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adytum
The Inevitable RiseAnd FallRegistered User regular
The Inevitable RiseAnd FallRegistered User regular
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For food, you need to hit up Primanti Bros. for a traditional Pittsburgh sandwich. The original one is in the strip district on the south side, but there's a bunch around town that are all pretty good. http://primantibros.com/home.html
For what I considered very good Italian, http://www.lacucinaflegrea.com/ in the market square area. I felt a little under dressed when I went there, but I don't think it tries to be too high brow. They have live Jazz on some nights. Their website sucks, but I was impressed by the food in a value/$ way. Two of us for dinner, dessert, and a couple glasses of wine was around $100. I'm not an expert though, so I don't want to over-promote
I've heard very good things about http://www.seviche.com/ but I haven't been there myself.
Zerzhul, all those places look great and are walking distance. Thanks!
I understand that the good bar scene is in Southside? Is it easy to get there and back by bus from downtown?
Not sure how I forgot until now, but the south side works has its own website with a bunch of stuff in the area http://www.southsideworks.com/
I don't remember the name of the place, but I got some good gelato last week from a place next door to the BD's mongolian grill in that neighborhood.
Edit: there's also a subway that turns into a light rail, but I have zero experience with that as well, but maybe someone else can say if it runs to the south side.
Edit2: the subway goes to Station Square, which I think is another great south side bar scene (http://www.stationsquare.com/), but it's not in walking distance of the works.
Edit3: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_Light_Rail
Be warned that entertainment downtown can sometimes be sparce at night. Most of the people who work in the city live in the subrubs and stay there after work. Going to Primanti's is a must do for a first visit. I would suggest either the one in Market Square (walking distnace), or the Strip District. There is a small hole in the wall one near the financial area but it isn't very nice and I'm not sure their hours. Market Square has some nice places to eat, but get there early if you go during lunch hour. Also make sure you have cash with you if you're eating downtown and it isn't a chain resteraunt. A lot of the small places are cash only. The Apollo Cafe on Forbes is one such place I rather like (and in the financial area). They serve mediterranean food that made fresh every day.
Getting to the South Side by bus shouldn't be a problem, though I don't know the routes. There is pretty much 1 main street through that whole area (East Carson) any they all go down it. Make sure to double check the schedules if you're going to be out late. There has been a lot of cuts lately to the busses. www.portauthority.org for that. If you're going to go to the South Side Works I would probably drive. It is on the complete opposite side of the the area from where you are. There is some nice stuff there and it is the newest. South Side proper has a ton of bars, mostly sport bars. I like going down there on week nights since it won't be so friggin packed like it is on weekends.
The "T" (subway) runs through the city and goes over to the North Shore where the stadiums are, and to Station Square. It does not go to South Side proper, but you can easily get a bus in Station Square. The T is free between all downtown stops and the North Side stops. It is not free to get to Station Square. I think it's $2.50 off peak (6-9am, 3-6pm), and $3.75 during peak. Double check on the site I linked to above. The North Side has some nice places to eat around the stadiums. You can also get to the Casino if you want to check it out. Station Square as a bunch of places to eat. You can also catch the incline at Station Square which goes to the top of Mount Washington. It is a great view of the city and worth the trip imo. Some places to eat up there too but they are rather expensive iirc.
Also there is the Cultural District where our theaters are. I'm not familiar with what all is there as I don't go there much but might be something to check out.
-e- oh! There is a hop on hop off double decker tour bus that has started up within the last couple years. I've never been on it and don't know their hours/pricing, but it goes all over the place and can get you to a lot of the areas and attractions we are throwing out. Might be worth checking out if their hours line up for when you're free. http://www.pghtours.com/
the carnegie art and history museum are pretty nice and they do have cycling exhibits. i was unimpressed with the warhol and the mattress factory but admittedly i don't get modern art. "I mounted a drain in the wall, ART!"
though the warhol did have a cool Ross exhibit recently with comic book stuff which was good.
my favorite place for a mellow afternoon is Phipps conservatory, right by the art and natural history museum.
if you are in Mt. wash, we have gone to monterrey bay fish grotto a couple times. has some pretty good fish dishes, but it is expensive.
CMU has events that you can probably sneak into...it's supposedly just for students but it's not an issue because they never actually check for student IDs. For instance, we had Valve come give a talk today! And there are events like that almost every other week. You can PM me if you want to know if there's anything going on this weekend or are looking for places to eat.
I'd go with Pamela's for breakfast food, but get there early because there's always big lines. The Original Hot Dog place on 5th is great if you want old-time greasy food, and what I consider a real Pittsburgh experience. Just don't go there too late. Hofbrau in Southside is amazing and worth doing at every opportunity.
I also second Phipp's, although it can be pricey if you can't show a student ID for a discount. Shenley Park surrounding it can also be beautiful this time of year, if the leaves haven't changed. I went to CMU, so I'd highly recommend walking around the campus which I consider to be a nice little oasis among the city.
If you're willing to drive, the National Aviary is pretty freaking sweet as well.
Edit -- Also, the Duquesne Incline is neat and worth riding up/down once...you get a really sweet view of the city.
pamelas isn't all that either. though since the president came and said it was good, people want to go there.
supposedly enrico's in the strip is awesome for brunch and dinner. we haven't been there yet.
the aviary is alright. they recently did a renovation there, but i think it costs too much for what it is now. it used to be way cheaper.
i second the Original
if breakfast delucas or whatever in the strip was on the man vs food, but according to our friend it is just a subpar greasy breakfast place.
station square has a famous brunch but it is expensive.
oh. supposedly point brugge is great.
...except for food.
I'm probably just spoiled for choice at home, but Pittsburgh is kind of a food desert. I did end up finding some gems, in particular Winghart's and Seviche (thanks for the recommendation, zerzhul). I walked all over the city (you'd only really need a car to get to the 'burbs). The only time I took public transit was to aimlessly ride the tram around downtown because, well, how quaint.
I never ended up at Primanti's because of the poo-pooing in this thread, and the fact that when I did have a chance to go, they were closed.
Any sort of "ethnic" food is definitely not Pitt's strong suit, but there's a pretty good Korean place around that area as well called The Green Pepper. It's a little pricey but you get a giant tub of grilled meat, so it's worth it if you're into that kind of thing.
Actually, what am I saying? I'm new here too. What do people do around here for fun? And where is the good food?
Pitt does have amazing access to the outdoors stuff. the parks in city are really nice. Frick is awesome, and south park is ginormous.
for Thai, the green mango in regent square is pretty good.in oakland, i like red Oak
in the strip supposedly Enricos is good, I have been to Eleven which was really good, though a touch expensive.
PNC park is a great stadium even if the pirates are awful.
check out the museums, if you have kids, the childrens museum is fantastic.