by February wasn’t an exciting restaurant and events month for me. Other than going to New York City, I spent most of the month at home. I had a cold and I had a minor medical procedure. So, in February, I think I only ate at a few restaurants and I only ordered takeout a handful of times.
Dining Out
I started the month at Oak Hill Post for breakfast. They started the special again on their classic breakfast sandwich. This is one of the best breakfast sandwiches in Pittsburgh.
I also started the month by going to Big Jim’s in the Run for the first time. This Pittsburgh institution in Greenfield serves up some great Italian food and sandwiches. I have been craving chicken parmesan for ages. It was a massive plate of chicken and spaghetti. Best of all, my bill was only like $30 for a massive meal, beer, and tip.
I ended up at Bakersfield after a very long happy hour when coworkers were in town. I got their Milanese torta. It was ok. They have gotten smaller than I remember. Bakersfield’s margaritas still pack a punch though.
I got lunch at Chinatown Inn again. General Tso Chicken lunch special. Still my favorite restaurant in Pittsburgh.
My first dinner out after over a week of recovery was at The Parlor Dim Sum. We went there for their Lunar New Year specials. This was an amazing meal of special dumplings, longevity noodles, roast duck and siu mai. The Parlor is definitely another one of my favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh.
I ate at Sheetz! I know that’s not exciting, but I was working on a project for them and ordered a bunch of my favorites like the Turkey Sub and The Big Mozz chicken sandwich. Those videos are coming soon.
I had an impromptu dinner at Alta Via Pizza. I’m growing to really like their square pies.
Takeout
I ordered wings and bacon ranch cheese fries from Big Shot Bobs Beechview. I probably order wings from here once a month. I know people don’t like that they have become a regional chain, but they still have some of the best wings and sauces in Pittsburgh.
After my medical procedure, I got Pad Thai from Thai Spoon in Dormont. I used to get food from there a lot, but the last couple of times weren’t so great. This time it was pretty good, but I was also maybe still a little out of it from anesthesia. Either way, I was starving and ate it all.
I finally tried another Pittsburgh institution Showcase BBQ. The flavors were great and they gave plenty of food, but I thought it was a little dry. Their signature sauce gives a lot of flavor and cuts the dryness. I was told I needed to try it again earlier in the day.
I realized it had been like 3 weeks since I last ate pizza so I ordered a supreme pizza from Slice on Broadway. This pizza was loaded. I’ve always liked their pizzas.
New York City
We got cocktails and a fried chicken snack at Sip & Guzzle, their second location other than Japan. The fried chicken was so juicy with a little bit of a kick. It was a nice snack.
I went to a wine tasting dinner Roscioli NYC located in Soho. This version of their restaurant in Rome brings to New York City the Roscioli wine experience of making everyday luxuries more accessible. I did the tasting dinner at their Rimessa Roscioli in Rome when I was there two years ago. This night, we enjoyed a five course tasting dinner which paired each course with a different Italian wine, many of which are made by friends of the family. I’m not much of a talented wine drinker, but all the food was delicious. I most enjoyed the mezze maniche alla carbonara, the short rib with polenta and maitake mushroom and the tiramisu. This was a great dining experience and a fantastic treat for a lover of Italian food and Italian wines. The full menu is below.
I ate at one of the hottest new restaurants in New York City, COQODAQ. Their big feature is Korean Fried Chicken. We got there at 4:30 to wait in line to grab walk in seats as reservations fill up immediately. We were there to do their Bucket List Fried Chicken Feast. This reasonably priced prix fixe 5 course dinner included two styles of Korean Fried Chicken, pickled vegetables, cold noodles and ice cream. They also have some fantastic cocktails. If I lived in New York City I could see myself eating fried chicken at COQODAQ regularly.
I went to Hamburger America in New York City to try the Fried Onion Burger. America’s foremost burger scholar George Motz opened this new burger joint as a tribute to the classic diner and an ode to the burger. The name of the restaurant is the same as his documentary and one of his books. I own his other book Great American Burger Book: How to Make Authentic Regional Hamburgers at Home. He also has an awesome YouTube series Burger Scholar Sessions, which he tells the history of different regional burgers and then shows how to make them. The signature burger at Hamburger America is an Oklahoma style fried onion burger which is a smash burger made with a heaping pile of sweet onions smashed into the patty on the flattop. It was delicious and remained hot the entire time I was eating it. This burger was amazing. Unfortunately, I was there too late to meet the burger scholar himself, but this just means I need to go to NYC again for another burger at Hamburger America.
I got an unplanned Katz’s Delicatessen Pastrami Sandwich, which is the best sandwich of all time. It is one of the few foods I order to have shipped to me in Pittsburgh, but it’s the best when eaten there.
We spent a lot of time in Chinatown watching Lunar New Year parades and celebrations. We were covered in confetti. We also walked around getting dim sum from multiple places since it’s so good and so cheap. We stopped at Mei Lai Wah, Shu Jiao Fu Zhou, and Dim Sum Go Go. I can always go for lots of dumplings.
We did a large group dinner at Anytime Kitchen in Koreatown for some innovative Korean Fusion food.
Before leaving town, we enjoyed a delicious Mediterranean influenced brunch at Shuka. The shakshuka and baklava cinnamon buns were delicious.
