Published by Angie. Last Updated on September 27, 2024.
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Braddock Public House is the newest venture from the folks behind Brew Gentlemen, a local brewery also based in the Braddock neighborhood. Located just down the street from their original taproom, Braddock Public House brings approachable yet elevated bar food with a Pittsburgh-Asian slant, along with their world class beer.
We visited during opening week and were so thrilled with the space, the friendly vibe, and the beer, but what surprised us most was the excellent food.
Hawaiian, Japanese, and Asian Fusion… With Beer
Located in the old Superior Motors space, the restaurant brings positive new energy to this stunning building. They have kept much of the original aesthetic, with lots of concrete and wood, but it’s softened up with loads of beautiful plants and flowers.
Currently the restaurant is set up such that you place your food and beverage orders at the bar, and everything is served to you at your table. It’s a system that helps keep the vibe casual and more approachable, and everything went smoothly for us on our visit in terms of ordering.
On the beverage side, naturally there is a great lineup of Brew Gentlemen beer. With 22 taps (including several nitro lines, Lukr faucets, and cask hand pumps) there is plenty of room for expansion, too. If you like IPAs, their flagship General Braddock’s is a solid choice; we also love the seasonal Garden Party (a summer ale made with fresh cucumber), the White Sky (a chai wheat ale), and their Akamai Double IPA.
But if you are not a beer drinker, have no fear: a solid cocktail program and wine list is available, too. There are even alcohol-free options like zero-proof cocktails and house made sodas.
We faced some hard choices when looking over the food menu, as we truly did want to try everything. The food does some genre-hopping: on the bar-food side there’s everything from chicken wings to burgers, salads, and pierogi; but there are Japanese and Hawaiian influences too with spam musubi, gyoza, ramen deviled eggs, and a pork tonkatsu sandwich.
The deviled eggs were on point with their soy marinade, creamy filling seasoned with tare, and crunchy ramen noodle bits on top. We loved that they were perfectly seasoned, and also that the ramen bits gave a nice contrasting texture to the creaminess of everything else.
Other snacks we tried included the chicken wings and the pierogi. The Japanese karaage style wings had a light and ultra crispy coating and were prepared with our choice of rub or sauce (we chose lemon pepper). The pierogi also had a choice of filling – potato and cheddar, or cheeseburger. We loved the ultra creamy and rich filling on these pierogi – they felt fancy yet still Pittsburgh at heart.
Our favorite snack, though, was the spam musubi. Spam may not be on your radar to try at a restaurant, but it should be because this bite hits all the right notes: savory, umami spam paired with steamed rice, drizzled with a sweet and tangy sauce, all wrapped up in nori in a bite-sized package. We tell everyone to get this dish – you won’t regret it!
We also tried the tonkatsu sandwich which was a beautiful rendition of this classic. Served on four Hawaiian rolls still stuck together to create one large bun, the massive pork cutlet had a thin and crispy panko coating, and shio-koji dressed cabbage topped it off. We ordered our pork covered in hot chili crisp which we highly recommend- it balanced the richness of the pork just right. There were so many delicious crunchy textures going on with this sandwich that it will definitely be a regular in our rotation here.
With stellar beer, creative and delicious food at a great price point, and a fun atmosphere, Braddock Public House certainly checks a lot of boxes. We love how breweries bring people together and become neighborhood gathering spots, and it certainly seems like Braddock Public House is poised to become this for Braddock.
Braddock Public House is located at 1211 Braddock Ave in Braddock, PA.
