Must Try Pittsburgh Restaurants (places, steak, young)

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by gladhands

I moved here from Boston. The town has the worst food scene of any major metro in the country.

I was just in Boston (only two days) and when there we went to this place in Cambridge called the Friendly Toast. The wait was insanely long (over an hour and a half IIRC) and I thought the breakfast was pretty average overall. I've definitely preferred what I've had at Pamela's over there. Another aside about Massachusetts in general, I've never been somewhere (in a pretty populated area) where I've seen so many places closed by 10 PM on a weekend before in my life.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

I was just in Boston (only two days) and when there we went to this place in Cambridge called the Friendly Toast. The wait was insanely long (over an hour and a half IIRC) and I thought the breakfast was pretty average overall. I've definitely preferred what I've had at Pamela's over there. Another aside about Massachusetts in general, I've never been somewhere (in a pretty populated area) where I've seen so many places closed by 10 PM on a weekend before in my life.

Bars officially close at 1AM except in Boston in MA, but I remember when I was younger a lot of places would have last call at 12 or even 11.

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Bars officially close at 1AM except in Boston in MA, but I remember when I was younger a lot of places would have last call at 12 or even 11.

Also, happy hour specials are illegal.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Bars officially close at 1AM except in Boston in MA, but I remember when I was younger a lot of places would have last call at 12 or even 11.

Goodness, I could see those times on a Monday or Tuesday, but not the weekend. And people complain about bars closing early here at 2 AM (looking at Wiki, 2 AM seems to be the most common last call time for many cities). It was just strange to see so many even just regular restaurants closed by 10, when here they would generally still be open for another hour or two at least. I liked my visit to New England, but it's definitely not the place to go if you're looking for long nights out.

[PghYinzer]

Acacia, home of some of the finest cocktails in all of Pgh, re-opens tonight at 5 pm. Not sure of the backstory on this one.

[WhoIsStanwix?]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

Acacia, home of some of the finest cocktails in all of Pgh, re-opens tonight at 5 pm. Not sure of the backstory on this one.

Hopefully a re-model of the bathrooms. They were atrocious.

[lprmesia]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I'm a vegan, my wife is picky as **** (and hates trying new restaurants), and I have two kids, so take this with a grain of salt, because I seldom go to the real upscale/foodie type restaurants.

Apteka - All vegan Polish restaurant. Lots of carnivores like it, so even if veggie food isn't your thing check it out.

B52 - Nice, all-vegan middle-eastern cafe in Lawrenceville. I usually only go there for breakfast or brunch. Their buckwheat pancakes are the bomb, but I usually go with their cashew yogurt and avocado toast.

Nicky's Thai Cuisine - best Thai food in the city by far. I'll go to other places, but they're kinda meh.

Pho Minh - In Garfield, and my favorite of the (admittedly small) array of Vietnamese restaurants in the city.

Round Corner Cantina - Mexican-ish restaurant in Lawrenceville with the best outdoor patio in the city. Food has been getting more meh as time passes, but the have some of the best freshly-made tortilla chips in the city. I'd recommend going there for drinks, chips, and the patio if nothing else.

Tamarind (Oakland) - My favorite place if I want South Indian food in the city.

Pittsburgh only has one Ethiopian place (Tana in East Liberty) and it's mediocre. Don't bother trying to find good bagels - there are none.

Edit: There are also places I go to a lot because they work for the whole family, but aren't anything special (e.g., Mad Mex) and places I love, but I think wouldn't have much appeal to non-vegans (e.g., Onion Maiden).

Nicky's is great - but I'm also a big fan of Little Bangkok in the Strip. The interior is meh - but the food is terrific.

I wish the other Tamarind (Green Tree & Cranberry locations aren't affiliated with the Oakland location) would open a location in the city (South Side please?!?!). I used to work for a company based in Kerala, and when our colleagues would come, they felt right at home at the Green Tree location as most of the staff actually spoke Malayalam.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by lprmesia

I wish the other Tamarind (Green Tree & Cranberry locations aren't affiliated with the Oakland location) would open a location in the city (South Side please?!?!). I used to work for a company based in Kerala, and when our colleagues would come, they felt right at home at the Green Tree location as most of the staff actually spoke Malayalam.

Yeah, the other Tamarind is way, way better. But it's a hike. I used to go there with my wife when coming back from her parents when our daughter was little a lot. But since my daughter will not eat any Indian food, and my son eats the bread and nothing else, I don't get a chance to partake much in general any longer.

[Wells5]

Originally Posted by xdv8

Bad food may have previously been a Pittsburgh thing to be proud of but thankfully we have some great options now.

I apologize for reviving an old thread, but I just found a "LeMont" Restaurant menu from the 1960s. Though most of the restaurants in the Burgh 56 years ago were pretty awful, LeMont was the exception. Why it never received more than 3 stars in the Mobil Travel Guide, I don't know. Amazing that it is still in operation.


CONTENTdm

[SteelCityRising]

My colleague was just taken to Sugar & Smoke in Bloomfield by her boyfriend, and she raved over the food. It's in the former "Del's" space. Anyone else try it out yet? I've been meaning to get there.

Also, not quite "restaurant"-related, but has anyone patronized Chantal's, the cheese shop in Bloomfield, yet?