I'm going to be in Pittsburgh for a few days in the beginning of April and I was looking for some suggestions on good breweries, beer stores, restaurants, etc... I've read some good stuff about The Brew Gentlemen......do they bottle/can their stuff or do they only do growlers? Any help would be great. I was looking at the other Pittsburgh thread but 275+ pages is a lot to sift through. Cheers!
Roundabout in Lawrenceville and brew gentlemen get my votes. Neither offer cans or bottles except for a few bottles at bg but both are the cream of the crop locally. If you like ipas both make some great unfiltered versions. Bg leans toward zero bitterness juice bombs and Roundabout has the haze and mouthfeel of a ne ipa but keeps the bitterness. Can't go wrong either way. Voodoo and Fatheads are also worth checking out. I'm not up to speed on restaurants but I'm sure others will chime in.
What are you seeking, in the good food department? We need a sticky note for suggestions for visitors.
Where specifically are you going to stay? Car? Beer/food tastes? The first round of suggestions usually contains some derivation of the following, excluding finer dinning options: Bottle shops: visit a Giant Eagle (with Shadyside being preferable), House of 1000 Beers (pricier and check dates), Atlas. Bars (that aren't breweries): Fat Heads, Pipers, Carson Street Deli (the latter two carry local stuff) Breweries: Brew Gentlemen and Voodoo (proximate to each other), Round About and Draai Laag (also proximate [Grist House is near DL too]). BG sellsl house 750ml to fill with drafts as well, if you can't decide. Which you might not be able to do, because their beers are all yummy delicious. Between them and Voodoo, you could spend the greater part of a day. Dorothy 6 is nearby for a food stop, in the event you want to soak up the beers. Definite recommend for Fat Heads in South Side; great beers and food.
Love Brew Gentlemen and Grist House for their IPA's. Both rely on food trucks for their menus. If you are interested in making a quick trip to the suburbs, you should also check out Hitchiker Brewing (Mt. Lebanon) and Insurrection Ale Works (Heidelberg). As far as a bar goes, I would definetely check out Hough's in Greenfield or Smokin Joe's in the southside. Both have really good selections. 60+ taps each.
If you can, please check out Gauch Parilla in the Strip Distrcit. It's a BYOB restaraunt that focuses on Argentian wood fired meat. It's probably my favorite restaraunt in the city. Some others: Emporio, Smoke, Butcher and the Rye, Meat and Potatoes are some good options in the downtown area. A simple yelp search to any of the surrounding areas will yield 100s of results. The food scene is really good right now. Check out Lawrenceville and East Liberty for some unique places.
Brew Gentlemen, voodoo and Fat Head's are musts. I'm also a big fan of the blue dust for a solid draft list (not necessarily local stuff) and pretty good food. ... and Jerry. Gotta love that guy!
It looks like I'm going to have to be quick to hit up Brew Gentlemen and VooDoo because the only day I'm there when they are open will be Sunday. It might be even tougher if I hit up the Pirates season opener on Sunday but I'll make it work. I ended up flying instead of driving too so I might have to beer mail myself some good brews. I'll try and figure out where we are staying tonight to see what's the closest to me. Does anyone go over the border into Ohio for certain beers not available in PA?
You should definitely hit up a Pirates game but do not miss BG. It's definitely the best in the city as far as local Breweries go. Fat Heads isn't really "local" anymore, but obviously their restaurant is great and the beer is just as good. Uber is pretty easy to get a hold of now so you shouldn't really have an issue getting around the city if you don't have a car. Just an FYI.
Most frequent trip is Vintage Estates (Boardman, OH), but it's a solid hour from Pittsburgh city center.
