We’ve been eagerly anticipating a visit to Fathead’s Saloon in Pittsburgh for some years now, thanks to the descriptions provided by Dan O’Connor (see Profiles in Wing Courage in Wingazette Classic) and Dante Vespignani (famous for Dante’s Three Ulcer Wings).  We finally got our chance on a snowy afternoon in February of 2005.

We arrived on premise and noticed the “pardon our dust” construction in progress signs.  We marveled at the size of the bar – huge!  The ambiance was great, with brick walls and crude wooden flooring.  We were seated and looked over the menu.  There’s an awful lot of food on the menu here!  Fortunately, there’s no sign of pasta salad anywhere in the offerings.  We studied the wing section and found a good number of choices.  We went straight to the top and ordered Volcano wings.  The server seemed quite concerned about our safety and well being at that point, but we assured her that we were seasoned, professional wing eaters and that everything would be fine.

The wings were quite pricey at $4.95 for 5 wings, almost a dollar apiece!  Celery, carrot and blue cheese is served with every order, and we ordered fresh-cut fries to round out the meal. 

After the standard 15 minute window, the wings arrived on a real ceramic plate.  They were HUGE, not a good sign.  On the first bite, we felt a nasty harshness on our tongue, but couldn’t really distinguish any real flavor.  Of course, due to the large size, the wings were tough and chewy, not crisp.  After noting our displeasure, the server brought out a cup of Carribean Killers, the next lower heat setting down from Volcano.  We used Tabasco Garlic sauce on the table to try to inject some flavor into the product.  The Carribean Killers did taste better than the Volcano, but the flavor wasn’t enough to make us want to return for more.

The fries were just OK, but a little on the greasy side.  They did a nice job with the carrots, celery and blue cheese.

The visit ranks as a disappointment after looking forward to a visit for so many years.  I guess our expectations were just too high after discovering chains like Wing Stop and Quaker Steak & Lube over the past few years, then having the opportunity to sample a legendary one-of-a-kind wing joint like Fathead’s.

After our disappointing experience at Fathead’s we discovered a Quaker Steak & Lube close to the airport.  We’ll be stopping at QS&L again in Pittsburgh and not stopping at Fathead’s for wings and fries.

After reading this review, Dan O'Connor responded...

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