Nico's Recovery Room   

178 Pearl St
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
412-681-9562

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Hidden deep within the residential section of Bloomfield, Pittsburgh's own Little Italy, Nico's Recovery Room is so named for a decent reason: It's within spitting distance of West Penn Hospital, one of the area's largest. But don't expect to find the infirm nursing on cold bottles of Rolling Rock here; the majority of regulars who crowd Nico's horseshoe-shaped bar night after night are just that -- and they've got the Pittsburgh accent to prove it. But squeeze your way through the tiny front room and into the spacious, wood-paneled dining area, and you'll feel as if you've walked into a different establishment altogether. The setting is one-half cozy basement den, one-half German mead hall, with two television sets broadcasting sports programs non-stop. The prime seating is the row of covered booths along the back wall, but large parties can spread out around a cluster of tables in front of a fireplace. On Saturday, Nico's karaoke night tends to draw a much younger, hipper crowd, who've most likely just come from an indie-rock show or a gallery opening on the nearby Penn Avenue Arts Corridor. It's fortunate, then, that Nico's also offers a mini-menu of ethnic foodstuffs at competitive prices, including baba ganouj, spanakopitas, and that old beer-joint standby, nachos with cheese.