2015 - Page 5 of 7 - Discover the Burgh

Exploring the Nationality Rooms at the Cathedral of Learning

November 23, 2024September 1, 2015

Chinese Room at the Cathedral of Learning

Note: The Nationality Rooms are now requiring advanced registration for tours. Keep an eye on this one as things could change.

Pitt's Cathedral of Learning is one of the most beautiful university buildings in the country.

Ignoring the fact that this college building is the only skyscraper in Oakland and its main lobby resembles a European cathedral mixed with Hogwarts, Pitt's flagship building houses one other treasure worth exploring during a visit: the Nationality Rooms.

Let's go to the last place you'd expect to visit in Pittsburgh– back to school!

Going Animal Spotting at Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium

May 22, 2024August 29, 2015

The Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium is one of the most visited family attractions in the city.

We've frequented the aquarium many times over the year during private events, but it wasn't until recently that we were able to visit the zoo and aquarium during normal operations.

Butcher and the Rye Review – Whiskey and Modern Cuisine

October 5, 2023August 27, 2015

Note: Butcher and the Rye has been closed since the COVID pandemic and the space is currently being used as rotating pop-up bars. We hope that Butcher and the Rye will return soon.

Butcher and the Rye is one of the hottest restaurants in Pittsburgh, and guess where it is? Downtown!

We've always thought that this is one part of the city that needs more unique restaurants, and hearing about people going downtown just to eat is welcomed news.

In fact, so many people are trying to eat at Butcher and the Rye that it is quite difficult to get a reservation. We tried for weeks to get a table on a Saturday night that worked with our schedules, and after trying for quite some time we were finally able to get in at 9PM by calling just over a week in advance.

Not knowing when we'd make it back and that reservations are hard to come by, we went all out.

Bicycle Heaven Offers Bicycle Overload in Pittsburgh

December 12, 2024August 22, 2015

Update: Bicycle Heaven started charging an admission fee in December 2024.

Pittsburgh's massive specialty stores have a way of embracing their size and end up turning into museums for all to enjoy. There is Artifacts, the import store for the rich and famous; Construction Junction, the re-use store for the rest of us; and in our latest exploration we visited Bicycle Heaven, the store for bike lovers.

Much like the other unusual stores we've visit in the city, when we say that Bicycle Heaven is large, we mean it. The store claims to be the largest bike shop in the USA, sells tens of thousands of items on eBay, and covers two floors with about a dozen rooms in its North Side warehouse.

Naturally, this sounds exactly like the kind of place we want to explore when enjoying our city.

Slice on Broadway Review – New York Style Pizza

August 1, 2020August 20, 2015

Slice New York Style Pizza in Pittsburgh

After a somewhat disappointing visit to Spak Brothers in Garfield, we've been taking pizza recommendations in Pittsburgh with a grain of salt. It wasn't until we met up with a group of acquaintances who shared our opinion of Spak Brothers (and Pittsburgh pizza as a whole) that we started to get excited about another option they were raving about.

That pizza joint was Slice on Broadway in Beechview, and it wasn't but an hour later that we were in our car driving out to give it a shot.

Learning an Array of Sciences at the Kamin Science Center

October 8, 2025August 19, 2015

Making Tornados at Pittsburgh's Science Center

One of Pittsburgh's most popular museums is the Kamin Science Center (formerly the Carnegie Science Center) on the North Side. This massive complex is home to several wings featuring displays of unique sciences including aerospace, water, sports science, physics, medicine, and more.

As engineers and self-described science nerds, this was one museum we have been very eager to check out.

76 Pittsburgh Breweries to Visit in and Around the City

April 27, 2026August 15, 2015

The craft brewing scene is currently taking Pittsburgh by storm. Not a month goes by where you don't hear about a brewery opening up in the region or a staple making news nationally for their products.

It is our lofty goal to visit all of the southwest Pennsylvania breweries popping up, and in this guide we'll be sharing our thoughts on all the breweries we've visited to date.

So if there is a brewery out there producing something unique that you need to check out, you can be certain we will feature it here!

311 Pittsburgh – Help Fix the City’s Roads With This Unique Service

March 20, 2025August 15, 2015

If you've been in Pittsburgh for any appreciable time, you probably have noticed how awful our roads are. The highways make no sense, roads are stacked one over the other, and there are potholes just about everywhere.

For a long time this was a frustration we simply put up with because, well, it is Pittsburgh.

It wasn't until recently that we discovered Pittsburgh's 311 service, and this new found knowledge changed our opinion of the city's operations altogether.

Kavsar Review – Uzbeki Food on Mount Washington

March 22, 2023August 11, 2015

I'm going to guess that you've never had food from Uzbekistan. I know I hadn't until our visit to Kavsar on Mount Washington, and I consider myself to be quite well traveled.

In fact, if you would have asked me what Uzbeki food was prior to our visit, I probably would've fumbled in an attempt to make something up. Now that I have tried it for myself, I can try and give describing it a shot.

Spak Brothers Review – Pizza and Wings in Garfield

December 11, 2018August 6, 2015

I am a staunch critic of the pizza scene in Pittsburgh.

It seems like there is a standard recipe that every pizzeria in the city uses when making their pies. The crusts are all the same, the sauce is the same, and the preparation style is virtually all the same.

The pizzas are all good enough when you want a quick meal, but when you go to different shops you really can't say much to distinguish them from each other.

Sure, there are places to get a good pizza at a restaurant that isn't a pizzeria (La Tavola, anyone?), but when it comes to takeaway from a dedicated pizza shop the options for something astounding are few and far between.

It is because of this reason that we don't write about most of the pizzas we order in Pittsburgh on this site as most all of them would have the same exact summary.

For us to talk about pizza it needs to be something special, and we thought Spak Brothers in Garfield would be just that.