Entry No. 61 — the Pittsburgh file — filed under: dj
SideQuest on 44th
The calendar reads like a group chat rather than a promoter's spreadsheet: Dark Room and Funk Tropics stacked on one Friday, Saturday Detention the next night, Subfiltronik and Craze rolling through in September, and Open Decks every other Monday at 7pm for anyone willing to hand over a USB stick. Doors run to 2am Friday and Saturday, midnight Monday and Thursday, and Sunday quietly closes at 8 — the schedule of a bar that knows precisely who it serves and isn't chasing anyone else. The kitchen is not a concession stand: fried gnocchi, loaded fries, pierogies, mac and cheese bites, and burgers named after video games, running alongside the music instead of shutting down when the DJ starts. Most weekend bills come booked by the collectives playing them, which is why two consecutive Fridays can sound nothing alike.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Pittsburgh — never the same twice
The story
146 44th Street sits about halfway between Butler Street and the Allegheny River, and for more than twenty years it was Cattivo — a Lawrenceville bar and music room with pool tables, darts, pinball and a booking policy that swung from acoustic to metal to reggae without apology. Its own site described the goal as keeping it 'a great neighborhood bar, music venue and local hangout.' SideQuest on 44th inherited that room. In late August 2024 its website was still a construction placeholder; by that November it was running a 'soft open schedule' Thursday through Sunday and leading with food — hand-cut fries, house-made sauces, order online for pickup.
Two years later the pitch has inverted. The calendar is now the front page, the room advertises a dialed-in sound system, and most weekend bills arrive pre-booked by the collectives playing them: Dark Room, Funk Tropics, Saturday Detention, Honeycomb, Y2K Alien Invasion. That is why consecutive Fridays can sound nothing alike — you are not being programmed by one promoter's taste but by whichever crew has the night. Touring bass names land in the same room; Subfiltronik and Craze both come through in September. Every other Monday at 7pm, Open Decks costs nothing and takes no ticket.
The kitchen is the part that separates it from a warehouse party. Fried gnocchi, loaded fries, breaded mushrooms and mac-and-cheese bites run $9; pierogies come plain or with kielbasa; burgers are named for video-game mechanics — Final Smash, Level Up, The Green Shell — at $12 to $14, and there is a Final Smash-and-IC-Light combo for $14 that is about as Pittsburgh as a menu line can get. It runs alongside the music instead of shutting when the DJ starts, which on a Friday at half past midnight is the whole argument.
What it's like
Doors are at 5 and shows are at 9, and the gap is real: early on it is a bar with a kitchen and sightlines to the booth, and it does not become a dance floor until well after the posted start. Come at 6, eat, take a table, and you will have watched the room fill around you rather than shouldering into it. Weekend nights run to 2am and the crowd is a bass-music crowd — collective-booked, familiar with itself, generally welcoming to people who clearly aren't from it. Ticketing is scattered: some nights sell through theticketing.co, some through the promoter's own site, some take cash at the door, so settle it before you leave the house. Bring ID. Tuesday and Wednesday the place is dark.
The move: Take the Monday Open Decks at 7pm instead of a weekend headliner. Split the fried gnocchi and loaded fries at the bar, grab a table with sightlines to the booth, and watch strangers trade twenty-minute sets off USB sticks — it's low-stakes enough that if either of you actually mixes, you can put a name down and play for your date.
📍 Before you go Open 5pm-midnight Monday and Thursday, 5pm-2am Friday and Saturday, noon-8pm Sunday; Tuesday and Wednesday are dark, so don't wander over midweek. Weekend shows start around 9pm; some take money at the door and others route through outside ticketing, so check the event page before you leave. Open Decks runs 7pm on alternating Mondays. Phone (412) 621-1015. Street parking in Lawrenceville after 8pm is a competitive sport.
- 📍 Pittsburgh
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 146 44th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Row House Cinema — A few blocks up on Butler, a single-screen theater whose late-night slate runs cult and B-movie — catch an early show, then walk down to 44th for the part that starts at nine.
- Rolling Pepperoni — Ten minutes' walk further along Butler, and a coal-country pepperoni roll in daylight sets up the night nicely if you'd rather not eat at the bar.
- The Mr. Roboto Project — The other model of collective booking in the same corridor — volunteer-run, cooperatively owned, all-ages — which makes SideQuest's bar-and-kitchen version read differently.
More weird in Pittsburgh
Good to know
When is it actually open?
Monday and Thursday 5pm to midnight, Friday and Saturday 5pm to 2am, Sunday noon to 8pm. Tuesday and Wednesday are dark, so don't drift over midweek expecting a drink.
Do I need a ticket?
It depends on the night. Some shows route through theticketing.co, some through the promoter's own ticketing, and some take money at the door — the calendar at sidequestpgh.com flags which. Open Decks is free and requires no ticket.
Is the food any good, or is it an afterthought?
It's a real kitchen with online ordering. Starters and shareables are $9 across the board, burgers and sandwiches $12–14, pizzas $15–20, and pierogies with kielbasa $14. It stays open late alongside the music.
What is Open Decks?
Alternating Mondays at 7pm, free, no ticket. Anyone willing to hand over a USB stick gets a slot, which makes it the lowest-stakes way to see the room — and the only night where you might end up playing.
How do I get there and where do I park?
146 44th St, a short walk down from Butler Street in Lawrenceville. It's street parking only, and after 8pm on a weekend the surrounding residential blocks are competitive; budget time to circle, or get dropped off. Phone (412) 621-1015.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site
last checked: 2026-08-26