TJ's Restaurant and Sports Lounge

I was definitely was not impressed on the looks of this place.  There are no windows, which makes for a darker atmosphere, so needless to say, I was skeptical.  Typical bar type menu, good prices & lots to choose from.  We also took advantage of jukebox, which made for fun dinner.  I ordered the reuben & onion rings & it was hands down, the best I've ever ordered.  The handful of times that I have been to TJ's I've always gotten the same thing.   So, I pretty much love this place for their Reuben!

food good. price great(boss paid)  :)    me likes

I haven't been on a road trip for some time, but this past week we traveled from DC to Michigan and stopped in New Stanton, PA (about 30 miles from Pittsburgh) to spend the night.  Looking for a place to watch the Giants-New England game we came across this great little local dive restaurant and sports bar called TJ's.  This is the kind of place that you hope to find in an out-of-the-way place like New Stanton, PA--pretty much all locals and all the flavor of a blue collar dive bar.

We walked into this perfectly square building with a "U' shaped bar and pool table on one side-- tables and chairs set up on the other.   In the background we heard Toby Kieth and Willy Nelson belting out "I'll Never Smoke Weed With Willie Again".  The management describes this place as having a "warm, casual atmosphere (no ambiance) where each of our patrons may be comfortable and relaxed..."--trust me, they are dead on when they say "no ambiance".  They have sports related beer posters tacked to the walls with the schedules for the Steelers and Penguins on several of them.  The carpet on the floor looks like it was pulled out of a double wide.  The pool table has a NASCAR light hanging over it, several video games and juke box add the finishing touches.  They have four smaller TVs and one large 107" TV in the center of one wall.  All of them tuned in to sporting events.  "Beer To Go" coolers line the back wall for those who want to get drunk in back of the pick-up.

With all of that said, let's talk food.  The food was pretty good for a dive bar and restaurant.  They offer an extensive menu with a wide range of choices for the serious dive bar drunk--included are burgers, grinders, pizza, BBQ, smoked ribs, wings, mozzarella sicks, grilled shrimp and so on.  We had the Sicilian Grinder ($6.99) and the Philly Chicken Hoagie ($7.49), both were very good.  While we didn't have them, they rave about their ribs--slow smoked, no boiling.  The wings were huge--they looked like turkey wings and seemed to be a popular choice with the locals.  Prices were reasonable with the sandwiches running $6.50-$7.50 and the dinners from $15.00-$17.50 (the dinners were made up of ribs and rib combination platters).  During Penguin games Labats beer is $2.00 for a 16oz. cup.

The people were "good 'ol boys and gals", friendly and, in general, just what you would expect to find in a place like this.  If you're from the coast you will be entertained by many of them.  The bartenders were nice and right on the service, even with a full bar.  

I enjoyed it and considering the type of place that TJ's is, I give it 4 stars.

"...in the fetal position, with drool on my chin--broke down and smoked weed with Willie again."