Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina

Last week was “Pittsburgh Restaurant Week” and I had plans to try and visit a few places offering specials. I ended up just going to one place, Verde. Verde has been on my radar for a while now and I was really anticipating going. Before entering Verde most parking is all on street. We did find that behind Verde, just up the hill a bit, there are a few reserved spots for Verde customers. When you go to Verde you will notice its modern setting with indoor and outdoor seating, garage style doors, lighted bar and pretty cool lighting throughout the restaurant in general (see the food pic, that isn’t any lighting effects from my phone, its all Verde).

When we sat down we were given chips and tomatillo salsa. The salsa was good, the chips however were stale. Not sure if they are prepared fresh daily, if they are they must’ve been made early that day. We also ordered guacamole, it wasn’t the best guacamole I’ve ever had (check out Emiliano’s for that honor).

For the main event I ordered Tamales de Brisket – Smoked brisket and masa steamed in corn husks, mango jalapeno BBQ sauce, rice & beans. The masa which is most of this meal wasn’t good. It had no flavor to it, what it had was just bland. The savior of this dish was the mango jalapeno BBQ sauce that was pretty tasty. It wasn’t enough to save the meal however.

I wouldn’t recommend Verde to anyone, I could think of a bunch of better Mexican restaurants in Pittsburgh to visit. From the percentage on Urbanspoon I can see I’m not the only one who wasn’t a fan of Verde.

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Oh My Grill Mobile Food Truck

Not too long ago I discovered the PGH Taco Truck by my office in the North Hills when it was at Coffee Buddha. So I started to follow them on facebook and twitter. Last week I was on facebook and they posted that Oh My Grill would be joining them at Coffee Buddha for lunch hours. So I thought that would be a perfect chance to check out my second food truck in Pittsburgh!

I ordered the “Number One” Smoked Gouda & White Cheddar + Bacon & Caramelized Onions w/ Chive Cream Dipper. If a classic grilled cheese is for kids, this “Number One” is for the adults! Everything was good on this sandwich, the toasted outside with the buttery goodness and then bacon with a little smoke and bite from all that cheese. The chive cream dipper was something different for a dip instead of tomato soup like when I was a kid (even though Oh My Grill does offer a Tomato Soup Dipper).

I also ordered the Parmesan Spinach Balls. These were a nice addition to the meal, good flavor. What really made this side was the sriracha drizzle on top. That sauce was excellent; I wouldn’t mind having that as a dip for my grilled cheese next time.

So far I am very happy with my first 2 food truck experiences in Pittsburgh. I can’t wait for the next adventure!

Station Street

 

I have been to Kevin Sousa’s other restaurants (Salt of the Earth and Union Pig & Chicken) and have enjoyed them. So the last place I really needed to check out was Station Street. While Station Street offers other items outside of hot dogs (like sandwiches and tacos) I decided to stick to the true essence of Station Street during this trip.

I ordered the Chili Cheese Dog, New York Dog and french fries. The french fries were fresh-cut and were very good. I added some malt vinegar to them (provided at the counter) and was good enough that I can’t wait to go back and even try them as the poutine version. I’ve never had poutine so I am really looking forward to that on the next trip.

The dogs were excellent. I love when a place has hot dogs in the natural casing to provide that little crunch when you bite into it. I liked the sauerkraut on the New York dog; it was cooked enough for flavor but didn’t have much bite to it. I would definitely get the New York Dog again. After the NY Dog I was pretty full, 1 hot dog is enough for future trips. However, I still had to make room for the Chili Cheese Dog. The brisket chili had a nice kick to it, usually the chili on dogs are basic. The cheese curds were something different for a chili cheese dog and provided a lot of melted cheesy goodness in each bite.

I took my dad on this trip and he was telling me about his trips to Station Street when it used to be under previous owners when he worked in East Liberty. The food and stories made this a great memorable first trip to Station Street.