Beechwood Farms in Fox Chapel, with its 5 miles of trails and varied habitats, provides a good spot for a short walk or a leisurely picnic.
This nature reserve serves as the headquarters for the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, and as such, there are also many events at this location ranging from naturalist-led hikes and birdwatching events to summer camps and educational opportunities for kids.
One of the things I love about our goal of visiting every attraction in Pittsburgh is uncovering a hidden gem that most who live in the city may not even know about. The Bayernhof Museum in O'Hara Township certainly fell on that list for us, and after visiting it is now one of the many places in the city we have come to regret not visiting sooner.
The reason for this is because when we first heard about the Bayernhof it was described to us as a house of musical instruments. Okay, we love music, but that wasn't really the greatest of sales pitches that would inspire us to get out the door. In fact, we probably would not have visited at all if it wasn't for our goal of doing everything Pittsburgh has to throw at us.
After visiting, however, we came up with a better way to describe the Bayernhof. It is a gorgeous home-turned-museum housing one of the world's largest collections of self-playing musical instruments, nearly all in working order, that you can actually hear during a visit.
Excited yet? You should be.
We are very fortunate in Pittsburgh to have many parks located in close proximity to the city. One of the largest outside of the city limits is South Park, located in Bethel Park / South Park Township, and is home to many amenities and activities suitable for just about everyone- including hikers like us!
When we get visitors to Pittsburgh, one of the most popular questions that we hear is “what are famous Pittsburgh foods?”
The first one is easy- everyone knows Primanti Brothers. From there, what we would call iconic food in Pittsburgh can vary substantially based on who you ask. Is a pierogi a Pittsburgh food? What about Beto's pizza? Or how about something more unusual like chipped chopped ham? Or how about famous desserts, breakfast spots, and more?
When we sat down to think of it, we came up with a list of several definitive Pittsburgh foods. Some are famous because they were created here. Some are adopted foods from other cultures that are widely integrated into our local diet. Some are in specific categories that have die-hard followings (like our local famous chocolate shop- every city has one). Others still were created in nearby states but popularized in Pittsburgh as its first major market.
While this list is not comprehensive to hit everything that could be considered popular food in Pittsburgh, we did opt to select what we believe are the most well known and are unique to the region all the same.
For more of our opinion from restaurants mentioned below, click the respective links to learn more!
In August 2020, Square Cafe relocated from Regent Square to East Liberty.
Recently relocated to the vibrant neighborhood of East Liberty, Square Cafe is a weekend brunch destination that hits all the usual highlights: a bright, cheery space with typical breakfast cuisine utilizing ingredients from local farms and vendors.
Its menu of pancakes, omelettes, eggs benedicts, breakfast sandwiches, and crepes isn't breaking any boundaries, but it's a good spot for a comforting, reliable meal that has Pittsburghers coming back time and time again.
Pittsburgh's National Aviary in the North Side is a unique place to visit, there is no doubt about that. It is the country's largest Aviary and is also the only one to be recognized by Congress.
With over 600 animals from roughly 200 species, this one has something for everyone. Throw in the public feedings that take place throughout the day and you have one spot worth coming back to time and time again.
If you think finding a place to drink on a Sunday in Pittsburgh is difficult, try finding a place that's open on Monday. Harder still, make that Monday a public holiday when the entire city is virtually shut down.
Throw in our desire to go out and have a beer with friends, and that's how we ended up at Industry Public House in Lawrenceville on our recent visit.
Although this intro may make it sound like we were desperate for anything, which is somewhat true, Industry Public House had been on our list of places to try for quite some time and was rushed to the top due to this odd string of circumstances.
Thankfully, it ended up being a great choice for a beer-filled pub meal.
If you've ever wanted to dive into the world of pop art, the Andy Warhol Museum on Pittsburgh's North Shore is the absolute best place to do it.
More than 1,000 prints, 4,000 photographs, and 900 paintings in the collection help make it the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist.
But there is so much more to this museum than just pop art: the seven floors of this museum display many other types of Warhol's works you've likely never seen before, as well as rotating exhibits from other artists.
Although there are enough unique exhibits in this museum to keep us busy writing an incredibly detailed review, today we wanted to share some of our very favorites to give you a taste about what to expect when visiting!
Thanks to Pennsylvania's unusual liquor laws, many businesses have popped up around the state offering different outlets for thirsty citizens.
One such outlet has been the beer mix-and-match shops where you can go in, find a selection of hundreds of beers, and come out with your own customized six-pack. These businesses often come with attached short-order restaurants and bars, and a good number in Pittsburgh specialize in hot dogs as their menu item of choice.
One popular shop in Pittsburgh of this style is D's Six Pack and Dogz in Regent Square. With a gourmet hot dog menu and over 1,000 beers in their beer cave, this one certainly has a worthy reputation worth seeking out.
After hearing so much about this one over the years, it was time for us to finally check it out to find out why it is so popular.
In 2017 La Palapa moved locations in South Side and expanded their menu. Our review is from before the move and we hope to check out the new location soon!
When it comes to finding authentic Mexican cuisine in Pittsburgh, it is truly a difficult task unless you know exactly where to look. Rather than celebrate the incredible food culture of Mexico, we are only able to find poor imitations and Tex-Mex restaurants that are just not the same.
But one South Side restaurant is going against the grain and is making some of Mexico's best meals right here in Pittsburgh. That restaurant is La Palapa and, along with their food cart of the same name, this one is changing the way we look at Mexican cuisine in the city.