Chevy Shake & Sliders Crawl
Brace yourselves for the world’s longest post…
On Wednesday, GM Northeast gathered a group of hungry bloggers for a trip around the city to nibble on burgers, sip on shakes, and zip around town in sparklin’ Chevys. ‘Twas a true explosion of American good times.
I was lucky to be among the taste testers along with some fellow PGH bloggers from this great collection of blogs: Culinary Cory, Vanilla Icing, Mr. Bacon Pants, This Man’s Kitchen and I heart PGH. We spent the afternoon at BRGR, Sharp Edge Bistro on Penn, and the Milkshake Factory.
Before I get to the food, I need to let you all know that for one afternoon, I was truly cool, all thanks to an orange car with some killer attitude. You see, I had the privilege of riding in the Chevy Camaro SS – my first convertible trip ever! I didn’t think I’d like a convertible, because apparently I don’t like things that are AWESOME. But I did indeed enjoy the ride. What was not to like?
The wind in my hair. The sun. The sidewalk shouts of approval: “nice car!” Cool = me. Thank you sweet Camaro, thank you.
In the Camaro, enjoying the breeze and looking just a touch crazy. Notice the orange interior as well. It was like cruisin’ around in a creamsicle.
The Camaro giving the camera a smile, I’d like to think.
The other cars in the crawl were the Equinox, the Cruze and the Tahoe hybrid. Each had lovely features like fuel efficiency, street noise control and On-Star. However, my heart belongs with that Camaro.
Now, lets talk burgers & milkshakes!
Our first stop was BRGR in Penn Circle. We sampled the ‘Shrooms burger, the Button Buster, and the salmon burger. The Button Buster is meat on top of meat (yes…) with short ribs on top of the burger. The salmon burger was a powerful fresh fish patty with bacon. But the ‘Shrooms burger proved to be my favorite of the three with its caramelized onions and mushrooms piled an inch high.
The fine folks at BRGR made a concerted effort to find the right blend of meat for their burgers, and it shows. The blend is 75/25, which is decidedly higher than most ground meat blends and allows for more juicy flavor. We washed the burgers down with the Elvis shake (peanut butter and bananas – and rum), a chocolate shake, and the creme de la creme: salted caramel vanilla bean shake. Truth: salted caramel makes everything better.
Fried pickles = love
We piled in to our respective cars to dash off to the next locale. After getting some “how you doin’?” looks while driving the streets of downtown in our sweet ride, we were greeted with three more burgers at Sharp Edge: the Belgian burger, an ostrich burger, and a duck burger. The Belgian burger is a Sharp Edge best seller. The burger, a blend of lamb and beef, is filled with bacon and shallots. The duck burger had almost a meatball-like taste, which was unexpected but good. However, the real standout for me was the ostrich burger. Things to know when eating ostrich: it is a very lean meat, and you will feel like you are in prehistoric times. It was all so Jurassic Park.
The burgers, reppin’ Belgium
With the burgers, we were also served some of Sharp Edge’s Belgian frites. Anything double fried is A-OK in my book – and these babies are no exception. And give me an aioli mayo, we will be best friends forever.
Double fried frites. Please and thank you.
The Milkshake Factory by Edward Marc Chocolatier
The Milkshake Factory is truly a gem on the South Side. I always love their old timey decor and the smell of chocolate. I fell even more in love on Wednesday after hearing some of their history. Edward Marc Chocolatier is a 4th generation family business – 97 years strong! The chocolates that are sold near the front of the store are all produced in the Pittsburgh vicinity, and The Milkshake Factory is one of their four stores in the area.
So this is love?
Anyway, with the 90 degree heat, sampling milkshakes was the best way to end the journey. We were given 7 choices from their list of 55 flavors. I tried the red velvet and the carrot cake. Good gracious. The red velvet milkshake was DIVINE. It tasted like red velvet cake and frosting at the same time. If someone offered me a bag of gold or a red velvet milkshake, I would take the milkshake. The carrot cake milkshake also proved to be a winner with chunks of real carrot cake blended in to the ice creamy delight.
Shakes and chocolate
On our way out the door, we were each given a box of chocolate. I picked the dark chocolate salted caramel (again – salted caramel for the win!!), a peanut butter meltaway, and a chocolate cream. I shared these treats with my mom. And these treats are both Laura and mom approved.
At the end of the afternoon, I was full and had a new crush on a car. I also have some insider info for you guys: BRGR is opening a restaurant in the Cranberry area later this summer, and The Milkshake Factory is debuting a watermelon milkshake (complete with chocolate seeds) on the fourth of July. Lots to love about Pittsburgh summer eating!
Many thanks to the good people at GM Northeast and our wonderful restaurant hosts. They planned a flawless afternoon, and the perfect way to usher in summer – with the top down!
Action shot!
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