Silky’s Pub, Pittsburgh, PA

Two of my favorite things in the world are hockey and hot wings.  They go together so well!  There is nothing better than watching the Pens with a beer and a basket full of hot meat.  I suppose I would be happy to enjoy my favorite pastime anywhere, but the place I go most of the time is called Silky’s Pub.

Located right on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield, Silky’s is a quintessential Pittsburgh neighborhood bar.  It’s decorated with the requisite amount of Pittsburgh sports memorabilia, but with an Olde English pub flair.  It’s very comfortable and familiar.  The mosaic tile bar rests under several big TVs, perfect for Pens-watchin’ or Steelers-watchin’ or Pirates-watchin’!  The jukebox is always playing good rock music, from classic to indie rock.  This place feels like a friend’s living room.

I stopped in to Silky’s on Monday evening to order some wings to-go.  Though I’ve had them many times, I wanted to give them a fair shot for this article.  I sat at the bar and drank a Blue Moon while I waited for my order.  By the way, Silky’s has got an OK collection of beers on tap: Guinness, Noble Pils, Magic Hat 9, Blue Moon, Hoegaarden, Miller Lite, Yuengling, Sierra Nevada, Coors Light, Bass, and Straub Special Dark.  I read over the Daily Specials Menu, and I was pleasantly surprised.  I think of Silky’s as a beer and wings kind of place, but I noticed some pretty fancy dishes on the Specials menu: Broiled Stuffed Grape Leaves and Lobster Raviolis with Prosciutto-Cream Sauce.  The guys sitting next to me said they really enjoyed the Stuffed Grape Leaves.  I’ll have to keep that in mind next time.  On Penguins game nights, the specials menu incorporates players’ names into the dish names.  Fun!

Though I have had the wings a half dozen times at Silky’s, I can’t say that they are the best I’ve ever had.  They are pretty good, adequate.  The sauce is basically a mild grease with a dry rub.  Since the last time I had wings there, they weren’t very spicy, I decided to go for the “Atomic” wings for my To-Go order.  I also ordered french fries with cheese.  Those of you from my hometown will recognize this as “The Usual” order from The Best Wing Place in the World, Drover’s Inn.  I will save Drover’s for another post.  Anyway, I brought my order home (no hockey that night) and dug in. I was surprised to realize that the wings actually aren’t very good.   The Atomic wings were not hot AT ALL.  I love spicy foods, and I have a high tolerance for wing-pain.  These wings were mild at best!  The french fries were equally mediocre.  What a bummer!

I guess it’s not a bad thing to discover that a pub’s “bar food” is probably not as good as it’s “real food.”  Silky’s is a fine pub, and it definitely has a fan in me and many other folks in Bloomfield.  Sadly, I have to resign them from my “Best Wings in Pittsburgh” quest.  Unless it’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh.