I'll be in Pgh/Monroeville area for work. Never been. Any recommendations on food and sights to see? I'll have Sunday evening through Friday evening. Requirements are lots of 🥩 🍖 meat for a decent price that isn't wrapped in carbs.
I'll have rental car (I don't drink) and staying on the Monroeville side.
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If you like dinosaurs, the Carnegie Museum. If you like bad baseball, the pirates. Primanti Bros is famous for their sandwiches with fries. The view from Mt. Washington is spectacular and there are some very nice restaurants up there. And you have to eat at least one steak salad, which also has cheese and fries.
Thanks!
Altius for a great dinner.
http://altiuspgh.com
Will check them out. Update: I like the format and the sustainable/grass fed mission. What gives me pause is I'd like to make a reservation but not 100% sure of my schedule, and there's a $100 fee if you can't cancel within 24 hrs (I'd prefer Sunday but same day of the flight). Maybe l'll still consider it.
I'd go later in evening but also want to catch up on sleep while MrsEMC and Pre-K-EMC aren't around. 👀
Yeah, I went with a large work association so I didn't think about that part. The views and the food are well worth it if you can make it. Plus you can ride the Dusquesne Incline and it comes out right at the restaurant (I'm not ashamed to play tourist, I even did a clipper tour). We stayed near the market square and there are definitely a ton of options within walking distance there. Besides Primanti Bros, I know we stopped in City Works for some apps one night and BRGR for dinner.
Church Brew Works. Get there early enough to get a pizza.
Church Brew Works got too "uppity" and doesn't serve pizza or normal bar food anymore. It kind of sucks now.
Really?? Wow...well that sucks. My wife lived up there for a little while and we went there 2-3 times and loved it. (I also didn't see that OP doesn't drink, my bad.)
I can second this
Rolands for seafood - amazing
Thanks! Forgot about seafood.
Mad Mex in Oakland for SouthWest wings. My favorite wings in the world.
Tram's for Pho and fresh rolls.
Lots of meat for a decent price - Gaucho Parilla Argentina. It's in the strip district. A link is below:
https://www.eat-gaucho.com/
Lots of meat for a less decent, but not so bad, price - Meat & Potatoes. It's downtown, you'll need a reservation. A link is below:
https://www.meatandpotatoespgh.com/
Both places are great and get crowded quickly.
This gaucho may be my dude.
Every time I'm in town I make it a point to stop by there
I'll second Gaucho, for what you said you're looking for it's probably the best place in the city. It's a place where you have to wait in line to order food at the counter and then get seated so definitely try to get there by like 5:30 if you're going for dinner.
Spent a couple of summers in Pittsburgh lately for work...
Go to Primanti Bros just so you can say you did - once will be enough. Far and away the most overhyped sandwich in the developed world. The one in the Strip is the only one with any kind of fun local vibe. All the other ones feel like PGH-themed TGI Friday's. It's untoasted, floppy white bread with an underwhelming amount of your choice of meat - with french fries on it. Not exactly reinventing the wheel.
Better spots in the Strip include Kaya (Latin/Caribbean), Gaucho Parilla (come for the slightly overpriced grilled meats, stay for the sauces, each of which you'll want to take home in gallon jugs. Deelish) and Smallman Galley, which is like an industrial space with a rotating lineup of pop-up restaurants in stalls - they have a great little bar and communal table where you can sit and eat whatever you picked out. Nearby is BeerHive, which looks like a dive but is one of the best beer bars in the vicinity - rotating local taps and crazy, varied bottles and cans. Sneaky good cheap food specials too.
Downtown (aka "Dahntaahn") has become a real destination for food the last several years - Meat & Potatoes is a great spot for anything from a burger&beer to an expensive steak. Their sister restaurant Butcher and the Rye is a bit more upscale for those with expense accounts, and they have a sort of cocktail & Mexican fusion spot called Tako that turns into more of a nightspot into the evening. Other Downtown highlights: Nicky's Thai Kitchen, Sienna Mercato (get the meatballs), and a regional chain taco & beer place called Condado that is the only place to get cheap tasty food past 11 on a weekday in that area. Surprisingly good IMO.
Go drinking in Andersonville and East Liberty. Some truly great local spots and a few legendary dives - and all will be pouring local beer, which has become a destination aspect of that city of late.
Also, I cannot stress this enough: if the Bucs are in town, get to a game at PNC Park. I try to catch a game in every city I visit - and PNC is easily top 5 in MLB for game day experience. On a weekday you can get lower level seats for around 40 bucks, but I can attest (been to a dozen games) that there are very few bad seats in that park.
Avoid Southside at all costs unless you are in the market for a tattoo or enjoy getting jostled by wasted dudebros and their underage friends. Amateur hour.
EDIT: I see now you're not a drinker, which makes 75% of my post irrelevant hahaha. And yeah, Pirates on the road all week. Ah well, happy hunting! (Also, I'd be remiss not to mention the Warhol Museum - it's a really comprehensive and fascinating collection especially if you're into pop art/20th century culture etc. 👍)
Looks like the Bucs are on the road all next week.
That's unfortunate. PNC park is the best baseball stadium I've ever been to.
Its the only baseball stadium I've been to. Just remember if you get a chance to go to PNC, don't get pimento bros there, they don't have the better sandwiches. Its even more disappointing than normal.
Sienna Mercato for sure. Meatballs are great and then there's a rooftop biergarten that is the coolest drinking spot downtown. Mad Mex for Mexican is legit. Shadyside is a cool part of town if you want to get out from downtown for a little bit.
Southern Tier has a really nice micro brewery near PNC park too if you're looking for a place that way.
Seconded on Sienna Mercato. That place is awesome!
PNC has the best backdrop in baseball. I'd put it a veryyy close 2nd behind Busch Stadium.
The bars outside of left field are pretty cool. I watched the entirety of the Marshall OT game in Mullens'. Drank enough that afternoon to re-sink the Titanic.
I, for one, love Primanti. Maybe I'm a fatass, maybe I have low standards. Who knows.
You have to ride the incline @ Mt. Washington.
It recently got stuck for a few hours
How's the parking around the ball park and the Strip? And weekday traffic for that matter?
I already have a vehicle & gas money covered if I can get around without public transportation
For the Strip, I've always taken an Uber so I'm not sure. But for downtown, I park in the garage at the intersection of 6th and Fort Duquesne Blvd. From there, it's an easy walk across the Clemente bridge to PNC.
Spearmint Rhino has a great brunch.
Has anyone been to Unami? Remember listening to an episode of Spttin' Chiclets recently and Whits was talking about how it's the best sushi. Believe he told a story of a former Pens player ending up playing for the Habs, but would still routinely fly to Pitt just to eat at Unami.
Haven't been to Unami myself yet, but it's on my list next time I visit.
Maybe not exactly a "sight to see" while you're in Pittsburgh, but I'll give you a dollar to break into Pat Narduzzi's office and leave him an upper decker.
For educational purposes only
Updates: I've been to Eat n' Park, Green Forest Churrascaria, Charley's Philly Steaks (Monroeville Mall). Planning to hit Gaucho Parilla on Thurs and do the Incline. Friday just going to catch John Wick and a Japanese steak house. Thanks for the inputs. Tomorrow maybe Primanti Bros and someplace simple (Denny's & Sheetz within walking distance 😂 edit: also walking distance to Mad Mex)