We tell you what the now-thriving Mad Mex means to us.
The cradle of craft beer here
I’ve often said that there should be a bronze historical marker at the original Mad Mex, marking it as the cradle of craft beer in Pittsburgh. Before it opened, there was a small but growing world of beers that many Pittsburghers had never tasted. Juno Yoon had, while living in San Francisco, and he stretched an opening in Pennsylvania’s oldfashioned distribution laws to bring in, via an Allentown, Pa., master distributor and his local one, Mellinger’s, truckloads of good stuff, from California’s Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Anchor Christmas to Brooklyn Lager and Geary’s Hampshire Ale.
“There are a handful of bars here with extensive foreign beer selections, but at this point, there is no other tavern where these American-made beers can be sampled. Let’s hope the trend grows,” my new drinking buddy Bob Hoover wrote in the PG in 1993. All these years and beers later, I distinctly remember my first tastes of some of these “microbrews” with him at this cool new bar and how delicious it all was. — Bob Batz Jr.
A good place for kids
When you have five kids, it’s not easy to find a restaurant that serves really good, creative food that’s affordable and appeals to even the pickiest eaters. So when our family started eating there 20 years ago, it felt like a godsend. No more fast food or pizza on Friday nights! We got to live it up
with authentic Tex Mex. Even better, the hostess didn’t sigh when we came in the door.
Eating there always was fun, too, and made us feel so hip. It still does. And boy, how about those Big Azz margaritas and tomatillo-avocado salsa? Even today, I can eat that stuff with a spoon.
Three of my kids would go on to work at Big Burrito restaurants as young adults, and as a result, I have a couple of Mad Mex waitress T-shirts. I wear them proudly and feel lucky to be part of the club. — Gretchen McKay
A sleeper hit of the menu
First, a ‘thank you’ for keeping the kitchen open late so I don’t have to cook after work, as the case was Sunday night. While Mad Mex may be known for its tacos and oversized burritos, my go-to tends to be wings. Sure there are variations on honey chipotle, and those named for San Francisco, the Southwest and a General Zaragoza character. I order Buffalo-style for plump wings, served still crisp (as opposed to soggy, which can happen elsewhere), with just enough sauce — as spicy as they’ll serve me. And it’s blue cheese over ranch, even though we have become Ranch Nation. — Melissa McCart
The booze game is no joke
While their Big Azz Margaritas have become something of a Pittsburgh-area 21st birthday and happy hour rite of passage for their comical name and proportion, the booze game at Mad Mex is no joke.
It’s a place where the college crowd can graduate to grown-up cocktails and quality tequilas and it’s long been a fertile proving ground for developing some of the city’s top bartending talent as well.
United States Bartender’s Guild Pittsburgh chapter president Nicole Battle (Di Anoia’s Eatery) came into her own at Mad Mex and said that Caleb Cornell (Kelly’s), Jackie Fields (Federal Galley), Laura Grace (Spirit), Rob Hirst (Round Corner Cantina), Anne Grushecky (Apteka), Hart Johnson (Piper’s Pub), Byron Nash (Harris Grill, Lorelei), Adam Piscitelli (Fat Head’s) and Kiersten Schilinski (Smiling Moose, Wayfarer) among many other elite Pittsburgh barkeeps — all either started at or worked behind the stick of a Mad Mex at some point in their careers.
“I loved my time at the Mex,” Ms. Battle said. — Dan Gigler