Fat Head’s South Side Saloon, Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
The legendary Fatheads is located on Pittsburgh’s vibrant south side, in the midst of many cool places to get your sauce on. Conveniently, there is paid parking across the street. Recognize this place by the big bloated mustached head with sunglasses
Get Sauced: 4 out of 4
One needs to go no farther than here to go on a bender. They have everything a booze lover could dream of. It was like Fathead Wonka just opened up a oak barrelled door to his fantasy factory and blinded me with the IPA, Beligian Dubbel, Bock, Maibock, Pilsner and Wheat beer waterfalls, the whiskey rain, the scotch pond and the floofy area known as the wine flower garden. Hopefully this dream world has a bathroom. Seriously, one of the most impressive beer lists I’ve ever seen. Rogue actually brews an exclusive brand for Fathead only. I guzzled the house-brewed Hunter’s Head IPA, which was hoppy with a good malt backbone and a diversity of flavor notes. I downed the house-brewed Heller Bock and immediately ordered a second. This was my favorite. The Heller Bock tasted very similar to a dark wheat beer, but it had a lighter bread taste and a higher hop top note. Utterly delicious. I also tried their hand-pulled tap which was Bear Republic Red Rocket Ale from Cali, which I’ve had before, fantastic! Fatheads has a diversity of whiskeys and scotches and offers whiskey flights. The wine list is as expected for a brewery. If you go to Fatheads for the first time and order wine, I will personally come to your house and hide some stinky cheese under your pillow!
The Sauce: 4 out of 4
The menu is MASSIVE. Normally, I would be turned off by such a large beast. But, much like reading an exciting, adrenaline-pumping novel, I couldn’t put this bastard down (speaking of bastards, they actually have Arrogant Bastard battered onion rings!). Take as much time as you need to figure out what you want. The servers understand this, don’t worry. We started with the wings. Fatheads offers 14 different wing variations from traditional favorites like honey-bbq and mild buffalo to creative new flavors like salt-n-vinegar and spicy parmesan. My favorite was the spicy parmesan, a nutty and sweet topnote with a real tomatoey kick to finish it off. My least favorite was the salt-n-vinegar, creative but tastes just like one would expect. Now to the main course, the Headwiches! A Headwich is a gigantor sandwich inspired by a moment of genius of some member of the Fathead staff. 18 of these mouth-watering bad boys stared at me and it was damn hard to make a decision. I pondered the Maxim award winning South Slope Headwich , made with pierogies, kielbasa and grilled onions. I contemplated the Beer Camp Headwich, packed full of bacon, bbq sauce, sharp cheddar and house-made 1000 island dressing. I salivated over the Artery Clogger Headwich, full of greasy goodness (bacon, fried eggs, mayo). I ended up choosing the PCI Headwich, an italian style club with ham, salami, capicola, banana peppers and rosemary mayo. This thing was spot on! The amounts of meat to veg ratio was perfect and the rosemary mayo provided a unique floral aftertaste. I tried like mad to finish this tough puppy but (much to my chagrin) needed a woof-woof bag. I also sampled their cherry-pepper mayo and enjoyed the deep astringency of it with their crispy fries.
The Reduction: + 1 Ambiance for 9 out of 10
Customer service was as expected. The waitress knew the menu and did a great job giving me recommendations. She was a bit slow on the beer refill take though, not penalty slow, just a tad bit molassely. The ambiance is unique in its simplicity, having a sports bar type feel inside a simple brick building. I love all the hand-painted craft beer logos, word on the street says that the brewer himself does all of them. There also is a aura of fun and awe (of what we are collectively experiencing) by the customers, we immediately struck up a conversation with some British businessmen sitting next to us, just over the beer list. The Sauced Chef will not rest until he’s tried every single headwich and makes it to the Fathead Elite. You have to experience this place at least once in your life!
