Diners (Pittsburgh, Altoona, Blairsville: for sale, business, building)

[Hopes]

Have you tried Jean-Marc Chatellier’s French Bakery or cream pies, Jay?

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Have you tried Jean-Marc Chatellier’s French Bakery or cream pies, Jay?

Mmmm...yes. I have. And they are so good. I almost always get something with lemon or lime curd there. It might be a good place for quiche, too.

And you've reminded me, M, of Le Gourmandine in Larryville, where I know they have great quiche.

[LIRefugee]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Pittsburgh isn't even acceptable for diner food compared to New Jersey. Try to find great chocolate or banana cream pie here. I dare you.

How you doin', Alex?

What's your opinion of the pies from Dean's Diner in Blairsville?

I haven't been to any knock-your-socks off diners around here, though I enjoyed the as-yet unmentioned Hot Metal Diner.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by LIRefugee

What's your opinion of the pies from Dean's Diner in Blairsville?

I've never been there. Actually, I don't know where Blairsville is. Is Dean's worth the trip?

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I thought we could start a thread specially dedicated to area diners.

I'm looking for some great diners for breakfast. We don't need to focus just on breakfast.

I'd also like for us to share the ones that aren't good.

We tried Kelly O's on Perry Highway in the North Hills. The service was super slow and the food was below average.

We also didn't like the Dor-Stop diner in Dormont. It's cute and retro but the food was aweful.

Pamela's in Millvale is okay. We're just boring of it.

We enjoyed Hanlon’s Café on Liberty Avenue Downtown. It has been a year since we've been there. We might go again tomorrow if I can't find somewhere else to try.

I'd love to find diners that have more unique menus instead of the standard Pittsburgh greasy diner food.

For example, I'm a big fan of a good quiche with greens and fruit, but I can't find something like that anywhere in Pittsburgh.

Hopes,
This book has 236 diners in Pennsylvania that you can check out.

Diners of Pennsylvania: Brian Butko, Kevin Patrick, Kyle R. Weaver: 9780811706766: Amazon.com: Books=

[Benzman66]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I've never been there. Actually, I don't know where Blairsville is. Is Dean's worth the trip?

It's on Rt 22, past Murrysville, Delmont, etc, on the road to Altoona/Johnstown areas.

We use to stop in for restroom break, coffee, pie, etc when making trips back and forth to Altoona before moving here. I don't think it is as good as it use to be back in the 80s-90s, mainly because a lot of the older folks, (cooks/bakers, etc), have retired or died off. They DID have the best pies at one time.

Last time we were in was back in 2005. Ordered a glass of Mountain Dew and it had a long hair inside stuck to the side, very easy to see. Told the waitress who said "just take it out and it will be ok." That was it for me.

[Mtl-Cns]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Pittsburgh isn't even acceptable for diner food compared to New Jersey. Try to find great chocolate or banana cream pie here. I dare you.

?

Try Dicks Diner in Murrysville for pies-- you'll plotz.

In addition to the two you mention I also recommend the Boston cream.

[sskink]

The only way Pittsburgh is going to fix it's lack of diner options/quality is to import more Greeks.

[greg42]

Well, but also just being Greeks doesn't ensure the quality of diner.

I haven't found any one place around here that does everything well. I've stopped going to Pamelas, not that I went that much in the first place. I do like those pancakes, but I don't think they like me. Plus, I had some really good pancakes yesterday in Ann Arbor and I'll probably be spoiled for most else. I don't usually order pancakes, they are just so easy to come out lame, and I can't abide fake syrup. (Oddly, the place to get real syrup is chains: Cracker Barrel or First Watch.)

Freedom Square Diner in Cranberry does a good omelette. Not a huge fan of much else there though. I think they changed the burgers a while back so those might be better, but a lot of that food is just mediocre unfortunately. But for an omelette, yes.

I like Kelly-O's but went to the North Hills one. I can't remember what I got though, heh. And I've only been the once. I would go back though.

I still think the place everyone should go to is Waffles Inc. You can go to South Side or way out in New Brighton which is the original. This is not a diner exactly, not diner food, but it's breakfast/lunch like a diner and the food is absolutely worth traveling for.

In general, though, this isn't a place for diners exactly, seems like.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by greg42

I've stopped going to Pamelas, not that I went that much in the first place. I do like those pancakes, but I don't think they like me.

See! I'm not the only one who gets sick after eating at Pamelas!

Originally Posted by greg42

I like Kelly-O's but went to the North Hills one. I can't remember what I got though, heh. And I've only been the once. I would go back though.

That's the one we went to. Go back and give it a try again. I'd like to hear what you say. I thought it was average.

Originally Posted by greg42

I still think the place everyone should go to is Waffles Inc. You can go to South Side or way out in New Brighton which is the original. This is not a diner exactly, not diner food, but it's breakfast/lunch like a diner and the food is absolutely worth traveling for.

I like a good waffle. We'll have to try that sometime.