Shadyside Hideaway Bar

The signage outside is enticing. We were driving down the street and had to stop. It led us down a back alley and my excitement grew. Then we walked into what appeared to be someone’s garage converted to a bar — with only five bar seats and four awkward large tables. It smelled like a frat house bathroom and an air conditioning unit that hasn’t been cleaned since 1997. The only draft I wanted was kicked, so I grabbed a bottle. They did have a nice selection of bottled beers. And they take cards. Both pluses. But the longer we were there, the odder the clientele got — and not in that fun drunk uncle or weird locals kind of way. A little frightening is a better description. Everyone was screaming and it was not crowded — it was a Tuesday at 9pm soooo… very strange place. Interesting to wander into, would not return. The front lights are a huge tease.

This is the weirdest bar I’ve ever been to, and I don’t mean that in a good way.
At first, the Hideaway looked promising, with a neon sign directing us down a narrow alley to the establishment. When we opened the door on a breezy Friday evening, we were greeted by blaring music, bright lighting, the scent of a poorly-​cleaned toilet, and the stares of the strangest mix of bar clientele I have ever seen. Not quick to judge, we headed to the bar to grab a drink before snagging a spot to wait for the rest of our group.
Although we easily found empty seats, it took way longer than it should have for the bartender to serve us. On the plus side, that gave us plenty of time to peruse their somewhat lackluster whiskey selection (though given the dive bar vibe this place is going for, I can’t fault them too much for that — and they did have Blue Moon on tap in addition to the usual Miller Lite/​Yuengling etc.). Unfortunately, it also gave this guy plenty of time to interrupt our conversation and shower us with creepy compliments — I mean, not the worst thing that can happen to a couple of lesbians at a bar, but c’mon dude. It certainly didn’t improve our experience.
When the bartender finally gave us our drinks — which he didn’t seem interested in having us pay for — we headed outside to escape the music (Linkin Park at that point?) and the stench. The patio area was pretty full, but we managed to find a spot to stand and drink our beers. Not for long though: the patio was soon overflowing with a) people yelling, b) people way too drunk for 8:45pm, and c) people yelling who were way too drunk for 8:45pm. Realizing this would probably not be a good spot to hang out and chat with friends, we left without finishing our drinks and headed back to Highland to advise them that we would be better off at pretty much anywhere else.
I can say a couple good things about this place — no drunk college kids, and definitely no pretentious attitudes. But this isn’t really a dive bar either… yeah it smells and the bartender has a terrible attitude, but it lacks the charm that separates the dive bars from the not-​very-​good-​bars.

I can’t believe I haven’t left a review for hideaway yet! This is our local bar — you know, like Mac’Laren’s in HIMYM or Cheers (from the show Cheers if you’ve ever heard of it ;).
We first went there when all there was was a folding sign outside by the ice cream place. We walked the tiny little alley to the back and were worried we were trespassing in someone’s backyard! As we retraced our steps, the Bartender happened to be walking back and showed us the way.
Nowadays there’s plenty of signage and lights leading to the back. We love hideaway because it’s a dive bar that’s been done up nice and is clean and Jen the bartender is a sweetheart. It totally has its regulars (outside of us) that give it even more of a local Pittsburgh vibe. Though we dominate the dart board when we’re there, they also have pub trivia TV thingy and non-​paying slots (just for fun). They’ve also started having karaōke and a live DJ on some nights.
Hideaway is the perfect place to get away from the pretentiousness of shadyside and just hang out.

The A/​C in here is dank as fuck, negating entirely the fact that it smells like urinal cakes in here. Also dank: the fact that cspan is on the tv. What the literal fuck

Biggest eye soar… No need to have this dump where people live. Councilman Dan Gilman and Shadyside Coalition need to get rid of this place. They have people arguing in the alley way all the time. There is no need for this place. Get rid of it already. There bad neighbours!!!

I’ve been meaning to stop in here for the last 5 years, and now I can finally check it off of the bucket list. You know that you’re entering a dive bar when you follow the neon sign through an alley between buildings to get to a bar. This place is totally the armpit of Shadyside, but I mean this in the best way possible! I love me some Pittsburgh dive bars, and this place did not disappoint– nestled in a tiny venue with a patio as big if not bigger than the bar itself. This joint was totally un-​Shadyside-​like (which is what I enjoyed): an older, more blue collar, more diverse, local crowd. To me, these are the perfect ingredients for a good night out. Though I only stayed for one drink, I will almost definitely be returning for a more epic time with these people. And like other dive bars (and unlike other Shadyside bars), the drinks were cheap! Tell me where you can get a gin and tonic anywhere in the neighborhood for $ 3, and I will take you out there and buy you one– because, chances are, there is no other place in the neighborhood with drinks this cheap. And now that I only live 3 blocks away, I can have my (multiple) drinks and drink them too– without worrying how I will get home. Yep, I’ll be coming back!