One of the peculiar things about Pittsburgh is that almost nobody goes downtown, except to work there. I knew my way around Manhattan before I knew my way around downtown Pittsburgh; I simply never had a reason to go there before such time as I got a dead-end office job in 2003. Downtown is not, however, without its establishments of food and drink, and plus it just sounds like a good idea to hang out downtown. And so, when my friend Remy and I were recently faced with the decision of where in the city to grab some dinner, I suggested meeting downtown.

1907 Tavern

We ended up in Market Square at 1907 Tavern. It's an atmospheric place with dark wood booths and bar. The on-tap beer selection was nothing to complain about—I ordered a Blue Moon and Remy opted for the same. Not a terribly inexpensive decision, though, as it turned out. At $4.75 a piece, I could not help cringing—after all, you can get a Blue Moon draft at Hemingway's on Wednesdays for $1. The entrée menu was also rather expensive—at least more expensive than a couple of impoverished college students were amenable to for Thursday night supper. I turned instead to the appetizer menu and selected a quesadilla; Remy got a burger. The quesadilla was nicely crisp, though a little boring with only cheese and red peppers for a filling—toppings were lettuce, sour cream and bottled salsa. Alas, no guacamole in sight. Remy's burger came well-done and a little dry, despite having placed the order for "medium."

Tonic

Discouraged but not dissuaded, we struck out again into downtown until we stumbled upon Tonic, a restaurant/bar where one of Remy's good friends worked in college. Encouraged by Remy's previous good experiences we went in and sat at the bar. We started off with Tonic's signature drink, the redundantly but logically titled "Tonic Tonic." According to the bartender it was Svedka Vodka, "secret syrup," tonic and a twist of lime. Obviously it is the ever elusive "secret syrup" that separates the Tonic Tonic from a garden variety vodka tonic. It was certainly a yummy drink, though I could not discern the contents of the secret syrup, apart from the fact that it made the drink sweeter than the average tonic drink. Getting a little hungry again, we browsed the menu, debating whether to get a dessert or an appetizer. I was most intrigued by the "gourmet bar food" type appetizers, especially those served with a "chipotle horseradish dipping sauce." You must understand, chipotle is my favorite condiment ingredient, ever. And horseradish is my second favorite condiment ingredient, ever. And so, we split an order of onion rings. They were sizeable rings, beer battered and made from thick slices of onion. They came with the chipotle horseradish dipping sauce and a jalapeño herb dipping sauce. To my surprise, I preferred the jalapeño sauce. It was creamy and spicy sweet. The chipotle sauce was good, but horseradish dominated the chipotle, sort of like a cocktail sauce made with chipotle paste rather than ketchup. Since horseradish is second to chipotle in the grand scheme of my taste buds, I was disappointed that the chipotle flavor was not the dominant one. For our second round of drinks, we got a mojito and a caramel apple-tini. The mojito was large, served in a pint glass; however, the torn fresh mint gave it garden flavor notes reminiscent of vegetable greens more like spinach or lettuce, and thus was a little distracting. The caramel apple-tini was a great mix, tart and not too sweet, though the garnish of caramel sauce around the rim dripped slowly down to the stem, making it a finger-sticky drinking experience. Overall, a tasty trip to Tonic, though impoverished students beware, it's quite expensive. At $8 a drink, I was tapped out after this trip downtown.