Independent Brewing Company Features Local Brews and Spirits; Biddle’s Escape Offers Coffee, Tea, and Food (Wed., 1/8/20)

1) Squirrel Hill’s Independent Brewing Company surveys Western Pennsylvania’s craft breweries and serves these breweries’ best libations in one tavern. Beverages from as far and wide including Braddock’s Brew Gentlemen Beer Company and Larrimer’s East End Brewing Company, plus plenty in between, are represented on the draft list. Much of the food is from local farms, and the spirits and cocktails are local, too, like Wigle Whiskey’s popular Monongahela style rye and Maggie’s Farm White Rum.. The tavern’s regional emphasis harks back to the original Independent Brewing Company, a group of pre-Prohibition Pittsburgh brewers who helped to support one another. The new IBC has adopted that same goal as well as the old IBC’s logo. The eclectic menu is created by noted Chef Jamilka Borges. Monday through Wednesday, 5 – 11 p.m. Thursday 5 p.m. – 12 a.m. Friday through Saturday, 5 p.m. – 12 a.m. Note: kitchen closes approximately two hours before the rest of the tavern. (CM)

2)  Biddle’s Escape, on Biddle Avenue between Regent Square and Wilkinsburg has a great selection of coffee drinks, teas, and sweet treats. One that has been getting a lot of “buzz” is the Hungarian Szegedi Kave, a Hungarian style espresso with steamed half-and-half, vanilla sugar, Szeged cinnamon, and whipped cream. Another cool thing is their patio where on a warm day you can sit beneath the trees and carved wood faces and enjoy the shade. As you may remember from local history and a movie titled Mrs. Soffel, the Biddle brothers escaped from the Allegheny County jail with the aid of Mrs. Soffel (the warden’s wife who was in love with one of the brothers) in 1902. 401 Biddle Ave., Regent Square/Wilkinsburg.

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