Let’s say that you just won a nice little jackpot at the new Sands Casino in Bethlehem, PA.  What to do with the winnings?  Here’s an idea – have a delicious, decadent dinner at Emeril’s Chop House restaurant, located right off of the casino floor.
I’ve never been to any of Emeril Lagasse’s other restaurants before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when my significant other’s parents said that we had a reservation there this past weekend.  The décor is very fitting with the rest of the casino, which …

I regularly visit Max & Erma’s for lunch on the days that I find myself working from home. While being a national chain, each restaurant has it’s own “hometown feel” and offers specials and promotions that aren’t available nationwide.
Both their lunch and dinner menus offer a wide variety of salads, appetizers, sandwiches and entrees. The restaurant is well known for their burgers and warm chocolate chip cookies. They even have a customer loyalty card, called “Good Neighbors Rewards”. It allows you to save money on every visit, as well as …

For something different, I decided to stop for dinner at The Hop House located on Babcock Boulevard in the North Hills (they also have a Greentree location on Noblestown Road).  Many Pittsburghers may know of the North Hills location by its former name, the Barking Shark.

I’ve passed Oishii Bento (the yummy lunchbox) hundreds of times and not gone in but I finally managed to find them not crammed full of students and popped in the other day for bento  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bento .
Actually something had my mind on bento all day so I had already printed out their menu at http://www.oishiibento.com  so I could get in and out with my Spicy Pork Bulgogi Bento. Additionally, the website is as clean and friendly as the restaurant- something you don’t always experience.
I was delighted to find the restaurant clean …

A little secret – if you go to Seviche, sort of a Latino sushi bar nestled in the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, they’ll roll out the red carpet if you tell them it’s your first visit. Even if it’s not. They won’t care. Any excuse for more fun.
Located at 930 Penn Ave., Seviche offers a taste of Cuba and Miami in a Pittsburgh-friendly sort of way. Plenty of beautiful people, sure, but also several regular folks like us. One night we were there, the manager’s parents were there from the …