PGH Dining: Church Brew Works

Husband, James and I went to Church Brew Works in late April, on a Sunday for lunch.  You can just imagine the colorful religious jokes that resulted from this. Anyway, we entered the nave {!?} and then the sanctuary {!?}, to be seated in the back.

Church Brew Works 

PGH Dining: The Sewickley Cafe

Yes, I'm still writing about Sewickley. It seems like we were there ages ago, but I still have so much to say. Maybe by this weekend I'll be finished, and can get back to city musings. 

Husband and I grabbed an early lunch at The Cafe Gourmet Provisions Sewickley The Sewickley Cafe, located on one of the main drags of the town, Beaver Street. As more people piled in, we discovered there was patio seating in the back {which would had been lovely on a sparkling, sunny day like that.} Instead, we sat at a table near the wall, and took in the long bar, open kitchen and cold case full of layered cakes. We made a mental note.

 We decided to try and order something healthy, but completely lost that thought when we saw the chicken salad and truffled fries. Now, I've had a truffled fry in my time, and could have chosen to pass these up. But, I'm glad I didn't. 

 They were delicious. Crispy, and odorous with that truffly stink. Loved it. 

The chicken was in chunks, which is fine in my book. I can eat this version or the milled-up kind and be happy. This particular chicken salad had a mayonnaise dressing, and featured halved purple grapes. 

Seeded bread crust.

 We also shared the coconut shrimp salad. That's healthy, right? Shrimp? Lettuce? Well, it does have fried shrimp and a butter croissant, but it was light and fresh. We were pleased with the tart dressing that accompanied it, too.

 Finally, since everything had gone to hell in a hand basket, we ordered a large, thick slice of lemon cake. {Which strangely turned out to look strikingly like birthday cake.}

 I'm not a fan of the fluffy, Cool Whip-like icing this cake was covered in, but that didn't stop me from taking a few bites. The lemon flavor of the cake came shining through, but Husband finished it off.

There are so many food options to try in Sewickley, and The Sewickley Cafe holds it's own. My one comment would be for management to consider a less confusing logo, and maybe stick with featuring just the name of the restaurant. Too many words confuse people!

Neighborhood: Sewickley

Good For: Brunch, Lunch

Gems: Patio Seating, Cake

Drawbacks: What is this place called?

 

PGH Dining: Burgatory Bar

 I'm warning you now, readers, that this will be a somewhat lackluster post. While I loved the greasy goodness of Burgatory, there were several features of the event that weren't stellar.
First, Husband and I had tried to go eat at Burgatory Bar, a spankin' new restaurant in the Waterworks Mall in Aspinwall {across the river from us in UpLa*}, but were unsuccessful because of the TWO HOUR WAIT {in December}. So, this time, we came prepared. We walked in on a Thursday evening, threw our name on the reservations list, and was told it would take about 45 minutes to an hour before we could get any table {they have tall boys as well as booths or chairs}. Fine. Great. Will do. We then proceeded to shop at T.J. Maxx and other smaller stores nearby. After about 50 minutes, Burgatory texted my phone to let me know I had less than 10 minutes to rush my buns over to the restaurant, or I would lose my table. We BOOKED it over, and made it in time to be seated at a two-person table near these puppies:

Flame Sculptures! {Or maybe some sort of space heater?}

Another one.

After taking a breather from our jog to the restaurant, we looked over the menu, which held a bevy of delicious options from chicken chili to salads to custom burgers. Husband didn't end up getting a "Custom Creation," but he HAD filled out the form.

He noticed lettuce wasn't an option. Weird. It IS a burger place, after all. 

We continued to look over the menu {and took in the cutesy posters on the wall, below} before deciding on sharing a burger and a salad, which would follow our appetizer of all appetizers... 

We couldn't pass up the truffled Gorgonzola fries. Could you?

Bucket O' Fries.

 The Gorgonzola stayed mostly in clumps, and stuck to the oiled fries delightfully as you snagged a few for your bite. The green onions added a nice bite to cut through the richness of the cheese and white truffle oil. 

 After eating 85% of that bucket of absolutely delicious fries, we were thankful that we were sharing our entrees. I ordered the Farm House salad, which featured "Baby Lettuces and Arugula tossed with Sunflower Seeds, Shaved Parmesan, Roasted Roma Tomatoes, Sweet Corn, Haystack Onions and Balsamic Vinaigrette".

My portion of the salad.

 I wish I could say I loved this salad. I do. It has every typical item I love to sprinkle onto the salads I make at a salad bar or at home for a light dinner. This salad, however, was RUINED by the incredibly acidic balsamic vinaigrette. Biting. Seriously. Additionally, the 'roasted' roma tomatoes resembled jarred sun-dried leathery bits. The corn was basically nonexistent. Neither of us found more than four kernels. The only redeeming factors of this salad was the crispy onion rings, being super thin and perfectly crunchy, and the pieces of shaved Parmesan for their salty taste.

The salad, as I began to pick through to unsuccessfully find tasty bits.

We were so ashamed at how little of the salad we ate, that we took the rest home to cover our tracks.

On to the burger. That lovely, meaty dish that won our hearts for Burgatory. The meat was cooked well, and the vegetables and condiments were fresh. The bun was a winner, too. It was buttery and airy, without falling apart as soon as we dove into our respected halves. 

Can you tell I was super pleased with the bun?

 Finally, we had some room left in our stomachs, so we indulged in a Campfire S'Mores shake. The shakes, at $6 for a classic and $8 for a hard boozy one, are thankfully served with any extra shake liquid that won't fit in the frosty glass. 

Our shake was a chocolate base with graham crackers blended in. The grainy texture might sound terrible to some {and I thought I'd agree!}, but it went so well with the whipped cream and toasted marshmallow on top for the overall S'More effect. Check plus from these ice cream lovers on that!
Getting into Burgatory was an exhausting feat, but I think it was worth it. I'd give them a solid B+, considering the dishes we ordered, and how typical they'd be for burgers and fries fare. With some extra credit work on the wait time and salad, they'd bring themselves up almost a letter.

*Note: I've deemed our neighborghood, Upper Lawrenceville, as UpLa. I mean, if Lower Lawrenceville gets called LoLa, then we should have something fun, too, right?!