Jennah Ferrara, 2010
A devotion to "food, drink and football (soccer)" sets Pittsburgh favorite Piper's Pub apart from the ordinary bars clogging the South Side. Piper's celebrated its 12th anniversary on January 25, which is also the birthday of Robert Burns, the National Bard of Scotland, an 18th century "peasant-poet" who wrote in Scots.
This proudly Scottish pub boasts an array of reasonably priced food "from across the pond," or Britain, Ireland and Scotland, and features a strong menu with a variety of appetizers, soups, sandwiches, wraps, salads, burgers, and entrées. It's also a gathering place for locals with cultural ties to the British Isles or European football (soccer).
Piper's offers an outstanding and eclectic choice of 25 beers, ales and other types of drink on draft, as well as a diverse list of single-malt scotches. The two varieties of locally brewed cask ale are also changed every week.
And football? (Or soccer, as we Yanks call it?) Every match imaginable is screened on one of the three flat screens. (Piper's even boasts its own club, the Tartan Devils.) Soccer schedules are posted by the door and are updated on the website. Access the Piper's Facebook page to follow any dining specials or soccer news. Customers can also watch American football (the Steelers, for example) and other sports, as well.
Since I've visited Piper's for dinner dozens of times since I moved to the South Side in 1997, my friend Nancy and I recently braved the snow and frigid temperatures to have lunch instead. There was a noticeably different vibe; since there were fewer customers, it was much easier to hold a conversation. A handful of soccer fans was cheering; in the evening the bar is often crowded with energetically rowdy club partisans.
The servers are upbeat, as well as helpful and pleasant. Wearing T shirts reading, "If it's not Scottish it's crap," they will offer advice on unfamiliar dishes, answer questions and pack up the remainder of the giant portions you'll be finishing at home tomorrow.
I thought at Piper's I couldn't pass for a reviewer traveling incognito even if I wore a curly mustache and a giant beard, but fortunately I don't know anyone who works the day shift. So I was anonymous enough. We enjoyed the Gaelic Four Onion Soup, which features a large crusted crouton, leeks and scallions.
I had a salad with Stilton blue cheese and applewood-smoked bacon served over mixed greens with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, a hard-boiled egg and red onion. The medley of the capers, cherry peppers and fresh vegetables with the cheese and bacon was pleasing to the eye and the palate. Nancy ordered the beer-battered fish and chips, commenting favorably on the golden color which emitted steam when pierced by a hungry fork: "A perfect batter for fish, and I'm not exaggerating. I'd recommend it to my best friend."
By the way, something possibly tasty has been afoot about 1828 East Carson St., since Ron's Pizza Palace, located directly to the left, closed quite some time ago; I had heard that Piper's was planning to expand. Hot copy! In the spring an informal fish-and-chips place serving only Pennsylvania beers will be opening to the left of the pub, according to Piper's employee Hart Johnson. Considering how popular and tasty the fish and chips are, I predict success for this business expansion.
For dessert we ordered the Scottish Ice Cream Sandwich, or shortbread and Pittsburgh icon Dave and Andy's vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with raspberry and chocolate sauces. Although Nancy thought there should have been more salt in the shortbread, we both still declared it delicious. She also said Piper's serves very good coffee.
Daily traditional menu items include appetizers such as Scotch eggs (two hard boiled eggs rolled in sausage, breaded, deep fried and served with hot sauce), curry and chips, and a Ploughman's Platter of cheeses, apples and apple chutney. For dinner try beef or chicken shepherd's pie ("a delicious concoction of comfort food," says my friend Susan), toad in the hole (bangers cooked with half mashed potatoes covered with onion gravy), Guinness stew, chicken or vegetable curry over half mashed potatoes, or corned beef and cabbage.
Entrees include crabmeat salmon, New York Strip or Stilton stuffed chicken. I've tried almost all of them over the years, and they're all delicious. There's also a children's menu, "for the wee lads and lassies," which includes smaller portions of the traditional menu, or chicken fingers or grilled cheese for the less adventurous wee ones. The only criticism I have is the removal of cheesesticks from the menu, if only because of the delectable sweet, tangy mustard-like sauce.
Sunday brunch from 9 to 3 includes an English traditional breakfast, raspberry Belgian waffles, and boxty, a potato pancake served around grilled vegetables, smoked salmon or Irish breakfast mainstays like bangers (sausage), ham, scrambled eggs and tomatoes.
Regarding accessibility, Piper's scores an easy A. Local wheelchair users are familiar with problems accessing older buildings on the South Side. A few thoughtful businesses make folding ramps available for customers, and Piper's is one of these. There's a doorbell to the right of the front entrance, and when signaled, a Piper's employee will meet you with a small folding ramp in two shakes of a border collie's tail.
People with visible disabilities may be particularly cheered not only by the menu, but also by the lack of patronizing attitudes among the staff. Even though the front bar portion can be quite crowded, a loud, "Excuse me please," will usually disperse the crowd, and the bartender or an available server will have your back if you need help, moving an extra chair and never making a big deal out of it.
It feels pleasant to be just another one of the customers at Piper's, described on a Tartan Devils Football Team blog post as "a public house that's a little bit family, a little bit friends. Always welcoming, generally bustling, but sometimes [has] moments of solitude that are just as familiar. Honest and simple, yet layered with the complexities of the traditions of all."
To quote the last two lines of one of Rabbie Burns' most famous poems, regarding Piper's, "And I will come again...Though it were ten thousand mile." Hyperbole is appropriate for a place like this!
Prices for appetizers, sandwiches, wraps, burgers, salads, and traditional fare range from 7.95 to 9.95. Entrees cost from 17.95 to 21.95. Click to learn more about cask ale or Robert Burns.
