Here's a mystery for you: In January 1956, a twin-engine Mitchell B-25 bomber crash-landed in the Monongahela River, right around Homestead. And the thing just kind of sank into the muddy ooze. Or vaporized. Or was hauled away by secret agents. Or whatever, but nobody ever found it. Amazing!

Skyvue Restaurant, 3230 Lebanon Church Road, West Mifflin; 412-469-1119.

Here's another mystery: How is it that Munch is always discovering great, out-of-the-way spots with interesting back stories, often by accident? Like some bumbling, foodie love-child of Giada De Laurentiis and Peter Falk? (Enjoy that mental image. Picture him wearing a trench coat, if that helps. No need to thank me.)

Munch had no idea, for example, that the old Skyvue Restaurant on Lebanon Church Road had been closed for four years, or that, for the past two, its new owners had been gutting the restaurant down to bare studs, pouring a new concrete bar, polishing the floors to a fine gleam, installing a new kitchen, building a new deck. And Munch had no idea that the place had reopened just two weeks ago.

Nope, Munch knew none of this beforehand. Munch is not what you'd call a "planner," or a "researcher," or a "snappy dresser." Munch was just driving around in the Munch-mobile, saw some bright neon lights and a parking lot full of cars, and thought, "Say, this looks promising." Serendipity is my compass; Munch is a feather on the breeze. And if that breeze happens to be carrying the heavy waft of beef and bacon grease, so much the better.

Seriously, is there anything more American than a big fat bacon cheeseburger? Is there anything more sinfully delicious than pig stacked on top of beef? That's the problem with the research community. They spend all these years trying to clone a sheep, which benefits precisely nobody, when they should have been trying to breed a cow with a pig. They could name it: pig-cow. Or cow-pig. I don't care about the name, frankly. Just get it on my plate.

At the Skyvue, the bacon-cheeseburger (french fries and pickle spears on the side) came out slightly pink and lightly toasted, a nice combination. A side plate of mac-and-cheese may or may not have come straight out of the Kraft box. While Munch was fiddling with the antique Rock-Ola jukebox in the back room, Dear One Of Munch (DOOM) was pleasantly surprised by one of the appetizers, quartered artichoke hearts in a hot alfredo sauce, served with pita triangles. Munch's total tab was $20, plus tip.

You can get cheap burgers and sandwiches here, but the slim dinner menu goes beyond standard bar fare. You'll find a few seafood options, a couple of veal dishes, some steaks, some poultry and a handful of salads. Give them a few weeks to work out the menu and service kinks before dropping by (Friday, Nov. 27 would be an ideal day -- that's the grand opening).

The Skyvue (or Sky Vue, or Sky-Vue) has been around, in various incarnations, since the 1930s, when the Metz family opened a jazz club near what was then Bettis Field. That airfield is long gone, but the Allegheny County Airport is still nearby, so Skyvue restaurant comes by its aviation theme honestly. In the 1950s, the Metz family turned the club into a family restaurant, serving neighborhood diners and visiting military airmen.

The new owners, the Arovits family (better known for the pizzas they've made at Bishop's for many years, but I guess you get tired of tossing pies after a while), bought the Skyvue building in 2008. Today, the space -- smoke-free horseshoe bar up front, dining room in the back, with an elevated stage that can accommodate both diners and live bands -- is festooned with aeronautical memorabilia of every variety. Model airplanes, old photos, aerial images, ceiling fans that look like propellers, and, at the entrance to the dining room, a framed copy of the story of the missing Monongahela bomber.

See how Munch tied everything together? Classic bookend technique right there. Watch and learn, J-school students.

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