On my first day back in Pittsburgh, I had to decide where I was going to eat. It was just after 2:00 PM, I hadn’t had lunch, and I was pretty hungry. I did a little walking around to see if there was anything that stood out, but I decided on Hofbrauhaus. I think it was already in my head, since I had checked it out online before I left, but at least I got some walking done first. This was right next to the hotel where I was staying, so the walk home wouldn’t be bad (even though I would walk around town even more after I had my lunch/dinner).

This is a beer hall, but I don’t drink beer. I think that this would be a really cool experience for people who enjoy beer and want to get a little taste of a German beer hall.

When I sat down, there was an accordion player making some music. Some people were getting into it more than others, clapping along to the music. I thought it added a really nice touch and gave the feeling of being in a different place.

There were long wooden tables with benches, so you could be seated next to complete strangers, depending on the time of day. I got there in between lunch and dinner, so I had some space to myself. As I was looking through the menu, the tough part was deciding on one thing. If I was there with other people, I probably would have been happy to get a couple of appetizers and maybe split one or two things. But since it was just me, I had to think about what I could eat without leftovers. I have a completely different mindset at home, but when I’m on the road, I am not thinking about leftovers. I didn’t order a beer, but did order a root beer. 🙂

When it came time to order my food, I decided on a Schnitzel sandwich, and I replaced the French fries with Potato soup. The soup was really good. It was a creamy soup with some really good flavor. There were chunks of potato and bits of bacon in there as well, so it was a good way to start the meal. The schnitzel sandwich had a fried pork cutlet on a brioche bun with lettuce, onions, and their signature Bier Cheese (I asked for it without tomatoes or pickles). The schnitzel itself was really good. Nice and crispy on the outside, and juicy and full of flavor on the inside. Easy to bite through as well. The brioche held up well, but there was a lot more schnitzel than bread, which made me quite happy. The bier cheese made this extra special. It had good flavor, and it worked really well with the schnitzel sandwich. It is probably really good with pretzels, but maybe I’ll get to try that some other time.

As far as a start to the week, it doesn’t get much better than this. Good food and a good environment make it easy to stay positive!