| rev:text
| - Benjamin's is a new bar taking over BRiX's old space (and I believe by the same owners) after zoning issues caused them to close their doors. Their menu is focused, offering about a half-dozen varieties of burger, some available as house-made veggie burgers, and gluten-free buns upon request. Three sides and a few appetizers ranging from pretzels to pate are also on the menu.
The space is narrow, with a large bar sitting on the right half and a handful of tables on the left. At the far end of the bar is where the cooking appears to take place, and beyond that in a separate room is a billiards room(And maybe more, I didn't venture inside). Arriving on a Saturday evening, there were a few sporadic diners, but plenty of space even for a large walk-in party.
In addition to their full bar, Benjamin's has a beer and wine menu - no drafts though, currently at least. Their can/bottle menu has a few craft and local favorites in addition to common macro selections. The prices are reasonable, and their daily happy hours can make this bar a steal(4:30-6:30 - ranging from $1 PBR to $4 wine).
We started off with the mini pretzels and truffle mustard($2). The truffle mustard was as it sounds: Mustard with a splash of earthy truffle flavor that really comes through. I'm not sure it's my favorite truffle-flavored condiment, but it was tasty. The pretzels themselves appeared to be regular store-bought mini pretzels.
I chose a burger with green chilis, salsa, and chipotle sour cream and a side of home fries($9), while my friend decided on an egg, bacon, and hot sauce mayo burger with slaw($11), both medium. The food came quickly and immediately the first thing I noticed is that my burger was entirely raw. The server was happy to correct the error and did so quickly. In the meantime I had some of my homefries, which were good, but just homefries. I would really prefer french fries, but I'm not sure they have a fryer here.
My burger came back warm and cooked to a nice medium. Eating these burgers is a messy task - they are juicy to the point of excess and leave your area soaked. Unfortunately, I found the flavor of the burgers to be lacking, and my toppings didn't really didn't add much. My friend agreed that his tasted a bit bland.
Because Benjamin's is new, I would like to go back and give them another shot, but there are a lot of places to get an excellent burger in Pittsburgh, so they're entering a market with some pretty tough competition - especially if their menu remains as focused as it is. I do like their attempt at combining a classy atmosphere with spruced-up blue-collar food, but at some points it felt more like an identity crisis than a synergy. They appear to be working at it constantly, though, so I'm hopeful that in time, Benjamins will shine
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)