Restaurants: Pittsburgh

Still on the summer road trip kick, we recently stopped in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA.  We only had two days, but we managed to squeeze in a trip to the Carnegie Museum, see the new Harry Potter movie, and hit two restaurants seen on the Food Network.

Inspiration came from the Pittsburgh visit of the Man V. Food show on the network.  I’ve known of Primanti Brothers on the Strip, but I’d never been there before.  I’ve been to Quaker Steak and Lube, so I decided to up the ante.

Primanti Brothers

As we arrived at this location on the strip to find a small line, someone leaving said “Good thing we arrived when we did!”.  We said the same thing when we left, because the line had grown out the door!

You enter into a room that has tables on the right, and the grill and prep area on the left.  To the left of the grill wall is a door to the room next door, which I assume has a lot of seating area.  I didn’t make it in there.  One of our party told the waitperson dealing with the seating that we needed a table for six, and eventually, he pointed us to a table at the back of the room with the grill.  So I never made it in the other room, but I did get to watch them prep the crazy sandwiches they make.

You’ve got all kinds of meat to choose from – pastrami, corned beef, ham, sardines, etc.  It all gets thrown on the grill, and when nicely crisped, gets put on a huge slice of bread.  Then, they put the french fries and coleslaw on top, and top it with another slice.  It’s supposed to make it easy for truckers who stop in after deliveries to drive and eat, but it really does make a mess.

Anyways, we sat at our table and wondered if we were supposed to order at the bar, or if someone would serve us.  Eventually a woman asked us from behind the bar what we wanted to drink.  She put the drinks on the bar, and we couldn’t figure out if we should grab them or what.  After doing something else, she came around and gave them to us.  She took our order by memory, and it came out 99% right.  There was cheese on a sandwich that wasn’t supposed to be there.  But I was happy to see that mountain placed before me.

Wow!  Is my mouth that big?

The corned beef was great in the sandwich, as was the coleslaw, which had a light, vinagery coating.  The bread was very fresh.  However, it was all overwhelmed by the fries.  The heavy potato-ness of the sandwich was what you got in each bite.  We ended up pulling out most of the fries and eating them on the side, and this helped immensely.   You could then get the flavors of the meat and slaw.  The bread ended up being very filling as well, so I just ate the fillings on the second half, which allowed me to finish the important parts.

We didn’t get a bill, so I just went to the register.  Upon entering everything, I discovered that: A. they only take cash and B. I didn’t have enough cash.  So I had to get some from another in our party.  Seriously, they only take cash – what’s with that?

Well, it was a good sandwich.  I don’t see the need to go again, though.  If I did get the urge, I’d probably go to the stand alone restaurant in Cranberry, closer to my house there.

Quaker Steak and Lube

Quaker Steak and Lube is basically a wings and beer kind of place.  I’d been there before, and it was pretty good, although this time, we went to the location in Cranberry, instead of the one in Robinson Township.

One little vice, they had fried pickles on the menu.  These are spears, with a crispy breading, and were pretty good.  I tend to like “chip” style better, like at Hooters, or Fitz’s in St. Louis.

Previously, I’d had wings with one of the many sauces they offer.  This time, I thought I’d join Man vs. Food’s Adam, and go for the Atomic wings.  I ordered the sampler, which brought five wings to the table.  My kids were all excited I was going to eat these.  You take a smell, and the mouth starts to water.  I didn’t get an overwhelming heat from them, just sitting on the table.

So I started in.  Initially, it wasn’t overwhelming, like I expected.  The heat did show up a few seconds later, but it wasn’t really too bad on the tongue.  I was very careful to try and keep it off the lips.  I had a beer by my side, but that didn’t help shut down the heat.  Like I said, though, it wasn’t too hot to not eat.  By the third, I was starting to sweat a bit and my eyes were watering.  It was kind of fun though, and not too terrible.  I traded the fourth to my dad so he could try one.  I had one of his BuckeyeBBQ wings, and after the heat from the Atomics, the spicy bbq sauce actually had a nice tang.  A few minutes later, I finished my last Atomic wing.

I asked the server what the actual challenge consisted of, and he told me it was 10 Atomic wings, up from six previously, because too many were able to do it.  There is a “Wall of Flame” by the bathroom, with lots of names on printed sheets for each month, so I guess he’s right.  I did get a couple of “I had the Atomic Wings” bumper stickers though.  Next time I’m there, I’ll try the full challenge.

Anyone want to join me?

Food: Al’s Beef

As I’ve mentioned before, my thing to do when we are on a trip out of town, is to try and have a meal at a restaurant I’ve seen on a Food Network or Travel Channel show.  One of my favorite shows is Man Vs. Food, which starts its second season in a couple of weeks.

So, I was going to Chicago.  Host Adam had been to Chicago.  My path was clear.  Well, actually it wasn’t, since most of my Chicago meals were spoken for, for one reason or another.  I did manage to walk by Gino’s East, while we were shopping on Michigan Avenue.  Pizza wasn’t really my goal though.  What I wanted was one of those crazy Italian beef sandwiches that they dunk, roll and all, into an au jus solution before serving it to you.  To be found at Al’s Beef.

I was not able to make it to the original location, or even one of the downtown franchise locations, but we did manage to stop at the one in Shorewood, IL, on the way out of town.  This location is a dual restaurant of sorts, hosting Al’s Beef and Nancy’s Pizza.  The pizza side wasn’t actually open – a sign said to order from Al’s side.

It was easy to order, since we knew what we wanted, although if you didn’t, the menu has all kinds of wraps, sandwiches and burgers, as well as the beef sandwich.

I ordered the six inch “Regular Al”, with provolone cheese, hot peppers and I wanted it dipped, for sure.  We also got an order of the Buffalo Bleu Fries.  The order included another sandwich and a couple of chicken strip kid’s meals.

Prep was quick.  The order was ready in about 5 minutes for pick up at the far end of the counter.

Verdict on the beef sandwich, an A- .  The best part was actually everything but the beef.  The soggy roll was saturated with the beef juice mixture they dunk it into.  It wasn’t as messy as on the show, where you need to eat standing up leaning over the counter so stuff can fall on the floor, but it was severely juicy.  The dipped bun was great with the melted provolone – melted to just the right consistency.  I do like a bit of a kick, and the fresh homemade hot giardiniera was great.  It’s a mixture of hot peppers, flakes, celery, and other goodness that contrasted well with the mild cheese.  I thought it was a little heavy on the celery, but as a first timer, what do I know?  You can also get cheddar cheese, or sweet peppers (regular green).  The downer ( just a bit ), was the beef.  I thought it was a little on the dry side.  You would have thought being dipped it would have picked up some moisture, but the swim was so quick, maybe it didn’t soak through.

What gets an A+ was the Buffalo Bleu Fries.  Fresh cut, skin on fries, nice and crispy, covered with wing sauce and blue cheese.  Nothing fancy, but really delicious.  I don’t normally order loaded fries anywhere because of the heart attack risk (!), but these just sounded like they’d hit the spot, and they surely did.

Thumbs up for Al’s Beef – locations around Chicago.

The Harry Potter Exhibition

It’s summer, and that means, for us USA types, road trip vacations.  This week, we took a quick 3 night trip to Chicago, from St. Louis.  Today’s post, and the next few, fall under the “Miscellaneous” category on my blog, but I felt the need to throw out some exposition in case people are out there Googling for reviews…

Non-fans of famous boy wizards would be wise to go read another blog posting at this point.

My favorite book series has to be “Harry Potter”, and I think the films are very enjoyable as well, serving up enough of the magic to make it worthwhile.  So, when I found the Harry Potter Exhibition was showing at the Museum of Science and Industry, I had to get us tickets for it.

Note that there is a service charge of $3 or so per ticket when purchasing tickets online, but you get to pick your entry time ahead of your visit, which beats standing in line there for whatever time they have.  Tickets are $26.  There is no videotaping or picture taking, at all.  However, there is the Ford Angelina ( note: Anglia ) from “Chamber of Secrets” in the museum lobby you can photo.  Note that some of the pieces in the exhibit (I think) were not in the movies, and just created for the exhibit, otherwise I can’t think of uses for a highly detailed Kreacher or Buckbeak model.

Our ticket time was 9:45, the first of the day.  I thought that was smart, since we wouldn’t have to deal with lingering crowds in the exhibit, and we didn’t.  It was just our small group of 20 or so.  While waiting in the museum foyer before going out to the exhibit (it’s displayed outside in huge tents, but you wouldn’t know you’re outside), we were entertained by a young man with a knowledge of trivia.  I don’t know if they are faking or authentic, but all the exhibit guides had a British accent.  The funniest part of the “pre-show” was when the man pointed out we were very special, because we were the 9:45 show … 9 and 3/4s.  Just like the Hogwart’s Express platform at King’s Cross.  Very funny.

On time, we entered the exhibit, into a small room with the famous sorting hat on a stool next to a set of doors.  The guide in this room pulled several kids from the group and the hat (well, a voice from above) sorted them into their houses.  This reminded me of something I had seen at the Warner Bros. tour Harry Potter exhibit in California.  They had the same sort of thing where you’d sit on a stool and put the hat on, and it would sort you.  I wonder how much of this exhibit might have come from that one?

We moved through the doors into a dark room with seven monitors on the wall.  These played a sort of Potter montage, quickly moving through the characters and emotions from the movies (nothing from Half-Blood Prince).  The movie was about four minutes long, and the doors opened into the main part of the exhibit.

First, we saw “moving paintings” on a wall.  Actually, only a few of the painting were moving, but it was still effective.  There was then the fat lady’s door to walk through, with the fat lady on the open door (projected from behind).

The first area of the exhibit was “Hogwarts”, if you will.  There were displays separated into different teachers or areas.  On the right was Ron and Harry’s beds along with nightstand and various props.  Glass cases held wands and school books.  Costumes tagged with what movie they were from were alongside each bed.  There was a display for Lupin, with the Boggart armoire, another for Gilderoy Lockhart, with some very humorous props – lots of photos of himself and the big painting of him painting himself.  The potions area had costumes and wands from Slughorn (Book 6) and Snape as well as jars of ingredients and other bits and pieces.  There was a costume from Quirrel and then, the desk and hanging kitten plates of Professor Umbridge, along with her very pink costume.

At the end of this area is Professor Sprout’s costume and props, along with a table of mandrakes that you can pull out of the pot and make scream.  Cute.

We then move into the Quidditch area, and there are lots of brooms, and props like the omnoculars, Quidditch magazines and books, all in cases.  There are 7 various Quidditch costumes from a variety of the films, and if I remember correctly, there were even some more after that, including Cedric Diggory’s robes.  Although I may be thinking of their costumes from the Tri-Wizard tournament.  In the Quidditch area, there is a section (like the basketball toss at an arcade), where you can toss an honest-to-gosh quaffle through one of three hoops, about 3 feet away.  Fun for the kids.

On the other side of the area, is a display of costumes from “Prisoner of Azkaban”, in the pumpkin patch, with a large Buckbeak model.  This is next to Hagrid’s hut.  Inside is a chair you can sit in, as well as a costume.  I never realized how big Hagrid is supposed to be.  That costume is huge!  There is also a dragon egg on the table that wiggles and moves a bit.

Outside the hut is the head of a Dragon from the “Goblet” movie.  Maybe the Triwizard costumes were here.  It’s hard to keep it all straight.   All these small “collections” are nicely themed and really detailed.

We then move into dark territory, which included a model of the Angel grave that held Harry in “Goblet”, as well as Malfoy and other Death Eater costumes.  There was a dementor model hanging from the ceiling and Azkaban outfits from “Phoenix”.  There was also the Harry Potter red sweater costume from them end of “Stone”, which led me to realize how small he actually was in that film.

Lastly, was the Great Hall.  Outside of the hall were numerous “Educational Decrees” on the wall.  Take time to read the fine print on them.  Inside the Hall, which had candles floating from the ceiling, were numerous costumes from the Yule Ball in “Goblet”, including Ron’s ratty, moldy robes, which aren’t any nicer close up.  Especially in contrast to Harry’s Tux.  In the center cases are fake food – a selection of entrees and desserts.  On the far side of the room are cases holding a variety of sweets, from the Skiving Snackboxes to Every Flavor Beans, and also a Wizard board game.  There are costumes from Dumbledore and Sirius and the end of the room and a model of Dobby hiding behind.

You exit to some applauding moving paintings, and enter the store area.  There were some exhibition specific items mixed in with the more generic type things, and a lot of collector items, like plaques with film frames, $50 wand replicas and a $50 Marauder’s Map.  Something for every fan, although you could probably find it cheaper in the real world.

Altogether, it took us an hour to go through, with the kids.  I could have spent much more time in there.  The thing I liked was the detail on the school books and notebooks and quizzes.  You never get to appreciate that stuff in the films because it goes by so quickly.

Up next time, the new American Girl Store and the Legoland Discover Center.

Restaurant Diary

In my Jack and Grill post a few weeks ago, I mentioned I was going to try and blog occasionally about my trips to places I’ve seen on the Food Network or Travel Channel.  Jack and Grill was on a Travel Channel show from 2008, that I caught a bit of last night called “Extreme Pig Outs” .  Which reminded me go back over some places I’ve been.  I don’t have pictures or even extended reviews, but I thought it would be fun to list.

Lambert’s Cafe

The original home of “throwed rolls”, we’ve twice visited this “landmark” in Ozark, Missouri, on the way to Branson.  It was in the show “World’s Best Places to Pig Out“, which is on all the time on the Travel Channel.  I can’t remember if it was on that show or somewhere else where we first heard about it.

I think of Lambert’s as Cracker Barrel on steroids.  Everything fried and so much more.  Ok, there’s some stuff that isn’t fried, but it’s all that heavy, stick to your ribs, kind of food.  But, the waiters actually do throw the rolls to you, and it’s so much fun that my son now wants his bread tossed across the dining room at home.  I don’t remember what I had to eat last time, but I do remember several of the “pass arounds” being kind of bland and unimpressive, although, I found I do like sorghum and honey on my throwed rolls.

The first time we went, we discovered they only accepted cash, but at a subsequent visit they were now taking checks, as I remember.  Suprising the first time, rectified the second, but still dumb they don’t take credit.  Be prepared for a long wait on the chairs outside around mealtimes.  If you can’t wait, I remember there being some kind of cheese and sausage shop in another building next door.

Pointer’s Pizza

On the same show as Lambert’s, is Pointer’s Pizza.  Since we are living in St. Louis, once we saw this show again a few months ago, I made a point to head over there with the family for lunch one weekend.

Note, that this really is a take-out place.  There are two bar type round cocktail tables with high stools, and a pie will fit on the table, but if there’s already two groups eating (groups of 2-4), you’re out of luck, or taking the pie to the park.  The pizza was pretty good, and filling too.  We had a 1/2 cheese and half Mastadon (Sausage, Ham, Bacon, Pepperoni, Beef, Onion, Mushroom, Green Pepper, Black Olive, Extra Chees).  I filled up after a piece and a half, so it is unlikely I could eat the Pointersaurus without fasting for a few days.

Pappy’s Smokehouse

While in St. Louis in 2008, Adam from Man vs. Food visited Pappy’s BBQ .  Around St. Louis, there is a BBQ chain called Bandana’s.  Their pulled pork is pretty good, and I like it on their BBQ salad, but after drooling over some ribs on a Travel Channel BBQ show, I was disappointed by their Baby Backs.  So, when Man vs. Food showcased a local joint, we had to go.

First of all, if you go at lunch, don’t try to enter in the front door.  The place is L shaped, with the counter in the short part of the L.  The lunch line to order goes all the way around the long side, and out the door to the bathroom hallway.  We waited about 20 minutes to get to the order counter.  It only took about five minutes for someone to bring us our food though.

And the food was great!  For $12, I had half a rack of ribs, sweet potato fries (which I’ve never had), and coleslaw.  The slaw was not mayo based, and was very good.  The fries had a sprinkle of brown sugar on them and were great.  The ribs were the standout, though.  Coated in a great spice rub, the meat easily pulled off the bones and was delicious.  Got to get back there again.  I don’t think I’ll be able to eat the Adam Bomb they came up with for the show though:

• 6 oz brisket sandwich
• 6 oz Pork sandwich
• Frito Pie with a red hot
• 1/4 chicken
• Slab of Ribs
• 4 sides

Katz’s Deli

Back in 2003, I had planned a surprise trip with my wife to New York City around Christmas.  When Disney announced they were closing our studio in Orlando, I added an interview at Blue Sky Studios on the end of that.  Aside from musicals and statues, we had plenty of time to visit Katz’s Deli in Manhattan, recently featured on Man Vs. Food, also in Sandwich Paradise, but I don’t think that was where we got the idea to go, back then.

I remember the restaurant, I remember the sandwich being huge, but that’s about it.  Oddly enough, we managed to sit at the table that Meg Ryan sat at in When Harry Met Sally .  There’s a big sign over the table “Hope you have what she had“, which we didn’t notice until the end.  Very funny.

Pickle Guys

I think in the same show about Katz’s was a bit on the Pickle Guys .  I like regular supermarket refrigerated pickles as much as the next guy, but what I really like are “new pickles”.  Still green and snappy, yet lightly garlicky, these things are great, and the only place I’ve found them is at the Pickle Guys.  These guys have a bunch of barrels full of pickles at various stages, and olives and sauerkraut, and you just get to call out how much you want and they pack it into a plastic container and off you go.  I remember getting a quart of pickles to take back to Orlando for my parents, who were watching the kids.

Pommes Frites

Again, in the same NY themed show, was Pommes Frites, the NY home of “Belgian Fries”.  The place is tight and tiny, and all they serve is fries, but yum!  Thick cut, tossed with salt in a big metal bowl, and served in a paper cone, you get your choice of like 25 dipping sauces they have listed on the wall.

Ok, that’s enough typing for today.  I think I have one or two more in my head somewhere to dig out.  Another day.

Food: Jack and Grill

Ok, I will step away from the buyer’s tips and other photography writing for a second and write about another love. Food!

I hardly do any food photography. My kitchen really isn’t that pretty, and all my equipment is down in my studio. So, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about going out and finding good grub.  And my secret little hobby is trying to make it to places I see on TV, either on the Food Network, or on The Travel Channel.  Mostly, because watching TV at night, and seeing this awesome BBQ or greasy cheeseburgers or fine cuisine go by, and not getting to taste it?  Well… can’t let that happen.

My new favorite show is Man Vs. Food, starring Adam Richman.  I just like his sense of humor, and the interesting food challenges he comes upon.   He’s not like some of the other food show hosts, where all they can do is taste things and say “Oh My God”.  He’s actually funny, but he knows what he’s talking about as well.  I think I’d enjoy having a few beers with this guy.

Anyhoo, boy, was I disappointed when a week after I came back from the UGCX conference in San Jose, he did a show… on San Jose.  He also recently did a show on St. Louis, which I will get to eventually (since I live there).

But my luck changed, and he did a show on Denver, and I actually watched it on my DVR, the week before we visited Denver to go skiing.  Unfortunately, Keystone resort is an hour away from the city, so we only managed to do breakfast on the way to the airport.

We visited Jack and Grill, the home of the 7 pound burrito challenge.

Ok, that isn’t the 7 pound burrito.  That’s the regular Breakfast Burrito, and I’d say it was about a pound or so.  That was my choice, with half red chile and half green chile sauce.  Filled with egg, ham, potatoes, cheese and more cheese on top, it was great, and suprisingly spicy.  There was plenty of each type of sauce poured on, and it soaked into the flour tortilla, but there was still lots to scoop onto the filling.  It could have used more egg and less potato, but even with less starch, I doubt I could have finished it.  I only got halfway through before being satisfied.

My wife had the Southwest Hashbrowns, which were regular shredded hashbrowns, with cheese and green chiles on top.  Looked pretty edible from my side of the table.  The kids split a stack of 3 buttermilk pancakes, each was as big as your head.  Very fluffy and tasty, and there was a spice in there, maybe cinnamon or something, that gave it a nice homey taste.  The bacon was a bit overdone, but we saw them make it fresh, though the window in the dining room.  No big pile of pre-made bacon here.

The restaurant interior was fun for the kids to look around.  There are “Jack” things on the wall, from Captain Jack, to boxes of Apple Jacks, to pictures of Jack Nicholson.  One wall is covered with award plaques and articles proclaiming “Best in Denver” for various things.

The server brought coloring books and crayons for the kids while we waited, which was great.  We also got a basket of chips, and salsa.  The salsa tasted homemade and was nice and chunky.  The chips, I’m not sure about their origin.  I like the real lightweight chips we get at Chevy’s.  These were a lot thicker.

On the “Man Vs. Food” theme, we found the “Wall of Fame” with pictures of those that had completed the challenge.  Sadly, Adam was not on the wall since he couldn’t finish.  It’s no wonder, with all the potatoes they put in that thing.  Those carbs would fill you right up.  We did see someone who had finished the monster burrito three times though.

I’d have to say this TV Restaurant visit was no disappointment.