Pittsburgh Essentials

By Tim Puko and Heather Pharo, FrontDoor.com | Published: 2/12/2009

The Strip District is home to Wholey's Fish Market, a Pittsburgh staple since 1912. Pittsburgh Convention & Visitors Bureau

Food & Drink Essentials: Best Places to...

BUY GROCERIES

Strip District
The largely industrial area comes alive on weekends as Pittsburgh descends on the neighborhood to explore a smorgasbord of food shopping options. If it's organic local produce and artisan cheese you seek, try Farmers@Firehouse, a seasonal market held at the Firehouse Lounge, 2216 Penn Ave. The Strip is also home to many Pittsburgh institutions like Wholey's Fish Market (1711 Penn Ave.) and Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (2010 Penn Ave.), as well as quite possibly the largest concentration of specialty ethnic grocers in the Burgh, including Labad's (1727 Penn Ave.) for Middle Eastern, Reyna Foods (2023 Penn Ave.) for Mexican and Stamoolis Brothers (2020 Penn Ave.) for Mediterranean and Greek.

Giant Eagle Market District
5550 Centre Ave., Shadyside
Those living in the city's East End benefit from this 70,000-square-foot gourmet marketplace as well as national retailers Whole Foods (5880 Centre Ave., Shadyside/East Liberty) and Trader Joe's (6343 Penn Ave.), all located within about a mile of one another. Residents drive to this area from all over the city just for routine supermarket trips.

EAT ETHNIC FOOD

Tram's
4050 Penn Ave., Bloomfield
Don't be put off by the underwhelming decor. The plastic tablecloths belie a vegetarian-friendly menu full of fresh Vietnamese spring rolls and steaming hot pho, and the restaurant consistently takes top rankings in local readers' surveys.

La Feria
5527 Walnut St., Shadyside
An unusual little gem in a city with limited Latin American offerings. Located upstairs from Pamela's -- one of Pittsburgh's most popular brunch spots -- La Feria features a small but tasty selection of Peruvian fare like lentil-tomato stew, chicken in lemon-cilantro sauce, Inca Cola and alfajores cookies made with a dulce de leche-like filling. The restaurant also sells South American handicrafts and folk art.

SIP A LATTE

Crazy Mocha
Various locations in Oakland, Shadyside, Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, the South Side, Downtown, as well as locations outside the city in Sewickley and Washington
This Pittsburgh mini chain provides coffee for downtowners on a lunch break or holed up in the main branch of the Carnegie Library for a study session.

Strip District
Prime territory for those seeking a gourmet caffeine fix, boasting a number of small specialty coffee roasters, such as Prestogeorge (1719 Penn Ave., Strip District) and Fortune's (2005 Penn Ave., Strip District). On weekend mornings at La Prima (205 21st St., Strip District), groups congregate at the sidewalk tables to converse in Italian over espresso and cups of fair trade coffee. 21st Street Coffee and Tea (50 21st St., Strip District) leads the technology pack, offering small-batch coffee brewed with a Clover machine.

ENJOY FINE DINING
Pittsburgh enjoys a sizable and diverse fine dining scene for a city of its size, and many of the area's most praised restaurants are known for seasonal menus and a focus on local ingredients.

Legume
1113 S. Braddock Ave., Regent Square
An intimate bistro with French, Italian and American influences. Known for its tasting menu.

Eleven
1150 Smallman St., Strip District
Also known for its tasting menus, available for vegetarians and omnivores alike.

Le Pommier
2104 E. Carson St., South Side
Serves modernized French fare in a charming and intimate setting.

Bona Terra
908 Main St., Sharpsburg
Slightly unexpected and off the beaten path, this farm-to-table restaurant is just over the Allegheny River.

EAT FRIES IN A NONTRADITIONAL WAY
Pittsburgh has a thing for French fries. For most people, they're a side dish, but for Pittsburghers, they're part of the main course. Some people even go to the local amusement park, Kennywood, mainly for the fries.

Primanti Bros
Various locations
The fries go on the sandwich -- and so does the slaw. The restaurant has its genesis during the Great Depression, and everything went on the sandwich as a convenient way to feed the main clientele, truckers. The original spot in the Strip District is still open, and a string of suburban restaurants went up during the past decade adding pizza and salads to their menus. In a 2002 interview with the Tribune-Review, the chain's owner called those additions "too progressive" for the Strip District's menu.

Just about any local joint
Pittsburghers put fries on their salads. Try Kings (5 Alpha Drive) and Eat n' Park (various locations), where a dinner salad always comes with fries on top.

SATISFY YOUR LATE-NIGHT HUNGER
Pittsburgh's university scene is the best bet for a wide selection of late-night restaurants -- and a great chance to save some cash. Here's a list of Oakland eateries that offer half-price entrees past midnight:

• India Garden. 328 Atwood St., 10 p.m.-midnight
• La Fiesta. 346 Atwood St., 10 p.m.-1 a.m.
• Spice Cafe. 328 Atwood St. 10 p.m.-1 a.m.
• Fuel and Fuddle. 212 Oakland Ave., 11 p.m.-1 a.m.
• Mad Mex. 370 Atwood St., 11 p.m.-1 a.m.

Elsewhere around the region, a midnight snack often means a trip to one of two local institutions: Eat n' Park and Kings. Both are great local diner chains -- similar to Perkins -- best for dessert and breakfast. To break the tie, we rate them on their signature items: Eat n' Park's "Smiley" iced sugar cookie vs. King's stroke of rival marketing genius, the "Frownie" brownie. The Smiley, though, is a better sugar cookie than the Frownie is a brownie, so we give the edge to Eat n' Park.

DO BRUNCH

Point Brugge
401 Hastings St., Point Breeze
The best waffles in the city. There's nothing more to say; it's the best food -- it's Belgian! And if you get there on a sunny, warm afternoon and don't have to wait a half hour to sit at one of the few outside tables, then you have amazing fortune.

DeLuca's
2015 Penn Ave., Strip District
The quintessential greasy spoon, this is Pittsburgh's place for pancakes. They have about a dozen ingredients, flavors and fruits you can add to your custom-made stack for flavors like pumpkin-apple or chunky monkey. And, you know, if you're boring, just get chocolate chip. Ask for the special cinnamon syrup for even more flavor. And don't show up after 3 p.m., they close EARLY.

Crepes Parisiennes
732 Filbert St., Shadyside
Be careful not to walk past it because this cavelike cafe is below ground on Filbert Street. And they sell only crepes.

EAT ICE CREAM

Oh Yeah! Ice Cream & Coffee Co.
232 S. Highland Ave., Shadyside
This home of the "custom swirl" isn't very old, but it's already taking accolades as a top dessert joint in the city. They keep more than 100 "mixins" on hand, and you can put crazy things like habanero, wasabi peas and gummy worms into your organic ice cream. We recommend going simple and delicious like fresh peaches and Golden Grahams, and, four years from now, keep an eye out for more presidential debate parties at this unique ice cream parlor.

Dave & Andy's Homemade Ice Cream
207 Atwood St., Oakland
Often featured in national best-of lists, Dave & Andy's is the best relief for a hot afternoon in congested Oakland. Try the birthday cake ice cream and the world-class sugar cones.

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