Sharing The Best of Pittsburgh and Southwest Pennsylvania
Shadrack's Christmas Wonderland is a holiday light display that has several locations around the country.
In western Pennsylvania, Shadrack's makes the Butler County Fairgrounds its home and is one of the most popular Christmas experiences in the greater Pittsburgh region.
Pittsburgh's alcohol scene is growing at an incredible pace, and over the last few years we've been fortunate to have many breweries, whiskey distilleries, rum distilleries, and even a vodka distillery open and call the region home.
One alcohol style we have not been fortunate enough to have is an infusion producer. This all changed when Bella Bambini Cello opened its doors in Coraopolis in late 2017.
Pittsburgh Barbecue Company is one of the region's more popular barbecue joints, and with two locations to visit, affordable prices, and delicious flavors we can see why that is!
When it comes to Christmas displays in Pittsburgh, we're used to over the top and extravagant. It is just what we do during the holidays in southwestern Pennsylvania.
We visited Overly's Country Christmas in Greensburg with a great deal of excitement because of this, and ended up being, well, quite underwhelmed!
Christmas in Pittsburgh is a big thing. We as a city go all-in for the holiday from Light Up Night until well after New Years.
The downtown Pittsburgh restaurant Harris Grill gets in on the holiday spirit and transforms their first floor bar space into a holiday pop-up known as Tinsel Town Cocktails.
While this one may not be over-the-top Christmas like nearby Miracle on Market, it does offer a laid back drinking experience during the holidays that downtown Pittsburgh could always use more of.
Dive Bar is, in contrast with its name, a modern gastropub with three locations in the area in Lawrenceville, South Side, and Wexford. The menu features several standard bar favorites like burgers and wings but mixes it up with some twists including unique appetizers and sandwiches. They've also got a great happy hour deal which is $2 off draft beer and half off appetizers.
We visited the Lawrenceville location recently for happy hour and were pleasantly surprised at our meal. We thought Dive Bar was going to be just another mediocre bar in the sea of many in Lawrenceville, but there were a few things that set it apart.
Note: The Nationality Rooms will not be decorated for the holidays in 2021 due to COVID. We hope the rooms will return with holiday festivities in 2022.
The Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning are one of Pittsburgh's true gems. These rooms function as classrooms for the University of Pittsburgh, but they are much more than that- they are also designed in the style of classrooms from various countries around the world.
Although we always love taking out of town visitors to these rooms, perhaps the best time of year to do so is the Christmas season.
From late November to early January every year, these classrooms come alive with Christmas trees and other holiday decorations that are representative of decorations from their respective countries. And if that wasn't enough, the common area of the cathedral is also decked out with even more Christmas trees and decorations as well!
Udipi Cafe in Monroeville has been on our radar for quite some time as one of the only places in the area to get delicious and authentic Southern Indian cuisine. We finally recently ventured out to this spot and we have to say, it's worth the drive.
While it won't win any points for atmosphere, this all-vegetarian spot serves up traditional dishes like dosa and Thali sets that transport you straight to India. Southern India, that is.
In 2021, the Miracle pop-up bar will be located at 705 Liberty Avenue and is aptly named Miracle on Liberty. The below review is from previous visits prior to this year.
Our visit to Pittsburgh's Miracle bar was two years in the making.
To call this holiday pop-up bar popular would be an understatement, as seemingly everyone wants a piece of the action. We tried to visit the Miracle pop-up twice and were met with lines out the door that barely moved.
Dejected and not wanting to wait outside in below-freezing temperatures, we waited until a future pop-up to get in to try the seasonal creations. We made it our mission to visit this one on a Thursday night, hopeful for smaller crowds, and arrived to yet another packed house.
But with a bit of persistence and luck we made it to the bar fairly quickly to order a few rounds of holiday themed libations.
The Joy of Cookies tour in the Lawrenceville neighborhood has been an annual tradition for over fifteen years.
This event takes place the first weekend in December and is basically an open house for Lawrenceville businesses and restaurants complete with free cookies at each stop.
If you want to support local businesses with your holiday shopping, or if there are shops you've always wanted to check out but always seem to pass by, the Joy of Cookies tour is a perfect event for you to explore this buzzing neighborhood.