Beth "Fury" C.'s Profile

This store is one of my favorite places in Pittsburgh and the first stop I make when buying gifts. In addition to all of the amazing handmade products, they have vintage pinball machines. Plus, with all of their amazing greeting cards, I'm now writing more postcards and sending more letters then ever. Check it out and encourage more local business.

Before I moved to Pittsburgh, I would visit this store's website to buy San-X items which are harder to find in the US.

Upon moving to Pittsburgh, I was so excited to finally get to visit the storefront. San-X, Hello Kitty, Ugly Dolls....this store is a mecca for anyone who is a fan of the cute. In addition to a huge collection of limited edition figurines, they have a small but cute clothing and accessory selection plus a huge collection of the tokidoki LeSportSac collection.

If you are in Shadyside, don't forget to stop in and visit.

Our meal with the Church Brew Works and Restaurant was a mixed bag.

Plus: My husband's beer was good

Minus: The in-restaurant brewed Birch Beer was watery and mediocre

Plus: The ambiance was great and the building is beautiful

Minus: We had numerous flies around our table

Plus: The vegetarian options were delicious and the brick oven pizzas were great.

Minus: Our waitress was absentee and forgot our waters and my drink when bringing the rest of the tables' drinks. It just seemed like there were too few waiters for such a huge restaurant

Overall, the food and beer make it a great place to bring visiting beer fans, but they could make some minor adjustments to make it a place we'd like to go on a regular basis.

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Update as of 10/18/2009:

I'm increasing my rating by a star because of a followup visit. Our food was delicious, our guests were impressed with the decor, and our waitress was wonderful.

I don't care if its a chain, if loving Penzey's is wrong, then I never want to be right.  

This store has provided me fragrant cardamon, the best dutch cocoa I've worked with, the ability to make homemade mustard, and the first stop for most foodies that come to visit us in the city.

Everything is priced well, often far better then at the supermarket, the jars are perfect sizes for most spice racks, and its super high quality.

While the quality of the pizza depends on the time of day you order and the decor leaves a lot to be desired, for a transplanted resident who HATES PA liquor laws, they have a great variety of beer available for what is basically a hole-in-the-wall pizza place. Also, delicious provolone sticks, but why doesn't anyone in this city sell mozzarella sticks.

Pinball, vegan seitan wings, and some of the best vegetarian sausage for I've ever eaten. This place was invented in my dreams and brought into reality by my fairy godmother, or so I like to tell myself. The people working there are super friendly, the local artwork being featured is often extremely unique, and the food is DELICIOUS. The pizzas made from scratch, the ingredients are organic, and I can't speak highly enough about their vegan seitan wings. The buffalo are great, but don't forget to try the honey mustard as well.

Plus, they see my husband and I so often, we often get a few extra wings thrown in. I highly recommend this place, especially to vegetarians that might feel a little left out in a heavily meat-centric city.