Praising Cain’s For Taco Tuesday

Earlier in the year, we chronicled our first Taco Tuesday of the year, which involved a trip to the Lava Lounge on Pittsburgh’s South Side. For our second Taco Tuesday, we felt it appropriate to venture even further south — south past the city limits, south throooooough a tunnel, south all the way out to the frickin’ South Hills.

We’d done a bit of research, and heard that Mexi-Casa in Dormont throws a cheap-but-delicious Taco Tuesday. So we made the epic venture south right near rush hour time…

…only to discover that they’d “temporally” closed.

Now, having already ventured into the heart of our own personal Mordor, we were not about to return home un-tacofied. So after a little bit of Yelp-Fu, we found a second Taco Tuesday located in Dormont. This one was at Cain’s Saloon, right on the main drag.

Now, you might note that the sign outside mentions tacos for $9.99-$19.99 — and yes, the plates at Cain’s are a little pricier than you might get at most Taco Tuesdays, but as you will see, it’s for good reason. (You might also notice that the two Brosephs outside are wearing cargo shorts — yeaaaah, this happened a few months ago and we failed to write about it. Sorry!)

We got inside and discovered that Cain’s Saloon is a pretty nice little spot to take in a televised sporting event — or, as in the above-documented particular moment, what Google tells me is a commercial about Allegheny Health Network. Nice layout and health care advice aside, we were still a little uncertain about those costly (for Taco Tuesday) tacos.

But then we saw the menu. Steak tacos? Mahi mahi? Sides of Spanish rice and corn? All fresh ingredients?! This was not your dive bar Taco Tuesday.

A point further driven home when our food arrived at the bar. This is Fox’s dish. She opted for the Mahi Mahi tacos, which came topped with pineapple mango salsa and avocado sour cream. They had a great balance of sweetness and tanginess. Also, look at those things. They are monster tacos!

I opted for the Rojo Steak tacos — the steak was cooked with a Mexican red rub and lime juice, and served with onions, fresh cilantro, and that avocado our cream. Oh man, was it the real deal. Fresh, obviously real steak, with even a little hint of pinkness to the meat. The danger in this one would have been an overpowering amount of onions, but the flavors of the meat and the cream sauce were bold enough to counter the onion and produce a very nice end result.

So, how good are the tacos at Cain’s Saloon? I’ll put it this way: I’d drive to the South Hills again for them. Jokes aside, though, get down to Cain’s Saloon some Tuesday and try those tacos out. You can thank us later.