PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Enjoying pierogi and beer with your sweetheart while watching flames shoot out of a nearby steel mill is the epitome of Pittsburgh romance. Spend your next date night at Braddock Public House.

Located across from U.S. Steel’s Edgar Thomson Works in Braddock, the Brew Gentlemen eatery opened last week in a space formerly occupied by Superior Motors, a high-end restaurant that won national acclaim when it debuted in 2017, but abruptly closed during the pandemic.

New owners Alaina Webber and Matt Katase know the fine-dining debacle left a bad taste in the mouths of Braddock residents, so their business — from the menu to the decor – is a love letter to the neighborhood.

INSIDE BRADDOCK PUBLIC HOUSE | PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

All employees live within 15 minutes of the pub and management has an ongoing relationship with For Good PGH to fundraise and host events. Brew Gentlemen continues to be a resource at the Braddock Community Oven that’s adjacent to the patio.

“It’s an ecosystem on the block – food and drink, art gallery, flower farm, theater, steel mill, fire department, post office,” says Katase, who opened Braddock’s Brew Gentlemen 10 years ago with fellow Carnegie Mellon University grad Asa Foster. “We’re in constant communication with residents and other businesses. As a result, we’re able to include each other in what we’re already doing to multiply efforts.”

THE BAR | PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

When the brewery reopened in December 2021 after a long pandemic pause, Katase knew a food program was necessary to support the beer experience. Putting a kitchen in at 512 Braddock Ave. wasn’t feasible, so they found new digs down the street in a building that also houses Barebones Black Box Theater in the back.

The menu is approachable and affordable with familiar items — snacks, sandwiches, salads and shareable plates – priced under $20 and subtly remixed with Asian ingredients and techniques. The wood-fired hearth in the center of the dining room lends depth and flavor to both veggie (try the rainbow carrots with baba ganoush and pistachio crumble) and protein dishes (the BG Burger is a 5-ounce patty topped with gouda, charred onion, pickles and special sauce).

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

“The menu came out of this idea – combining things we love, to build a bridge between Pittsburgh and the Pacific,” Webber says. “Everything on the menu is comforting and craveable. There was vulnerability to it, to think that, if that’s true for us, if these flavors and dishes make us feel that way, maybe it’s true for other people, too.”

Devouring a pile of shoestring fries in a place where I once enjoyed beautifully plated beef tartare felt surreal at first, but the new owners have spent two years making the space their own and emerging from the shadow of Superior Motors chef Kevin Sousa.

INSIDE BRADDOCK PUBLIC HOUSE | PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

They’ve softened the industrial chic with artwork, pillows and greenery from Sol Patch Garden and incorporated local history with memorabilia from the Braddock Fire Department and a collection of old beer cans. The aesthetic falls somewhere between your grandpa’s garage and a ‘70s rumpus room with a sprinkle of aloha spirit.

You can sip a MangoRita cocktail or a Yuzu Drop with a sugar rim, but it’s hard for me to bypass a Brew Gentlemen pint. The brewery, which will undergo a rebrand this fall, is producing some pub-exclusive offerings to break in the new draft system that includes 22 taps, two nitro lines, two Lukr faucets and two cask hand pumps. It’s a beer geek’s dream set up.

“Nitro, Lukr, and cask each provide its own unique ability to play with beer texture,” Katase says. And, each feature requires its own set of care, knowledge, and know-how. Our goal is to showcase them all, together under one roof, the best we can. We purchased our first Lukr handle in March of 2020, after visiting the Czech Republic. But, it never got hooked up or enjoyed by anyone because of you-know-what. Since then, this European-style tap handle has become more available, and you’ll see a few around the city. It’s designed to pour lagers and ensure plenty of dense, delicious foam. Foam insulates the beer from oxidation, even as it sits in your glass, and seals in freshness and flavor for each sip.”

Braddock Public House will partner with its fellow tenant, Barebones Black Box Theater, on events and concepts that will come to fruition in 2025.

“The quality of performances that barebones presents is mind-blowing, to think that it’s happening in the same building while we’re plating dishes and pouring beers makes me speechless and so proud,” Webber says. “It’s incredible to know that we share a historic building and a common vision for being in Braddock and elevating the arts in Pittsburgh.”