Pittsburgh this Saturday...

If I recall correctly, there is a Rivertowne location right by the stadiums that has decent taps and a ton of space and TVs for game watching. It's located in the Del Monte building. It seems to get iffy reviews, but I liked it when I was there.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22464/view=beerfly

 

There is a shop in the strip where you can get growler fills and taste some of their beers..http://www.eastendbrewing.com/node/869

 

Man, wish I was going to be in town, like I said before you hooked me up with some good info when I was in Baltimore last time. Anyways your best bet is the Southside for sure. Mostly because if you get bored with one place, or it get too crowded or something then you can just walk to somewhere else. Obviously you mentioned you've been to both Smokin Joes and Fatheads, and those are always my top two recommendations to everyone in that order. I would definetly check out Pipers Pub, english pub with excellent food, just a couple tvs, shouldnt be that crowded on Saturday afternoon, but might have to wait for all the soccer matches to be over before they shift to college football. Tap list is more than respectable with a strong focus on locals and at time up to four different beers on cask. Next I would recommend the Carson Street Deli. Just remodled to add additional taps. Again a couple tvs, and pretty good food. All local taps and bottles to go. Some other options would be The Library, really good food and decent taps, and Over The Bar (OTB) which is pretty much online with The Library. Might also be worth checking out Double Wide Grill and Hofbrauhaus as well.

 

What's your top priority? The beer or the football?

The North Shore location is probably my least favorite of the Rivertowne's, but it's still my first stop for a pint before going to a Pirates/Steelers game. I don't think it sucks, FWIW.

The Rivertowne Inn in Verona is actually my fav Rivertowne location. Chill, mellow vibe, a bit older and "divey", a hundred or so bottle varieties in the case (that you can help yourself to) in addition to something like 24 taps. The North Shore location will do better for the Football, but the Inn will have games on and do a little better with the beer.

Honestly, the best place that I know of if your goal is to maximize the number of games you'll get to see, is Rick's Sports Bar & Grille out beyond Monroeville headed towards Delmont. Giant complex. TVs everywhere. Many of the booths actually have their own 19" in addition to the giant projectors and that mass of TVs above the bar. Now, there's a lot not to love about Rick's. The "greasy barfood" here can't hold a candle to what you'd find at Rivertowne or Fathead's. And while they have 66 taps, 20 or so of them are different variations of BMC, and probably another 25 of them are pretty "standard/safe" craft options. But they do have craft beer. Lots of it. And College Football. Lots of that, too.

If the beer is more important than the game, Fathead's should be priority #1. It's the king of draft beer in the area. They'll have a couple of games on, but unless you get a seat at the bar, most of the other seats are hit-and-miss in terms of being able to see "the game". And at most they'll only have 2-3 games on, so if you're looking for a specific one, this might not be for you.

Places like The Headkeeper (Greensburgh), House of 1000 Beers (New Kensington), and The Sharp Edge (Friendship) all have great beer, and will likely have a game or two on, but they aren't chalk-full of TVs/games, and they have more seats that don't offer a great view of the game then they do seats that will. These are beer-first, game-second kind of places.


Honestly, I think some of the Max Mex locations would offer:
1) multiple games on
2) multiple seats available at the bar early in the afternoon where you can see those games (which might not be the case at a place like Fathead's)
3) a couple interesting offerings on draft (they keep the website pretty up-to-date, so you can check for yourself online).

If Football is your top priority, try Rick's. If beer is your top priority, go to Fathead's, House, or Headkeeper. The Rivertowne Inn or a Mad Mex might be a great compromise of good food and good beer. In the "compromise" category I'd give a slight edge to the Inn because I think they have good bar food. JMO.


Edit: The Double-Wide Grill in the Southside was a good recommendation another poster made, too.

 

Are you looking to drinking some good beer with friends and being in a relaxed, chill environment or were you looking to go to a more lively place with large crowds?

Fathead's definitely is the best mix of beer selection, crowd, games, and atmosphere (but it will be absolutely packed on a Saturday and like people have mentioned, it's hard to watch a game here). I'm a big fan of the night life of Southside (i'll be down there Saturday night as well), but there isn't admittedly a lot of places to relax and drink some good brews with your friends. dtx100 and PSUkinger made some good suggestions, although I don't think you should do the Double Wide Grill (so much better in the summer). My buddies don't care about what they drink so I always end up being dragged to Jimmy D's, Buckhead's, Carson City, etc. It sucks.

The Industry Public House in Lawrenceville has a great beer selection and some amazing food. Great atmosphere too.

http://www.industrypgh.com/

 

Mad Max has great draft prices on the weekdays (everything is half off from 4:30 - 6:30) for a head's up.

 

East End also opened their new brewery tap room this week (Julius Street in the Larimer neighborhood); haven't been there yet but planning to try to drop in Saturday. Its a big upgrade from their old tap room, from what I can see. They also just tapped Snow Melt Ale, and the 2 pints I had were excellent, so it'd be worth chasing down a sample of that.

 

I find myself at the Inn fairly often, because:

1) It's a little bit divey. Not a LOT, but a little. And I like that. Chill, mellow, "clean" without being "pristine" or "new".

2) I'll go there during sporting events because you can always see the game. Keep in mind, I've never been there on a Fall Saturday, because I built myself a multiple-tv-setup in my basement for just this purpose (college football). So I can't speak to the Inn's CFB-viewing experience first-hand. It's no Rick's, I can tell you that much. But they have 3 big screens side-by-side on the lower level below the bar, and you will almost certainly be able to get a small table to yourself down there on a Saturday afternoon. Crowds won't be a problem. It's the kind of place you can probably special-request a game if they don't already have it on, and the waitress will change the channel for you, too.

3) While I value the beer list more than I value the food, the food is good. Which means my wife likes it. Which makes it easy for me to "go there".

4) The beer list ain't bad. As I explained in detail above, it's no Fathead's/Headkeeper/House, but they'll have some good stuff.


I wanted to throw you a bunch of options with a bunch of pros-and-cons. But based on your post above, you sound like your taste/preferences are similar to mine, and as a result, this would probably be my top recommendation to you.

 

Half-off wings, too. You can't beat Mad Mex's happy hour with a stick.

Best happy hour in town, IMO.

 

For sure. An amazing deal. 14 nice sized wings for like $7. And their ranch dressing is so good.

Do other people like their wings as much as I do? I freaking love 'em.

 

I do! I never can remember which one, I always have to ask my wife, but one of the flavors that sounds good to me every time I read it sucks (I think it's the BBQ, but I'm not sure), and one of the flavors that sounds boring to me (I think it's the San Francisco, but again, my wife keeps track of this for me hah) I absolutely love.

 

Samples yes, pints no.