The Church Brew Works

 After a day of hitting the museums in Oakland, my friends and I headed down to The Church Brew Works for some dinner and refreshments.

Beer Sampler

 It goes without saying that the Church has some of the best beer in Pittsburgh and my dining experiences in the past here have been quite good. So lets see how the food would be on this pleasant Saturday Afternoon.

Cup of 7 Onion Soup $4.50

The 7 Onion Soup was outstanding. Laced with the Church's own Pious Monk Dunkle beer, the soup had great onion and beef flavor. Its topped with homemade croutons and melted provolone cheese which adds a nice dimension of gooey tasty cheesiness. You cant go wrong with this soup as a starter on a cold Winters day.

Shinkasa Cheese Steak $11.75

    The Shinkasa Cheese Steak was your typical generic cheese steak sandwich. They use high quality Morgan Ranch Kobe beef on this, but the subtle flavors of that are washed out by the preponderance of peppers and onions. The sandwich could have used a little more steak on it in my opinion, especially at an $11.75 price point. The accompanying french fries were limp and soggy, looking like they had been sitting out for quite some time.

Cinco Fromaggio Pizza $9.25

 The Cinco Fromaggio Pizza is cooked in the Church's wood fired oven and is topped with Mozzarella, provolone, jack, feta and Parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, basil and pine nuts. My dining companion also had chicken placed on it for an additional cost. The flavor of the pizza was very good, having a nice tang from all the different cheeses. However the crust was underdone in the middle and bottom while the outside was slightly burnt. Seems like the cooking surface of the oven was not at an adequate temperature to thoroughly cook the pizza on the bottom. 

Buffalo and Wild Mushroom Meatloaf

 Having had this dish before I was looking forward to trying it again. But things were not the same. First off the meatloaf itself came to the table lukewarm at best. The potatoes were not cooked all the way through. Also the first time I had this dish you could see the bits and chunks of wild mushrooms throughout the entire meatloaf, but now the mushrooms were indistinguishable from the buffalo meat itself. But worse of all was the fact that the meatloaf had almost zero flavor, with only the tomato demi-glace that covered the meatloaf imparting any flavor. All in all a big disappointment for what was once an outstanding dish.

  So a mixed bag at the Church Brew Works.  While the beer was as usual top notch, the food seems to have slipped a little since the last time I had visited. But I will be back if for anything to have one of their  freshly made Celestial Gold beers.

  RATING: 6/10

Patron Mexican Grill

 Patron Mexican Grill has three locations throughout the Pittsburgh area. Word of mouth has been pretty mixed on it. 

That is the seat back of a booth

  We went to dinner on a Saturday night and were quickly seated. The decor is a colorful festive Mexican motiff, which reminded me of eating at the long gone Chi-Chi's.



Chips and Salsa (Free)

   Our meal started out with complimentry chips and salsa. The chips were nice and warm. The salsa was slightly spicy with a strong taste of cilantro.




Side Salad ($4.25)

 The side salad was complete garbage. They actually gave you packets of Newman dressing. Ok at Mcdonalds, not at a sit down restaurant.

Queso Fundido ($9.99)

     The Queso Fundido is melted chihuahua cheese with chorizo sausage, bell peppers, and onions. Its like a Mexican style Fondue and you use the warm soft flour tortillas to scoop it up. The juice from the chorizo sausage infuses with the cheese and makes a very nice dip. Just make sure you eat it quickly before the cheese congeals.

Chili Relleno ($4.99)

 The Chili Relleno is a big ass poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, breaded and deepfried, then covered with tomato sauce and more cheese. This was a mediocre dish. The pepper was very mild putting out barely any heat, let alone flavor. Any cruchiness from frying the pepper was undone by the liquidy tomato sauce. This actually reminded me of eating an eggplant parmesan.

3 Beef Soft Tacos ($5.99)

 One of the good things about Patron is that you can order A la carte. So if you just want a single chimichaunga or burrito without the rice and fixins, you can do that. My companion ordered the beef tacos with soft tortillas. They come with ground beef , lettuce, and chihuahau cheese on top. The beef could use some more seasoning as it is rather plain. But if you get some limes and salsa to put on these, you can doctor them up to be pretty tasty.

Fajita Azteca Fixins

Fajita Azteca ($14.99)

  The Fajita Azteca comes on  sizzling skillet with chicken, carnitas (pork), steak, chorizo sausage, and peppers and onions. Which you obviously put on warm soft flour tortillas. This was maybe the best fajita plate I have ever had. All the different meats had a distincive taste and texture with the steak being my favorite being both tender and well seasoned, and with such a variety I was able to basicly make a soft taco with each different type of meat.

 So my impressions of Patron were mixed. While I found the fajitas to be excellent, I found other dishes like the salad and the Chili Relleno to be from terrible to mediocre. All in all I would say that I would visit Patron again. While not the best or most authentic Mexican dishes you will find, it is reasonably priced, has quick service, and if anything they have excellent fajitas.


RATING : 6/10

Two Brothers BBQ

   People are asking me all the time what I think the best BBQ joint in the Pittsburgh area is. Well it is without a doubt Two Brothers Bar-B-Q. A little BBQ stand in the small town of Presto. The only reason I was able to learn about this place is because my work district headquarters is down the road from it. Everyone I have ever taken there has been impressed, and its as close as you will get to real Southern BBQ.

Where the magic happens

  Two brothers uses a mix of hickory and cherry woods to smoke their meats, and they do it long and slow with the pulled pork taking 10 hours. To order you just walk up to the stand, place your order, and within 10 minutes you will be good to go. They have picnic tables set up there or you can take it home.
 So lets check out some of the bbq I have tried at Two Brothers.

BBQ Pulled Pork Nachos $7.49

  The pulled pork nachos are definitely a favorite. Tortilla chips covered with cheese and a huge amount of smoked pulled pork and bbq sauce. Go for the hot bbq sauce as it is not all that hot, and get an extra side of sauce as well. You can also get the nachos covered with chicken or chili as well.

Beef Brisket Sandwich $7.49

 
    The beef brisket sandwich is an 8 inch hoagie bun piled high with a large amount of smoked beef brisket. The brisket is smoked perfectly with a nice pink smoke ring and its almost fall apart tender.

Shrimp and Bacon Po-Boy $9.95

The Shrimp and Bacon Po-Boy even though not really bbq, is my favorite sandwich at Two Brothers. Its large grilled shrimp, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a spicy mayo, on an 8" hoagie roll. This sandwich has so many depths of flavor. The smoky and salty bacon,the savory shrimp, the spicy heat from the mayo. Its like the ultimate version of a BLT.

Mac & Cheese  $1.59

 Of course Two Brothers has all the sides as well including Mac&Cheese. The mac&cheese was good, but nothing all that spectacular. They also have BBQ baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad and cornbread cake.

 So if you are in the Bridgeville area of Allegheny County do yourself a favor and stop by Two Brothers. I'm pretty sure it will become your go-to place for BBQ in Pittsburgh.

  RATING: 8/10