Pittsburgh: First Impressions of an American City

On the way to somewhere between tipsy and incapacitated, the sounds of forty flat screens blanketing us, I asked a well-traveled friend to list his top cities to visit in the US. His top three cities: New York, New York, and New York. Not surprising if you know my friend or spent more than one night in the super city. But when Pittsburgh was included among the remaining cities I was stunned. Like, Elmer Fudd when cross-dressed Bugs Bunny passes double take stunned. This being a not uncommon response, my friend was ready to adamantly defend his opinion. Spirited nightlife, friendly people, and plenty of activities were among its reasons for inclusion. Since then I’ve waited for an excuse to check it out for myself. That excuse finally came last weekend.

I tag along with a pair of friends, who happen to be brothers, heading to Pittsburgh to visit one of their girlfriends and go to the Steelers game. The trip begins with a trip to the East End Brewery, a small microbrewery I assume is on the east side of the city (I’m terrible with geography). On the way I’m introduced to the Pittsburgh left turn. From what I can tell, there are no turn lanes or green turn arrows in the whole city. This is likely the reason cars turning left gun it when the light changes to beat oncoming traffic. I don’t know how I feel about that, but thought it good to know for any non-natives navigating the area by motor conveyance.

We make a turn you wouldn’t see unless you know it’s there into an alley I’m more likely to visit to get coke or stabbed than beer. We go up to a door that has a piece of paper reading “We’re Open” in about 16 point font taped to it. Inside there is a counter with 8 taps behind it and a man ready to hand out as many free samples as you ask for. I don’t know his name, so I’ll call him Santa. We each have between 3 and 16 samples (who can keep track of this stuff) on our non linear path to deciding which to buy. A few other people come in to the hallway sized room and it is now crammed. We fill several growlers for later which we sling over our backs, singing “Hi ho, hi ho, off to drink we go” on our walk to the car.

I was expecting Pittsburgh to have food for people with strong backs. Not low quality, just designed to fill you up at a decent price after a long days’ work. That’s exactly what the famous Primanti Bros. sandwich is. There’s nothing special about it. It’s just a damn good sandwich with fries in it. Aside from the coleslaw, I could make one myself if I wanted to, which I do, and probably will when I get home because sandwiches are flippin’ awesome!

What I hadn’t anticipated was an abundance of high end culinary treats. I had heard Pittsburgh is cheap. A limo to drive you back and forth between clubs is something like $5 a person for the night. The truth is going out in Pittsburgh can be cheap. When Kobe beef filet and Bison Rib-eye are on the menu, perogies no longer seem like the best option. This was the dilemma I encountered at the second microbrewery on the trip (Does Pittsburgh have more breweries than DC?).

Church Brew Works is actually in an old church. Behind the bar fermentation tanks sit below stain glass windows. 2 rows of columns strung together by arches hold up the stories high paneled ceiling. The cascading echoes bestow a German beer hall atmosphere. On a related note, I found my new religion. In the name of Pumpkin Stout, we pray. That’s right, they had a pumpkin stout. I tasted it, and I now know that God is good.

When I order dinner I ask the waitress if she can bring a beer when the food is ready instead of right away. She said she might not remember since they are so busy, which I completely understand as they are packed. But when my steak arrives (I went with the Kobe beef) she had my beer! The same thing happens with the check: we ask if she can split it and she tells us she hasn’t had time to do any splitting, which we take to mean we have to do it ourselves. But a few minutes later she returns with everything split correctly. It would have been perfectly fine had she not done either, which makes the fact she did more noticeable. We head to a pizza place/tap room to meet up with more friends, but from here on out mental documentation of events is spotty, at best.

I believe DC is a football town. Washingtonians band themselves to the Redskins more closely than anything else. But when you walk down the street on Sunday every single person isn’t wearing a Redskin jersey or shirt. That’s how it is in Pittsburgh. Men, women, and children all decked out in black and yellow. It would be very hard to grow up here and be a fan of another team.
But they’re not dicks about it. In some other Pennsylvania cities, wearing a different team’s colors has a similar result to wearing red in a Crypt neighborhood (Note: being willing to punch a stranger in the face because he likes another team which isn’t even a division rival does not make you a better fan than them. It makes you a jerk). In Pittsburgh they’ll probably make a joke about it and cheers your drink. I saw a couple of guys in Raiders attire getting heckled. But instead of shit eating grins, the hecklers had light hearted, drunkenly warm smiles. There was no cruel intent, and the Raiders fans could see that and answered with similar expressions and taunts. Pittsburgh even makes Raiders fans nicer!

At Jerome Bettis Grille 36 I go to the bar to start a tab. The bartender makes a point to tell me not to leave because he’ll give my credit card right back (CC holding policy varies state to state and even bar to bar). I appreciate he doesn’t assume I know because most of the time I’m left standing awkwardly trying to decipher the policy based on the bartender’s proceeding actions. (By the way, the beer I purchased on that tab: Atwater Vanilla Java Porter. This beer was so good half way through it I took a sip and was re-surprised by how good it was. I had some good beers in Pittsburgh, but the best was from Michigan. ) At dinner, my friend ends a sentence with “No worries” which the waitress responds to with a Lion King reference. We both find this hilarious and take a liking to our server. She wasn’t friendly in a “I’m going to go along with your antics to get a tip” way. She was just being herself.

Everyone in my group comments on multiple sports bars’ uncanny ability to perpetually play songs which incite joy. Aside from standard Eighties classics like “Thunderstruck”, “Beat It”, and “Jump”, there were early Nineties gems like “Return of the Mac” and “Motownphilly” (Yes, Boyz II Men had songs before stupid “I’ll Make Love to You” and, no, they weren’t all laughable baby making music). I will say Pittsburgh may not be aware of music released in the last 10 years, but I’m ok with that.
I’m ok with Pittsburgh in general. People mistakenly believe it is an ugly city. It is simply a city not trying to be pretty. Everything is as it needs to be and nothing else. There is no superficial ornamentation. Even the sculptures have an understated elegance. Concrete steps climb up to boxy, pointed houses of stacked brick or stone, mimicking the mountains they’re built upon. Medieval looking Churches watch over every street corner. Century old buildings and factories are interspersed throughout, evoking the industrial era that once made this city one of the most important in the country. The financial towers inheriting their place of commercial import overlook the river, forming an unexpected skyline. This all blends under a sky implying the impending harsh winter to cast a modern gothic tint over the city.

But the light grey haze from the mixture of crisp mountain air and the dust of generations of austere architecture belies the disposition of the people. Pittsburgh is known as the steel city, but these are not steel workers. They are the children or even grandchildren of steel workers. They carry that blue collar mentality but aren’t necessarily blue collar. Like the utilitarian beauty of the city, people are naturally friendly but don’t go out of their way to prove it.

Can one learn the essence of a city from one weekend? Probably not. These are merely reactions to pre existing opinions. I thought I could hit all the vital points in one shot, but apparently there’s more in Western Pennsylvania than Yuengling and Iron City. Another journey is clearly in order…but I think I’ll wait ‘til spring.