The NewBurgher List: A New Pittsburgher Best Picks List (Butler: house, restaurants)

[Shenandoah]

All the bigwigs, celebrities, corporate jets, etc fly into the Zelie Airport for their golf outing at Stonewall Golf course.

blessings, Shen

[lostinpgh]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

OK, I'll probably get trashed for this but, according to my niece and nephew who moved to Pittsburgh from Denver, there is no decent Mexican food in Pittsburgh.

Well, I haven't found any yet, and I'm from Phoenix, San Diego, and Albuquerque.

At least Chipotle has something approaching machaca, but no one (including Mad Mex) uses green chilis or enough heat.

[la_torquemada]

No, coming from the west, I agree, no Mexican food here. On Qdoba vs. Chipotle, though, the quality of the ingredients is much higher -- they use Nieman Ranch natural pork in all their restaurants and are sourcing natural (meaning free-range, outdoor living, no antibiotics, hormones, fed foods appropriate for the animal) beef, chicken, and dairy for all their restaurants as sufficient quantity becomes available in the market. I do agree that the Chipotle here is not as good as the original ones in Denver I used to eat at -- but fill out a comment card or send comments to their site -- I am sure they want to know if it's not up to snuff.

[goodfortune]

I'd like to add one:

The Church Brew Works
3525 Liberty Ave.
Pittsburgh PA 15201

tel: 412-688-8200
fax: 412-688-8201

The Church Brew Works

[Pitt Chick]

Cozumel (Mexican restaurant) in Greensburg is really good... owned by Mexicans, and they have their friends and relatives working there.

[jinxd_13]

...if I opened my own Tex-Mx type place with fiery food and numbing Margarita's? Seems like the pace needs it. What about Cajun? Are there any New Orleanian expatriates dishing out Muffelatta's and Ettoufe?

[prototypepariah]

Church brew works is really expensive for bar food and paying 80-100 bucks to sit where there aren't even table clothes...underwhelming. In short it's pretty beat...worth checking out maybe having a beer but eating there...yawn pass.

I would also agree madmex is pretty tame compared to a more authentic style of mexican. Pitt has a TON of qdoba's/chipolte mad mex basically a lot of chain style mexican which is more appealing to the casual american family. chipolte had fat all over there beef the last time I was there, which up's profit substantially. maybe it was just a random thing but it's mc'ds I wouldn't be surprised if it's automatic.

Cozumel is in squirrel hill. it looks nice/authentic that's my next choice.

wegman's please!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by beeswax

Restaurants

Chipotle Mexican Grill
East Side by the University of Pittsburgh
3615 Forbes Avenue, Chipotle: Gourmet Burritos and Tacos

Chipotle? You've got to be kidding me. I realize Pittsburgh's culinary scene is not the most vibrant in the world, but c'mon, there's got to be better places to eat than a borderline-fast-food national-chain burrito joint. It should be a crime to eat at a Chipotle in Oakland when the neighborhood is home to the flagship Mad Mex.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by lostinpgh

Mad Mex isn't really Mexican food. But they're trying.

Chipotle is not Mexican food either, and they're not even trying.

[beeswax]

I know there are a lot of chain stores in this thread, but that's just to start a list for new Pittsburghers. Moving is difficult enough and sometimes having familiar, if boring, chain stores helps ease the growing pains of relocating to a new and unfamiliar area.

Sure, Chipotle surely isn't authentic Mexican food, but if you're not in the Southwest and are jonesing for a burrito fix, sometimes a chain store is enough to take the edge off. That said, I wish Pittsburgh had a good Hawaiian barbecue restaurant...

These links have been helpful. Here's another question...does anyone have a best/favorite Italian or East Coast pizza place downtown?