PaniniGuy

The Rhythm House is an odd place - big old roadhouse noted for rowdy band entertainment and the Coors Light crowd, but a surprisingly interesting menu once you get past the appetizers and a very decent wine list that's incongruous for the environment.

Can't help much on steak as when I don't eat steak out much, preferring to grill. There's a Mortons and a Ruth Chris (both downtown) and the Pittsburgh Steak House (on Carson in South Side) among others. Personal area favorites include: Downtown/Strip: - The Carlton (ace service, possibly best wine list in town) - Eleven (Chef's Table tasting menu) - Lucy's cart for $1.75 pad thai South Side/Mt. Washington: - Dish Osteria (intimate - reservations necessary) - Fatheads (probably best of the beer & sandwich joints) - Taco Loco (greasy double tacos around traditional Mexican street food fillings) Bloomfield: - Mezzanote (solid treatment of 'usuals', interesting specials) - Tessaro's (meat heaven) - Grasso Roberto (desserts, caffe) Squirrel Hill: - Silk Elephant (thai tapas - no need to order an entree) Shadyside: - Umi (ambitious pan-Asian - some misses, mostly hits, have to respect the effort) - Girasole (upscale Italian) South Hills: - Il Pizzaiolo (excellent upscale brick oven pies and pasta in Mt. Lebanon) - Bado's (Mt. Lebanon - only local pizzaria offering eggplant as a topping, best beer tap selection in So. Hills) - The Classroom (American classics updated by owner/chef in McMurray) - Davio's (friendly, well-executed Italian in Beechview) These aren't necessarily the best restaurants in town (although many are on 'local top ten' lists), but ones we enjoy.

Sorry to hear that (and you must be really p.o'd to come back for post #2 just to mention that). We have Chairman's Selections here at our store in Bethel Park, but BFD. Nothing on sale here where the same or better quality couldn't be had in CT or NY for less. Having moved here from CT where a young boy could grow up to be anything he wanted, INCLUDING a wine merchant/liquor store owner, I have to ask the question: has any gubernatorial candidate in PA ever talked about dismantling/reforming the LCB. In four years here I've never heard a peep from any politico. Figured the Repubs would be all over this because the system is communist/big state and the Dems would be on it because, hey, Libs like to party. Not taking sides. Just would like to see the LCB gone and stores like Scarsdale's Zachy's or Stamford's Warehouse Liquors around here in place instead of the status quo. I imagine you've had this argument before, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Any lobbying orgs fighting this? If this post is inappropriate for this thread, feel free to pull it. No offense taken.

There are probably a number of things I'd never eat if I KNEW what they were. But many things can be sneaked by depending on preparation. Except kidneys. There is no way you can sneak a kidney by. I'm not touching it. I've smelled them being cleaned and cooked. No way. Don't care how much Keller likes his offal, he can have all the kidneys in the world far as I'm concerned. Btw, kudos to the person above who nominated "Cincinnati chili". It is vile, but if you pretend it's more a mangled bolognese sauce than chili, it suddenly becomes more palatable.

Funny, just yesterday I was just bemoaning the complete lack of Pittsburgh posts here. Since you'll be back, a couple of other places to try: Eleven is the first restaurant you'll run into on your way up Smallman St. It's worth it. It is also a Big Burrito property, probably their most upscale to date. Although we've always enjoyed it there we've heard of some FOH issues lately. Also new and near is Nine on Ninth, which is co-owned by the guy who owns the eclectic Cafe Richard in the Strip. Haven't been yet, but initial reviews are very positive. Lots starting to happen in that area, finally. But if you really want to eat well and cheap, go to the cart on Penn Ave. that's just before Sunseri Bros. and load up on pad thai ($1.75 for about a pint and a half's worth) and spring rolls ($1 each). You can't miss it. It's extremely good for the price.

My Dad had a heart condition when I was a kid so I mostly grew up in a salt-free household. He was advised to use Mrs. Dash. I never much cared for it. Thirty five years later I still tend to underseason most foods (so say salt-lovers) or use more garlic/onion/shallot than a recipe calls for, or letting the onion/shallot brown a bit more than you might otherwise for a richer taste.

There once was a garde manger named Jacques, Who created magnificent stocks, When asked for his favorite, He replied somewhat labored, "A pot of Sprite and a bag of Pop Rocks."

It's becoming a specialty coffee industry mantra that indies do better locating near a Starbucks than locating in a more obscure location. Makes some sense since the SBUX real estate division has already done the market/demographic/traffic research. The theory is that customers then use the SBUX like GM uses Chevy, as an entry point, and graduate to the Buick or Cadillac (assuming the indie is indeed better, not always guaranteed).

Maybe we'll keep you to your word on that We'll be in Cherry Hill for the first-ever East Coast Barista Jam in conjunction with the Fresh Cup Roadshow next month (Oct 12-13 if I'm correct). Home baristas and coffee geeks are welcome. No need to be a pro. The Jam is at the Clarion in Cherry Hill and the official host is Ron Vaccarello of Crescent Moon Coffee in Mullica Hill (home to David George, reigning MidAtlantic Barista Champ). There will be some sessions and an opportunity or two to learn some mad skills. I put the jam flyers on Flickr.

At least you Philly folks are included in the national Zagat's guide in addition to having your own. Our only comfort is that Seattle doesn't rate any better than we do vis a vis the Zagats. And it's killing us that there are 24 restaurants in Cleveland listed...

I also wish restaurants would stop using the term homemade. ← Well, at least "homemade" means something now and then. Certainly more than ads that hype, "real Genoa salame" or "genuine Italian parmigiano reggiano" which I heard in an ad for a national chain today. On the larger subject, I do co-own a coffeehouse and am a self-proclaimed panini artist (and I could make you one for just $19.95 for the video... j/k). There's not much chance of me corrupting anything because you'd have to get 8 pages into the PA forum to find the first thread on Pittsburgh where we're located. So I comment on other places where I've lived/visited. Thing is, as an owner, I'm pretty thorough and exacting about what I say because, as others have noted, there is no value to other eGullet members in making something personal or just generally bashing a joint. As an owner, I'm also acutely aware of the following: 1) whatever I post on the internet will outlive my physical being and will be found by a search engine evenutally 2) people are employed at these places and they often really need the job, so it's incumbent on me to be specific in my criticism without impugning everything and everyone 3) well-considered, specific criticism is a huge help for us to make our product/service better. Saying a muffin "smells like ass" or "is the suxxor" is not helpful to us or to anyone else here. I just had an experience on another board where a poster asked about coffee in Pittsburgh. Some other poster told them "don't bother" with our shop, with no context attached to it. I pressed him on this (before my posts were pulled) to find out the context. Turns out he'd been to our shop, loved everything about it, but as another place was closer to the original posters hotel, he posted, "don't bother" instead of saying, "such and such place is more convenient to where you're at and I think it's as good". Big difference between those two meanings. But it's been said. On the internet. So now, with the right set of search phrases, someone (or several people) who could become customers will see, "don't bother with X" instead of the positive comments he said when pressed in another thread. And they may not even give us a try. Even though we did absolutely nothing wrong. So there is value in eGullet. Owners (and staff) do read - and occasionally post - here. But the value is really dependent on the quality of input and the knowledge of the poster relative to the subject. And ultimately in how the comments are worded. Just some schmuck's $.02.

Ditto. But it might be the same friend. ← That "Best Barista" would be John Hornall, formerly one of the partners of the legendary Hines Public Market coffee in Vancouver. He was brought up by Owen in another thread not too long ago: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...0entry1173761 Hornall is a big enough deal in the business that Portafilter.net dedicated a show to him: http://www.portafilter.net/2006/08/podcast...rnall-show.html