Primanti Brothers - Pittsburgh's One Worthy Contribution

As a true Browns fan I hate to give any credit to Pittsburgh, but I flew out of the Pittsburgh airport for my recent trip to South Florida and got another couple of chances to stop at Primanti Brothers for some excellent grub. I made two stops (lunch leaving and coming home) at the Primanti Brothers restaurant in Moon, PA, right next to the airport and I have to admit that their food is good. For those who are unfamiliar with Primanti Brothers, if you have been to a Pannini's location in the Cleveland area you will get an idea since Pannini's basically copied what Primanti has been doing for a very long time. Based around their sandwiches with coleslaw and french fries in the sandwich, Primanti offers good food at affordable prices in a sports bar setting. For my first lunch I had a Tuna Sandwich. The tuna is loaded onto thick cut Italian bread and then topped with a heap of coleslaw, french fries, tomato slices and provolone cheese. The tuna was great, simply prepared with a little mayo. The coleslaw, which has a vinegar dressing, was a great contrast with a crispness and tartness yet just enough sweetness to make it sing. The fries are fresh cut and come out hot and overflowing from the sandwich. As a whole this was an exceptional sandwich, big, flavorful and more than filling. About the only complaint I had was that the bread, although thick cut, could not stand up to all the fillings, making it a bit hard to eat by hand. At $6.29 it is a very good deal. Primanti offers the option to get a slice of pizza for $1.25 with any sandwich and I decided to give it a try and I was very happy I did. The slice was nicely sized and came out piping hot and fresh. This was a very traditional pizza, but it was almost perfectly executed. The crust was thin but crisp, with enough stiffness to be picked up with no sagging; the bottom was dusted with corn meal to keep it from burning in the pizza oven and adds a nice little extra note. The sauce was nice, with good tomato flavor and thinly spread so the cheese could adhere to the crust properly. The cheese was good, providing a nice even coat without being overly thick and had a nice little cheesey twang to it. This slice reminds me of why I really like pizza, it is a balancing act of all of the elements to make something flavorful and satisfying. Lunch on my way home was the Colossal Fish and Cheese sandwich. For $6.99 you get an really big piece of fish, nicely fried and then topped with the same toppings as above. The fish was very good, flavorful and fresh and worked even better with the toppings then the tuna. The amount of food on this sandwich was staggering and I was more then filled by the time I was done. Other then being located in the Pittsburgh area and having all sorts of Pittsburgh sports paraphenalia, Primanti Brothers is a real winner and well worth your time if you are any where nearby. You can check on the various locations at http://www.primantibrothers.com/. I will try to get to one of the Pannini's to give you a direct comparison soon.