I thought a thread for tips on navigating Pinburgh other than the tournament itself might be fun. Good hotels? Bad hotels? Best bars and restaurants? Fun things to do after the tournament?
Food I enjoyed:
Condado Tacos - Just up the street from the convention center. Relatively inexpensive, quality tacos. Slightly untraditional fillings. Fill out a form with your preferences, get tacos. I think they offer happy hour taco specials as well.
Sammy’s Corned Beef - No frills corned beef, pastrami, and ham sandwiches. Up like two blocks and over like two blocks. One of the few downtown places with a six pack license to sell beer to go.
https://m.facebook.com/pages/Sammys-Famous-Corned-Beef/111742862194695
Emporio: A Meatball Joint - Good meatballs served a million ways. I think they sell other stuff, but it literally has meatballs in the name. Get the meatballs. Sienna Mercado is actually the same restaurant, but upstairs. A block away from the convention center.
Meh:
Sharp Edge Bistro - It wasn’t completely terrible, but the wait times were insanely long for lunch on two separate years I attended. They clearly were understaffed. Being so close to the Convention Center you’d think they’d check the calendar. Two different people ordered the hummus and complained it was too garlicky, and both love garlic. Like it was half garlic by volume. People not eating fried food were served quicker than people eating the Buffalo Chicken Bites, which is their specialty. And not amazing. Excellent beer selection though.
Bars I enjoyed:
Hambones - Not near the convention center, but a decent place to grab a drink in a dive bar. Three or four pins in the back. Very laid back. Often has live music or comedy.
https://m.facebook.com/HambonesPittsburgh/ also has a website but it’s down currently.
Tiki Lounge - A tiki joint on the Southside. Not near the convention center. I have a “thing” for tiki kitsch, but a good bar by any standard. One pin, but broken last year.
Trixie’s Bar - Another Southside place. Five pins. Kind of decked out like a hunting lodge. I didn’t completely fall in love with this place, but… five pins.
Church Brew Works - The most beautiful place I have ever been or close to it. Set in a former church, retaining all the stained glass. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Kind of expensive, and the beer was good but it’s on the list mostly for atmosphere.
Other places I enjoyed:
Kickback Cafe - Not a bar. More sandwiches and coffee, but you can bring in beer for an additional charge. Liquor too I believe. Rules might be different for Pinburgh. 18 or so pins in good shape. Likely to be crowded. All ages. Probably not the best place to get completely hammered, as it is all ages and more of a coffee shop vibe.
Alcohol laws: EDIT: Apparently it’s no longer as bad as I made it out to be.
Among the weirdest in the nation. No convenience store sales. Almost no supermarket sales, though some have an attached ‘restaurant’ that sells beer and wine in limited quantities. Beer can be purchased cheaply only at ‘beer distributors’ and only 24 cans at a time. Some bar / restaurants are allowed to sell 6 or 12 packs, but it’s expensive and not all of them do it. They also need to serve food for this type of license. Hard liquor is only sold at state owned stores. They close early and many aren’t open or are open limited hours on Sunday. Bars close at 2 AM, except private clubs which can stay open until 3 AM.
Weed:
Illegal, but ask around and you’ll find it.
