I've been trying to get back into the groove of discovering local establishments no matter what town they are in. I am always on the lookout for a good place to pick up lunch on my commute to work. Monroeville holds a lot of possibilities, and not just national chains. Sometimes you have to go off the beaten path in Monroeville to find some good, stick-to-you-bones food.
Dad's Pub & Grub was on my radar for a bit, but never made the journey here as I felt it was a run of the mill copycat business. Also it was in an area where I don't think of food when it comes to finding food. Add to that that this building is a reuse of a Pizza Hut, albeit a very good reuse. Once inside you do not even notice that it was a Pizza Hut at one point. They really transformed the space inside to make you feel as if you are at a bar and restaurant.
Ordering was very easy for me, I called to place my order. However when you call they encourage you to place your order via website. While driving it is much easier to order by phone then attempt to pull up a website. I did look the menu over before my travels that day so I already knew what I wanted which made ordering that much easier.
This was probably my only mistake, ordering. I have never eaten here so I did not know what the portion sizes were like. I have in my head that they are probably on the smaller side so I weigh on the side of caution. For my appetizer I opted from the Fry vs. Fry menu and went with the Dad's Famous Pup Fries. You can opt for either fresh cut fries or beer battered, I went with fresh cut. These fries are covered in cheese and bacon and come with a side of Ranch to dip in. When they asked me for the size I went with large. Little did I know that the large would be meal unto itself. This fills a container and is heavy on the cheese and bacon. The ranch was amazing to and needed for dipping.
I enjoyed their take on the "Yinzer" here. It is not your typical "Yinzer" fare that you would expect. That being fries, cole slaw, and what not. Here, that means bacon and mac n cheese. When I saw that I thought it was one that would work really well, so I opted for the two "Yinzer" items I saw on the menu. First was the Yinzer Weenie. A mighty good dog that had bacon tucked beside it on a soft poppy seed bun and then topped with some of the best mac n cheese I have had in a while. They use Cavatappi pasta for their mac n cheese, giving it a better hold on the cheese, I mean that cheese gets into those spiral tubes and makes sure you know it is mac n cheese. This weenie was a monster to eat and took some time, but every bite you got the whole flavor combination intended. I would go back just for that.
Now, if that wasn't enough, I decided to order more. See I was at work and hadn't eaten anything that day. I figured I would start my day with the fries and weenie, then my lunch would be the next thing I ordered. However, my stomach was heavy and I had to save the next part of the meal for the next day.
I went with the Yinzer Burger. This is a huge burger, 8 ounces of meat topped with bacon, mac n cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion on an Italian roll. This comes with a side of fresh cut fries. With this I unwittingly ordered two meals for myself. The burger is cooked to your liking and then topped with all that. The fries, like my appetizer, were amazing. These fresh cut fries were cut so perfectly that they weren't overbearing. I had to take my time with the burger. I felt like I was getting the meat sweats while eating. I mean you got the beef and then the bacon. Then with all the added toppings it definitely was a big burger to consume.
I will definitely frequent this place again. I may jump around the menu a bit as there are other things I would like to try. But in a pinch I may just fall back on one of these items I have had the pleasure of already ordering. read more