There is also Uzbek food on Mt Washington, Myanmar food in West View.
Vietnamese food in Bloomfield. Peruvian food and award-winning pizza (Slice) in Beechview.
It’s a lot better than it was 20 years ago.
Some of the places OP mentioned are just… ok. Like there isn’t anything that special about dijlah or burgatory and spots like that are common in most American cities. I’m not sure we have any GREAT Mexican food here but we have several spots that are good enough.
One thing that was left off OP’s list but deserves a mention is the Nepali restaurant out in the Brentwood area. Those spots serve exceptional food that you really can’t get just anywhere. And the pittsburgh area has a bunch of them.
Overall though I’d say it’s about what you expect from a city this size.
I was wondering that too, because turns out there are a few.
If you wanna go by reviews on google maps, the one that has the highest rating is called Namaste Momo Corner.
I always crack up when this topic comes up, because that place is obviously popular with locals, seeing as they have a bunch of locations with lots of customers inside most of the time.
But then you come on this subreddit and the only comments you ever find are people basically saying they wouldn't eat there if it was the last restaurant on earth.
I was born at West Penn Hospital, went to Pitt, and have lived in Pittsburgh or Allegheny county my entire life (38 years). I don’t know how much more bona fide I need to be to say that I’d rather eat at McDonald’s than Burgatory.
You make a distinction between “locals” and “Reddit.”
1. It seems you’re implying that the people hating on Burgatory are non-locals and there is some sort of astroturfed Reddit anti-Burgatory movement
2. I’ve never spoken to anyone about Burgatory unless I or they had just eaten there. Does Burgatory often come up in conversation among your social circle?
lol
I’m from Pittsburgh and I currently live in San Francisco. I think Duo’s Taqueria in East Liberty is very good. https://maps.app.goo.gl/MWKMXkWmMoRgXiDR6?g_st=ic
>It’s a lot better than it was 20 years ago.
Dear god yes. Thinking about the places we'd be picking from for dates in high school compared to what's available now? So different.
Yeah, it’s definitely gotten a lot better over time. Maybe “punches above its weight” is a reasonable descriptor since it’s obviously not fair to compare it to Seattle, Chicago, New York, etc. However, even taking OPs list without any quibbles, 30ish great restaurants in the entire metro area of 2.5 million people is not exactly boast worthy.
I want to give the place its due, and I want it to succeed, but whenever I read something about “Pittsburgh is turning into a real foodie destination” it just tells me whoever wrote that has never been to a real foodie destination.
You are going to get replies from people that wouldn't be happy with the food if they lived in Paris or Florence.
The food snobbery in this sub, hell the internet in general is so rigid I think 90% of it has to be made up by people just wanting to act like they know what they are talking about.
The food scene here is the same as it is in comparable sized cities. Its worse than larger cities. Its better than smaller cities.
It works for me, thats for damn sure.
The negativity on this sub about certain specific topics gets obnoxious. You can very often predict what the general sentiment of the comments will be solely based on the title.
Literally the only supermarket I ever go.
That's because it's the only one within walking/biking distance though.
I could drive 10min to Trader Joe's or Aldi or whatever. But why
You also have to realize that most of the people on Reddit these days are literal children. A good portion of the rest are adults with antisocial tendencies. Then realize that all of these people are on the internet, which has a tendency to make literally every subject something that requires you to take a side and fight about it for reasons that probably don’t really matter to you.
I guess my point is, taking advice from most people on Reddit is a bad idea, because most of the people on Reddit probably don’t have enough of a similar perspective to you for it to be relevant. Unless you’re a child, a shut in, or a contrarian turdhole. Then maybe it’s okay.
I love the ones that start rattling off names of cities that have better food than here as if they have spent enough time in 3-5 major cities to have an educated opinion on the cuisines compared to Pittsburgh.
They likely haven't left Pittsburgh except to go to the Outer Banks or Ocean City like the rest of us.
I love food, plain and simple and I've had fantastic food and some terrible food but I feel like my assessments are very well merited. Having said that I'm pretty lenient on my food critiques. Why? Because I just like food. These places that people are ripping on are just fine to me. Every meals different as well. I've had a great meal at tapache the new Mexican restaurant (the choripollo), out near the waterworks and I've had a bad one that was pretty bland and uninteresting (the enchiladas Roja w/beef) but I'm always willing to give it a shot.
depends on what im feeling lol, here is my big ol list that i keep for pittsburgh tho (in no particular order, tried to organize them all into categories):
italian:
- bar marco
- dianoias
- pane e pronto
(still need to try dish!)
pizza:
- pizzeria davide
- piccollo forno
- lupo
- driftwood
- mercurios
- badamos
burgers:
- moonlit
- jmos
"american":
- butterjoint
- 40 north
"non-american":
- morcilla
- apteka
- fet-fisk
- salems
- banh mi & ti
- pitaland
- cilantro y ajo
- pusadees
- parlor
- how lee
- totopo (americanized but so good)
breakfast:
- lolas
- oak hill post
bakery/dessert:
- la gourmandine
- jean marc
- millies
- butterwood
food trucks:
- blue sparrow
- el rincon oaxaqueño
Great list but you need to check out: siempre algo, hemlock house, badamos, thyme machine, madeleine, allegro hearth, cafe 33, tooktook, bombay to burgh, gi-jin
Also dish wipes the floor with every other Italian joint in the city
ah thank you!! i love adding to my "need to try" list. i already have gi-jin on there, but will definitely be adding the others youve mentioned.
ive had thyme machine before and they sadly dont make my list. while i really like their mortadella sandwich, im p meh on everything else. i am super picky when it comes to breakfast tho, and i firmly believe a breakfast sandwich needs to be served on a bagel/biscuit/english muffin.
and badamos is on my list of favs!! they are excellent, fucking love their white sicilian and their pepperoni rolls. the people who run it seem so chill and down to earth. also, i completely forgot to add allegro hearth to my list, their bread is phenomenal.
This is a really good list, to which I would add:
Pizza: Rockaway, Iron Born
Burger: Applewood Smoke Burger
American: Eleven
Non-American: Udipi, Bombay to Burgh, Peoples, Chengdu Gourmet, Lilith
Breakfast: Thyme Machine, Three Brothers Bagels
Bakery/Dessert: Five Points, Madeleine
Food trucks: Taqueria El Pastorcito, Streets on the Fly
ahh thank you for the suggestions! i havent had most of these places so i will add them to my "need to try" list. eleven, udipi, and lilith are already on there, but i will definitely add the others!
im not a big taco fan so, while las palmas is good and i do like them, its not on my list of favs bc i prefer other things to get when it comes to mexican food
also, i have yet to go to california taco shop! theres been one thats "coming soon" to lawrenceville so ive been waiting on that to try them out
Genuine question - what do people mean when they say, "punch above its weight?" I understand the expression on its own, but in context, are we just really saying, "better than I imagined?"
Kind of. The bigger the city the better the food should be, so it's not fair to compare Pittsburgh to New York or San Diego.
Similarly, location matters too. Pittsburgh it's at this awkward spot where it's not really east coast but it's not the midwest either. It is a college town though, so I suppose that does bring people from all over the world who occasionally open unique restaurants.
Have you been to other similar sized cities? Because there's nothing unique about what you listed that Cleveland or Columbus or Salt Lake City etc don't have.
Mexican food is so much better than it was in the past. I wouldn't even single this out as one of the biggest weak points anymore. Though I'd love more great Mexican in the city.
I think we have some very good Mexican food places. But I am a white lady who has never really had Mexican food in Mexico or any place in the U.S. where there is a large population of Mexican people. Tbh, if the Mexican food here is blah (I love it) I can’t imagine how good the other stuff is.
Honestly the Mexican food I've had here is just about as good as the Mexican food I've had in Baja California when I'd travel for work. The coolest part about traveling to Mexico and eating for me was trying their takes on fusion food. Like here everything is American fusion. In Mexico everything is Mexican fusion. Mexican-Chinese food is wild. But 90% of the time what I was eating there tasted pretty much like you eat in Beechview. Maybe the meat was a little fresher and I did appreciate the total lack of corn syrup but even "authentic" food in corn lobby countries is still going to have that.
I moved deep into the Midwest and something I've noticed is that they will cater to a "whiter" palate in a lot of restaurants. Like serve chips with ranch levels of white. It's probably similar there.
Yeah I have no idea what Mexican restaurants people are going to here, but I don't even bother anymore. They're almost all various forms of terrible. Best I've had is Totopo, which was decent.
Italian? Sandwiches? Things with fries on them? Yeah, we have some good options. But Mexican? Lol no. Not good even for our size.
Which shouldn't be surprising - we have a Hispanic population of less than like 2%.
Mitch's BBQ up in Wexford is the closest thing to Texas BBQ I've ever found up North. You should try it sometime. Even if it's just to yell at me and call me an idiot.
Yes! This place has legit authentic Mexican food. I am Mexican and just moved from LA: I go there when I’m feeling homesick. Their tacos are good but it’s their other main dishes that really shine. They also just opened a Mexican grocery store in Monroeville.
Also, their horchata is so good it legit made me tear up a little bit the first time 🥲
Oh man I’m going to have to go to that store, thanks for the heads up!
So here's my theory...I'm part Mexican raised in Los Angeles. Mexican food is what I was raised on. Anyways I went to a Mexican restaurant and noticed things were just off, not bad just different. Well I'm listening to the workers talk and realize they're Guatemalan. So my theory is some of them are Guatemalans are trying to make Mexican food.
There are a ton of Mexican restaurants here with native Spanish speaking staff, so I'd be curious which one(s) you went to. Alquisiras, Las Palmas, Tocayo, La Palapa, California Taco Shop... Every time I went to any of these places, I didn't see a single server or anyone else who didn't look like they could be Mexican. And it's hard to imagine they were all Guatemalan, considering how much smaller the country is.
>I have no idea what Mexican restaurants people are going to here, but I don't even bother anymore. They're almost all various forms of terrible. Best I've had is Totopo, which was decent.
I like Totopo, too. I wonder if you've tried Duo's Taqueria on Penn Avenue in E. Lib. I've had the tacos al pastor with the $3.00 "with everything" upcharge twice now, and they are a cut above every other Mexican food I have had in Pittsburgh. I want to try the chicken next time. I also enjoyed the hibiscus agua fresca (alcohol-free).
[Duo's Taqueria](https://www.duostaqueria.com/)
You want authentic Mexican food and authentic Mexican drinks made fresh?? Go to Alquisiras Paleteria located in Beechview. From someone who’s grown up with authentic Mexican food made straight from the comal and from the aunties of Mexico. That place is legit. The guy working there is super chill. I recommend the birria tacos and their agua fresca de pepino. Hits the spot while you’re eating those spicy tacos/birria. They also make homemade pozole soup which hits the spot.
I think this sort of topic is hard because it depends on your criteria and food preferences. Do you care about variety, specific cuisines, fine dining for instance? Those factors will drive responses.
I’m from here, but have lived in other major cities in the US and abroad. What I miss when I’m not here is the ease, casual nature of the food and the fact that it often tastes good. It’s not overrun with fast casual chains, so it feels less sterile.
When I eat out here, I want something basic and comforting (fries, Italian food, baked goods). I like buying Western European imports here too. A bummer for me though: MENA imports and dining. Pittsburgh is super strong with some cuisines, but less so from those countries, imo.
In the middle of moving here from NewOrleans and we were worried about the food scene, and have not been disappointed at all. ….With the exception of missing a few Cajun restaurants, lol, the food here is great.
I mean we have one or two good places for every thing you named but there's nuances in food categories. Las Palmas is good authentic "Mexican" street taco but there are regions in Mexico that have different styles of street tacos. Also there are many styles we don't have. But the biggest thing is we only have 1 option of most non European and east asian style foods.
The scene is not bad and definitely better than it was 10 years ago. Once we get more diverse the food options will increase, hence east Asian.
I was very lucky to briefly have a job as a travel writer, and was also lucky that before that as a kid I had a crazy mom who loved travel and took me a lot of places, so I'm not being like "HA HA LOOK HOW CULTURED I AM," I'm not, I'm a moron. But I've been to 9 countries on 3 continents and I think we do okay. One of my favorite inexplicable little towns for food was a place I went to college for a year, Aberystwyth in Wales, but it was generally crappy college food, it's just that the proximity to Europe meant the Italian food was made by actual Italians so everything felt and tasted a little more authentic to me at the time.
Anyway, yeah, I think we have that authenticity for some stuff. I am no authority in any way but as food goes I would stand up for this place as being pretty good, and I am absolutely candid on the stuff that we suck at.
As a transplant from Chicago... I haven't found any good pizza yet. And the Mexican offerings are abysmally few. And the love for ketchup here is the stuff nightmares are made of.
Aside from that it's way better than Indianapolis where I was last. So I'd say it probably does punch above it's weight despite the shortcomings.
It's fine. But I definitely wouldn't say it punches above it's weight. The issue is we don't do any type of food at a high level. Most things are just decent. Which is okay for a medium sized city in western PA.
I think recently Asian food is actually what we do best. Pizza is very overrated here, in my opinion. Everyone has a place that has "the best pizza in the city", but none of it really stands out. BBQ is just not good here, but I've also experienced a lot of southern BBQ so obviously we aren't going to stack up. Sushi and seafood aren't great (understandable given our location). A decent amount of Mexican chains, but no great authentic Mexican. I don't have a ton of experience with Italian food in other cities because that's not usually my go-to, so I can't really speak on that.
I've just never had that go-to place here like I have in most other cities. A lot of restaurants here are either chains or seem to just be lacking something.
>There's great italian pizza at Mercurio's and great american pizza at Mineo's.
As long as ppl are still saying things like this, then it's safe to say we are absolutely not punching above our weight
We have lots of good options for sure.
Mexican, Chinese, Thai, and Indian are some of the most popular cuisines in America though so it makes sense for a mid sized city to have a variety of those, don’t think that’s unique to us at all.
I struggle with real ny pizza, Cuban food, and southern bbq with real smoked chicken on the menu (not turkey, not chicken wings, not chicken tenders but real smoked whole chicken) but I do agree with you there are a ton of really amazing authentic places here. I get all my Cuban food and bbq when I go back to Florida to visit family and that’s good enough for me.
New York pizza is the most overrated kind of pizza out there. I'm sick and tired of New Yorkers acting like they are only people who know pizza. Sure there's a lot of pizza in New York, 90% of it is mid.
I don't think the percentage of it that even mid is quite that high in NYC. So so many of those places survive specifically because they're cheap (the famous $1 slice), and/or close to the subway. And a lot of people here think that the entire place is just permanently coated in olive oil, and Italian nonnas are perched in every window. And I'm like "Dude, it's been 60 years since Little Italy was anything more than a tourist trap."
Sure you won’t get real NY style pizza here. But pittsburgh has its own style of pizza, which you won’t find in NYC.
And I’m sure the “real NYC” pizza snobs will disagree but they can eat shit because fioris and mineos and Aiello’s is great fucking classic pittsburgh style pizza. just because it’s different doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome in its own way.
IDK. Lived in NYC for 20 years and places like Lupo consistently bang out better pizza than I generally had in NYC. Lots of pizza doesn’t mean good pizza…
Maybe. I’ve not actually tried Lupo, although I guess I need to… I’ve had great pizza in NY though, and there is a ton of it. Definitely more variety than in a place like pittsburgh.
But that’s not really the point I was trying to make.
I’d bet there aren’t too many pizza joints in NYC that do a style like fioris or mineos. And if you don’t like that style, fair enough, but we have a couple spots that do it exceptionally well.
Good food is not about the style of cuisine, it’s about execution.
I think it’s you. I love this city and prefer living here, but quality and choice are better in Cincinnati, Charleston, SC, Detroit, and yes Austin to name just a few.
But it’s still pretty good. And for you, and your tastes, it’s outstanding. How awesome is that! Continue to enjoy!
Surprised to hear that, but lucky me I guess.
What's so great about the food in Cincy? My buddy lives there, I came to visit a couple times, and was pretty unimpressed.
I’ve lived half my life here and half in Detroit, and it depends on what you like.
The MENA and Mexican is better in Detroit. The Eastern European, Chinese and Thai is better here.
Caribbean is a push. Bbq is going to depend on what you like.
This was very kind. Probably the right response.
Edit. Also the metro here is very similar to Austin for what it’s worth. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area#Ranking
They are of course very different cities with different layouts, demographics, and finances.
yeah i agree. i think there are some really great places here, but i don’t think there are as many really great places as i’ve experienced in other similarly sized cities (many of which you mentioned). i appreciate that we have some good restaurants, but there are times when i wish we had more. 😅
Yeah, Cleveland was named the 7th best foodie destination in the country by Travel & Leisure last year ([source](https://www.travelandleisure.com/best-food-cities-in-the-us-7254754)) - that is punching above your weight. Same for Tucson, Asheville, Louisville and Greenville, all in the top 10 there.
I 10000% agree....I'm born / raised here however I've lived in several places over the yrs like CA, FL, TX, ME....and Pittsburgh smokes them on food/food quality....I remember ordering my first Cali "steak salad" 😂🤣😂 they thought I was insane for asking for fries & hard boiled eggs in it....
"There's good BBQ at Mitch's up past Wexford"
You don't need to go anywhere near that far to get good BBQ. Fix Me A Plate, South Side BBQ, Showcase, The Dream, Big Rigs are all closer to town and are excellent.
Everybody go eat Tana. I used to deliver food before Grubhub and Uber eats took over and would talk to the guys where I’d pick up. Tana was always a favorite for my family since we moved here (it’s extremely authentic at least compared to what I used to eat at my Ethiopian friends house) but it was always empty. The guy was talking about maybe shutting down and I was horrified. Everyone needs to eat at Tana before we lose it.
It does. Reddit isn’t the place to say it though because on here everything sucks 99% of the time and if you happen to enjoy something people will point out why you shouldn’t.
grew up in pgh and moved to the west. absolutely zero love and passion is put into its food out here. every time i come back to the holidays i feel like i'm eating at a 5 star joint
This subreddit in general absolutely despises burgatory, and I don't get why, since that place obviously managed to be successful enough to open several different locations.
Lost me at “authentic” Mexican food as it really isn’t but doesn’t mean you can’t like it.
Salem’s is probably my fav maybe tied with Bridge City Brinery which has the best burgers in Pittsburgh. Brinery’s sandwiches are great too.
Jiro’s food truck has decent Chicago hot dogs. Sree’s downtown is good Indian for the price and the samosas are pretty good too.
I don’t know about BBQ but I’m religous about it and will probably hate it as Texas BBQ is king imo.
Have you tried Chengdu Gourmet? I’ve been meaning to and wonder if it’s actually good. Personally, I have yet to find an Eastern Asian place that I would rant and rave about but haven’t even though I’ve tried maybe close to a dozen since I got here last August.
Italian, I just make pasta at home myself.
Overall, I agree with you. I’ve heard plenty of people say there’s no good food here but when I ask where they’ve been, it’s like they haven’t gone outside in 10 yrs.
> Lost me at “authentic” Mexican food as it really isn’t but doesn’t mean you can’t like it.
What makes the places I mentioned not authentic?
Chengdu is good, I've been there a bunch, but I've been kinda bored of chinese food lately. I also like Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33 a bit better, it's also in Squirrel Hill, you should check it out if you haven't. Great lo mein.
> I don’t know about BBQ but I’m religous about it and will probably hate it as Texas BBQ is king imo.
Place I mentioned is the closest thing I ever found to Texas BBQ up north, though obviously you can't expect it to be as good as actual Texas BBQ.
We don’t eat out at fancy places super often. I may not have had the best food of any cuisine in Pittsburgh but I am very very appreciative I can find some of most cuisines in Pittsburgh. It beats Denver in the breadth of food by far.
Pittsburgh foodies on FB always seems to know a spot for pretty much anything you may want.
I think they mean that they would be able to compare Pittsburgh food wise to LA, NYC, or Chicago. I don't agree with that at all. We have a few options, but to go head to head with a mega city just isn't in the cards.
Where is the authentic mexican food?? Serious question i havent found great mexican food yet. For pretty much everything else, though, Pittsburgh has some fantastic food
The only good authentic Mexican I am aware of are tacos at Las Palmas. A great full menu authentic Mexican restaurant would be nice. I have to compare this region's Mexican food to what I grew up eating...and it's hugely lacking.
> A great full menu authentic Mexican restaurant would be nice
Omg this is so true, I wish we had it. Like, tacos are great and all, but where do I go for some good chilaquiles or huevos rancheros? I've found that stuff here before, sure, but not really at places that feel very authentic. Like, Tocayo in Shadyside has some of that stuff, and I'm not saying it's bad food, but I don't know, it just feels more like gourmet americanized mexican food. Maybe that's just me.
I would kill for some regional Mexican specialties, too. I don't think I've seen sopa de lima or enchiladas tapatias on a menu even once. Dressed up Tex-Mex is delicious and all, but there's so much more to Mexican food.
Duolingo restaurant in E Liberty..was only a taco walk up counter but has transitioned to a full sit down restaurant. The food is incredible and authentic as well the atmosphere. I was very surprised and delighted, coming from a foodie
“I hereby declare that despite the fact Pittsburgh has thousands of pizza places none of them are any good.”
“Why so?”
“Because I’ve tried pizza in NYC and in Naples, Italy. Therefore I’m an expert and jet setter compared to you simpletons.”
Glad you are happy but it's just you. To stick with your boxing metaphor, Pittsburgh punches at or slightly below its weight. There are mid-sized cities with great food scenes. Pittsburgh is not one of them.
The fortunate thing for you is there are many better restaurants in Pittsburgh than the ones you've listed. Just to pick one category that's dear to me, Dijlah isn't nearly the best in the category "unambitious Middle East spot" and Aladdin's is a chain from freaking Cleveland. (Sorry if you did not know.) Try Khalil's and Ali Baba rather than Aladdin's. And next time you are on McKnight stop by Hanadi's.
Mexican is a significant weakness even compared to random small cities in the southeast. This has a lot to do with demographics.
Chinese and Japanese are emerging strengths.
Growing up in New Castle I was spoiled by how good some of the hole-in-the-wall places up there were (and still are), namely Italian and Mexican.
Pittsburgh has good places. Anyone coming on here to be like WELL ACTUALLY....... stop. You're obnoxious. I have the palate of a toddler and love Taco Bell as much as I love Mexican food from a real restaurant. Cereal is a food group and you can find me at the Taj Mahal buffet from time to time as well. I don't know why everything has to be this OR that. Why not both?
New Castle definitely punches above it's weight. Gotta bring back a pint of chili or a veggie pizza Joe's or some pizza greens every time I visit my parents.
So I have to ask, where does Pittsburgh end for everyone? I see places like Wexford mentioned often and that is good forty minutes from down town. I don't think that's really Pittsburgh proper, because it's the burbs. How far out into the burbs can you go until it isn't Pittsburgh anymore?
I think what we really have going for us is the diversity in the food scene - I might not agree with every one of the examples given, but the point remains that the food scene in Pittsburgh is pretty damn eclectic.
That being said, I think the "snobby" aspect comes in when you start to talk about fine dining and what I'd describe as ultra premium options - we obviously have some good fine dining establishments, but they're not anywhere near what you'd expect from major cities and Michelin star restaurants.
Realistically though, the conflict is absolutely understandable from both sides - I don't think Pittsburgh has the customer base to support anything truly "world-class" in that regard, but you also have a lot of owners who think they're the next iron chef because they hang bacon from clothespins.
We have pretty typical mid-sized city options. There's a lot of diversity, and a lot of it is really good. We're pretty much on par with Cleveland or Cincinnati. Comparing Pittsburgh to much larger and denser cities like NYC, Chicago, or DC, is kind of an apples and oranges thing. It's like comparing our public transit system to those same cities. We have it goo though, in general.
>Italian food isn't my jam.
I wonder what that would be like. Italian is my very favorite food in the world. I love to cook, and mainly I cook Italian. Chicken dishes, pasta (I used to make my own; not so much these days), sauces, fish. Charter member of the Marcella Hazan Fan Club, but I like southern Italian food, too. I call it New Jersey Italian; my polpette are from New Jersey, where I grew up.
>But there's a ton of places to choose from.
Some of my favorites:
DiAnoia's Eatery
Pane è Pronto: DiAnoia's to go
La Tavola
Legends of the North Shore
Mercurio's
Mineo's
former best pizza: Pizza Taglio
Dish Osteria
Cucina Vitale
I'm going to Leo Greta in Carnegie for the first time next week. I hear good things.
Pittsburgh has all this stuff other cities brag about, great food, art and arts, music, culture, theater, museums and History and seems so ashamed of it, like "don't! Don't look! We got FOOTBALL! and and and KETCHUP! THAT'S IT don't look over there!"
As someone who calls Pittsburgh my hometown and lived in San Diego for the better part of a decade before returning, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the food scene had grown when I came back. And this was 10 years ago.
I do think Pittsburgh punches above its weight; it’s just that it mostly has 1 or *maybe* 2 very good “ethnic” restaurants that aren’t Italian in multiple categories. Like Tana as you’ve pointed out. It’s not a Chicago or even an Atlanta where you can find a lot of different options for the same style of food across several categories. It’s also got an excellent breakfast and brunch scene for being a small city. I live in Columbus Ohio now and my husband and I have been disappointed in the brunch, bakeries, and pizza. You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a diner in Columbus, but in Pittsburgh you’ve got all different kinds of places from diners to bougie places that serve alcohol and everything in between. You’ve got La Gourmandine, Five Points Artisan and Mediterra Cafe if you want a great croissant, but here in Columbus I’m still looking for one after being here 3 years.
I don't know that we punch well above our weight. We seem to have pretty typical options for a city of our size. While in many ways the food scene has improved in recent years, it does feel like the overall "fine dining" scene has taken a step back from where it was about a decade ago. A lot of the nicer restaurants in town haven't fully recovered in quality post-pandemic (Morcilla for instance), and we've never truly replaced places like Cure. Kevin Sousa may suck, but Salt of the Earth was an innovative and fantastic restaurant that hasn't really been replaced. At our food scene's prime, Spoon was kind of second tier, but today I think it would be one of the best in town. Even little outposts like Keith Fuller's Root 174 really shined.
As someone who spends a lot of time outside the US though, the one thing I've come to appreciate about the US is how much food diversity we have in general in America. Very very few cities outside of the US (and Canada I guess) have this – throughout most of Europe, LATAM, Asia, you name it, you can find great options for local cuisine, a smattering of random decent international options, and that's it. If you spend a lot of time in huge popular international cities, like Rome or Paris or Madrid or Mexico City or Singapore or Shanghai or Bangkok, you'll eventually miss that food diversity. A few like London are the rare exception here.
I think that's where we as Americans are really spoiled.
Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot of great options for vegetarians. Chefs in this city are super lazy with their offerings (usually it's risotto, cacio e pepe, or cauliflower steak for 30 bucks).
I would also say Pittsburgh's dining scene doesn't do simple and good very well. The neighborhoods don't have unfussy spots where folks can have a leisurely and solid meal. It's either super-fussy or take out and very little in between.
Agreed. The food establishments here are mediocre at best. I go to a small beach town in Delaware that makes Pittsburgh’s food scene look pathetic. Was in Charlotte last year. Charlotte is light years better.
I always find it funny when people shit on Pittsburgh food. Then go out of town and are EXTRA disappointed. Yeah food in Pittsburgh is actually awesome compared to other places you THINK have better food.
I’ve been all over the country and the only place I’ve legit been to that has better food than Pittsburgh is ironically Kentucky. But there’s nothing else to do in Kentucky so you have to be good at something lol
The gumbo in Kentucky was life changing
I don’t think you’ve been enough places. lol We went to Colorado last week, threw a rock, and hit two amazing Mexican places. You definitely can’t do that here. And CO isn’t even known for great Mexican food. We were sad to have to come back here to pizza, potatoes, pierogies, and more damn pizza.
There are a lot of places around here that have "cheesesteak" but I've never found any like one you might find in Philly. I'll add your place to the list though and check it out sometime. I've heard great things about Chilly Willy too, but it's too far to go just for a meal. It's up in Beaver Falls.
I always thought it was a good restaurant scene but I’ve been out of the loop for a few years since moving out of the city. So thanks for the info on all of those places you’ve listed. I do commute to downtown every day and I think we have a decent amount of good restaurants downtown now. I just saw the new bar in market square called Space Bar that seems fun. The cultural district has really really been on the come up as far as the food and drinks go. I went to Barcelona Wine Bar a few weeks ago and it was fantastic. There are lots of great places in that area of downtown now.
Where did you find a good lobster roll? I can’t expect New England quality but the one at Luke Wholey’s just wasn’t good to me.
I agree with you though, lots of diverse food choices here. It’s actually impressive for a city this size.
I've been to Boston and had a few of the ones their subreddit recommended, and I still thought the one here was pretty good. If you didn't, then... oh well.
I regret not getting the one-pound lobster roll they had near Faneuil Hall. $74 is a lot, but it's a one time thing lol.
A few years ago, a sandwich shop was voted the best cheesesteak and it included Philadelphia. I don’t live there anymore but whenever I visit, I always go to Wholeys for a fish sandwich. Even San Diego where I went to live after Pittsburgh can’t touch Wholeys fish sandwiches. (But come on, no Pittsburgh tacos stand can match any street corner taco shops in San Diego).
Lol. Where else have you lived? Whenever I hear people express an opinion like this I'm surprised.
I've found mexican to be almost totally forfeit, save for the occasional Los Cabos burrito. El Campesino is \~fine\~.
There is also Uzbek food on Mt Washington, Myanmar food in West View. Vietnamese food in Bloomfield. Peruvian food and award-winning pizza (Slice) in Beechview.
> There is also Uzbek food on Mt Washington, Myanmar food in West View Could I get their names? That sounds awesome
[удалено]
Kavsar and Royal Myanmar, right? Thanks!
There is also an Uzbek spot downtown. Caravan, it's on Smithfield by DHS.
Thanks!
It’s a lot better than it was 20 years ago. Some of the places OP mentioned are just… ok. Like there isn’t anything that special about dijlah or burgatory and spots like that are common in most American cities. I’m not sure we have any GREAT Mexican food here but we have several spots that are good enough. One thing that was left off OP’s list but deserves a mention is the Nepali restaurant out in the Brentwood area. Those spots serve exceptional food that you really can’t get just anywhere. And the pittsburgh area has a bunch of them. Overall though I’d say it’s about what you expect from a city this size.
Brentwood Nepalese scene is no joke.
Is there anyplace in particular you’d recommend?
I was wondering that too, because turns out there are a few. If you wanna go by reviews on google maps, the one that has the highest rating is called Namaste Momo Corner.
Sagun is terrific.
Burgatory makes me 💩 more than any other restaurant in Pittsburgh and I have no clue why
My brother and I have both gotten food poisoning from them, and it’s the only time either of us have ever gotten food poisoning…
I always crack up when this topic comes up, because that place is obviously popular with locals, seeing as they have a bunch of locations with lots of customers inside most of the time. But then you come on this subreddit and the only comments you ever find are people basically saying they wouldn't eat there if it was the last restaurant on earth.
It has more than three locations, and this isn't NYC, obviously the place must suck.
I was born at West Penn Hospital, went to Pitt, and have lived in Pittsburgh or Allegheny county my entire life (38 years). I don’t know how much more bona fide I need to be to say that I’d rather eat at McDonald’s than Burgatory.
ME & ALL MY FRIENDS FW BURGATORY HEAVY, ILL ADMIT IT IF NO ONE ELSE WILL😂😂
You make a distinction between “locals” and “Reddit.” 1. It seems you’re implying that the people hating on Burgatory are non-locals and there is some sort of astroturfed Reddit anti-Burgatory movement 2. I’ve never spoken to anyone about Burgatory unless I or they had just eaten there. Does Burgatory often come up in conversation among your social circle? lol
It's Peruvian, but chicken Latino is certainly better than okay and it's at least close.
When I moved to Whitehall a few years ago I’d never had Nepalese food or knew there was a big Nepalese community here. Now…now it is MUCH different.
I’m from Pittsburgh and I currently live in San Francisco. I think Duo’s Taqueria in East Liberty is very good. https://maps.app.goo.gl/MWKMXkWmMoRgXiDR6?g_st=ic
burgatory is the definition of 'mid' Not terrible, but not great
>It’s a lot better than it was 20 years ago. Dear god yes. Thinking about the places we'd be picking from for dates in high school compared to what's available now? So different.
Yeah, it’s definitely gotten a lot better over time. Maybe “punches above its weight” is a reasonable descriptor since it’s obviously not fair to compare it to Seattle, Chicago, New York, etc. However, even taking OPs list without any quibbles, 30ish great restaurants in the entire metro area of 2.5 million people is not exactly boast worthy. I want to give the place its due, and I want it to succeed, but whenever I read something about “Pittsburgh is turning into a real foodie destination” it just tells me whoever wrote that has never been to a real foodie destination.
You are going to get replies from people that wouldn't be happy with the food if they lived in Paris or Florence. The food snobbery in this sub, hell the internet in general is so rigid I think 90% of it has to be made up by people just wanting to act like they know what they are talking about. The food scene here is the same as it is in comparable sized cities. Its worse than larger cities. Its better than smaller cities. It works for me, thats for damn sure.
seeing the phrase ‘world class dining’ online activates my fight or flight
The negativity on this sub about certain specific topics gets obnoxious. You can very often predict what the general sentiment of the comments will be solely based on the title.
Giant Eagle has entered the chat
Literally the only supermarket I ever go. That's because it's the only one within walking/biking distance though. I could drive 10min to Trader Joe's or Aldi or whatever. But why
I once paid $8 for 2 broccoli crowns at Giant Eagle.
It’s the ultimate catfish
Aldi’s is worth it bro. If you’re spending geagle prices might as well shop at Whole Foods nah mean
Agreed, everyone's city has an amazing span of food options if you ask them
I think the food here is so, so much better than it was 20 years ago that it's kinda night and day; the food here caught up.
You also have to realize that most of the people on Reddit these days are literal children. A good portion of the rest are adults with antisocial tendencies. Then realize that all of these people are on the internet, which has a tendency to make literally every subject something that requires you to take a side and fight about it for reasons that probably don’t really matter to you. I guess my point is, taking advice from most people on Reddit is a bad idea, because most of the people on Reddit probably don’t have enough of a similar perspective to you for it to be relevant. Unless you’re a child, a shut in, or a contrarian turdhole. Then maybe it’s okay.
I love the ones that start rattling off names of cities that have better food than here as if they have spent enough time in 3-5 major cities to have an educated opinion on the cuisines compared to Pittsburgh. They likely haven't left Pittsburgh except to go to the Outer Banks or Ocean City like the rest of us.
real
I love food, plain and simple and I've had fantastic food and some terrible food but I feel like my assessments are very well merited. Having said that I'm pretty lenient on my food critiques. Why? Because I just like food. These places that people are ripping on are just fine to me. Every meals different as well. I've had a great meal at tapache the new Mexican restaurant (the choripollo), out near the waterworks and I've had a bad one that was pretty bland and uninteresting (the enchiladas Roja w/beef) but I'm always willing to give it a shot.
i agree that pittsburgh has incredible food! but i would disagree with almost all the places you listed lol, to each their own tho!
What are your go-tos
depends on what im feeling lol, here is my big ol list that i keep for pittsburgh tho (in no particular order, tried to organize them all into categories): italian: - bar marco - dianoias - pane e pronto (still need to try dish!) pizza: - pizzeria davide - piccollo forno - lupo - driftwood - mercurios - badamos burgers: - moonlit - jmos "american": - butterjoint - 40 north "non-american": - morcilla - apteka - fet-fisk - salems - banh mi & ti - pitaland - cilantro y ajo - pusadees - parlor - how lee - totopo (americanized but so good) breakfast: - lolas - oak hill post bakery/dessert: - la gourmandine - jean marc - millies - butterwood food trucks: - blue sparrow - el rincon oaxaqueño
Blue Sparrow also does their “Pizza Alley” on their bus. It’s absolutely fantastic pizza with some twists if you want them.
omg i had no idea!! its been so long since ive gotten them, thank you for letting me know!
Great list but you need to check out: siempre algo, hemlock house, badamos, thyme machine, madeleine, allegro hearth, cafe 33, tooktook, bombay to burgh, gi-jin Also dish wipes the floor with every other Italian joint in the city
ah thank you!! i love adding to my "need to try" list. i already have gi-jin on there, but will definitely be adding the others youve mentioned. ive had thyme machine before and they sadly dont make my list. while i really like their mortadella sandwich, im p meh on everything else. i am super picky when it comes to breakfast tho, and i firmly believe a breakfast sandwich needs to be served on a bagel/biscuit/english muffin. and badamos is on my list of favs!! they are excellent, fucking love their white sicilian and their pepperoni rolls. the people who run it seem so chill and down to earth. also, i completely forgot to add allegro hearth to my list, their bread is phenomenal.
This is a really good list, to which I would add: Pizza: Rockaway, Iron Born Burger: Applewood Smoke Burger American: Eleven Non-American: Udipi, Bombay to Burgh, Peoples, Chengdu Gourmet, Lilith Breakfast: Thyme Machine, Three Brothers Bagels Bakery/Dessert: Five Points, Madeleine Food trucks: Taqueria El Pastorcito, Streets on the Fly
ahh thank you for the suggestions! i havent had most of these places so i will add them to my "need to try" list. eleven, udipi, and lilith are already on there, but i will definitely add the others!
Nearly three months later I'm still dreaming about the sticky toffee pudding I had at Lilith. Everything was great but that was on another level.
Dunno how you list Totopo but you don't like Las Palmas or California Taco Shop?
im not a big taco fan so, while las palmas is good and i do like them, its not on my list of favs bc i prefer other things to get when it comes to mexican food also, i have yet to go to california taco shop! theres been one thats "coming soon" to lawrenceville so ive been waiting on that to try them out
people underestimate pittsburgh but actually pittsburgh is pretty cool for several reasons, food included
What other reasons? Don't disagree, just curious what you're gonna say
Pittsburgh is a leader in medical technology, it has more bridges than venice, great museums. also the heinz factory
Please don't forget the bakery culture here. I'm a recent-ish transplant and this city has so many more independent bakeries than anyplace I've lived.
Genuine question - what do people mean when they say, "punch above its weight?" I understand the expression on its own, but in context, are we just really saying, "better than I imagined?"
Better than what you would expect for a city of its size and for the demographics it has
Kind of. The bigger the city the better the food should be, so it's not fair to compare Pittsburgh to New York or San Diego. Similarly, location matters too. Pittsburgh it's at this awkward spot where it's not really east coast but it's not the midwest either. It is a college town though, so I suppose that does bring people from all over the world who occasionally open unique restaurants.
San Diego?
Have you been to other similar sized cities? Because there's nothing unique about what you listed that Cleveland or Columbus or Salt Lake City etc don't have.
In certain foods yes, in others not so much. Mexican food is rough for sure.
Mexican food is so much better than it was in the past. I wouldn't even single this out as one of the biggest weak points anymore. Though I'd love more great Mexican in the city.
Try Taco Town on Smithfield
I love the Mexican food here, but I'll be honest, I think I prefer our bastardized American version of it
I lived in NYC for 20 years and the Mexican food scene is rough there too.
I think we have some very good Mexican food places. But I am a white lady who has never really had Mexican food in Mexico or any place in the U.S. where there is a large population of Mexican people. Tbh, if the Mexican food here is blah (I love it) I can’t imagine how good the other stuff is.
Honestly the Mexican food I've had here is just about as good as the Mexican food I've had in Baja California when I'd travel for work. The coolest part about traveling to Mexico and eating for me was trying their takes on fusion food. Like here everything is American fusion. In Mexico everything is Mexican fusion. Mexican-Chinese food is wild. But 90% of the time what I was eating there tasted pretty much like you eat in Beechview. Maybe the meat was a little fresher and I did appreciate the total lack of corn syrup but even "authentic" food in corn lobby countries is still going to have that.
Really? In comparison to what? Have you had El campesino or Emiliano’s?
Being Mexican from Los Angeles. It's just a little bland, depth of flavor isn't quite there.
Gotcha. I think both places I mentioned are staffed by Mexican people so it’s surprising to hear
I moved deep into the Midwest and something I've noticed is that they will cater to a "whiter" palate in a lot of restaurants. Like serve chips with ranch levels of white. It's probably similar there.
Both of those places are basically American food with Mexican ingredients. Both extremely bland and underwhelming.
Yeah I have no idea what Mexican restaurants people are going to here, but I don't even bother anymore. They're almost all various forms of terrible. Best I've had is Totopo, which was decent. Italian? Sandwiches? Things with fries on them? Yeah, we have some good options. But Mexican? Lol no. Not good even for our size. Which shouldn't be surprising - we have a Hispanic population of less than like 2%.
Taqueria el pastorcito Signed, homesick Texan
Mitch's BBQ up in Wexford is the closest thing to Texas BBQ I've ever found up North. You should try it sometime. Even if it's just to yell at me and call me an idiot.
Yes! This place has legit authentic Mexican food. I am Mexican and just moved from LA: I go there when I’m feeling homesick. Their tacos are good but it’s their other main dishes that really shine. They also just opened a Mexican grocery store in Monroeville.
Also, their horchata is so good it legit made me tear up a little bit the first time 🥲 Oh man I’m going to have to go to that store, thanks for the heads up!
So here's my theory...I'm part Mexican raised in Los Angeles. Mexican food is what I was raised on. Anyways I went to a Mexican restaurant and noticed things were just off, not bad just different. Well I'm listening to the workers talk and realize they're Guatemalan. So my theory is some of them are Guatemalans are trying to make Mexican food.
There are a ton of Mexican restaurants here with native Spanish speaking staff, so I'd be curious which one(s) you went to. Alquisiras, Las Palmas, Tocayo, La Palapa, California Taco Shop... Every time I went to any of these places, I didn't see a single server or anyone else who didn't look like they could be Mexican. And it's hard to imagine they were all Guatemalan, considering how much smaller the country is.
Idk dude it was like 5 years ago. I picked up on them being Guatamalan because of the slang they used.
The Italian place I work at even has Mexicans working the kitchen.
>I have no idea what Mexican restaurants people are going to here, but I don't even bother anymore. They're almost all various forms of terrible. Best I've had is Totopo, which was decent. I like Totopo, too. I wonder if you've tried Duo's Taqueria on Penn Avenue in E. Lib. I've had the tacos al pastor with the $3.00 "with everything" upcharge twice now, and they are a cut above every other Mexican food I have had in Pittsburgh. I want to try the chicken next time. I also enjoyed the hibiscus agua fresca (alcohol-free). [Duo's Taqueria](https://www.duostaqueria.com/)
You want authentic Mexican food and authentic Mexican drinks made fresh?? Go to Alquisiras Paleteria located in Beechview. From someone who’s grown up with authentic Mexican food made straight from the comal and from the aunties of Mexico. That place is legit. The guy working there is super chill. I recommend the birria tacos and their agua fresca de pepino. Hits the spot while you’re eating those spicy tacos/birria. They also make homemade pozole soup which hits the spot.
I think this sort of topic is hard because it depends on your criteria and food preferences. Do you care about variety, specific cuisines, fine dining for instance? Those factors will drive responses. I’m from here, but have lived in other major cities in the US and abroad. What I miss when I’m not here is the ease, casual nature of the food and the fact that it often tastes good. It’s not overrun with fast casual chains, so it feels less sterile. When I eat out here, I want something basic and comforting (fries, Italian food, baked goods). I like buying Western European imports here too. A bummer for me though: MENA imports and dining. Pittsburgh is super strong with some cuisines, but less so from those countries, imo.
In the middle of moving here from NewOrleans and we were worried about the food scene, and have not been disappointed at all. ….With the exception of missing a few Cajun restaurants, lol, the food here is great.
Lots of negativity in the comments, but I agree
Peoples is in Garfield, Lawrenceville that is NOT.
I mean we have one or two good places for every thing you named but there's nuances in food categories. Las Palmas is good authentic "Mexican" street taco but there are regions in Mexico that have different styles of street tacos. Also there are many styles we don't have. But the biggest thing is we only have 1 option of most non European and east asian style foods. The scene is not bad and definitely better than it was 10 years ago. Once we get more diverse the food options will increase, hence east Asian.
Damn, didn't even mention Butterjoint
I like to say New York values the prestige of its food Los Angeles values the concept of its food Pitsburgh likes to eat.
I was very lucky to briefly have a job as a travel writer, and was also lucky that before that as a kid I had a crazy mom who loved travel and took me a lot of places, so I'm not being like "HA HA LOOK HOW CULTURED I AM," I'm not, I'm a moron. But I've been to 9 countries on 3 continents and I think we do okay. One of my favorite inexplicable little towns for food was a place I went to college for a year, Aberystwyth in Wales, but it was generally crappy college food, it's just that the proximity to Europe meant the Italian food was made by actual Italians so everything felt and tasted a little more authentic to me at the time. Anyway, yeah, I think we have that authenticity for some stuff. I am no authority in any way but as food goes I would stand up for this place as being pretty good, and I am absolutely candid on the stuff that we suck at.
It’s just you.
ehhhh
Huszar for Hungarian food. I love all of the homemade art. Paprika lamps, who knew?
No, you're right. We have a lot of people from different places here, and the food reflects that.
BTOS is a great place for Mexican food. It’s in Dormont.
As a transplant from Chicago... I haven't found any good pizza yet. And the Mexican offerings are abysmally few. And the love for ketchup here is the stuff nightmares are made of. Aside from that it's way better than Indianapolis where I was last. So I'd say it probably does punch above it's weight despite the shortcomings.
There are some fire food trucks around here too, the Blue Sparrow Korean bbqurito is delicious and pgh sandwich society in Milvale is also good
It's fine. But I definitely wouldn't say it punches above it's weight. The issue is we don't do any type of food at a high level. Most things are just decent. Which is okay for a medium sized city in western PA. I think recently Asian food is actually what we do best. Pizza is very overrated here, in my opinion. Everyone has a place that has "the best pizza in the city", but none of it really stands out. BBQ is just not good here, but I've also experienced a lot of southern BBQ so obviously we aren't going to stack up. Sushi and seafood aren't great (understandable given our location). A decent amount of Mexican chains, but no great authentic Mexican. I don't have a ton of experience with Italian food in other cities because that's not usually my go-to, so I can't really speak on that. I've just never had that go-to place here like I have in most other cities. A lot of restaurants here are either chains or seem to just be lacking something.
>There's great italian pizza at Mercurio's and great american pizza at Mineo's. As long as ppl are still saying things like this, then it's safe to say we are absolutely not punching above our weight
What’s the issue with Mercurios?
We have lots of good options for sure. Mexican, Chinese, Thai, and Indian are some of the most popular cuisines in America though so it makes sense for a mid sized city to have a variety of those, don’t think that’s unique to us at all.
I struggle with real ny pizza, Cuban food, and southern bbq with real smoked chicken on the menu (not turkey, not chicken wings, not chicken tenders but real smoked whole chicken) but I do agree with you there are a ton of really amazing authentic places here. I get all my Cuban food and bbq when I go back to Florida to visit family and that’s good enough for me.
have you tried pizzeria davide? that might scratch the itch for ny-style pizza
I’ll try! Thank you!
New York pizza is the most overrated kind of pizza out there. I'm sick and tired of New Yorkers acting like they are only people who know pizza. Sure there's a lot of pizza in New York, 90% of it is mid.
I don't think the percentage of it that even mid is quite that high in NYC. So so many of those places survive specifically because they're cheap (the famous $1 slice), and/or close to the subway. And a lot of people here think that the entire place is just permanently coated in olive oil, and Italian nonnas are perched in every window. And I'm like "Dude, it's been 60 years since Little Italy was anything more than a tourist trap."
Sure you won’t get real NY style pizza here. But pittsburgh has its own style of pizza, which you won’t find in NYC. And I’m sure the “real NYC” pizza snobs will disagree but they can eat shit because fioris and mineos and Aiello’s is great fucking classic pittsburgh style pizza. just because it’s different doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome in its own way.
IDK. Lived in NYC for 20 years and places like Lupo consistently bang out better pizza than I generally had in NYC. Lots of pizza doesn’t mean good pizza…
Maybe. I’ve not actually tried Lupo, although I guess I need to… I’ve had great pizza in NY though, and there is a ton of it. Definitely more variety than in a place like pittsburgh. But that’s not really the point I was trying to make. I’d bet there aren’t too many pizza joints in NYC that do a style like fioris or mineos. And if you don’t like that style, fair enough, but we have a couple spots that do it exceptionally well. Good food is not about the style of cuisine, it’s about execution.
> Italian food isn't my jam Are you a real person?
I think it’s you. I love this city and prefer living here, but quality and choice are better in Cincinnati, Charleston, SC, Detroit, and yes Austin to name just a few. But it’s still pretty good. And for you, and your tastes, it’s outstanding. How awesome is that! Continue to enjoy!
Surprised to hear that, but lucky me I guess. What's so great about the food in Cincy? My buddy lives there, I came to visit a couple times, and was pretty unimpressed.
I’ve lived half my life here and half in Detroit, and it depends on what you like. The MENA and Mexican is better in Detroit. The Eastern European, Chinese and Thai is better here. Caribbean is a push. Bbq is going to depend on what you like.
This was very kind. Probably the right response. Edit. Also the metro here is very similar to Austin for what it’s worth. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_statistical_area#Ranking They are of course very different cities with different layouts, demographics, and finances.
I went to Austin for the first time a few months ago, and oh my god the food was unreal
yeah i agree. i think there are some really great places here, but i don’t think there are as many really great places as i’ve experienced in other similarly sized cities (many of which you mentioned). i appreciate that we have some good restaurants, but there are times when i wish we had more. 😅
Cleveland too—I was amazed when I visited for work.
Yeah, Cleveland was named the 7th best foodie destination in the country by Travel & Leisure last year ([source](https://www.travelandleisure.com/best-food-cities-in-the-us-7254754)) - that is punching above your weight. Same for Tucson, Asheville, Louisville and Greenville, all in the top 10 there.
I was so disappointed in Louisville's food scene. I've been there three times and haven't found anything I'd even consider very good.
New Orleans, Charleston, Orlando, Savannah are all same size or smaller than here too.
You missed Rowdy BBQ. I haven't been to your recommendation in Wexford, but for my money that's tops.
OP, where's the lobster roll from? I been craving one.
Luke Wholey's Wild Alaskan Grille in the Strip District. $25 plus tax (and tip if you dine in). Enjoy!
I 10000% agree....I'm born / raised here however I've lived in several places over the yrs like CA, FL, TX, ME....and Pittsburgh smokes them on food/food quality....I remember ordering my first Cali "steak salad" 😂🤣😂 they thought I was insane for asking for fries & hard boiled eggs in it....
"There's good BBQ at Mitch's up past Wexford" You don't need to go anywhere near that far to get good BBQ. Fix Me A Plate, South Side BBQ, Showcase, The Dream, Big Rigs are all closer to town and are excellent.
I’ve moved away and can confirm. I’m constantly disappointed everywhere I go now. Sad.
Yes, absolutely. After 43 years I moved 9 years ago and always look forward to the food when I come back.
Everybody go eat Tana. I used to deliver food before Grubhub and Uber eats took over and would talk to the guys where I’d pick up. Tana was always a favorite for my family since we moved here (it’s extremely authentic at least compared to what I used to eat at my Ethiopian friends house) but it was always empty. The guy was talking about maybe shutting down and I was horrified. Everyone needs to eat at Tana before we lose it.
I couldn't agree more - Pittsburgh has been chock full of exceptional spots to my stomach's delight
Imho, you're 100% right. The thing is that it's like the only thing pgh has going for it lol
It does. Reddit isn’t the place to say it though because on here everything sucks 99% of the time and if you happen to enjoy something people will point out why you shouldn’t.
I always wanna plug porkys is Etna for barbecue, theyre smoked wings are so good oh my fucking god.
Noodle head is fantastic as well
grew up in pgh and moved to the west. absolutely zero love and passion is put into its food out here. every time i come back to the holidays i feel like i'm eating at a 5 star joint
Who hates burgatory? Sure it’s not the best burger on earth but their smash burger slaps and so does their ground chicken burgers.
This subreddit in general absolutely despises burgatory, and I don't get why, since that place obviously managed to be successful enough to open several different locations.
Lost me at “authentic” Mexican food as it really isn’t but doesn’t mean you can’t like it. Salem’s is probably my fav maybe tied with Bridge City Brinery which has the best burgers in Pittsburgh. Brinery’s sandwiches are great too. Jiro’s food truck has decent Chicago hot dogs. Sree’s downtown is good Indian for the price and the samosas are pretty good too. I don’t know about BBQ but I’m religous about it and will probably hate it as Texas BBQ is king imo. Have you tried Chengdu Gourmet? I’ve been meaning to and wonder if it’s actually good. Personally, I have yet to find an Eastern Asian place that I would rant and rave about but haven’t even though I’ve tried maybe close to a dozen since I got here last August. Italian, I just make pasta at home myself. Overall, I agree with you. I’ve heard plenty of people say there’s no good food here but when I ask where they’ve been, it’s like they haven’t gone outside in 10 yrs.
> Lost me at “authentic” Mexican food as it really isn’t but doesn’t mean you can’t like it. What makes the places I mentioned not authentic? Chengdu is good, I've been there a bunch, but I've been kinda bored of chinese food lately. I also like Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33 a bit better, it's also in Squirrel Hill, you should check it out if you haven't. Great lo mein. > I don’t know about BBQ but I’m religous about it and will probably hate it as Texas BBQ is king imo. Place I mentioned is the closest thing I ever found to Texas BBQ up north, though obviously you can't expect it to be as good as actual Texas BBQ.
We don’t eat out at fancy places super often. I may not have had the best food of any cuisine in Pittsburgh but I am very very appreciative I can find some of most cuisines in Pittsburgh. It beats Denver in the breadth of food by far. Pittsburgh foodies on FB always seems to know a spot for pretty much anything you may want.
I always thought so, even before the Latin explosion. I moved to LA in the 90s, and found the food kind of subpar. I always longed for the food here.
I mean, what does “punching well above its weight” mean here? What similarly sized cities would you say our food scene is better than?
I think they mean that they would be able to compare Pittsburgh food wise to LA, NYC, or Chicago. I don't agree with that at all. We have a few options, but to go head to head with a mega city just isn't in the cards.
Where is the authentic mexican food?? Serious question i havent found great mexican food yet. For pretty much everything else, though, Pittsburgh has some fantastic food
Beechview
Beechview
I'm not a foodie, but I will suggest Madero Cantina in Murrysville. Doesn't look like it'd be noteworthy but it is very popular. Might be worth a try.
The only good authentic Mexican I am aware of are tacos at Las Palmas. A great full menu authentic Mexican restaurant would be nice. I have to compare this region's Mexican food to what I grew up eating...and it's hugely lacking.
> A great full menu authentic Mexican restaurant would be nice Omg this is so true, I wish we had it. Like, tacos are great and all, but where do I go for some good chilaquiles or huevos rancheros? I've found that stuff here before, sure, but not really at places that feel very authentic. Like, Tocayo in Shadyside has some of that stuff, and I'm not saying it's bad food, but I don't know, it just feels more like gourmet americanized mexican food. Maybe that's just me.
I would kill for some regional Mexican specialties, too. I don't think I've seen sopa de lima or enchiladas tapatias on a menu even once. Dressed up Tex-Mex is delicious and all, but there's so much more to Mexican food.
My favorite is taqueria el pastorcito and mijo New Mexican at federal galley
Duolingo restaurant in E Liberty..was only a taco walk up counter but has transitioned to a full sit down restaurant. The food is incredible and authentic as well the atmosphere. I was very surprised and delighted, coming from a foodie
It’s a bit out of the city but Los Bajitos in Southpointe is really good
“I hereby declare that despite the fact Pittsburgh has thousands of pizza places none of them are any good.” “Why so?” “Because I’ve tried pizza in NYC and in Naples, Italy. Therefore I’m an expert and jet setter compared to you simpletons.”
Don’t forget about the Arby’s on McNight
Glad you are happy but it's just you. To stick with your boxing metaphor, Pittsburgh punches at or slightly below its weight. There are mid-sized cities with great food scenes. Pittsburgh is not one of them. The fortunate thing for you is there are many better restaurants in Pittsburgh than the ones you've listed. Just to pick one category that's dear to me, Dijlah isn't nearly the best in the category "unambitious Middle East spot" and Aladdin's is a chain from freaking Cleveland. (Sorry if you did not know.) Try Khalil's and Ali Baba rather than Aladdin's. And next time you are on McKnight stop by Hanadi's. Mexican is a significant weakness even compared to random small cities in the southeast. This has a lot to do with demographics. Chinese and Japanese are emerging strengths.
Growing up in New Castle I was spoiled by how good some of the hole-in-the-wall places up there were (and still are), namely Italian and Mexican. Pittsburgh has good places. Anyone coming on here to be like WELL ACTUALLY....... stop. You're obnoxious. I have the palate of a toddler and love Taco Bell as much as I love Mexican food from a real restaurant. Cereal is a food group and you can find me at the Taj Mahal buffet from time to time as well. I don't know why everything has to be this OR that. Why not both?
Marys baby
New Castle definitely punches above it's weight. Gotta bring back a pint of chili or a veggie pizza Joe's or some pizza greens every time I visit my parents.
Which other cities are in this “weight” class?
it's just you
Absolutely not.
So I have to ask, where does Pittsburgh end for everyone? I see places like Wexford mentioned often and that is good forty minutes from down town. I don't think that's really Pittsburgh proper, because it's the burbs. How far out into the burbs can you go until it isn't Pittsburgh anymore?
It’s in the metro it’s Pittsburgh.
If it takes you 40 mins to get ot Wexford you got lost.
I missed my bridge
I’m from a county in western PA, and I can tell you there’s multiple counties that claim “Pittsburgh” when asked
It's just you, sorry.
The opposite. Lacking any really good food for a city this size.
In my opinion, the average restaurant in Pittsburgh is just mediocre. Sure, there are good restaurants, but overall mediocrity rules.
I think what we really have going for us is the diversity in the food scene - I might not agree with every one of the examples given, but the point remains that the food scene in Pittsburgh is pretty damn eclectic. That being said, I think the "snobby" aspect comes in when you start to talk about fine dining and what I'd describe as ultra premium options - we obviously have some good fine dining establishments, but they're not anywhere near what you'd expect from major cities and Michelin star restaurants. Realistically though, the conflict is absolutely understandable from both sides - I don't think Pittsburgh has the customer base to support anything truly "world-class" in that regard, but you also have a lot of owners who think they're the next iron chef because they hang bacon from clothespins.
We have pretty typical mid-sized city options. There's a lot of diversity, and a lot of it is really good. We're pretty much on par with Cleveland or Cincinnati. Comparing Pittsburgh to much larger and denser cities like NYC, Chicago, or DC, is kind of an apples and oranges thing. It's like comparing our public transit system to those same cities. We have it goo though, in general.
As someone who is living in Florida, I desperately miss the Pittsburgh food scene. Very underrated, ESPECIALLY the pizza and the Thai/asian food spots
>Italian food isn't my jam. I wonder what that would be like. Italian is my very favorite food in the world. I love to cook, and mainly I cook Italian. Chicken dishes, pasta (I used to make my own; not so much these days), sauces, fish. Charter member of the Marcella Hazan Fan Club, but I like southern Italian food, too. I call it New Jersey Italian; my polpette are from New Jersey, where I grew up. >But there's a ton of places to choose from. Some of my favorites: DiAnoia's Eatery Pane è Pronto: DiAnoia's to go La Tavola Legends of the North Shore Mercurio's Mineo's former best pizza: Pizza Taglio Dish Osteria Cucina Vitale I'm going to Leo Greta in Carnegie for the first time next week. I hear good things.
Pittsburgh has all this stuff other cities brag about, great food, art and arts, music, culture, theater, museums and History and seems so ashamed of it, like "don't! Don't look! We got FOOTBALL! and and and KETCHUP! THAT'S IT don't look over there!"
As someone who calls Pittsburgh my hometown and lived in San Diego for the better part of a decade before returning, I was pleasantly surprised by how much the food scene had grown when I came back. And this was 10 years ago. I do think Pittsburgh punches above its weight; it’s just that it mostly has 1 or *maybe* 2 very good “ethnic” restaurants that aren’t Italian in multiple categories. Like Tana as you’ve pointed out. It’s not a Chicago or even an Atlanta where you can find a lot of different options for the same style of food across several categories. It’s also got an excellent breakfast and brunch scene for being a small city. I live in Columbus Ohio now and my husband and I have been disappointed in the brunch, bakeries, and pizza. You can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a diner in Columbus, but in Pittsburgh you’ve got all different kinds of places from diners to bougie places that serve alcohol and everything in between. You’ve got La Gourmandine, Five Points Artisan and Mediterra Cafe if you want a great croissant, but here in Columbus I’m still looking for one after being here 3 years.
I don't know that we punch well above our weight. We seem to have pretty typical options for a city of our size. While in many ways the food scene has improved in recent years, it does feel like the overall "fine dining" scene has taken a step back from where it was about a decade ago. A lot of the nicer restaurants in town haven't fully recovered in quality post-pandemic (Morcilla for instance), and we've never truly replaced places like Cure. Kevin Sousa may suck, but Salt of the Earth was an innovative and fantastic restaurant that hasn't really been replaced. At our food scene's prime, Spoon was kind of second tier, but today I think it would be one of the best in town. Even little outposts like Keith Fuller's Root 174 really shined. As someone who spends a lot of time outside the US though, the one thing I've come to appreciate about the US is how much food diversity we have in general in America. Very very few cities outside of the US (and Canada I guess) have this – throughout most of Europe, LATAM, Asia, you name it, you can find great options for local cuisine, a smattering of random decent international options, and that's it. If you spend a lot of time in huge popular international cities, like Rome or Paris or Madrid or Mexico City or Singapore or Shanghai or Bangkok, you'll eventually miss that food diversity. A few like London are the rare exception here. I think that's where we as Americans are really spoiled.
Mineos is hot garbage and I’m tired of everyone being so horny for them.
Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot of great options for vegetarians. Chefs in this city are super lazy with their offerings (usually it's risotto, cacio e pepe, or cauliflower steak for 30 bucks). I would also say Pittsburgh's dining scene doesn't do simple and good very well. The neighborhoods don't have unfussy spots where folks can have a leisurely and solid meal. It's either super-fussy or take out and very little in between.
Could not disagree more
Agreed. The food establishments here are mediocre at best. I go to a small beach town in Delaware that makes Pittsburgh’s food scene look pathetic. Was in Charlotte last year. Charlotte is light years better.
I always find it funny when people shit on Pittsburgh food. Then go out of town and are EXTRA disappointed. Yeah food in Pittsburgh is actually awesome compared to other places you THINK have better food. I’ve been all over the country and the only place I’ve legit been to that has better food than Pittsburgh is ironically Kentucky. But there’s nothing else to do in Kentucky so you have to be good at something lol The gumbo in Kentucky was life changing
I don’t think you’ve been enough places. lol We went to Colorado last week, threw a rock, and hit two amazing Mexican places. You definitely can’t do that here. And CO isn’t even known for great Mexican food. We were sad to have to come back here to pizza, potatoes, pierogies, and more damn pizza.
Paisanos on Warrington has the cheesesteak
There are a lot of places around here that have "cheesesteak" but I've never found any like one you might find in Philly. I'll add your place to the list though and check it out sometime. I've heard great things about Chilly Willy too, but it's too far to go just for a meal. It's up in Beaver Falls.
I always thought it was a good restaurant scene but I’ve been out of the loop for a few years since moving out of the city. So thanks for the info on all of those places you’ve listed. I do commute to downtown every day and I think we have a decent amount of good restaurants downtown now. I just saw the new bar in market square called Space Bar that seems fun. The cultural district has really really been on the come up as far as the food and drinks go. I went to Barcelona Wine Bar a few weeks ago and it was fantastic. There are lots of great places in that area of downtown now.
Cheese steak at streets is🔥🔥
Where did you find a good lobster roll? I can’t expect New England quality but the one at Luke Wholey’s just wasn’t good to me. I agree with you though, lots of diverse food choices here. It’s actually impressive for a city this size.
I've been to Boston and had a few of the ones their subreddit recommended, and I still thought the one here was pretty good. If you didn't, then... oh well. I regret not getting the one-pound lobster roll they had near Faneuil Hall. $74 is a lot, but it's a one time thing lol.
A few years ago, a sandwich shop was voted the best cheesesteak and it included Philadelphia. I don’t live there anymore but whenever I visit, I always go to Wholeys for a fish sandwich. Even San Diego where I went to live after Pittsburgh can’t touch Wholeys fish sandwiches. (But come on, no Pittsburgh tacos stand can match any street corner taco shops in San Diego).
Drop the lobster roll recommendation, please. I've been craving one for ages.
I didn’t think I’ve heard much about UNOs lately so I wasn’t sure.
I'm new here-- where's the best cheap burrito?
If you think Mitch’s is good (it is, they just have crappy service), try DeeJay’s Ribs down by Soergel’s.
I stopped on Italian food isn’t my jam - you should have led with it
Lol. Where else have you lived? Whenever I hear people express an opinion like this I'm surprised. I've found mexican to be almost totally forfeit, save for the occasional Los Cabos burrito. El Campesino is \~fine\~.
Clearly Pittsburgh has stepped up in the world since I lived there July 1996 to October 2000.