Powder Witch & Company

So I had the chance to run down to my old neighborhood the other day, or at least the game shop I used to work for. No bus this time, Pittsburgh doesn't run any circle lines so while getting there by bus is possible (theres a stop just on the edge of the strip mall) it would take 2 busses. ~40 minutes into downtown, and another ~40 minutes out to bridgeville (not accounting for wait times between busses).

It could also be longer, since once, during the arts festival, because the bottleneck further down the road was so backed up, an entire run was dropped off the schedule. So I could sit around waiting for the better part of two hours (or longer), or I could drive ~15-20 minutes on the highway.

It was quiet when I pulled in, so I got to catch up with my ex-coworker without disrupting a game or a sales pitch. And then after I left for lunch.

Mike and Tony's is in the same strip mall, you can see the building across the parking lot. The lot is walkable, and its worthwhile to do so if you're hanging around, but is a bit hazardous from all the cars. I drove the short distance, just because lunch was my last stop before heading home and i didn't want to walk back across the lot after eating.

I've been to Mike and Tony's a number of times over the years. It started as a recomendation by some of the regulars at the game shop, and became a treat while I lived away. Its a sports bar, more or less, with a sort of classy indistrial aesthetic that primarily does gyros, wraps, and beer. But when I'm there I get chicken and fries because I'm basic because nostalgia.

So, flashback time, I used to go to a fairly small Universty in a heavily run down rustbelt city. The campus was barely a few blocks from down town, but despite that there really wasn't much beyond the campus and a rotating cast of resturants across the street. One that stuck around, at least for the years I was attending was a place called Inner Circle Pizza. It was standard dive bar food, in generous portions for cheap. It was also one of the few places my Sibling and I could afford to eat during the semesters I had evening classes.

Mike and Tony's is better, beyond a doubt, but that nostalgia is a good part of what initially hooked me. The food cemented it.

Salty freshly cut fries, sweet onion rings, generously sized sandwiches. Theres a lot to like about their food. Though if you're ordering just onion rings, or some other single appetizer, i hope youre hungry, or brought other people. Because they will bring you one of their regular serving plates piled as high with food as they can and still safely carry out. Odd are good that you'll have leftovers, so plan accordingly.

Oh, and no photos this time, because I forgot. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I've been there so many times before, that it didn't occur to me while I was eating. Either way, I hopped back on the road after lunch and drove home.