One of the better places I’ve found is Burg’s in Bridgeville. They have a Cajun dry rub that’s terrific! I’ve been told that Sauce (right up the street from Burgs) has some pretty good wings too. My favorite though is a place at Canadohta Lake called Sue’s Mill. The problem is that it’s about two hours from here. They are plump, well done and crispy but still juicy and every sauce I’ve had there has been great.

Anyone else have any suggestions? I’m trying to get some feedback as to the best wing places around the city.

Here’s a simple recipe that everyone seems to really like. Of course cooking them until crispy is just as important as the sauce!

Deep fry, bake or grill 2 pounds of chicken wings UNTIL CRISPY! Meanwhile, make sauce by melting 1/4 cup of margarine (not butter) and adding the following ingredients:

1/4 cup hot sauce (most use Red Hot which is not a favorite of mine, but this recipe covers up the “orange” taste).

1 package dry onion soup

5 cloves of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

a pinch of basil

This sauce will be very thick, not watery like other sauces. When the wings are done, place them in a seal able bag or container, add the sauce and shake until coated. put wings on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for ten minutes. Serve with celery and blue cheese.

I like baby back ribs, but many rib experts prefer spare ribs or beef short ribs. These have much more meat than baby backs but also much more fat. Forget country ribs, they are not ribs at all. They are cut from the shoulder without the bone. The following recipe will work great with any of these types of ribs.

Here’s about the simplest way for anyone to turn out some great ribs. The key is “Low and Slow”, meaning you must cook ribs at a low temperature, and slowly. Low temperature means less than 300, and slowly means at least three hours. You can experminent with these numbers, I sometimes cook at 225 or 250 for four hours or more.

Season ribs with a dry rub. You can buy prepackaged or mix your own. I use one consisting of equal parts of dried onion power, oregano, thyme, cayenne, garlic power, black pepper, salt and paprika. Sprinkle it on pretty heavy and rub in. Take two sheets of aluminum foil, each about 6 inches longer than the rack of ribs, and double wrap the ribs with the seam on top. Place the rack on a sheet pan (or something with sides in case of leaks) and put in the oven at 300 degrees, for three hours.

Be careful when you remove these from the oven. The foil will contain a lot of fat that needs to be drained away. Pour off the fat being careful not to break the ribs apart…That’s how tender they will be! They will also be grey and ugly looking. Don’t let that bother you!! Coat the ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce and finish them off either in the ovens broiler or (my favorite) on a grill. Cook them until the sugar in the sauce starts to caramelize and turn black in a few areas, about 10 minutes and serve. Perfect ribs!

There are a couple of ways to improve on this method if you want to take the time. I like to marinade mine for three or four hours before cooking with a mixture of white vinegar and water. It doesn’t take much, a couple tablespoons of each right in the foil with the dry rub and let them sit in the fridge for a few hours, then they can go right in the oven.

You can also cook these right on the grill, but it’s tricky to keep the temperature steady and as low as 300. If you use charcoal, and have a large grill, you can use indirect heat by placing the coals on one side and the meat on another. This requires a grill thermometer and you need to constantly add charcoal to maintain even heating without getting too hot. If you are not comfortable with this, I’d recommend you start with the oven method.

Another good touch is to make your own sauce. I use several, but here is a very good one that is also really easy to make:

Mix the following ingredients in a sauce pan:

1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cup root beer
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
3 tablespoons A1 Steak sauce
1 teaspoon onion flakes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 cloves minced garlic

Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat only slightly to a low boil and simmer until reduced by about a third or until desired thickness is reached about 10 or 15 minutes.

As you walk in there is a long wooden bar to the right, and a number of booths and tables to the left with barely enough room for a few more in the back. It’s a very comfortable, homey atmosphere. The staff has always been friendly and the crowd always seems to be in a pleasant mood.

The menu is basic American fare (which is fine with me) but it’s is all excellent. I don’t think that I’ve ever had even a bad item, let alone a bad meal there. Steaks, pasta and seafood are cooked with the help of a wood burning stove, which gives a great smoky flavor, yet it’s not overpowering.

Wednesday evening’s they have a tasteful jazz band and the recent addition of a beautiful outdoor courtyard has greatly expanded the seating area. Prices are just a little bit higher than average ($15.95 to $29.95 Hey, this is Sewickley!) but the exceptional food more than makes up for that in my opinion. If you enjoy comfortable places like The 17th Street Cafe or Tessaro’s this is a place you should not miss.

The 17Th Street Cafe on the South Side has been one of my favorite local restaurants for years. It’s located about a block off of Carson so it’s very convenient but a bit away from all the noise and partying. It has a comfortable feeling and charm that I enjoy. It’s a relaxing feeling that you notice as soon as you walk in the door.

This place is somewhat small, with an old time bar on the left as you enter and a few tables on the right. Another small dining room is to the rear of the building. The bar is always friendly and talkative but not noisy enough to bother the patrons seated close by. The crab and artichoke dip is tremendous, lump crab meat in a rich creamy cheese sauce. This is really one of the best appetizers I’ve ever had. Another one of the best that I’ve ever had just happens to be served here also. The Roasted Red Pepper Bisque is just a fantastic soup, and that’s coming from someone that has to be convinced to ever order soup at a restaurant. I can’t really describe it, it’s just wonderful. On a previous stop during the Penguin’s playoff run, I was treated to a real suprise when we were given bowls of Evgeni Malkin’s mother’s lucky borscht soup! I’ve never had a soup like this before. If all restaurants served soup like this, I might order it more often! Another very good appetizer is the Stuffed Banana Peppers.

The entree menu continues with a nice selection but the seafood really shines. I’ve tried many menu items, but some that come to mind are the Pecan Crusted Sole and the London Broil. Any of you that read my blog know how much I love “horse meat”!

I’ve never had a disappointing meal here, and highly recommend this place as one of the best kept secrets in Pittsburgh.

Big Jim’s is in Greenfield, kind of under a bridge on the Parkway East. Going across the Hot Metal Bridge, it only took us a couple of minutes to get there from the South Side. It’s an old place, kind of dated but that’s OK with me. During the couple of times that Stacy and I have been there, the staff were all friendly and they seem to have a nice local bar crowd which lends to Big Jim’s comfortable feeling. The menu is a nice mix, featuring Oven Baked Hoagies, Dinners, Pizza and a large number of Appetizers (mostly fried). These all looked appealing, but the section that caught my eye was “Big Jim’s Speciality Sandwiches”.

Stacy knew what she wanted immediatly…This is not normal! Sometimes I feel as though I should have ordered an appetizer while I wait for her to make up her mind…(I hope she dosen’t read this). Anyway, the item that got her attention was the reuben. This thing was huge. A full 1/2 pound of lean corned beef on great Russian rye bread, topped with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and 1000 Island. She loved it. I chose the veal cutlet parmigiana sandwich. This thing wasn’t just big, it was massive! Pretty tasty too, although I couldn’t eat all of it in one sitting.

Big Jim’s is a place that I will definetaly return to, although next time I’d like to go in the evening and see how the night crowd is.

I feel as though I’ve tried every pizza place in the Pittsburgh area, but of course I’m sure that I haven’t even come close. Following are just a few that I’ve tried and a brief (very brief!) review of them:

Azzeria on Banksville-Pretty good, brick oven baked but not one of my favorites

Bado’s in Mt. Lebo-OK

Bellissimos on Mount Washington-Near where I live so it’s convienent. That’s about it.

Beto’s on Banksville-This pizza I really like and would rank it in the top five in the Pittsburgh area. This is thick crust, but it’s not too doughy. It is a crispy crunchy crust with a good sauce and fresh cheese. Very good.

Capri Pizza in Homestead-Better than average

Cestone’s on Mount Washington-Another better than average and convienent for me!

Cici’s, everywhere-yuk

Domenico’s in Cranberry-Nice variety and pretty good.

Domino’s-yuk

Fioris Pizza on West Liberty Ave- Very good, kind of a sweet sauce and a thin crispy crust. You can order a pie and take it next door to the tavern which is nice.

Fox’s Pizza Den, everywhere-Same old crap.

Frank’s Pizzeria, Duss Ave. Ambridge-The Best. Ever. Anywhere. You can stop reading now, it dosen’t get any better!

Giotto, South Side. One of the best, thin and crispy with a very good sauce. They also offer a variety of styles.

Harry’s, McMurray on 19. Great, one of the best around. Thin crispy crust.

Juliano’s, Stubenville Pike-Pretty good stuff

Little Chicago on the South Side-I ordered the Chicago style and didn’t like it, but I’m going to go back and try the thin crust.

Luigi’s, Lincoln Ave, Bellevue-This was always a pretty OK pie.

Michael’s, Sarah Street, South Side-This is amazingly good pizza for a bar/restaurant. I don’t hesitate to order it and it’s a pretty good bar too!

Mineo’s, Squirrel Hill and Mt. Lebanon-Considered one of the best in all of Pittsburgh, but not by me…Here we go, let the comments fly!

Monte Cellos’s-OK chain pizza

Papa John’s-See above

Pepperoncini’s, Oakdale-Pretty good

Pizza Roma-OK for a chain, kind of like Monte Cello’s

Police Station-In Ambridge. Excellent. Has a thick crust, which I usually don’t like, but their’s is very airy and crispy. One of the best!

Sir Pizza, off of Rochester Rd in the North Hills-very good and unique. Thin and cut into tiny squares

Tony R’s, Sewickley-One of the best. Very fresh ingredients with the best cheese! Take your GPS!

Uno’s-no damm good.

Vincent’s in Greentree-Pretty good

Vincent’s Pizza Park-Another that’s considered one of the best in the city. I haven’t tried it, but they have such a rep that I felt I had to list it here. I’ll report back after I try it.

Vocelli, everywhere-OK

I always thought that pizza preferrence is really a personal thing. I mean, just about any steak lover will like any good steak house, but pizza is different. People either love it or they don’t. Mineo’s is very popular in Pittsburgh and is pretty good. They use very fresh ingredients and the pie tasts like it, but it’s just not my style.

My favorite, without a doubt is Franks in Ambridge. It’s a thin crust that is almost pastery like in texture (not it flavor!). This makes it very airy but still crispy…not mushy. They apply the cheese first and then pour the sauce over it. This way the cheese retains it’s moisture. If you want extra cheese, they just add it after it comes out of the oven. When they close the box, the heat from the pizza melts it. YUM!!!