What to Eat in Pittsburgh

After moving to Pittsburgh from Birmingham, I was fortunate to have several days off before starting my new job. Since Mr. Foodie is self-employed, and his boss is pretty nice (groan…), we spent a few days wandering around the city eating through various neighborhoods. My obsessive Yelping, as described in a previous post, led to the discovery that there are several amazing places to eat in Brookline. While at the Party Cake Shop eating a pazcki (they bring back this post-Lenten guilty pleasure at other times of the year by popular demand), we struck up a conversation with one of the employees. When she heard we were new to Pittsburgh and love food, she of course asked if we had been to the Strip yet. Of course we had. But had we been to Andy’s sushi, she asked. Huh?

So, there’s a guy named Andy who makes sushi in Wholey’s fish market. If you’ve ever been to Wholey’s, you know it’s a Pittsburgh classic. I remember it from when I was a kid. It’s your typical fish market that locals flock to. And it has the look, and, eh, aroma, of a fish market. Standing in the very front of Wholey’s in front of the door is a guy named Andy.

Here’s his sign:

And he even has a website here.

Mr. Foodie got a little camera happy, so what we have here is essentially a flip-book animation of Andy making sushi. He is part comedian, all sushi chef. He heckles the crowd, all while smiling and laughing and making sushi. He told Mr. Foodie he looked like someone from a small town in rural PA where his family happens to be from (I think this was his way of suggesting that Mr. Foodie looked a little rough around the edges that day) – everyone including us laughed. As we stood there, it was clear he had a following. The woman next to me told me she comes every weekend to get his sushi. When I asked what I should order, she told me just to let Andy make whatever he wants, it’s always good.

Now I need to pause and say that Mr. Foodie and I are not typically food snobs, but we do get a little worked up over sushi. We were fortunate enough to take a 2 week trip to Japan last year where we literally had sushi for every. single. meal.  We spent most of our time in Tokyo, Japan’s sushi capital, and our trip included a tour of the famous Tskiji market. Sushi-wise, once you go Tokyo, you can never, ever go back.

Back to Andy. When it was my turn, I took my new friend’s suggestion and placed my trust in Andy. I informed him of my scallop allergy (le sigh….), that I was in the mood for something fairly light, and I love raw fish raw fish (no tempura please). This is what he made:

The summer roll was delightful. Shrimp and greens in a light slightly chewy wrapper, topped with a sweet chili sauce. He hit the “light” request on the head.

Then the sushi. As he made it, I asked him whether he gets his fish from Wooly’s.  With a smirk, he quipped “no.” I replied “Andy, who is your supplier,” to which he replied with another smirk. His lips were sealed.

Andy laughing:

Andy smirking:

Check out this gorgeous roll, with salmon, tuna, avocado, and cooked shrimp: fresh, creamy, and delicious. The fish was absolutely on par with what we ate in Japan. Normally we are sushi purists – we eat nigiri and sashimi, and don’t like sauces touching our fish. But the fish was so fantastic and the roll was so well-composed, I made an exception.

We rarely blog about a place after trying just one dish, but the quality was so outstanding that we feel confident in our assessment of the situation. Let us know what you think when you try it!