Personally I am not the biggest fan of baseball, but when I was in Pittsburgh for work and trying to decide what to do at night, it seemed logical to check out a Pirates game. While walking back to our hotel after attending a conference for the day, my friend and I noticed a large amount of peopled headed to PNC Park. We hadn’t realized that there was a game while we were in town or that it was so close to where we were staying. After doing some quick searches on StubHub, we found tickets for about $10 a piece and figured, “Why not?” Before heading to the game we decided to grab some dinner down by PNC Park.
Dinner Before Ball
It was a beautiful evening in Pittsburgh and we wanted to sit by the river while we ate before heading into the game. Since we were going more for fun, it wasn’t important to make it there for the start of the game. So we walked across the bridge down by the park and began to look at places to eat. We found Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36 right next to the river with a great view. We did a quick google search and saw that it had almost 4 stars and decent reviews so we decided to give it a shot.
We asked to be seated outside on the patio because the weather was so nice. There were maybe 6 different parties also seated on the patio, while the inside of the restaurant was not busy either. After looking at the menu I ordered a Blue Moon since it was the drink deal and a nice day out. Then it was time to place food orders. This is where things started to go downhill… I decided to to get a burger that claimed to be a half pound patty smothered in pulled pork and coleslaw with a side of fries. I was excited to give it a try since I love both burgers and pulled pork. What I got was extremely underwhelming. From the menu I was expecting something large and extraordinary, what I got was not that. The flavor was okay, but nowhere near what the menu had described.
Ignored Allergy Inquiry
This was the biggest problem we encountered while eating at this restaurant. My friend has a gluten allergy that will make her sick if she eats gluten. She ordered the street tacos off the menu and asked if they could be prepared with corn tortillas instead of flour. The waitress ensured us that it was totally doable and had noted it on the order. When the food finally came out, it took a long time and service was really slow, the tacos were made with flour tortillas. After inquiring with the waitress again about the dish, she insisted they were corn tortillas. Needless to say, check out the photo below that easily shows they are in fact flour tortillas.
Out of concern my friend had me test the tortillas and they were in fact flour tortillas. The texture, layers of dough, and flavors were that of flour and not corn. After the slow service, underwhelming meals, and disregard for allergies, I would NOT recommend Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36. It might have been an off day, but that is no excuse!
Pirates At Night
On to the fun part of the Pittsburgh at night experience. Following dinner, we headed to the PNC Park for the Pirates game. After scoring the cheap tickets we were excited to check out the view from the seats. After going through security we headed up into the stands to find our seats. Because we got cheap tickets they were in the upper level of the park, but that didn’t bother us. The view was amazing! Check out the photo below!
We had a great time hanging out at the game and watching the Pirates take on the Texas Rangers. We made it until just after the 7th inning stretch before we decided to call it quits for the night. But before we left one of the Pirates did score a home run so we got to see some fun fireworks over the water. On the way back down and out of the park I grabbed another quick photo of the awesome view of the skyline lit up at night.
Wrapping Up The Night
If you happen to be in Pittsburgh during ball season, take some time and check out a Pirates game. You can score great tickets for a cheap price to experience something unique. My favorite part by far was the view of the city from the park. There are a lot of restaurants near the park so be sure to do some research and find something better than what we had. Overall it was a fun night of baseball and a good way to spend the even while exploring Pittsburgh. Want to know what Pittsburgh restaurant we do recommend? Be sure to check out our post here! As always keep Seeking Discovery and Explore Every Day!
Can’t Get Enough of Pittsburgh at Night?
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Simply a smiling visitor here to share the love (:, btw great pattern.