Monthly Archives: July 2013

Steel of the Week: Vegan Milkshake

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Our Steel this week may leave you a little hungry… Vegan milkshakes from the Quiet Storm. Vegans and non-vegans alike are sure to be satisfied from one of these shakes. Forget weekly vegan specials: Quiet Storm has twelve different varieties offered every day. The flavors we tried were the espresso shake, sticky bun, banana bread, and ginger lemon. As the menu suggests, they did take a little while to prepare, but were definitely worth the wait.

Located in Bloomfield since 2001, this vegetarian and vegan cafe is the perfect spot if you are looking for this type of meal or even just to connect to the wifi and get some work done over house brewed iced chai tea. Some other points worth mentioning: the cafe is BYOB, a mostly vegan Sunday brunch is offered, and take-out is available.

If you have an item you would like featured as our Steel of the Week, submit to sotw@iheartpgh.com!

Pinball Perfection

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2013-07-27 12.30.50Tucked away in a two-floor complex in West View, my first reaction to Pinball Perfection was “woah”. Then, “how do I start playing?”

Open since 1991, Pinball Perfection is the premiere spot in Pittsburgh to get your pinball fix. Or ogle over the 100s of pinball and other classic machines. The machines are divided up by era and theme, ranging from baseball to Flash Gordon. The earliest machines date back to the 1920s.

The top floor of Pinball Perfection is dedicated to gaming. The lower floor features a show room for sales.

Pinball Perfection has an eclectic feel, every corner you turn there’s a new game to be discovered. The staff are incredibly knowledgeable about the machines, and are happy to share the tips and tricks of their favorite games.

 

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Pinball Perfection is a unique place to spend a weekend night. The upper level is open Fridays from 7-10pm and Saturday from 12-5pm. Bring a couple friends and spend a few hours testing out your favorite games.

Don’t worry about bringing quarters here. An hour of unlimited play is $5, the entire day $10. For more information, check out their website or Facebook page.

The Tribune Review posted a slideshow of Pinball Perfection earlier this year. The photos barely give the place justice–there’s so much going on.

Pinball Perfection

(412)931-4425

231 Perry Highway

Westview, PA 15229

 

 

Get on Board with Port Authority’s ConnectCard

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These ConenctCard machines can be found at all T Stations and at the major stops along the East and West Busways. Use them to add passes or value to your card.

These ConenctCard machines can be found at all T Stations and at the major stops along the East and West Busways. Use them to add passes or value to your card.

Port Authority of Allegheny County has begun its transition of using ConnectCards for 10-trip, weekly, monthly, and yearly passes, as well as stored value. As a college student, intern, and part-time captive to the restaurant service industry, I have become a frequent user of public transportation here in Pittsburgh. And while I definitely find the ConnectCard to have its share of hiccups, it is definitely a step in the right direction. Whether you use the bus daily or once in a blue moon, I recommend picking one up.

Clueless on how to get started? Here are the basics of the ConnectCard:

What is it?
A blue, plastic, reloadable card which you can purchase and store your transit passes and store value on.

Where do I get one?
You can get one at the Port Authority Service Center downtown (534 Smithfield Street from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.) or at any of these Giant Eagle locations.

How do I use it?
When getting on or off the bus, T, or incline, tap your ConnectCard on the orange target on the farebox. A beep will signal that your pass has been accepted. The farebox will read your remaining balance if you are using stored value.

How do I another pass or store more value on it?
You can go to any ConnectCard machine, located at all T Stations and major stops along the East and West Busways. You can also go to the Service Center or any of the previously-mentioned Giant Eagles. All you need to do is tap your ConnectCard on the orange target (similar to the ones on the fareboxes) on the machine, select the type of pass or value using the touch screen, and pay using cash or credit/debit.

What if I lose or damage it?
Approximately 48 hours after you first purchase your ConnectCard, call Port Authority Customer Service at 412-442-2000. You can register your card so that if anything were to happen to it, you will still have your passes and value on a replacement card. Unfortunately, Port Authority hasn’t made registering for this service online or electronically, however a customer service representative said that it will be in place in the future.

#UheartPGH – Nominations now open!

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Here at IheartPGH, we love this city, we really do. Now it’s your turn to show some love with #UheartPGH, our best of the ‘Burgh feature. We want to know what you guys love about this city.

Here’s how you can #UheartPGH

  1. Fill out this nifty form below with your nominations.
  2. Go to our Facebook page and comment your nomination. Use the hashtag #UheartPGH.
  3. Tweet at @iheartpgh and use the hashtag #UheartPGH. Don’t forget to include which category you are nominating for!

Nominations are open until Thursday, August 1st at midnight. Then we’ll collect your nominations and announce the nominees Friday. Next week, you’ll be able to vote on the nominees to determine the best of each category. We’ll profile the winners right here on the blog.

 

Nominations are now closed

Local Spotlight: Full Pint Brewing in North Versailles

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Walking into Full Pint Brewing, located off of Route 30 (near Rivertowne), I wasn’t quite sure what to think. I’ve read plenty about the craft beer they produce and how great it is, and visiting the brewery and the pub has been on my Summer to-do list for some time. However, I was kind of thrown by the location and nature of it, in a good way. The brewery and pub are tucked away on the hillside and kind of difficult to see from the road. Walking up to the warehouse, all of the garage doors were wide open. I could see the kettles and busy people working to box the products. The pub area is sort of just a “come on in and check us out” kind of area, and the casual nature of Full Pint is really awesome.

Pub Entrance to Full Pint Brewing

Pub Entrance to Full Pint Brewing

There wasn’t anyone else in the pub except for another guest enjoying a beer at the bar. Because of his friendliness, knowledge of the brewery, and comfortable attitude, I just assumed he was an owner. He wasn’t, but he was still helpful.

Ironically, I found while writing this post, he’s Eric Starkey– the host of the YouTube channel “Beers in the Burgh.” And he did a great spot on Full Pint a couple of months ago which highlights parts of the brewery, the brewing process, the types of beers offered, and some of the owners:

Beers in the Burgh has some other great spotlights on other local brewers. Check out their channel, like them on Facebook, and follow them on Twitter.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to take a tour of my own. The brewery was very busy, probably in preparation for the inaugural “Pittsburgh Summer Beerfest” at Stage AE TODAY and tomorrow, in which Full Pint will be featured. Ticket information is available here.

Decisions, decisions..

Decisions, decisions..

I did sample a few of the beers, however, including the “All In Amber,” “Little Brown Ale,” “Spruce Ale,” and the 2012 Great American Beer Festival Bronze Medalist and 2013 World Beer Competition Silver Medalist “White Lightning,” and ended up having a “full pint” (ouch) of the latter, award-winning Belgian-style white ale.

Along with the open, comfortable pub atmosphere with seemingly limitless drink options, Full Pint will be expanding their pub menu to include food as well. Right now they offer house made pizzas (which one of the founders talks about in the video above-it sound delicious), but a full pub menu will be available August 1.

The wall behind the bar in the pub was stacked with stickers of other local brewers, bars, and businesses from the Pittsburgh area which was another awesome thing about Full Pint: the hometown feel and authenticity of the place. The people I met were nice, knowledgeable, and very helpful. The whole place just has this really unique feel to it. As evidenced above, the names and label designs of the beers are all really cool and creative. The label for “White Lightning” even features a fictional version of one of Full Pint’s founders.

Customers can come in and grab a drink or two like I did, however full purchases of cases, six-packs (custom variety packs are available as well), clothing, and soon to be food are also available. So if you’re ever in the North Versailles area, pop into Full Pint Brewing and see what it’s all about– I know I’ll be going back.