Hamburger in Pittsburgh

Soup-erior South Side

I've always known about the South Side. Who doesn't? It's a bar-hopper's heaven.

But yesterday, I saw a different side to the South Side. Yesterday, I was introduced to the soup side.

The South Side is ground zero for the Mid-Winter Soup Contest, held annually in the desperate cold of February, which of course, is a perfect time for soup.

The soup contest is basically a bar crawl, but with soup. Yesterday, my fellow soup-lovers (I'm guessing more than 1,000 of them) and I walked up and down East Carson Street and few streets in between to sample the best soups, chowders and bisques the restaurants of the South Side could whip up.

I had some amazing soup, let me tell ya, and I even found a few new favorites (namely, the pasta fagiolo from Dish Osteria and the szekely gulyas from the Gypsy Cafe). It was fabulous, and even better, it was a fund-raiser to benefit the Brashear Association Food Pantry. For $5 and a canned good, you were free to soup-hop for most of the afternoon. (I gave them a can of soup. It seemed appropriate. Or maybe it was ironic.)

For me, the really eye-opening part were the places where the various soups were being handed out. The restaurants were partnered up with different retailers in the South Side, so instead of going to the participating restaurant to get soup samples, we went to various shops and galleries.

I discovered there is so much more to the South Side than just awesome bars. There's also awesome shopping and awesome restaurants with awesome soup.

I fully intend to go back. No, I must go back. I love the daytime version of the South Side, and I especially love that I live so close to it. (I'm from a small town. I'm still getting used to the fact that there's stuff to do.)

But honestly, I'll probably wait until the weather is warmer to further explore the South Side. Or maybe I'll just get my new favorite soup to go.





P.S. Future soup contest participants, a quick word of advice.
If you intend to check out future Mid-Winter Soup Contests, I would suggest pre-registering online. They ran out of admission bracelets when I tried to give them my $5 and canned good, so I was sneaking around sampling soup like a thief, although I did give them my canned good and I later donated the $5 online to the Brashear Association. So I made good on my soup thievery.

Also, start early. They ran out of soup pretty quickly at some places.

I also have yet to hear who actually won the contest.  I've been checking into it and will get back to you.

World Champions: Day 1

It's no news that the Steelers won the Super Bowl yesterday for the sixth time, that it was an AWESOME game and an awesome accomplishment. There was couch burning and revelry and Terrible Towel waving and random car honking all over the city. I will not rehash it.

What surprised me was today. I had an interview downtown this morning and as I hopped on the T, I wondered what my fellow Burghers would be like now that they're living in the city of World Champions again. I expected an extra spring to their step, quick smiles to strangers and random high fives to anyone with Steelers gear on.

Instead, it was quiet. There was a heaviness to everything, a dragging of feet and limbs. And then I realized.

Duh. The city was sleepy. They had been up all night celebrating. Their throats were soar from screaming at the TV and they were battling hangovers. They were recovering.

I'm curious what tomorrow will be like. They're all in bed early tonight, but tomorrow, they will be refreshed and ready to celebrate again. Methinks tomorrow's Steelers parade is scheduled perfectly to kick it all off.

I'm charging my camera batteries right now in preparation for it.

Super Bowl 09: A lament for lost opportunities

Ok. So we have less than a week until the Super Bowl, and I have something to say. Actually, it's more like a confession:

I am [..dramatic pause..] an Eagles fan.

BUT WAIT! Before any Pittsburghers close this blog in complete disgust, let me explain and also add that I am a big supporter of the Steelers! BIG supporter! And I am stoked that they are in the Super Bowl. STOKED!

But I'm from the east side of PA (commonly called the "East Si-ede"), so you know, Philly is closer to my hometown and therefore the Eagles have always sorda been my home team, and so I've always sorda rooted for them to win.

But then they didn't. They lost the NFC championship to the Arizona Cardinals. And that makes me sad.

Nevermind that the Cardinals played really well in that game and that the Eagles generally looked like crap. Had the Eagles won, we'd have an all-Pennsylvania Super Bowl. And how cool would that have been?  Way cool, that's how cool.

But instead of the Keystone state taking over the Bowl, dry and dusty Arizona butt in. And
that makes me cranky.

It has to make NBC, which is broadcasting the game, cranky too. See, there are, like, 10 Cardinals fans out there and in a 2007 survey measuring fan loyalty, the Cardinals finished dead last (Steelers were first!). Which begs the question, who, besides Steelers fans, is going to care about this game? Who, besides Steeler Country, is going to watch it? The New York Times agrees with me on this, so my whining has merit.

But an Eagles/Steelers Super Bowl on the other hand, now that would have been something! People everywhere would have watched! Every single person in Pennsylvania would have watched! Pennsylvanians everywhere would have joined hands and sung Kumbaya and world peace would have surely followed!

But now....well, now we may never know. Not until the Eagles can step it up and join the Steelers in a Super Bowl will we ever really know.

In the meantime, on this upcoming Super Bowl Sunday, I will wave a Terrible Towel and wear green and black underwear to remember and to honor the things that might have been.

My Portrait of Pittsburgh

Image via Wikipedia I've been living in Pittsburgh for a few months now, but it only took a few weeks for the Burgh to begin to reveal itself to me.

There were a few things I immediately noticed:

1. Pittsburgh is beautiful.
I've been impressed by city skylines before, but I never thought they were beautiful until I saw Pittsburgh. My favorite way to see it is from the Fort Pitt Tunnel. You come out and BAM. Welcome to Pittsburgh, baby. There's no introduction to a city like that anywhere.

2. The people are truly, truly friendly.
I've been to New York, I've been to Philly, I've been to Taipei, Sydney, Johannesburg—lots of different towns and cities all over. And I've stood around, staring at a map and looking lost in just about all of them. Nowhere has anyone ever stopped and asked if I needed help getting somewhere. They do here. I didn't even ask. They just stopped and said, "Are you lost? Need some help?" It baffles and delights me.

3. There are deer here.
Back home in eastern, rural Pennsylvania, there are deer aplenty. It makes sense. There are open fields and farmland and things that are conducive to deer and wildlife. I never expected to see deer in the streets of Pittsburgh. But I have. Several times. It would be just my luck to live in a rural area for 28 years and never come close to hitting a deer, but as soon as I move to an arguably urban area, I hit a damn deer.

4. It's cold and it snows a whole really lot.
It's been in the single digits a few days and it started snowing in late October. As much as I enjoy snow, I hope this is not normal.

5. Steelers are God.
Pittsburgh loves its Penguins and accepts that the Pirates are pathetic, but there is no love as pure as that of a Steelers fan. I first realized this on a Friday, when I went to the grocery store and realized everyone there, including the employees, was proudly flaunting their Steelers gear. The game was still two days away, but the entire city was ready for action, united in their fierce determination to win and never wavering in their faith that they would.

If there had been any doubt in my mind, it was erased when Mayor Luke Ravenstahl legally (and temporarily) changed his name to Steelerstahl the week before the big AFC Championship game against the despicable Ravens. The Steelers won of course, and now, as the Super Bowl draws nearer, there is a fever in the air. Steelers gear is everywhere, all the time, and God help you if you're caught wearing the other team's colors.

6. Pittsburgh blood runs black and gold.
I have no doubt that from satellite, the city of Pittsburgh has a black and gold hue—those are the colors for all of the city's major sports teams. I love that. It makes the city feel whole, like you're not just a fan of the Penguins or Steelers or Pirates, you're a fan of Pittsburgh. I've never seen so much black and gold. I've also never met anyone who loves their hometown more than people here love the Burgh.

It's not so hard to see why.

God <3's Pittsburgh

I know I said I'd give my first impressions of Pittsburgh in the next post, and I will, but I got the following story in an email today, and I thought it was a sweet answer to the smack-talking that's cropped up between fans of the Ravens and Steelers. Those Baltimore fans are saying some lame stuff and taking some cheap shots. But it's cool. Steelers fans just let it roll off their collective back. This helps to explain why:

The Golden Telephone

A man in Topeka, Kansas decided to write a book about churches around the country. He started by flying to San Francisco and started working east from there.

At a very large church, he began taking photographs and making notes.  He spotted a golden telephone on the vestibule wall and was intrigued with a sign, which read, "Calls: $10,000 a minute."

Seeking out the pastor he asked about the phone and the sign. The pastor answered that this golden phone is, in fact, a direct line to heaven and if he pays the price, he can talk directly to God.

The man thanked the pastor and continued on his way. As he visited churches in Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee and all around the United States [also, Baltimore], he found more phones, with the same sign and the same answer from each pastor.

Finally, he arrived in Pennsylvania. Upon entering a church in Pittsburgh, he saw the usual golden telephone. But this time, the sign read, "Calls: $0.35."
 
Fascinated, he talked with the pastor, "Father Jones, I have been in cities all across the country and in each church I have found this golden telephone. But in the other churches the cost was $10,000 a minute. Your sign reads only $0.35 a call. Why?"

The priest, smiling benignly, replied, "Son, you're in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania now, home of the five-time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Pittsburgh Penguins. You are where three vibrant rivers meet at the point of the most beautiful downtown area around, in the city with the best hospitals, the best neighborhoods and the friendliest people in the world! You're in God's country, Son. It's a local call."

AMEN

Pittsburgh newbie begins blog

Welcome to Hamburger in Pittsburgh!

My name is Mandy, and I will be your tour guide through this blog and most future blog posts. So just sit back, relax and enjoy the read:

Q: What exactly is a Hamburger, beyond the obvious?

I am a Hamburger, meaning I come from a small town in PA called Hamburg.

NOTE: Do not, under any circumstances, call anyone else from Hamburg a Hamburger. They will break you. I have willingly taken this name upon myself as a fun little moniker, but trust me, no one else in Hamburg will think it's funny.  Also, do not ask any Hamburg resident if he/she lives next door to French Fries. This is also not funny and could result in broken limbs.

Q: Where is this mythical, occasionally violent place?

Hamburg is over on the east side of Pennsylvania, about a 30-minute drive north of Reading, an hour-and-a-half northwest of Philly, and about four-and-a-half hours east of Pittsburgh.

Hamburg is home to about 4,100 people, most with German-sounding surnames who like to say "If you ain't [Pennsylvania] Dutch, you ain't much."  Our claim to fame: The King Frost Parade and a Cabela's.  Booya.

Q:  Can you tell us a bit more about this blog and what we can expect here?

Yes. And no.

I can tell you that I plan to write about Pittsburgh as a newbie like me sees it.  I plan to explore and share what I find out about this new Burgh I call home.  I want to check out the arts and theatre scene, learn about local celebrities, eat at the local restaurants, shop at the boutiques (and hopefully find some bargains), and because I am obsessed with the intrawebs, I even want to know what the geeks are up to around here.

But that's all I can really tell you.  Who knows what I'll find or how it will all end up in blog form.  I'm pretty excited about it though.

Q: How did a girl from Pennsylvania’s blustery northeast wind up in Pennsylvania’s blustery northwest?

My story is one of true love and sacrifice.

 See, my boyfriend wanted to go back to school to become a pharmacist, and he wanted to go to Pittsburgh to do it.  So I said, "You can't get rid of me that easily, butt-wipe," and I left my family and hometown and bought us a cute little poop-ridden house (more on that later) in the south hills of Pittsburgh.

But I wasn't completely uprooting myself—I was planning to keep my old job.  My employer agreed to let me stay on and work from my new digs in the Burgh, and it was gonna be great.  Until this delightful economy put an end to that, which means I'm not working, which means the sacrifice I made by moving here was a little bigger than I expected.  It's cool though, I love my man.  He's worth it.  Probably. 

Q: Can you tell us about your first impressions of your new home?

Yes, I certainly can.  But you'll have to come back.  This answer deserves its very own post. <Cue dramatic, foreshadowing-type music>