A colleague sent this email out yesterday:

This was my second year attending Wings over Pittsburgh, an annual air show hosted by the 911th Airlift Wing each May at the Pittsburgh IAP Air Reserve Station. 

It's pretty sad when a sports bar doesn't know how to work their own TVs. 

Buffalo blues located on S. Highland in Shadyside has always been a fun place for me to watch Steeler games.  They have good bar food, but nothing that my wife really enjoys.  There's a large variety of bottled and draft beer.  And they do a good job picking out their waitresses.

Location(s)

Last week Bob invited the wife and I to attend a Pittsburgh Pirates game since he won some tickets from a charity event that he went to.  I have to say it was a gorgeous evening at PNC Park which always makes the experience much better.  

I have been sitting here watching Food Network all day and have been getting this HUGE hankering for some real honest BBQ.  Does anyone know of a good, no....great, local BBQ joint?  I am talking anywhere in the Pittsburgh area.  I just want some good BBQ.  I don't care if it is ribs, chicken thighs, biscuit,  or pulled pork.  I need a fix and don't know where to find it with out firing up the barbie myself! 

To go along with my post, The Hunt for Made in America,  in believing that we should doing more locally, I have decided to attempt to eat as much as possible from local restaurants.  What do I consider local restaurants?   I am talking your one-of-a-kind greasy spoon diner, the neighborhood pizzaria,  a local watering hole, even the fancy-schmancy places on Mt.

Location(s)

I have often driven past Juliano's Restaurant & Pizzeria while traveling Route 60, and I always think, "We should try that place sometime."  Since my hubby & I have been trying to eat at local restaurants - a challenge out this way - we decided to give Juliano's a try last Thursday night.  It's a short drive from Robinson Town Center - maybe 5-7 minutes out Route 60 South (Steubenville Pike) in McKees Rocks. 

I am currently training to run the Rock and Roll marathon in San Diego, CA in June. During my training I have been mapping out my long runs that I do on Sunday by using Google Maps. They have a great tool for measuring the distance of a route right on the map. This has allowed me to map out some fun routes and I have been everywhere from the Zoo to Squirrel Hill to the South Side, Downtown, Bloomfield, Regent Square the Rankin Bridge and Homestead. You name it and one of my runs probably went there.

With a couple wives out of town, a few of my friends thought this would be a good weekend to try the 36 oz steak over at Jerome Bettis Grille 36.  I'm sure I don't need to explain this, but I'll do it anyways: Jerome Bettis was a running back for Pittsburgh Steelers who wore the number 36.  "The Bus", as he was known, retired in 2006 after the Steelers won the Superbowl.

The restaurants of the Big Burrito Group tend not to disappoint.  Last night, my wife and I went out for her birthday.  She loves sushi so we wanted to try Umi and the $75 "omakase," a multi-course chef's special.  Unfortunately, Umi shares a building with it's sister restaurant, Soba, and we ended up seated at the wrong establishment.  We already had drinks before we realized the mistake, so we decided to stay and try out the pan-Asian cuisine.

What is a "Week Night" restaurant?  It's the place you go on a Wednesday night when you and the wife get home late from work and don't have the energy to make dinner and don't want to break the bank while going out. (but still want great food and drink!)  It can also be the place you go on a Thursday night when you want to have a cold beer or a nice glass of wine and a bite to eat to unwind toward the end of the week.

Last night I had the opportunity to attend the annual fund raiser for Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR) at Solidiers and Sailors in Oakland.  My wife and her fellow residents at Magee sold candy roses at Valentine's Day and organized an event at Firehouse Lounge to raise the $1000 necessary to buy a table at the PAAR event and I was lucky enough to join them. (actually they raised $1700! Way to go girls!)

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day to spend outside in Pittsburgh.  The wife washed and vacuumed both of our cars.  I took down the firewood rack and dismantled it for the summer.  I also trimmed our ornamental grasses since they should start growing soon.  Since my wife is the one with the green thumb she couldn't resist doing a little gardening herself and  made some planter arrangements with some pansies that she acquired.

Over the past few years I have been getting more and more concerned about the lack of manufacturing in the United States.  This, for me, was brought into glaring light this past week.  The simple task of looking for a new pair of shoes turned into a major project requiring way too much time spent on researching who in the hell actually manufactures shoes in the United States.  I know this is a place to blog about Pittsburgh, but I still believe that this is relevant and can be applied on a more local level and will hopefully make you think and influence your buying habits.

Last Sunday, the hubby & I headed to South Hills Village for a little bit of shopping.  Yes, we live less than 10 minutes from Robinson Mall, but there are some stores we don't have here - namely Boscovs, Sephora, & the Apple Store.  After a bit of shopping, we did the usual "I don't care, where do you want to eat?" routine.  We decided we weren't in the mood for food court fare, and haven't found many non-chain restaurants in the area around South Hills Village, so we headed back toward home.  We finally agreed that we wanted to go somewhere we don't g