Gus’ Cafe

Checked out Gus’s on Wednesday for Geeks who drink. Game was awesome and the employees were super attentive and nice. The downfall of this little place is absolutely no insulation. It was frigid. I felt like I was in the beer refrigerator, my friend and I had to both keep our heavy jackets on and I had to wear my hat the whole. Do you know how hard it is to think about trivia when you can’t feel your body? It’s hard. my recommendation come in spring and summer, or if going now wear layers.

So since gus’ has changed, I’m not a huge fan. They only serve tacos now and the feel is just kind of weird. It’s spread out inside so you just get this odd basement type feel. Not a favorite

Finally stopped into Gus’ last night for some food and a drink. I am always a fan of a place that goes out of its way to accommodate dietary restrictions!
While Gus’ has the appearance of a typical dive bar, upon closer inspection you’ll see that it’s very clean. We sat at the bar, although there are many cute booths. It’s surprisingly spacious.
They had an interesting selection on tap — I got a pumpkin porter, which was really good and not something you see every day. It was only 7:30pm but they were running a reduced food menu — I guess they primarily function as a bar after dark. It was fine, as the reduced menu is quite veg friendly.
I ordered the southwest burger with the black bean patty. It’s large, and it comes with a large side of tater tots (or slaw, if you are a fool). The patty is very flavorful. It’s a little on the mushy side (I had to eat in a circle, because it kept leaking out the sides), but the whole black beans certainly help. I was very happy with it over all!
A great experience, will come again!

I stopped in one evening for a quick bite and a beer. The beer selection was excellent. I had one spicy jerk chicken taco. It was very good and portion size was larger than expected. I also found this place to be very affordable, and service was friendly. I will be retuning.

I had been wanting to try this place for a while, as it’s right down the street from me, but I never seemed to find the time. Then I saw that the Taco Truck was doing all it’s food and I made the time.
My husband and I went for a date night and waited at the truck to get tacos and then sat on the awesome patio. We had to go inside for drinks and pay with cash (luckily there was an ATM inside). It was a great night.
The last time we were there we had a group and wanted to try the new brunch. We got there right at opening and actually had to wait for the doors to be unlocked. We sat outside, put up our own umbrella and then ordered at our table. My husband and I each got the Totchos (tator tots with taco toppings) and I fell in love with this bad-​for-​you comfort food! I am craving it now thinking about it! My friends got the breakfast tacos and the portions were so big they could have all shared. We ended up all getting water to drink, as it was too early for us to want alcohol and they don’t serve COFFEE! That was a bummer for brunch. We also brought our toddler son and he made himself at home. I’m glad we could eat outside so I didn’t feel quite so bad having a baby in a bar.
We’ll be back as everything was so delicious and the atmosphere is quite cool!

My boyfriend and I were walking around Butler Street on a Friday looking for a fairly quiet spot to grab drinks. (A tall order on a weekend evening in the summer!) We’d just chased down the South Side BBQ truck in the strip, and standing elbow to elbow in a crowded bar was not on our agenda. Gus’ Café had been on our radar and it looked really pleasant from the outside, so we elected to go see what it was all about.
The outside patio was full but really nice. I’d definitely go back and eat out there someday. We sat inside, and the atmosphere was dim and pretty cozy. The walls are covered with chalkboard paint and handwritten menus/​specials. One thing I really liked was that a complete list of beers was written next to the fridge with the bottled beers in it. It’s nice to not have to go up and scrutinize a ton of bottles, plus the beer selection can be easily updated on a daily basis. I totally see why people like this place so much! It has one of the best atmospheres in the city. Plus, a Moscow Mule was one of the featured cocktails on their menu. You pretty much can’t go wrong with one of those.
A server came over soon after we sat down at a booth and took our drink orders. There was an impressive draft list as well as several $ 3 drafts from the holidays on clearance so to speak. We chose a pumpkin variety… nothing wrong with a $ 3 draft of craft beer! The Pgh Taco Truck was working out of the kitchen providing food, so we ordered two tacos from our friendly waitress. I got the Thai chicken with chili slaw, and Kyle got the ground beef with pico de gallo. They were delicious and generously sized for only $ 4 each. I can’t wait to try stop back into Gus’ again soon for more tacos! It was definitely a successful evening.

Went there Sunday.
Inside was too loud for eating, probably ok for just drinking (without talking), so we sat outside.
Drinks were very watered down.
Food, now managed by PGH Taco Truck was very good and reasonably priced.
Staff was very helpful.
Overall vibe of the place (apart from the food and service) is that ownership is not concerned with the place feeling more than just an old bar.
I am not in a rush to return, but if someone were to suggest going there I wouldn’t fight them on it.

I’ve tried to go here twice now on a Saturday. They say that they open at 11am, but have not been open both times that I have arrived at around 1130am. I spoke with a few locals and they informed me that the owner «opens up when he wants.»
Looks like a great menu that I will never try. I don’t expect this place to last long.

Are you in a band? Do your tattoos stem from a troubled realization that no one understands you because you’re too existential? #Sartre #Kierkegaard
If not, you might feel out of place.
BUT the PGHTaco truck took the kitchen over. Enough said.

My husband and I have been regulars at Gus’s for some time now and were in love with their old menu. I am one of those weirdos that can’t do gluten. So the Waffle Burger was my go to. So when we stopped in one day and they told us that they were beginning a partnership with the PGH Taco Truck we were a bit unsure.
The good news is that our reservations about the food truck takeover were unnecessary. The Taco Trucks tacos are fresh, fast and delicious. Gus’s also has an insane amount of options for beers, Kombucha and now seasonal cocktails. The cocktails were a pleasant surprise and are really great! Also, they mix it up from time to time with different food trucks coming from time to time. so it’s worth checking before you come.
Because it is so quick and diverse this is a great place to meet up with a large group. People can come and go as they please and order food and drinks at their own pace.
Well done guys!

Great place, very relaxed and welcoming. My Wife and I have become regulars.
They now have a new menu where they just do Tacos which I was a little stand off-​ish about. However, the food comes out faster, tastes amazing and it’s a great where to mix it all up.
We’ll done, Gus’s on reinventing yourselves.

Warning: Gus’s now only serves tacos. From a taco truck. I’m not even sure how that works. Are the tacos made on the truck? Does the truck drop off the tacos? How long do the tacos sit around? Or does the truck bring in the ingredients and the tacos are made fresh at Gus’s? There are just so many questions.
A friend and I had stopped here a couple of months ago with a groupon. It was so good that we decided the come back. Alas, the delicious burgers are no more.
I don’t really care for tacos so I probably won’t be going back to Gus’s. What a disappointment.

Now that the Taco Truck has taken over the kitchen at Gus’s, we plan to become regulars. We’ve been twice and enjoyed fast, delicious tacos and good draft beer. The music is just the right volume and we snagged a comfy booth near the back. Our favorite are the jerk chicken tacos, but we’ve tried them all and never found a bad one. The outdoor seating is going to be a great bonus for summer. Every single bartender and wait staff has been friendly and helpful on both of our visits– we’ll be back!
Love that there are vegan and vegetarian taco options and everything is gluten free– finally a place where we can take almost anyone and find something that they can eat.

Cash only!
Gus’ is good. They had a nice variety of pub food. The slaw is amazing. As another warning, the fries are extra. I like it that way, but I have friends that expect fries with everything.
They offer Clique bottle service for $ 35. That is pretty funny.
I need to get back and try the wings. They look like they might be awesome.

This is a story about not judging a book by it’s cover. Maybe we should start by mentioning that you might not even judge the book, because you simply walk past it. Or drive past it in my case.
I had no clue this place existed other than hearing my friend Kerri M raving about it. So I popped in my directions and headed down Butler Street, only to pass right by… twice. It’s basically a brick wall and a door. But then you walk in and the walls are covered in art and graffiti (like cool graffiti art) and it’s a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
You definitely don’t come here for healthy food. It’s a menu chalk full of burghers, fries, and wings and I’m perfectly fine with that! The wings are actually regular sized chicken wings, not legs. If you think you get messy eating tiny chicken wings, you’re in for the mess of the century with these. They are loaded with sauce (which I love!) and messy! Don’t go here on a first date, unless you already decide you’re comfortable enough to gaze lovingly across the table with sauce smeared across your face.
I had the honey BBQ and jalepano and they were great, LOVED the sauces and had tons of flavor, but since they’re a wing and not a leg, you have to work for your meat, so get ready to dig!
I also had the tot-cho’s, which were incredible. It’s a whole baking tray of tots, smothered in cheese, onions, peppers, tomatoes and potentially other random things and it’s every bit as delicious as you’re envisioning right now.
I’m really happy to discover this place and happy to come here again, plus they have free wifi, so I’ll be camped out here with my laptop covered in sauce!

I’m torn between writing this now, or giving Gus’another chance to wow me. I mean it was okay food, it didn’t wow me. Oh, cash only, no debit or credit cards, ATM in the hallway leading to the restrooms.
Going by a few of the previous reviews of Gus’I was expecting a little more than what it turned out to be. This is your basic Pittsburgh dive bar with better than average food. Good beer menu, top notch liquor and good happy hour specials.
I went for the food based on the fact they had vegan options. For starters, I wish I could say I had a great hummus. I can’t. What I was served was a pretty forgettable hummus that resembled clay and lacked any salt, or other flavors associated with hummus, like lemon, garlic, olive oil, tahini, salt, salt, salt, or salt. It was almost like they opened cans of garbanzo beans, whizzed them around in a food processor, sprinkled paprika on top to make it look halfway decent and served it up with pita. The menu offered either pita or vegetables, but I wasn’t given the option. Epic fail!
For my entrée I decided on the roasted vegetable sandwich, forgoing the black bean burger which has been done to death. The sandwich came with eggplant, portobello mushroom and canalized onions on grilled bread. It was okay, didn’t wow me. Could have used the crunch of some lettuce or perhaps the peppery bite of radicchio, anything for some texture. I will give them kudos for the gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options. For a dive bar, the food is good, but there is something to be said for a little epicurean imagination, like salt and fresh lettuce, or tomato for a sandwich. I will say the red cabbage slaw that accompanied my sandwich was good and I should have put it on my sandwich to wake up the flavor.
Two beers, an appetizer, and sandwich was 23 bucks, not bad. One beer was half price during happy hour. Great daily specials and happy hour, brunch Saturday’s and Sunday’s.
One last tidbit, the online menu hasn’t been updated in awhile and many things have changed, except the signature items. Also, I had to ask for salt and pepper after my meal arrived.

A friend of mine who is diabetic and is on a restricted diet opted to eat at Gus’ as per my suggestion prior to catching WWE Monday Night Raw at the Consol Energy Center recently and left satisfied, their vegan. organic, and gluten-​free menu items proving to be more than edible for him. Not a single complaint had he.
Mine were few and minor. My Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-​inspired Cowabunga burger had on it avocado that was slightly under-​ripe and a colorful red pepper aioli that I wish had more zip to it. Despite that, the char-​grilled beef was cooked to a medium-​rare that was nearly ideal and topped with a juicy grilled pineapple ring that brought with it sweetness, acidity, and overall Polynesian thwack. The toasted bun had just enough chew and crispness to it, and the bundle of Belgian frites that accompanied the burger was a twice-​cooked, brittle, fluffy, expertly seasoned fryolator accomplishment.
Speaking of things that emerge from bubbling vats of hot fat, the deep fried Oreos or «Fried Chocolate Cream Cookies» as Gus calls them, were effortlessly guilt-​inducing and conjured memories of carnivals past. The white filling of each Oreo became a luscious buttercream as the chocolate discs morphed into so much warm cake from the internal steam that was created by the hearty, elastic pancake batter that encased everything. Nutella was served as a dipping sauce, recalling a rich ganache in this barfood scenario.
The garage-​like décor is a little unfinished, unintentionally giving the place a dive-​ish charm that some may find off-​putting initially. Nevertheless, the smiling, cartoony, almost iconic visage of «Gus» himself will greet you as you break the threshold to this fun, clever, pop culture-​loving restaurant in which folks from across the spectrum should find themselves welcome.
P. S. CASH ONLY!!! I thoughtlessly forgot to research this part ahead of time and failed to notice the signs. An ATM is on the premises, thankfully.
P. P. S. Gus’ ENTIRE food menu is half-​off on Mondays. Burgers are half-​off on Tuesdays. Gus’ also holds open mic nights and the like complete with DJ’s. Keep up with them via social media and enjoy yourselves.
P.P.P.S. Our server was an absolute doll.

This sucks. My mother and I first went to Gus’s in August. It was amazing: crispy square gluten free waffle buns, fried pickles, fried gf «oreos». She raved about this place and was very excited to bring my father when they came again to visit me.
Fast forward to now: the square waffle machine is broken, the old chef left (where did she go!?) and my mother is spending the rest of her trip sleeping on the bathroom floor, dehydrated from food poisoning.
Now, the server, Sarah, was great,
especially as she seemed to be the only server in the joint with the occasional assistance of some drunk guy (the owner?). We asked her not, but she told the server the food was awful, so it was comped. Now, as someone that will eat anything, I had to verify that the food was in fact terrible. She ordered the BLT. The bacon was excruciatingly crisp, the waffle bun undercooked, mushy, and circular (I know that seems like a weird thing to complain about, but when you are served a couple slabs of meet on an open face waffle, you’ll complain too), I didn’t try the burger, so we are figuring that’s what gave her the food poising.
My vegan adzuki bean burger on the gf English muffin was very good. My father seemed to enjoy his pulled pork burger thing. We all shared the French fries, fried pickles, and fried cookies: delicious. My mother has officially swore to never go there again. She was going to continue to go for the fried pickles but after her sleeping arrangements last night, she can’t think about this place without malaise.
I just hope she doesn’t need an IV.

It had been quite some time since we last went to Gus’s café, and it’s definitely changed quite a bit. I was a big fan of the place when it first opened. Despite not having any dietary restrictions, myself, I found their fully gluten-​free menu to be excellent. The gluten-​free wraps they used in their burritos were awesome (think crêpe texture), and the food tasted fresh and delicious!
We had heard that the menu approach changed a while back, but only recently returned to find that Gus’s is essentially a burger bar now. They’ve got burgers of all types… a list crazy enough to fit the plethora of dietary restrictions, both forced and chosen, of nearly any customer who stops in. Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling very adventurous on our latest visit, so I can’t speak to any of the more interesting options, but the plain burger was decent. The burger, itself, was pretty basic, but nicely cooked. Oddly enough, the waitress didn’t ask me how I wanted it prepared. The burger came out more on the well done side, which isn’t my preference, but since I hadn’t made a request on doneness and it wasn’t too dried out, I opted to enjoy as-​is. Overall, the burger reminded me of a Fuddrucker’s patty (that’s actually a compliment, btw). The kaiser bun was huge, and really overwhelmed such a basic burger (lettuce, tomato, onion, and American cheese). We requested to not have the buns toasted, but I’d probably recommend toasting next time to maybe help the dryness of the buns a bit. Regardless, I would get the plain burger again. With some minor adjustments to my order, it would be a really good burger.
Be warned that a side of fries is pretty big. We each got a side of fries, and immediately realized when they arrived that a single order would’ve been enough for two. I would also recommend their full wings. They’re not fried, which is a nice change, and they were really meaty. $ 1.50/wing might initially sound expensive for a wing, but your perception will change when they’re delivered to the table. My wife got two wings and that was plenty for her.
The service was good, our waitress was attentive, and the food came out quickly. The atmosphere is sort of a cross between Double Wide and a dive bar. It’s clean, very open, and well lit, despite a lack of window light. They have a nice outdoor area on the side, and a few tables out front (obviously not applicable this time of year), but it would definitely make a decent spot in the warmer months. While I missed the availability of some of the original menu items on our last visit, I did find their menu intriguing enough to want to go back next time I’m in the mood for a burger.

OK, Gus’ has def grown on me.
I’ve been a loyal patron of Gus’ since their opening and have seen and experienced their growing pains. I’m glad I waited till now to review, though, b/​c I think Gus’ has found their identity and the kinks are worked out.
The vibe is for-​sure hipster, and the staff are warm & friendly (esp my fav bartender Victoria!). The beer selection is solid, offering around 10 different draft options and many bottles to choose from. And if you like PBR (or just want to get drunk on the cheap), they have two can options and two different size draft options at $ 1.50 and $ 2, respectively. Drafts (except for PBR since it’s already so damn cheap) are half off for happy hour, 4 – 6 pm. If the weather cooperates, enjoy that PBR on their roomy outdoor patio.
Oh those tachos (tator tots served like nachos) — yum! Soo good, esp the handmade salsa served on the side. Get the yogurt to go with them for the small upcharge — really adds to the dish. They give you a whole hell of a lot of tots, plan to share with 2 – 3 of your friends. Since you have already indulged, go ahead and treat yo-​self to the fried oreos. Heavenly!
I’d be remiss if you I didn’t tell you about the burgers. Gus’ serves grass-​fed beef burgers at a very reasonable price, esp if you come on Tuesday for half off all burgers! This is worth repeating — HALF OFF GRASS-​FED BURGERS, PEOPLE! Lots of unique options, too, inc a Waffle Bacon Burger and Gyro Burger. Food is served until 930pm weekdays, 1030pm on weekends.
Gus’s is cash only, and they do have an ATM on-​site to ease that burden on you.
Check their social media often for different specials, discounts, and events.