Tag: best happy hours in Pittsburgh

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Yuzu Kitchen

Asian Fusion. Two words I always want to use together but never really felt it appropriate. That is until we visited Yuzu Kitchen.

I’ll admit that I’m not the most adventurous with food, and that I need a little push from my fellow Burgh B&B blogger. I like to think I’m worldly but when it comes to food, I’m simple. On the contrary, my partner in crime is quite the foodie and enjoys taking me to new places to try new things. After months of requesting to visit this not-so-new-anymore restaurant located downtown on Wood St (between Third and Forbes), I finally obliged and I am SURE happy that I did. Yuzu is easy to miss as there is lots of construction going on nearby. However, it’s worth seeking out. This place is a gem offering good food, good cocktails, and an even better happy hour at an inviting space.
what’s it like inside?

Upon entering, it might take your eyes a couple of moments to adjust. It’s a little on the dark side, however, it is wildly welcoming. Fake (or are they?) flowers cascade from the ceiling and beautiful adornments hang from the walls. A large wooden bar frames the space, and naturally we elected to sit there to chat quietly with the bartender and other guests. If the bar isn’t your scene, there are live edge wooden tables for any party size. Sitting at Yuzu sort of transports you to an outdoor garden, with a fantastic kitchen and bar ready to serve your needs!

It was a relatively quiet afternoon at Yuzu, so we don’t have any crazy stories. This place gets PACKED for lunch, though, so don’t take this as an invitation that you can just stop by between the hours of 11 AM -1 PM. Although quiet for happy hour, it was by no means empty. Groups, couples, and individuals were seated throughout the restaurant at tables with large, and I mean LARGE, bowls of food. In my mind, they’re chowing down on wonton ramen which is truly something special.

what’s for happy hour?

Food

For us, we opted for the happy hour menu as that’s kinda what we do here at Burgh BnB. With happy hour from 4:30 – 6:30 PM it’s a great spot for post work drinks and bao. Speaking of bao, this stuff is good. It was my first time trying this dish (pls don’t judge me guys, I’m growing), and I honestly dream about it at night now. Accompanying the bao in my dreams is the spicy karaage; a japanese frying technique that literally means “to tang fry.” Now we aren’t experts by any means, but we could get behind this for literally any type of food, because who doesn’t love fried stuff? Served on a bed of lettuce and served with sauce, I had a lot of trouble sharing this dish. So much so that I almost had to visit my old kindergarten classroom cause I alone and unabashedly downed these. Oops.
During happy hour, these dishes, along with a few select others are all 1/2 off. HALF. OFF. I know this is a relatively common theme among happy hours, but I will never not be excited about a bar or restaurant that offers food on happy hour, especially a fabulous deal like 1/2 off. So, props to Yuzu (did you see what I did there?). After inhaling spicy kaarage, I washed down these dishes with a cocktail that surpassed any expectation that I had. I love a craft cocktail – what millennial wanna-be doesn’t?
DRINKS

Yuzu offers $6 craft cocktails for those on a budget during happy hour. This allowed us to try a couple different options! Any more we would have been sleeping there. This seems as good a time as any to remind you to happy hour responsibly. These drinks were strong, flavorful, and prepared right before our eyes by a cool, hip and friendly bar tender. One look at their drink menu will have you deep diving into a rabbit hole of spirits and garnishes. The Sage Gin & Tonic gives those looking for a more of a classic but adding an appropriate twist with the hint of sage. For those looking for a bit more adventure, there are options such as the Far East Side which boasts flavors including junmai sake, tequila, elder flower, lemon, shiso, and yuzu. QUITE the ingredient list, wouldn’t you say? That being said, their cocktail list changes frequently, and there’s a good chance there’s something new every time you stop by. While I’m not adventurous when it comes to food, I am always willing to take the plunge into an exciting cocktail!

Have you tried any of the ones we mentioned above? What about the food? Leave us some comments below so we (and your fellow happy hour goers) can read your thoughts and feels! Overall, this was a very positive experience at Yuzu Kitchen and I can’t imagine a world where we don’t return. That’s right, unless Elon is taking us to Mars, we’ll be back!

Cheers,
D

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ART (and Happy Hour, of course)!

Are you looking to hit the Three Rivers Arts Festival Wednesday – Friday?

If you are, you should definitely snag a super well priced drink at one of these awesome bars. Talking from experience, a couple pints of suds or some well-stirred cocktails really opens up the wallets/purses at the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

How could you not support all of the great artists? Here is a link to check out the rundown of folks peddling their fares this week at the point and in Gateway Plaza.

Now, what you came here for…

City Works – Market Square

One of the closest bars to the activities, you can slug ½ priced wines, $4 select beers, and munch on $4 select apps. We at Burgh BnB highly suggest the pretzels with beer cheese; we haven’t NOT eaten 3 orders once… oops. We would give up our unborn baby to snack on these bad boys with a crisp Founders All Day IPA. We just wrote a post about City Works. Go check it out!

Wolfie’s – Greater Market Square

A somewhat hidden gem just a short walk from Market Square up Forbes Ave. They are pretty new and offer a great lineup of live music. Because you’re going to buy some pricey art, save a few bucks at this happy hour from 4:30 – 6:30 on Thursday and Friday this week, and get $2 off local beers, $4 domestics, $4 wines, and appetizers for $7 and under.

Some cool thingies in Market Square to see before you have some drinks:

Let’s say that you are downtown early on Thursday the 13th. Checkout the farmer’s market from 10 AM – 2 PM. Fight through the throngs of people to grab a pie, get some fresh strawberries, or get some pickles scooped from a bucket. We know this time of year as #CookieSzn, because Good L’oven Cookie Shop drops 3 cookies for $5 on us and we cannot even try to ignore such a special. Make sure you try the Steel City Crunch, Take 5, and Salted Sea Turtles cookies. You might have to go back for more!

Pork & Beans – 6th Street

A short walk from Gateway Plaza, this growing project from the folks that essentially own 6th street, Richard DeShantz Restaurant group, offers up some HOT specials. $2 Yuenglings drafts and $5 craft beers from 5 – 7 PM will surely make the Arts Festival that much more appealing. And while you are there, definitely smack on some of their BBQ. It’s incredibly delicious!!!

Let’s say that you couldn’t find a parking spot down by the Point. Tough luck, but you still can hit up about 100 places up on your way down Penn Ave or before traversing the pedestrian bridge from the North Shore! Here are a couple of our favorites.

Condado Tacos – Cultural District

A huge hot spot for Happy Hour goers, Condado boasts ½ off Margaritas (in the middle section of the menu) and $1 off tacos at the bar. I truly shouldn’t have to say anything more, but this place seriously knows how to make a damn good marg and a damn good taco. My personal favorite is the Gran Clásico.

The Foundry – North Shore

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Sometimes looked over from North Shore Drive due to their smaller store front (the place opens up like CRAZY in the back with a huge patio), The Foundry offers imbibers a solid beer menu for ½ off, $5 select cocktails, and $6 small plates. Take your furry pooch with you too, they LOVE to have dogs on their patio- we even brought ours to confirm!

So go! Go enjoy happy hour and all the fun the Arts Festival has to offer! Let us know where you went in the comments below!

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The Library

There are very few places where you can find a happy hour that serves you specials seven days a week. It’s a special special (HA) that calls for fun all week long. Can you think of any places that offer this? Let us know in the comments so we can check these out for ourselves.
I know of one place, which I’m highlighting here. The Library in Southside is not a place to renew your books, but rather an oasis of good food, great beer and cocktails, and you guessed it, happy hour seven days a week. We stumbled upon this place one Sunday afternoon when the Sunday scaries washed over us so badly the only way we were going to get through the day was by drinking it away. We still make it to work on time, so it’s not a problem… At least that’s what we tell ourselves. It quickly became one of our favorite places and happy hours. While neither of us were avid fans of Southside, going to the bars and restaurants between the hours of 10 AM and 9 PM has shown us the light and fun that the neighborhood of bars has to offer.
I’m sorry if you love Southside and this offends you. I’m even sorrier for you that you love Southside.
Back to the point. The Library is located near the corner of East Carson St and S 23rd St, nestled among other shops and bars that have no trouble luring you in for a drink. On a Sunday afternoon/ early evenings, the streets are a little quieter and the clientele a little less rowdy. However this does not stop the traffic for both food and beverage service. People were constantly coming in to pick up their food orders. As the other B&B’er so eloquently stated, when people are coming in to pickup their to-go order and not get a drink, you know the grub is good. Food wasn’t originally in our plan but after watched so many people order it, we had to give it a try. It didn’t hurt that the happy hour special is 1/2 off small plates! We ordered The Pickle King appetizer, a heap of golden brown fried pickles, with some delicious ranch, which we might have liked clean. If you’re thinking it’s hard to mess up fried pickles, you are wrong because you absolutely can and I’ve had a many bad fried pickles, so terrible that I didn’t eat them for a very long time! However, The Library did not disappoint; they sure are the Pickle King. Afraid that the beer and our hunger led to disillusionment with the quality of the food, we decided to give it another try on a second trip. We recently revisited our new favorite Sunday hang out to try to suppress the Sunday scaries again, and this time we tried the Where the Wild Things Are. Any guesses on this app? Chicken fingers. We got to pick a sauce too, and their buffalo Parmesan garlic was everything we had hoped it would be; just spicy enough to make your mouth tingle, with a hearty scoop of parmesan cheese infused into the hot sauce. Does this sauce make your mouth water for wings? Well it just so happens this place has them! Oh, and they’re $14.95 for all you can eat. ALL DAY EVERY DAY. The fengas were also hand breaded and so juicy and delicious. Overall this was another W for us, and two great experiences easily solidified this place as another “go-to”.
On top of these daily deals for your advantage taking, they also have daily specials Monday-Thursday. For just $5.99, Monday’s specials is cheeseburger and fries while Tuesdays gives you 1/2 pound of ribs and fries. Not to mention both Monday and Tuesdays offer half bottles of wines as well! Wednesdays are 1/2 of pizzas and Thursdays their back to the $5.99 special that includes a cheese steak and fries. Add in happy hour with 1/2 off small plates and their drink prices and you’ve got yourself a full belly and happy heart.
What are their drink specials you ask? I guess I’ve failed to mention that while their happy hour includes apps, it doesn’t include drinks. Before you go totally writing off this place and this post, they don’t need to add drinks to their HH specials because their prices are BOMB each and every day, all day. $4.25 drafts. ALL OF THEM ARE $4.25!!! Don’t believe me? Check out their website and it’s the first thing you’ll see. Smackin’ you right in the face is one of the best deals on the Burgh. Not a draft beer kind of gal? Then you’ll have no problem finding a craft cocktail that you’ll love FOR ONLY $5! They have a whole page of their menu dedicated to Mules and Cocktails. Are you like me and irrationally love tequila? Try their Mexican Mule. Truly the drink of the summer.
Their draft list is flavorful and full of variety. You can find a triple IPA from Helltown Brewery (that’s over 10% ABV) or a stout, or just stick to your guns and grab a pilsner or lager. I didn’t have to drive so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to drink a 10% beer for $4.25. Does anyone else ever find their tongue hurting after a super hoppy IPA? Like almost the flavor of the beer strips all of the flavor feelers on your tongue? I definitely experience this from time to time, but this one had a surprisingly less effect on me. I’ll save the full review for another time, but I just needed back up on the tongue thing. Have I used the word tongue enough times in this paragraph?

Have you been to The Library? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! If this post got you there, definitely tell us in the comments so we can have some semblance of respect for ourselves for writing these blog posts.

Happy hour responsibly 🙂