https://www.upick6.com/pier-6/
The rooftop bar or restaurant (a format long enjoyed in larger ‘real cities’) has now become a thing in Erie. Its like a patio bar, but on a roof with a view! What a time to be alive! Much to the enjoyment of the local populace we now have several to choose from and they have quickly become quite a popular destination in these few summer months we enjoy here.
If you go to Pier 6 for lunch they currently open at 11:30 AM Wed – Sun at the time of this writing; but be sure to check their website for updated hours. I have found it is best to arrive early as you may encounter a wait to be seated otherwise. If you are out for a work lunch on a somewhat limited time frame this can be an issue, obviously. Hopefully this will be only a temporary problem due to staffing shortages, which are currently affecting the hospitality industry as a whole.
We were seated on the patio, as it was a beautiful summer day on the bay. Our server was very pleasant and helpful. I tried the John Russell Brewing seasonal beer offering, the Sunset Point shandy, and it was fantastic. Just a perfect refreshing shandy all around.
On my first visit to Pier 6 I ordered the brisket burger. The menu is still in development so I cannot provide the full item description here, unfortunately (I did not take a pic of the menu – rookie mistake!). It’s a burger patty topped with beef brisket, a fried egg (cooked nicely with the yolk a tad gelatinous still, but not runny) and a nice aioli underneath. The bun was toasted and held up well to all of the above. I am a bit of a slow eater (or maybe I talk too much?) and the burger maintained its integrity the whole time; it did not get soggy, slide around, or fall to pieces. The fries were great also. A nice thickness, perfectly crispy, and well seasoned. They stayed hot a long time in the metal box they are served in. The house made ranch dressing I requested on the side for the fries was of very good quality, as well.
Flavor-wise overall the burger was very good. Though I do have some notes:
The burger patty was cooked very well done rather than medium (which I had ordered). The patty also appeared to be a pre-made frozen patty which I find truly baffling at a more upscale location that has a few different burgers on the menu. Some pieces of the brisket were tough and too fatty. The fat was not the ‘meat butter’ one gets on a nice piece of fatty brisket from Federal Hill or else I would not complain; but luckily I had spotted it before taking that bite and removed it. These could just be teething problems or the result of an overly busy kitchen operating with less staff, so please do not take the above critique as a stinging indictment of Pier 6 or their food. I did not bring any of these concerns up to the staff as I felt it was not egregious enough to warrant that and I still tipped well. These notes are merely offered to you, the reader, in the interest of full disclosure. My friend Joe whom I was with at lunch ordered the same burger and his thoughts match my own, though.
I will certainly be visiting Pier 6 again soon and look forward to trying more items from their menu and their John Russell beers. The view of the bay is good and I look forward to future visits for years to come.