Once upon a time...before profiteering became more important than product, there were a lot of good food items to be had.   Anyone remember when Twinkies or Ho Ho's actually tasted like food, and not like chemical compounds?\n\nWell, the same applies to Primanti Brothers.\n\nOnce upon a time, there was a little sandwich shop in Pittsburgh that was trying very hard to be like the famous steak sandwich shops in Philly.  After all, Pittsburgh really wasn't (and still isn't) 'known' for anything other than dirty steel mills, followed closely by closed steel mills, and the mill workers who sat around waiting for them to reopen, even after they'd been torn down and the property turned into malls.\n\nPrimanti Brother at one time was a decent sandwich shop with a quirky gimmick.  They put your sides ON the sandwich.  Yes, you could get a steak sandwich piled high with your favorites...french fries and cole slaw...in addition to the usual lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and cheese.\n\nAs time rolled by, the restaurants sprang up in several locations around the city, primarily anywhere that there might be a mall nearby, or a bunch of drunks who really didn't care WHAT they were eating, and there even sprang up one of the shops in Ft. Lauderdale.\n\nAs the business grew, the Primanti Brothers started cutting corners to maximize profits.  The meat became nothing more than Steak-Ums, and they started adding everything under the sun that could be served on a bun to their menu to try to draw in more people.  A nice healthy chicken breast...grilled in the same grease as everything else and topped with fries and cole slaw. \n\nNow, anyone not from Pittsburgh should know...native Pittsburghers are not exactly known for having distinguished tastes...in anything.  In fact, people in Pittsburgh will stand and give a raving standing ovation and scream 'faaaaabulous'...for what most folks around the country in more metropolitan cities would say 'eh'.\n\nLast year, I had jury duty.  The Pittsburgh Courthouse is located near one of the many Primanti grease pits.  I thought I'd try a fish sandwich since I was on a limited budget for the day, and time was too short to sit down in any other restaurant.\n\nGreasy, didn't taste much like fish, the batter was soggy from the grease, the cheese clearly came in little squares from a plastic package, and even the tartar sauce couldn't make it more palatable.  My stomach felt rock laden the rest of the day.\n\nMore recently, a couple from San Francisco came into the store where I work, which is near one of the Primanti restaurants.  They'd heard all the hype, and had lunch.\n\nThe woman said to me: \"WHAT is up with Primanti?  Everyone kept telling us we had to have a Primanti while we were in Pittsburgh!\"\n\nShe looked at me, rolled her eyes, stuck out her tongue and said:  \"Bleeech!\"\n\nI shrugged my shoulders and told her I agreed.\n\nI guess we could say that Primanti is kind of the White Castle of Pittsburgh, only with more \"GOOOO Steelers\" - ambience.\n\nIt is best eaten after a drunken bender, when you aren't really hungry, but are the type to eat like you're at a trough after guzzling half a keg of beer.\n\nOr...you think McD's is fine dining.\n\nDon't buy the hype.  The gimmick of the fries and slaw on the sandwich doesn't make it a decent meal.  Just means you're gullible to local yokel advertising.  And sadly, there really isn't another thing in Pittsburgh that stands out.