Primanti Bros. (Pittsburgh)

When I told everyone we were going for a quick roadtrip to Pittsburgh, pretty much I received one of two responses from everyone, or a combination of the two: “WHY?!” or, equally as often, “Are you going to Primanti’s?”  (BTW, it’s Prih-MAN-tees… not Prih-MON-tees, as I was saying it, and was corrected by all of the locals.) 

It’s true that when we picked Pittsburgh as our destination, the first thing that crossed my mind was, “Ooh, we can go to Primanti’s for those crazy sandwiches I keep seeing on TV and read about on Serious Eats!!!”  So of course, our first stop that night, after checking in, was Primanti’s – the original in the Strip District. 

I’d warned the BF ahead of time, who likes his sandwiches, his burgers, pretty much everything very plain, that this was not the place you’d get that.  In fact, I’d read in a few places that to ask for the fries on the side would get you the fries… thrown in your face, so I sternly warned him to take what was given him and be done with it. 

We had a quick debate over what to get; I knew already, from the Serious Eats post, that I wanted pastrami.  BF considered the No. 2 seller, and asked me what the number 1 seller was.  I explained that it was the Iron City beer, and he said, “Where does it say that?!”  I finally told him it was because Pittsburgh was probably the 2nd largest city in the state and cheesesteak is a Philly thing, blah blah, middle child syndrome, blah blah, which actually satisfied him more than the first answer.  Maybe he just wanted me to stop talking.   

Anyway, he chose the roast beef.  This is his sandwich in monster glory. 

This is him, trying to pick it up and eat it.  He did eat a fair number of fries from the sandwich, though he did gamely try it altogether.  BF was most impressed with the cole slaw; he’s not a mayo fan, so the lack of mayo was a plus for him, the vinegary kick pleasing him.  The fries, he noted, were mushy and mealy, “not fully cooked” as he said, which I shrugged and said, well, it’s true.  This is a known issue with these sandwiches. 

One thing that I thought odd was the fact that no matter what sandwich you order, they throw the meat on the grill first.  With a roast beef sandwich, I find that to be a real concern, as roast beef is best at its pink, rare, juicy finest, but throwing it on the grill further cooks the meat, rendering it tough and chewy.  BF totally thought the meat was an afterthought in the sandwich, finding it unpleasant to eat too much of, and enjoying the cole slaw with just a little beef and the fries much better.  Ah well.

I’m not a huge pastrami fan, to be totally honest – I much prefer corned beef, finding pastrami overwhelming in flavor often in a sandwich.  Because I knew there would be so many other players in the sandwich, though, I kept with the pastrami choice. 

I took one last pic and then dug in, my hands were too greasy after this to take any more pics, sorry! 

I needn’t have worried about this pastrami overwhelming the sandwich, since it had barely any flavor on its own.  My sandwich was soggy, but I don’t know where the oil was coming from – and surprisingly, it didn’t do much to add to the sandwich’s flavor.  I felt like I was eating a big sandwich that was part mushy (fries, bread, meat) and part crunchy (cole slaw).  The overall effect was like eating a very soggy sandwich that had some crunchy bits.  I wound up adding a lot of hot sauce to the second half, which improved it marginally, but overall, it still fell flat.  Watching me struggle with eating the sandwich as neatly as possible, BF suggested that the bread should be slightly sturdier, to hold up a bit better against the monstrous innards, with which I agreed.

I washed it all down with an Iron City lager.  I ordered it so timidly, the guy behind the counter eyed me.  I know he wanted to card me (which always tickles me now that I’m in my, ugh, late 20s), but he didn’t… I was timid because I’d heard about “Iron City beer” but I hadn’t seen it on any menus so I wasn’t sure that was the real name – I’ve never seen this anywhere else (duh) and didn’t want to appear completely foolish.  Anyone who’s been reading this blog for a while knows that I don’t drink beer – in fact, the last time was probably over a year ago.  (Although actually I had a beer this past Sunday… who knew?)  But this was a pretty easy drink, washing down nicely alongside all the grease I consumed, and a pleasant enough taste – for beer, anyway.  The price of $3.50 was also extremely wallet friendly… I actually wanted another one at the game the next day, but couldn’t bring myself to pay $7 for it.  Oh wells. 

Yvo says: If it’s your first time in Pittsburgh, of course go here.  Why wouldn’t you?  It’s like, a signature style of Pittsburgh.  I can’t say it was awesome/amazing/you have to go back, though – I’d much rather eat a similar sandwich crafted at home with quality innards!  But it’s definitely an experience, and inexpensive – I believe our entire meal (plus two root beers and the beer) came to $30 with a generous tip.  I had a good time.  Oh, and if you’re a silly NYC girl like I am, it might amuse you to overhear the guy calculating your bill and saying “two pops” … I’m not entirely sure what the regional slang in my city is, it seems to vary between ’soda’ or ‘Coke’ (yes, even though that’s a brand name).  But it was cute. 
recommended

PS We sat in front of the MegaTouch machine and played PhotoHunt, but they didn’t have “erotic” Photo Hunt, boo… and after we started eating, I realized how gross it was that we were just touching a machine that everyone & their momma had touched before eating sandwiches with our hands… d’oh!

PPS The official reason we went to Pittsburgh is because BF wanted to see Middle America.  Are you done laughing now?  I added on some other reasons, but that was the overarching one that sent us west instead of south like we normally go.  You’ll find out what the other reasons are soon enough