Cranberry needed a fresh flavor, and Pig Iron Public House served it up.
The contemporary gastropub, nestled amid an area long-saturated with fast-food and restaurant chains, has quickly become one of Cranberry's most popular eateries since opening in October.
“Cranberry needed something like this,” says owner Shawn Lang, who opened the pub with his brothers, Matt and Tony. “We really think we're offering something unique in this area.”
Pig Iron has distinguished itself and kept its parking lot packed, even on weeknights, with an upscale and innovative menu.
The creativity starts with Pig Iron's appetizers, which include pulled-pork fries made with a sweet whiskey barbecue sauce ($9), chicken and sweet potato cakes ($8) and a seasonally served roasted carrot and sweet potato bisque ($6). Other bites include a stuffed meatball made with lamb and beef ($10) and the best-selling deep-fried Pub Pretzel sticks ($9).
The meat of Pig Iron's menu is its hefty sandwiches, many of which are an upscale derivative of those found at Primanti Brothers, where all three Lang Brothers previously worked.
Sandwiches vary from a chorizo grilled cheese ($12) to an apple and pear panini ($10) to the Carnegie po'boy ($13), constructed with seasoned seafood, cole slaw, red remoulade and pickled red onion.
“We didn't want to just do something the way everyone else was doing it,” Shawn Lang says about the menu.
The Lang brothers grew up in Millvale before opening their first restaurant, Steel City Samiches Bar and Grille in 2008 in Indiana, and then opening Twisted Jimmy's Bar and Lounge four years later on the campus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
With their latest restaurant, conveniently located along Route 19 near Cranberry's I-79 and turnpike exits, the brothers aimed to bring a slice of Pittsburgh's Cultural District to the suburbs.
“It's something different, and that's definitely what Cranberry is looking for,” says general manager Barbara Palmer, who previously managed the Sports Grille in Cranberry.
Pig Iron Public House represents a juxtaposition of a blue-collar, industrial-themed sports bar made palatable for a suburban clientele.
For example, look no further than its name.
“Pig Iron,” Shawn Lang says, is a tribute to the city's steel industry in which his grandfather worked for decades. “Public House” was chosen as the restaurant's marketed title to avoid scaring family crowds away from a bar scene.
“If you become known as a bar in this area, you're going to have a tough time getting a dinner crowd,” Lang says.
Images of steelworkers decorating the walls are counterbalanced with an outdoor patio area and cocktail menu offering pineapple mojito sangria and a vanilla jalapeno juice crush.
“It's always going to be a fine line out in the suburbs to mesh those two worlds together,” Lang says.
The adhesive bringing it all together, Lang says, has been Pig Iron's commitment to craft beer. The pub offers one of the largest selections in the area with 66 craft beers on tap, 44 of which are brewed locally. Pig Iron's focus on local products extends to its cocktails, most of which use liquor from local distilleries, including Wigle, Maggie's Farm and Boyd & Blair.
The growing appeal of craft beer became apparent to Lang and his brothers when “penny-pinching” college students began opting for it over cheaper macrobrews at their Twisted Jimmy's Bar.
“Craft beer is so prevalent and sought after now that it helps pull in all sorts of crowds,” he says. “If you walk around now, 70 to 80 percent of our tables have beer. People are clearly coming here for beer.”
Following the early success of Cranberry's Pig Iron, the Lang brothers plan to expand with two more suburban locations in the South Hills and Monroeville areas.
Pig Iron Public House, 926 Sheraton Drive, Cranberry, is open from 11 a.m. to midnight Mondays through Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to midnight Sundays. Details: 724-553-5592 or pigironpub.com
Matthew Zabierek is a Tribune-Review writer. Reach him at mzabierek@tribweb.com.
