Carson Street Deli & Craft Beer Bar — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Overall my go to spot in Pittsburgh! By the time graduation came along I was a regular at Carson Deli. Stopping in every Sunday around the same time while sitting at the same table. As a student attending one of the local universities the place is an awesome spot. Overlooked by many but the sandwiches and beer are a huge draw.

Carson would have gotten a 5 from me however the Sunday after the clocks changed for spring caused a very weird interaction. I walked in the deli at 6pm like usual. I was told the kitchen was closing in 30 minutes in a rather snarky way. “Usual time” I was told as I questioned it, as my South Jersey heritage came out. I felt like I was off that day. We ordered the sandwiches to go. As I looked, the menu said 8pm Sunday close time, with kitchen closing 30 minutes prior, meaning 7:30 was last call for food. Not 6pm!

Other than that one outlier, I had nothing but great experiences there.

They carry Prairie Sour Ales, an amazing brewery with some excellent options! Overall great experience everyone was polite, waiters/waitresses and even the line cooks. I was ID’d every time but didn’t mind as I look and am a young adult.

Overall thanks Carson Street Deli for an amazing experience and providing me with a place to get a quality sandwich...

I wanted to wait to write this review, because I felt like maybe I may have had a rush to judgement, however my experience still bothers me enough to write this review. I went there on a Friday they close at 10pm I got there before 9:30 (9:25ish)pm the illuminated sign said "OPEN" so I walked in , there's a guy leaving with food. So I say hey are you all open, they ignore me first, like I'm a inconvenience... Then I say it again, and a woman rudely says no we are closed. I'm thinking "wow ...ok " no worries so I leave ... Go get some food at another establishment. And as I'm riding past at 9:50 p.m. the sign is still saying open. This is my major issue if you want to leave the open sign on, then you should be still serving food especially a half hour before you close. It's okay to close early I get it, but turn off the lights and turn down the sign. Folks go through all the effort to find parking on a very busy street just to walk up to an establishment that says they're open but they're not. Once again I hear their food is good that's why I went in the first place but the experience I had I'll probably...

This is the best kept secret of the South Side...right when you come in, super chill music, friendly staff, extremely relaxed atmosphere.

The food? I had The Beast, a hot roast beef sandwich with roasted red peppers, caramelized onions, and a Chipotle Mayo...it honestly took me back to the nineties, when there weren't so many chains and there were a lot of mom and pop sandwich shops. The bread was toasted and crispy, all of the ingredients were perfectly prepared...you could tell the people making this sandwich cared whether you liked it. I was in heaven.

Great drinks too, with awesome weird niche alcohol selections, like really crazy sour beers, mead from Apis (another Pittsburgh best-of), flavorful stouts...much more adventurous than the tired selection of IPAs most places offer up.

On top of all of this, the prices were really reasonable. I got out of there for 20ish dollars plus tip with a great sandwich/beer combo that left me feeling well-fed and energized.

Definitely check it out. This place is incredible. One of the real hidden gems...