Monday 21st of January 2008 11:06:18 PM

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First off, if you havent been there in the past couple of years, you might have trouble recognizing the inside. There was a two phase remodeling effort, resulting in opening up the whole front half of the bar, and turning the back room into a non-smoking section. The front door has also been moved to the corner of the building.

As for the beer selection, 25-30 belgians on draft. Plus other imports and micros, and one or two on cask. Im not sure if its my imagination, but the number of US micros on draft seems to have shrunk in the past few years. Plus behind the bar are several coolers full of bottles of all sorts of imports and micros. You can even mix and match a 6-pack of your favorites to go ($7 discount off the total per bottle price). Not quite as convenient as the Beer Cave at D's but still very nice. Theyre also very good about carrying seasonals and speciality brews. This is where I had my first DFH World Wide Stout and Anderson Valley Winter Solstice. Oh, and as enticing as the though may sound, stay away from the mystery beer. Its not like theres a chance youre going to get Piraat or anything. I believe its usually a sample or freebie keg they get from the distributor.

The food menu is nearly extensive as the beer menu and somewhat mirrors the Belgian theme (A Belgian burger made with lamb was pretty good). The one caveat I usually have is stay away from the appetizers, they tend to run small and overpriced.

The service can be hit or miss at times. A few of the servers are very knowledgable about the beers and can make good recommendations based on your tastes. The service, particularly for beer, always tends to run slow, even on not so busy nights.

The atmosphere is fairly laid back, especially with the addition of the non-smoking back room where I can even feel comfortable taking the family for dinner on Sunday evening. The front bar area get pretty crowded most evenings. TV's are available in the bar area, although no longer in the back room.

The beer and food prices do tend to run a bit on the high side.

With their first rate selection, The Sharp Edge is definitely a must-stop place for any beer conniseur and a good beginning to a beer tour of Pittsburgh (to also include D's, Fathead's, the Penn Brewery, the Church (eventhough im not a big fan of their stuff), and a visit to Scott @ EEBC during growler hours)