Pittsburgh and barbecue are two words that do not seem sensible. Some restaurants try it and it is either lacking in flavor or overdone. When I'm looking for barbecue, I'm not going to Texas Roadhouse but I'm also not going to Union Pig and Chicken (no offense to lovers of either establishment). I feel like barbecue needs to be unpretentious but done right. The South Side BBQ Restaurant gives me exactly what I want.
I ordered the pulled pork meal with ghost pepper mac n' cheese and my boyfriend ordered ribs. We were given a plethora of sauces to try which was amazing because I can never have too much sauce on anything I eat ever. The portion of pork was huge and the ghost pepper mac had a balanced amount of cheese and heat. It took all of my strength in the world to not eat all of it in one sitting. The sauces were all tasty but the Carolina style was by favorite. I'm more of a Kansas City-style sauce lover so I was really surprised but it was had the perfect amount of vinegar and pepper. My boyfriend's ribs were huge and he loved them which is impressive for a southern gentleman eating ribs in Pittsburgh.
I also really loved the look of the restaurant. It was really unassuming and cozy.We actually just sat at the bar. I was kind of sad that there weren't more people there but hopefully everyone will read this and dive in! It is worth it!