Six Penn Kitchen - @@@@

One of my favorite places to date in Pittsburgh and when we went back the other week it did not disappoint. Yes it is new style American aka "corporate American" as I call it since it caters to expense accounts.

This pork shank is great. Crispy and tender at the same time, it is flavored well with apple notes and plenty of rendered fat. Also comes with mashed potatoes, apple wedges, and a spicy applesauce (weird but tasty).

Definitely a must try if you are downtown in Pittsburgh. Also nice that it is right over the bridge from PNC Park so check out the nice stadium and get some great food after.

146 6th St
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Bridge Ten Brasserie - @@@

Dinner here tonight, was relieved to find a different sort of place other than what I call "corporate American" that is all over downtown. Per usual for first work days, the place was empty. How empty? I was the only diner at 7:45. Ouch. It is really amazing but here in Pittsburgh there is no one out on Monday's it seems.

Anyways got the usual steak frites that I usually try at French places. It was good, had some solid spices and was definitely medium rare. The food literally took 5 minutes to deliver. The steak was rib-eye which I usually love but in my mind I always think of sirloin for the protein.

The food overall was pretty good but I think I have other biases in my mind. I am leery if no one is there so it seems odd that I enjoyed the food. I want to go back when it's busier to perhaps try more non-standard items like the duck, rotisserie, or pâté.

PS - frites were not as skinny as I hoped but oddly enough were quite crispy. Well seasoned too

20 S 10th St
Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Jerome Bettis Grille 36 - @@@

This is salad Pittsburgh style. Mixed greens, cheese, tomatoes, steak tips, blue cheese crumbles, fried onions, and most importantly French fries. Everything here has fries on it, sandwiches, salads, and burgers. The salad itself is pretty good but at the end of the day it's a salad.

At Bettis' it is a pretty big sports bar/restaurant amazingly adorned with Steelers paraphernalia. Lots of tvs so checked out Michigan beating Minnesota last night. They also have BTN which few spots in Providence had (maybe adding Rutgers will get bigger NE presence??). If you need to watch a game, this is a pretty good place to check it out at with food to be expected from a sports themed restaurant. It's also close to the stadiums and casino for those inclined.

393 N Shore Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Primanti's at the rink

Maybe it will be better this trip...

Hockeys back!

Watching the Pittsburgh Penguins open scrimmage at the Consol Energy Center. Excited hockey is starting again!

Chapel Grille - @@@

Went here on Thursday for dinner.  It is pretty close to work so thats a bonus.  The building itself is really nice, its large like a ski lodge but decorated early American style (big pictures/portraits of old people).  I went with the paella which can be an odd choice for me since I dont particularly care for seafood.  However this one had minimal seafood and had a bonus piece of pork belly on it.  It was pretty good, although I still feel the rice is too moist.  There were also minimal amounts of peas in it and were replaced by both green and black olives...ugh!  I gave away the clams, however I did eat the jumbo shrimp.  They were seasoned pretty well.  The lemons slices were odd, they were too small to squeeze so I just "juiced" them with my fork.  Also in there is the pork belly on top, which was tender however not hot, and chorizo, which was good.  The rice as mentioned earlier was moist and reasonably flavorful, what was nice about it was that it was really hot in temperature.

Though we didnt get appetizers, the food was served with homemade foccacia and a sampling of olive oils from California, Greece, Italy, and Spain (listed from darkest to lightest).  I liked the Italian one the best, mild and flavorful.  The California was pretty heavy, Greece was a little sharp, and Spain a bit oily.  I thought it was a cool concept though and the foccacia was good too.

The place was certainly upscale and very business-y which is odd since its in a suburb of Providence.  I thought it was reasonably expensive but the portions were good sized.  Definitely worth a try especially if you are in the mood for a nice dinner.


3000 Chapel View Blvd
Cranston, RI 02920