Dig in With Graver: Touchdown at One of These New Pizza-and-Beer Spots
A bunch of places opened just in time for the NFL Draft.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
There’s a lot happening on Pittsburgh’s culinary scene. Several beer-and-pizza-centric spots (my favorite combo!) have opened ahead of the NFL Draft, which is taking place April 23-25. Grab a slice and some suds before 700,000 visitors swallow the city whole!
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Mun’s Pizza and Allegheny City Brewing
Dan Tomcik has the patience of a saint — maybe that’s why his pizza tastes heavenly.
His popular pop-up, Mun’s Pizza, opened a long-awaited brick-and-mortar on April 16 at 3627 California Ave. in Brighton Heights. From 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, you can grab a slice or a whole pie (plus a vinyl record!) at the counter-service establishment.
Tomcik’s “Yinzerpolitian” style is a cross between a traditional Neapolitan and old-school Pittsburgh pizza. He learned the art of dough-stretching at Pepperoncini’s Pub in Oakdale, where he met his friend and culinary mentor, the late Zak “Mun” Jones. During his pop-up days, Tomcik did prep work at a commissary kitchen inside the Badamo’s Pizza on Federal Street.
The guy’s got a good pizza pedigree.
I recommend ordering The Tomato Pie topped with long hot peppers and then cooling off with a beer next door.
Mun’s was a regular food purveyor at Allegheny City Brewing on the North Side, so it’s fitting that the brewery opened a second taproom beside the Brighton Heights pizzeria on the same day.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
There’s a service window (as well as mutual love and respect) connecting the two businesses.
The 40-seat taproom also serves cocktails, wine, hard seltzers and ciders, non-alcoholic options and snacks, including Forge Fried peanuts, beer’s other BFF.
A Slice of New York Square and Burghers Brewing
Bronx native Sean Jefairjian, owner of Murrysville’s A Slice of New York, has opened another spot on the South Side.
A Slice of New York Squared, located at The Highline, specializes in 12-by-12-inch Sicilian pies made with 72-hour fermented sourdough and fior di latte cheese from Caputo Brothers Creamery. Options range from Margherita and Vodka to White and Sweet & Spicy. You can also enjoy garlic knots, meatballs and, for dessert, cheesecake and Black & White cookies.
The pizzeria’s 700-square-foot building (and neighboring beer garden) at 319 E. Carson St., formerly housed Burghers Brewing. Owners Fiore Moletz and Neil Glauiser, who also operate locations in Zelienople, Lawrenceville and Millvale, relocated their tiny South Side taproom and burger joint to the former Sly Fox Brewing Company space at The Highline. (Sly Fox, a Philadelphia-based beer-maker, opened inside the 5,800-square-foot redeveloped cargo warehouse in 2022. Its Downtown pub on Liberty Avenue remains open.)
Inside the new Highline location at 46 S. 4th St., Burghers will debut Burghers Pizza, where they’ll reinterpret the brand’s most celebrated burgers into pies designed to pair with their beer.
Everybody got that?
PHOTO COURTESY OF EAST END BREWING CO.
East End pop-up beer garden opens for the season
One of my favorite outdoor drinkin’ destinations is East End Brewing Co.’s pop-up beer garden, which kicked off its season on April 16.
It’s tucked away at 1836 Oxline St. in the city’s Chateau neighborhood. Overlooking the North Shore Riverfront Trail, it’s a prime people-watching place. Enjoy the company’s new Pittsburgh Draft Draft, a light lager made with a touch(down) of local honey in honor of next week’s big football bash.
In addition to five rotating taps, there will be a rotating lineup of food trucks at the pop-up to keep yinz well-fed. Make a point to visit East End Chewing, the beer-maker’s pizzeria inside its Larimer headquarters.
SPIRIT/PHOTO BY RYAN MICHAEL
Get into the pizza Spirit
If pizza eating is your “sport” of choice, sign up for the Pittsburgh Pizza Olympics.
On May 24 from 2 to 8 p.m. Spirit in Lawrenceville will host the inaugural event, which is part culinary competition, part block party, part Iron City Beer bash.
Spirit, which debuted its revamped pizza concept late last year, will be joined by 10 other local pie-makers: Badamo’s, Driftwood Oven, Spak, ‘77 Club, La Grass, Gus Franco’s, Slice On Broadway, Piccolo Forno, Rockaway and Pizza Lupo. Ticketholders will get to sample a slice from each pizzeria and vote for their favorite. Kids 10 and under get in free.
DJ Dini Daddy and Zombo will emcee the event, which includes live performances and skill games that put each pizzeria to the test.
