New resident - things to do (visiting my brother) (Pittsburgh: house, neighborhoods)

[Southshorebound]

I’m going Pittsburgh for my first time this weekend to visit my brother and explore the city with him. He just moved to Pittsburgh (the point area downtown) three weeks ago for work and he hasn’t had an opportunity to get to know the city (hard to go places alone). He doesn’t know people yet and we’re hoping to get a sense of where folks around his age hang out (he’s 26) and cool things to do.
There was a great article in the NYT today about Pittsburgh restaurants and we are definitely going to check some of them out. Any recommendations on specific places to visit that would appeal to a young professional? (not the college crowd). We are going to check out the Wigle distillery and the Warhol museum. I’m really looking forward to seeing Pittsburgh – maybe I’ll join my bro in a few years.

Thanks for any recommendations ahead of time and happy (almost) 200th birthday to your city

[UKyank]

Nighttime fun, the big 3 would be Lawrenceville, South Side (he's located between both of those) and downtown itself (primarily the cultural district & market square areas).

[wpipkins2]

If you arrive Friday evening you should attend the Pittsburgh Bicentennial themed gallery crawl throughout downtown.

[Geeo]

The New York Times article hit on a lot of options that would all be good. And there are a lot of other places along Butler Street in Lawrenceville not mentioned in the article. The nice thing about Butler Street is that you can start walking from one end to the other and happen on a lot of interesting places.

Although a lot of the neighborhoods sound like they're towns, they are not. They are city neighborhoods that were separate towns that were annexed into the city in the late 19th/early 20th century. Lawrenceville is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city and is fascinating for its industrial/working class heritage and row house architecture.

[Flamingo13]

Let me know how you like the Warhol museum, that's on my list of things to visit on a trip back. Enjoy yourself.

[friendsheep]

Search Facebook for Pittsburgh events, Nak You Out, Made in PGH, Next Pittsburgh, Reddit PGH, Fittsburgh... The sites are definitely hit or miss but will give you a good range of events this weekend.


The bicentennial gallery crawl Fri night is a great idea. There's a huge night market and you can also check out a couple different restaurants and bars downtown: Tako, Butcher & the Rye, Meat & Potatoes, The Commoner, Sienna Mercato's rooftop are just a few random suggestions- downtown should be very lively Friday!

[theta_sigma]

If either of you are interested in food, go to the Strip District (you can walk from Downtown, just get on Penn Ave and start walking east) on either Saturday or Sunday morning. That's the wholesale district that's also home to many, many ethnic and specialty food shops and it's a mad bustle on weekend mornings (especially in nice weather, which it doesn't look like this weekend is going to be, unfortunately). There's breakfast and brunch places, bakeries, coffee roasters, sidewalk vendors, and a chocolate shop called Mon Amie that's got specialty chocolate from around the world. It's a real Pittsburgh experience. Make sure you visit the cheese counter at Pennsylvania Macaroni.

Wigle is in the Strip, as is Maggie's Farm Rum Distillery.

For nightlife, I'd recommend either Lawrenceville or the Downtown Cultural District along Penn Ave between 6th and 10th streets over the South Side. South Side skews college-aged meathead and the traffic is a nightmare on weekend evenings. I went over there to meet a friend for a bite at the Pub Chip Shop at like 5 PM on a Saturday and it was already bananas.

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by theta_sigma

If either of you are interested in food, go to the Strip District (you can walk from Downtown, just get on Penn Ave and start walking east) on either Saturday or Sunday morning. That's the wholesale district that's also home to many, many ethnic and specialty food shops and it's a mad bustle on weekend mornings (especially in nice weather, which it doesn't look like this weekend is going to be, unfortunately). There's breakfast and brunch places, bakeries, coffee roasters, sidewalk vendors, and a chocolate shop called Mon Amie that's got specialty chocolate from around the world. It's a real Pittsburgh experience. Make sure you visit the cheese counter at Pennsylvania Macaroni.

Wigle is in the Strip, as is Maggie's Farm Rum Distillery.

For nightlife, I'd recommend either Lawrenceville or the Downtown Cultural District along Penn Ave between 6th and 10th streets over the South Side. South Side skews college-aged meathead and the traffic is a nightmare on weekend evenings. I went over there to meet a friend for a bite at the Pub Chip Shop at like 5 PM on a Saturday and it was already bananas.

what are the standard bar recs for l'ville? can vary greatly depending on what you are looking for.

[theta_sigma]

Well, Larryville is certainly the place to go for craft beverages. There are three(?) craft breweries (Hop Farm, Full Pint and Roundabout) with pour rooms, plus the Arsenal Cider House and Cider Garden, plus the Allegheny Wine Mixer wine bar, plus the bottom floor of the six-pack shop next door to the Rowhouse Cinema also has a teeny weeny bar in it. And Piccolo Forno now has an attached grapparia. I'm not a beer drinker (or much of a drinker at all, really), but if I were, that would be my circuit.

More traditional bars would be New Amsterdam, Industry, Tender and Spirit. I've never been to Tender or Spirit but New Amsterdam and Industry are loud and, well, bar-like. There are other newer places, too.

And then there's the dives. Belvedere, Thunderbird, Hambones. And the gay bars (Blue Moon, Cattivo). And Nied's for honky-tonk music.

I only know all these places because I drive up and down Butler many, many times a week and I see them from the outside. I can't vouch for all of them as A Place To Get One's Drank On.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by theta_sigma

Well, Larryville is certainly the place to go for craft beverages. There are three(?) craft breweries (Hop Farm, Full Pint and Roundabout) with pour rooms, plus the Arsenal Cider House and Cider Garden, plus the Allegheny Wine Mixer wine bar, plus the bottom floor of the six-pack shop next door to the Rowhouse Cinema also has a teeny weeny bar in it. And Piccolo Forno now has an attached grapparia. I'm not a beer drinker (or much of a drinker at all, really), but if I were, that would be my circuit.

More traditional bars would be New Amsterdam, Industry, Tender and Spirit. I've never been to Tender or Spirit but New Amsterdam and Industry are loud and, well, bar-like. There are other newer places, too.

And then there's the dives. Belvedere, Thunderbird, Hambones. And the gay bars (Blue Moon, Cattivo). And Nied's for honky-tonk music.

I only know all these places because I drive up and down Butler many, many times a week and I see them from the outside. I can't vouch for all of them as A Place To Get One's Drank On.

New Amsterdam and Belvedere's are no longer options... but you can add Remedy (long time fixture) and Gus's Place (more divey) and the Cantina. And Cattivo is not exclusively gay, but rather mixed.