Munch, the taster of all lunches, seems to have reviewed Pittsburgh's affordable eateries since the earth was cooling. Coffee bars and creameries. Far-flung bagel shops and ubiquitous chain restaurants. He eats at carts. All of this, and yet in six years, the brown-paper-bagged one has never darkened the door of Mark's Grille.

Mark Wells and Steve Marks opened Mark's Grille and Catering on Penn Avenue in August 2001. (As they say: Get it? Two Marks?!) As fraternity brothers at Pitt, Steve and Mark started catering for cookouts. After going their separate ways in the food service world for several years, they came together to start a deli. But when they found the space on Penn Avenue, with a full (albeit tiny) restaurant kitchen, plans changed, and Mark's Grille and Catering was born.

Since the place is right down the street from the convention center, Mark's gets plenty of out-of-town traffic - the customers that Mark Wells, pictured above, calls "irregular regulars": folks who come in once a year, like conventioneers and touring actors. Mark's also has a popular business lunch, a festive happy hour and a colorful collection of downtown locals around the bar. (They also cater.)

And because of that, Mark's is my neighborhood bar and go-to restaurant when I can't bear to cook, when my paycheck is still days away, or when we want a drink but don't want to get all fancied up. They have the meanest turkey burger I've ever eaten, served with fresh homemade potato chips, pictured below. They have Guinness on tap for Matthew, Burghilicious photographer extraordinaire. They have a 100-CD changer that is as likely to turn out MC Hammer as it is Led Zeppelin. And they have a quiet dining room or a rowdy bar, whatever suits your mood.

It's not often that Burghilicious, only six months old and generally focused on epicurean navel-gazing, knocks over a joint before the big boys get there. In this case, they even had a six year head start.

So Munch, I'll meet you halfway. Let's go get a beer and a turkey burger, and I'll introduce you to the locals. But you have an expense account, so it's got to be on you.

Mark's Grille & Catering
923 Penn Avenue
Downtown

Post-Script: Burghilicious reigns supreme! On Thursday, Jan. 24, Munch published this review of Mark's. The #1 take-away? Mark's is super friendly. But I already new that.