{"id":303058,"date":"2026-10-09T12:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T12:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/303058\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T12:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T12:10:08","slug":"les-is-more-at-murphs-kitchen-in-millvale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/303058\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Les\u2019 is More at Murph\u2019s Kitchen in Millvale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Murphs1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF MURPH\u2019S KITCHEN<\/p>\n

North Versailles native Les Murphy grew up in a large family brought together by food.<\/p>\n

Now the veteran chef is attracting hungry crowds in Millvale with the tagline \u201cGood Times Served Daily.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July, Murph\u2019s Kitchen<\/a> moved into Strange Roots Experimental Ales\u2019<\/a> taproom on E. Ohio Street. The brewery\u2019s longtime food purveyor, Pittsburgh Sandwich Society, opened Winston\u2019s Grilled Eats & Frozen Treats<\/a> a few blocks away.<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s been a fixture on the local restaurant scene for 36 years, the last dozen of them spent at Bigham Tavern<\/a> in Mount Washington, where he cranked out some of the city\u2019s most popular pub grub.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy experience at Bigham was probably the fastest I have seen a place grow that I was a part of,\u201d he says. \u201cI feel like anyone with a fire in their belly, like myself, is always looking to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, the heat is on at Strange Roots.<\/p>\n

Murphy and his business partner, Sarah Flora, offer seasonal, upscale bar food, including sandwiches, salads, soups, mac-and-cheese bowls, flatbreads and vegetarian and gluten-free options.<\/p>\n

This is comfort food with a kick.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to cook,\u201d he says. \u201cSome recipes are more challenging than others, but the process is where I live.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m proud to say I was the first Murph\u2019s Kitchen customer and went with The Big Chic, an aptly named sandwich with a 6-ounce grilled or fried chicken breast, white American cheese, spicy BBQ aioli, fried jalape\u00f1os, lettuce and tomato on a toasted burger bun. I added bacon to mine, because oink.<\/p>\n

And, of course, there are wings.<\/p>\n

\"Murphswings\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF MURPH\u2019S KITCHEN<\/p>\n

Thursday Wing Night has long been a Strange Roots staple, so owners Dennis and Jaclyn Hock were happy to partner with an expert.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing wowed me like his wings,\u201d Jaclyn says. \u201cHe has so many recipes in mind. His art is on a plate; my husband\u2019s art is in a glass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strange Roots, which started as Draai Laag Brewing Co. in 2011, uses varying fermentation methods and local micro flora to create unique beverages that have developed a cult following. Murphy says he has plans to incorporate some experimental ales into his recipes.<\/p>\n

The brewery has a second location in New Kensington that\u2019s anchored by the stellar Common Oven Pizza Co.<\/a>, which bakes pies in a wood-fired oven using naturally leavened dough, handmade mozzarella and fresh toppings. They also have dangerously delicious chocolate chip cookies<\/a>. Double oink!<\/p>\n

Both Strange Roots sites are family- and dog-friendly with indoor and outdoor seating.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hoping to establish a footprint in Millvale,\u201d Murphy says. \u201cWe would like for this to become an even more sought-after spot, as it already has great support from Strange Roots alone. We couldn\u2019t be happier here.\u201d\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOTO COURTESY OF MURPH\u2019S KITCHEN North Versailles native Les Murphy grew up in a large family brought together…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":["post-303058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}