, and it always includes a BOGO coupon for each one of the Sharp Edge locations, so I've been making a few visits for the past few years to take advantage of this.

That said, I probably would never step foot in the place without the BOGO coupons.

On a related note, I always get a weird feeling when I enter a Sharp Edge. No matter what location I go to, I feel like I've walked into a family's game room from the 1980's. Everything just feels so outdated. It's a weird feeling and I can't explain it.

I haven't been to the Waterworks location, but is it anything like the Whole Foods' bar in Wexford (if you've been there)? I think that's a dope bar, especially for a grocery store.

 

It's the Homer Simpson diet.

Don't really adhere to any specific guidelines, just try to eat clean 85ish percent of the time. The other fifteen, it's no holds barred.

 

On Friday, Penn is tapping St Nikolaus Reserve...doppelbock version of standard St Nik

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/125/39722/

https://twitter.com/PennBrewery/status/623276199318548480

 

I can't speak for how it compares to Whole Foods, they sit on my list pricing wise, right next to Library et al

Agree with ya on the outdated weird feel of Sharp Edge. Even the Bistro one downtown feels odd inside.