| Pub | Comments | Location |
|---|---|---|
| ??? | No name, just a shamrock sign, on the front of this small scruffy-looking bar. | Penn / 16th |
| Area 51
Web site |
This disco/bar done out in spoof hi-tech style was a
bit dark, dingy and dead when we visited early in the
evening, but I imagine it's buzzing later on. Draught
beers include Boddingtons. There's an impressive mural of Area 51 on the dance floor wall.
Last visited May 2001 |
Penn / 21st |
| Banana Joe's | At the front, a traditional night club, busy noisy and fun. Surprisingly, at the back is another slightly quieter room with six pool tables. The decor is - as always in the strip - bare brick, girders and air conditioning ducts, but with the addition of a few metal palm trees. Each table in the row along one wall has an individual TV for watching sports. Stunning barmaids! | Smallman / 20th |
| Bare Elegance | Another "gentleman's club". | Liberty / 31st |
| Bar Pittsburgh | This disco has a very large dance floor with two
bars, plus a back room with pool tables and another bar.
The music, which ranged from the 60s to the 90s, was too
loud (I must be getting old!). Girls get free drinks for
dancing on the bar which certainly adds to the
entertainment but can be inconvenient if you want to buy
a round. Bottled beers $1 during happy hours, no draughts
available. I was warned about rude bar staff here but I
saw no evidence of this.
Last visited September 2000 |
Smallman / 19th |
| Brandy's | This very pleasant two room pub is located right next to the larger
Harp and Fiddle. The nicely done out front room has a square island bar
and was full of friendly drinkers when I visited on a Friday night.
The back room has tables for eating. There is also a yard with an
awning for use in the warmer weather.
Last visited February 2001 |
Penn / 24th |
| Bulldogz | Opened July 2000, next door to Rolands. | Penn / 19th |
| Cafe Franco | A pleasant, very lively cafe/bar on two storeys,
serving good food.
Last visited June 2000 |
|
| Charlie Bly's Tavern | Penn / 26th | |
| Coconuts | What can I say! $5 (and a long queue) to get in to
this wonderful "beach bar" in the middle of a
car park. Do they sweep up all the sand in the winter?
Last visited June 2000 |
Smallman / 15th |
| Dave's Bar and Grill | Penn / 18th | |
| Donnie's | A small pleasant bar with the inevitable bare air conditioning ducts. No draught beers. When I arrived with 50 or more members of the Pittsburgh Pub Crawl on a Saturday night there was only one barman, making the service a little slow!
Last visited May 2001 |
Penn / 17th |
| Donzi's | A modern night club. Generally good music but an irritating tendency to slip into Ricky Martin mode without warning.
Last visited May 2001 |
Boardwalk |
| Elements | A pleasant, plain, popular place with splendid bar
staff! They were playing only Bob Marley in the disco
when I visited.
Last visited June 2000 |
2016 Smallman / 21st |
| Foundry Ale Works
Web site |
This large open warehouse has a main bar and restaurant downstairs and another bar up on the balcony. Ten of their own brews on tap plus a cask conditioned one on hand pump. When I visited the cask conditioned IPA was rather good, if a little over-sparkled, although it was a bit disappointing that they had run out of glasses and we had to have plastic ones. The food looks good, especially the puddings! I was a little surprised to notice that they still had a Christmas tree up in March!
Last visited March 2001 |
Smallman / 28th |
| Gene's Last Chance | Penn / 25th | |
| Harp and Fiddle | Penn / 24th | |
| M (Metropol) | A rather good night club in the inevitable converted warehouse. I was there
to celebrate new year 2001 when both Metropol and Rosebud were active, and the
place was very lively with different music playing in each part. Since then,
the Metropol part has been redecorated and is now known as M, although apart
from a new coat of paint and a few panels bolted on the wall I can't really
see any difference.
Live acts I've seen here include Paul Oakenfold and David Byrne.
|
Smallman / 17th |
| Primanti Brothers | I know this is mainly a food outlet but they also sell beer - bottles of Bud and the like - so it does count as a bar for this guide. The chip buttys are superb.
Last visited May 2001 |
Smallman / 18th |
| Roland's | A pleasant sea-food restaurant and bar in a converted warehouse (aren't they all round here?) The food is usually excellent (Although I did have one mildly disappointing experience) and the mussels are highly recommended. Downstairs, draught beers include Sam Adam's seasonal brews, Tetley, Guinness, Boddingtons and Amstel as well as various micro-brews. I have been served some very off beer here - watch out! A sign behind the bar commemorates the fact that "On this site in 1897 nothing happened"! The upstairs part - Roland's Iron Landing - has pool tables, more dining space and a balcony over the street. A stupendous selection of bottled beer both domestic and imported from all over the world is stored in a long row of glass-sided chiller cabinets. To give an idea of the range, the menu lists over fifty different Belgian beers. But beware - the downstairs waitresses may refuse to go upstairs to get you one, so make sure you're in the right area. Live music upstairs at the weekends, when there is an entry fee. (Get there early before the fella goes on duty and you can get upstairs for free!) Last visited 2001 |
Penn / 19th |
| Rosebud | The first time I passed this way this place wanted to
charge me $5 for the privilege of walking past on the
sidewalk. I declined and walked in the street instead. On my second encounter, the idiots refused to accept a UK driving licence as ID so we didn't go in. Their loss. When I finally got inside Rosebud I found two bars, a kitchen serving food that looked good, a stage, dining tables and some comfy-looking armchairs, all in one large room - another converted warehouse. Part of the same complex as Metropol. Live music is often on here, and amongst others I saw Jefferson Airplane and Suzanne Vega here. Last visited 2001 |
Smallman / 17th |
| Silver Bullet Saloon | When I visited on a Friday night this narrow corridor
bar was packed with happy people drinking $1 draughts out
of plastic cups.
Last visited September 2000 |
Penn / 20th |
| Tequilla Willy's | A large rather good night club playing 70s and 80s music when I was there. There are some large screen TVs, and some pool tables if you don't want to dance. The $7 entrance fee covers this place, Donzi's and the Boardwalk Bar in between.
Last visited May 2001 |
Boardwalk |
| 31st Street Pub Web site |
Penn / 31st | |
| Valhalla Brewing | A rather nice bare brick and girder interior with not as much of a Viking theme as one might expect. There are tables on the street and on a balcony above in summer. Their own beers, brewed on the premises, are very good, especially the Black Forest, and the seasonal brews are always worth trying. The chairs at the bar are designed for style rather than comfort, in contrast to the very comfy sofas! The food is excellent. The live jazz band can be a bit noisy on occasion.
Not the place to go for a cheap night out although prices are quite good during happy hour. What this place needs is a blackboard behind the bar giving details of the beers so I don't have to shout "What's the seasonal?" every time I go in. I'm told this place has CLOSED since I left Pittsburgh. Last visited April 2002 |
Smallman / 12th |
| Voodoo Lounge | A rather good biker's bar, busy on a Saturday night. A bit dark and dingy inside! No draught beer as far as I could see. There's a nice selection of biker-related prints on the walls, and many of the bar stools have saddles! There's often an impressive array of bikes parked outside, where the signs say "Parking reserved for Harley-Davidson".
Last visited May 2001 |
Penn / 18th |
| Whiskey Dick's Saloon | A noisy bar with a live band, not yet visited. There's an outside balcony at one end. | Smallman / 15th |
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