Best New Restaurant of 2018: Superior Motors

Owner Kevin Sousa's cuisine is an evolution of his work at the now closed Salt of the Earth in Garfield.

This year, Pittsburgh Magazine’s independent Restaurant Review Panel selects Superior Motors in Braddock as its pick for Best New Restaurant. Panel members were delighted by the cuisine, design, beverage program and service at Executive Chef/Co-Owner Kevin Sousa’s restaurant. 

This is Sousa’s second time helming a Pittsburgh Magazine Best New Restaurant — Salt of the Earth earned the accolade in 2011; he also was honored as Chef of the Year in 2011.

At Superior Motors, his cuisine is an evolution of his work at that now-closed Garfield establishment. Panel members noted they found Sousa’s modernist touches, Japanese culinary influence and bold plating impressive.

The best dishes are the ones in which Sousa balances elements of creativity and cookery — take “Hamachi,” a crudo of fresh yellowtail dressed with avocado, garlic, pineapple and peppers that is a rainbow of color, texture and flavor. Or “Pork,” a pork loin accompanied by dashi-flavored potato, sauce gribiche and a dramatic shard of crisp Parmigiano Reggiano. 

Superior Motors’ beverage program features an excellent wine list curated by the restaurant’s general manager, Chris Clark, who oversees an attentive front-of-house staff, and a creative-yet-unfussy cocktail list crafted by beverage director Jeremy Bustamante.

Studio for Spatial Practice designed the restaurant, a concrete-and-brick-forward space with a semi-open kitchen, picture windows overlooking the Edgar Thomson Steel Works and colorful paintings by Pittsburgh artist Mia Tarducci Henry. Sousa and Clark collaborate on each evening’s soundtrack: vinyl records played at pitch-perfect volume. 

BRADDOCK: 1211 Braddock Ave.
412/271-1022, superiormotors15104.com