Best place to watch the playoffs

Bar none

Large televisions, cold beer and a small crowd crazy about the Pens minus yahoo behavior. Riggs Lounge on the North Side is a sports bar without being a sports bar.

The place has been in the same family for 70 years. Longstanding family ownership is a hallmark of one of Dish's other favorite corner beverage dispensaries, Contois' Restaurant in New Haven, Conn. A foolish consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, but it's also the hallmark of congenial family bars.

The beer, is very, very chilly. Bear, the bartender, often packs the bottled beverage in ice rather than simply letting it languish in the cooler. The effect is significant enough to make Iron City taste like mother's milk.

The snack menu is extensive. Nuts, crackers, chips, pretzels, beef jerky, gum ... all six food groups.

The bartender is exceedingly pleasant and will enjoy watching sporting events with you.

The decor is early-60s nifty, with velvet, textured wallpaper and individual lights illuminating the capacious booths.

The ladies' can is the cleanest in Christendom, as is the men's, and Riggs' invests in high-quality bathroom tissue—a plus for the sensitive.

Takeout beer is available at a cost of about $7 for a sixer of 16 ounce cans. Iron City bottles cost $2. This is the only bottled beer price Mr. Dish knows as it's the only bottled beer Mr. Dish has ordered at Riggs'. Other stuff, including mixed drinks, is probably not that expensive. Don't' sweat it, Daddy Warbucks.

Things to remember:

• Cash only.

• No kitchen. You may bring your own food, but it's vital that you first ask the bartender for permission. Not that you'll get yelled at, or anything, you'll just look like a bit of an ass for thinking that you own the place.

• No taps. Knowing this means never asking, "What's on draft?"

• No fancypants microimportforeignsmallbatch beers. Sorry, J. G. Pimplebottom III.

Riggs Lounge, 1208 Brighton Rd, North Side, 412-322-1120

Photo by Frank Kownacki