Smokin’ Joes

Everything I always imagined a bar in Pittsburgh would be, except they serve craft beer rather than just macro swill. Tap list has a bunch of local stuff, but the taps here, as I’ve noticed with most Pittsburgh bars, aren’t well curated. A lot of junk, and they had like 4 witbiers on at a time among their local stuff. Lots of bottles as well. The place was all guys on a Tuesday night other than a pair of young girls with questionable IDs.

Visited: 11-16-11 The atmposhere is great as the place is low key and very laid back. The bar holds about two dozen people and there are tables in the front and back area. The quality of the beers is outstanding as they offer 60 beers on tap and another 100 beers in bottle, a great variety of really good beers and some rarities. The service at the place is great as both bartenders were attentive and friendly. The selection of beers was outstanding as they have a great selection of beers from across the US and many different styles too. The food was great as it was reasonably priced and decently prepared. Overall, a great recommendation and a solid beer bar, better than Fat Heads IMO...and I love Fat Heads.

The second best beer bar in the South Side. It’s a little grungier than Fat Heads, and definitely less of a beer geek’s crowd, but still has a stellar beer list. There is a long bar in the front and a narrow walkway to stand in when it gets super crowded with some tables and pool tables in the back. Lots of TVs, definite sports bar feel. And like I said, solid draft selection (although it always looks like there’s more than there actually is because they don’t update their menus so frequently). Food menu is standard pub fare that seems to be of lower quality, enough so that I’ve never actually ordered any food despite visiting at least 5 times. Overall, it’s definitely a place worth stopping and never seems to get overly crowded the way Fat Heads does.

When I visited: Late summer 2012. What I had: Over the course of two visits - Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, Smuttynose Wheat Wine, Oskar Blues Deviant Dale’s India Pale Ale, and Terrapin Side Project Phlux Capacitor on tap, hot wings, white wine for the Mrs. What I liked: fun down-to-earth vibe, equal parts beer nerd haven and divey sports bar, insane variety of draughts, fast service, samplers available, plenty of seating even when busy, great spot all around. What I disliked: At one point I had to go to the bar to get my beer (waitress disappeared?), but aside from this misstep we enjoyed our time here. Would I go back? Yes. Overall Rating: 92

Dark, southside bar ambiance. The place is basically lit by the row of bottle coolers behind the bar. Many, many bottles to try. Usually has good beer on tap to. I need to make my way there more often.

Ambiance is dark, a bit divey, but not dirty. Food is pretty good bar food, sandwhich burgers and the like at very good prices. Beer prices are on par with the rest of Pittsburgh. Probably the best tap selection in Pittsburgh just behind Fat Heads. Some rarities can be found here and there as well and the bottle list is pretty extensive too. Definitely worth a vist.

Nice big bar with a good selection. It was Oskar Blues night when i went. The service was good but nothing exceptional. Enjoyable experience.

We went in here after we saw the line to get into Fat Heads. I was pleasantly surprised for pretty much the same reasons JoeMcphee stated. In an area surrounded by lesser dive bars, the quality of the tap and bottle list was impressive. Tried out stuff from some new breweries here and revisited old friends. Prices were pretty good, considering. and the service was very good. We also played darts and hung out with the very sociable, very drunk, Pittsburgh RB crew.

Looks like a dive from the outside, but it’s actually pretty nice once you head through the doors. Dark with high ceilings and a crazy old mechanical contraption driving the ceiling fans out front. A great selection of stuff that we don’t see in New York and prices that we definitely don’t ever see in New York. A long row of bottled beer in coolers behind the bar that are priced incredibly well (8 bucks for Orval in a bar!). The bartender knew his stuff and could offer suggestions pretty readily based on what you told him you liked. Also deserves props for being the place that inspired the creation of Souther Tier Farmer’s Cream - a 50-50 mix of Creme Brulee and Farmer’s Tan that renders the undrinkable merely mediocre.

I really like the atmosphere, darker bar feel, tons of taps. The selection is very good, but the prices are moderately expensive and the service is decent. One complaint was that the bottle list was not up to date and many bottle they did not have.