Hello, North Side

If you live in Pittsburgh, you know very well of a bad reputation for the North Side of downtown Pittsburgh. That sort of changed for me upon wandering in to BZ's Bar and Grill across from PNC Park after a Pirates game this past weekend.

Make sure it's charred.

I'm a huge fan of Restaurant Impossible and I've always said that I wanted to be at one of Robert Irvine's reveals. Well, I kind of felt like I was at one upon having a good craft brew and a quality meal at BZ's. Come on, your food is served on square plates. Maybe I'm just a big time eccentric, but I love eating off of square plates.

The owner is from the Michigan area. Even as stubborn Pittsburghers, I know damn well that we have a strong appreciation for craft beer out of Michigan. People around here love offerings from Bell's, Founders and Arcadia. It just so happens that the 16th Michigan, a regiment from Detroit, played a key role in the Battle of Gettysburg yesterday approximately 150 years ago. So, go Michigan.

My God, and then there's the food. The kitchen staff seems to be very experimental with the restaurant's food which I tend to love. I was able to try a Shrimp Po'boy sandwich, the infamous Turduckin' Burger and what was referred to as a S'more Cheesecake.

The Po'boy had a cucumber creaminess that was unmatched by any other Po'boy I've ever had. The Turduckin' Burger is crowned with a fried egg. I recommend that you take the top portion of the bun and smash the fried egg so that the majority of the yolk marinates the rest of the burger. Oh yea, there's duck meat on it too. If you get a chance, just lift a portion of the egg up and notice the smell of the duck. Holy God.

Smash the damn egg.

The S'more cheesecake reminded me of nights at my grandfather's cabin in Warren, Pa. We would roast marshmallows and hot dogs in the fire pit. A roasted marshmallow is only as good as its amount of charring, in my opinion. The slice of cheesecake had the perfect amount, in my opinion.

There also seems to be a trend of interest craft happening on the North Side. The Beer Market just opened (coincidentally next door to BZ's). I was able to consume a Dogfish Aprihop and a Bell's Oberon (which I love) throughout my meal.

If I had a single complaint about the place it would have been the noise level. An order or two got screwed up because of the inability to understand each other, but the place looks classy. It's clean and I know good people that consistently hang out there. More Michigan beer and great food, please.

Monday Rant: Heinz Field - Where's the Good Beer?

Where's the good beer? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'm sure many of you have spent a Sunday afternoon/evening tailgating around Heinz Field for a Steelers game. If you're geeky about craft beer, as I am, then you've most likely noticed the lack of craft beer selections inside and out of Heinz Field.

Let me fill you in on my North Shore journey yesterday. I stopped at the new Pittsburgh Grille and Sports Bar. There was a pretty decent selection of craft beer. After paying $9 for a  Raging Bitch IPA, I decided to move along and see if I could get something a bit cheaper.

My venture's brought me to Stage AE, right down the street. I knew there was at least beer taps there. I was highly disappointed in the beer selection as it is mostly Coors offerings on draft (Blue Moon, Killians Irish Red and Coors Light). I decided to buy myself a Coors Banquet, which I haven't had in a while. It's nothing to be thrilled about, but at least it didn't cost me another Alexander Hamilton.

Places like the bar I visited previously and Rivertowne right next door get the job done in terms of a beer selection, but outside and in Heinz Field is somewhat disappointing. Not sure if it has something to do with money, contracts or what not but it's still sad. Even sadder is the fact that the majority of football fans everywhere will still buy it. It's almost like a monopoly in NFL stadiums.