Pittsburgh's Best Sports Bars: Find The Ideal Places To Watch Big Games

PITTSBURGH, PA - The Steelers play the Minnesota Vikings in their 2017 home opener on Sunday and more than 65,000 people will pack Heinz Field to root on the Black and Gold. What if you’re not one of them?

Not everyone can get Steelers tickets, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the game amid throngs of rowdy Steelers fans waving their Terrible Towels. Pittsburgh has plenty of sports bars providing plenty of atmosphere, though, so how do you decide which one to patronize for the game?

To help you decide, Patch is posting the city’s top 10 bars to watch sports as determined by Yelp users. As usual, these lists are far from scientific. You might find your favorite sports bar didn’t make the cut, or find laughable the notion that one or more of the bars is worthy of its ranking. Please share you thoughts on the list in the comments section below.

1. The South Paw, 2210 East Carson St., South Side
Described by one reviewer as a “little gem,” the South Paw is the place to go if you want to “eat great food, listen to the jukebox and enjoy the ambience of a clean, fun Pittsburgh sports bar.” Still, based on another review, we wonder how on earth this place snagged the top spot: “Only two TVs so wouldn't recommend watching a game here.” Do we have controversy already?

2. Carson City Saloon, 1401 East Carson St., South Side
Now this sounds more like it. Wrote one Yelpster: “Carson City Saloon is a spacious, divey sports bar with multiple levels and televisions, as well as a large projection screen for sporting events.” Offered another: There are specials for all of your local sports teams’ games. Many TVs. A huge projection TV. “

3. Hog’s Head Bar & Grill, 3433 Spring Garden Road, North Side
“The inside of the bar was very nice and updated, with a good number of TVs for watching sports...a diamond in the rough,” stated one reviewer. That opinion was buttressed by this one: “They have awesome drink specials every night of the week, and there are TV's around the bar so it's a great place to watch a game.”

4. Hough’s, 563 Greenfield Ave., Greenfield.
Raved one poster: “There are a lot of TVs, so that you can see from any angle. They also had a large projector.” Another offered similar sentiments: “With many big screen TVs, this is the place to watch a Steelers, Penguins, or Pirates game. “

5. Silky’s Sports Bar & Grill, 1731 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill
How do you not like this review: “Silky's the place to go to watch a game and indulge in all the things you should not be indulging in.” Awesome. More reasons to like the place? Sure:” A very large menu for a sports bar, great beer and spirit choices, music that won't ruin the Pens game and fast and attentive waitstaff.”

6. City Works, 2 PPG Place, Downtown
This new addition to the Downtown drinking and dining scene is rated highly on Yelp.” It's well on its way of becoming one of the best sports watching bars in the city, with an abundance of large screen TVs mounted above the vast, copper-topped bar area,” one reviewer wrote.

7. Ordinary Joe’s, 225 Commercial Ave., Aspinwall
“Nice little sports bar in Aspinwall,” a Yelpster wrote. “Easy parking right along the street. Very clean, very modern, and great service from the bartender.”

8. Bigham Tavern, 321 Bigham St., Mt. Washington
They’re known for more than their wings here: ’“It is an especially good bar for watching sports games. They have two projection screens and lots of TVs in each area.“

9. The BeerHive, 2117 Penn Ave., Strip District
“I felt like I could of spent all day here just relaxing sipping on some Yings and talking to the other friendlies at the bar watching some sports on a handful of TVs in the place,” one reviewer wrote. Sounds good to us.

10. Lou’s Little Corner Bar, 4924 Liberty Ave, Bloomfield
Dave and Buster’s this place isn’t, but that was OK to this reviewer: Don't go in looking for a mega-sports bar to watch any game in, although do go in if you want some serious local fans to cheer with.”

Photos via Yelp.