Year: 2017

Better Maid Donut Review – Donuts Worth Getting Up Early For

Better Maid Donut relocated to 2101 Green Tree Road in 2026. This review was from a visit to their prior location.

To enjoy a creation from Better Maid Donut in Pittsburgh, you're going to have to set your alarm early. Very early.

This popular donut spot is known for its limited production and die-hard fans who will wait a half-hour or more for their devious creations. Put these two together and you'll quickly understand why this one often sells out within an hour of their ~6:30 am opening on weekdays and ~7:30 am opening on weekends.

  • Note: Hours as published on Google and may not be the most accurate- we've heard stories of them opening at 6:45 am lately but it can truly vary. Checking their Instagram (particularly, Instagram Stories) is now the best place to receive day-of updates.

As someone who is averse to getting up early in almost all cases, I've been trying (and failing) to visit Better Maid Donut for the better part of the last two years- through no one's fault but my own.

It wasn't until a late-spring morning, where the sunrise woke me up well before 6 am, that I realized the stars were aligning to make my visit to Better Maid Donut happen.

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Huszar Bacon Roast – A New Tradition in the North Side

Close your eyes and imagine the perfect camp fire. If you're like us, and everyone in the United States without an Eastern European heritage, you are probably thinking of marshmallows roasting on a stick.

But if you are fortunate enough to have Eastern European family, especially those from Hungary, you may be envisioning something a bit different- a bacon roast.

The premise is exactly the same as making S'mores over a fire, but swaps the marshmallows for pork belly, and the graham crackers and chocolate for bread and vegetables, to make what could be the ultimate sandwich.

It wasn't until we were invited out to the North Side Hungarian bar and restaurant Huszar for their annual roast that we knew this was a thing, and we'll never look at camp fires the same way again.

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6 Great Garden Centers and Nurseries in Pittsburgh

If you're looking to beautify your home's outdoor space but want to shop somewhere more unique than just a big box store, Pittsburgh has plenty of local garden centers with much more interesting offerings. We've been busy checking them out to find the best- here are some of our favorites we've been to so far and the types of things you'll find at each.

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Round Hill Park – Gorgeous Green Spaces and a Working Farm

Round Hill Park in Elizabeth, PA, is a 1,100 acre park that takes on a familiar layout as far as local parks are concerned- namely being home to a large concentration of pavilions, unblazed hiking trails, and a few play areas for kids.

In fact, for the longest time we thought this was all that was available at Round Hill Park, and for that reason we made it the last of all of the Allegheny County Parks we visited.

But there was one thing we did not know that Round Hill Park has, and that is a working exhibit farm that is so impressive it is worth the drive to Elizabeth alone.

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Altius Pittsburgh Review – Fine Dining With a View

Altius on Grandview Ave in Mt Washington is a relative newcomer to the fine dining scene in Pittsburgh set among establishments such as Le Mont and Monterey Bay Fish Grotto.

With all of these restaurants, you're understandably paying a premium for the Pittsburgh city views, so we recently dined at Altius to see if the food and experience was worth the cost.

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Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33 Review – Holding Its Own in Squirrel Hill

We're slowly working our way through the plethora of Asian restaurants in Squirrel Hill, and on our most recent trip we found ourselves at Taiwanese Bistro Cafe 33.

This spot on Shady Ave. right next to Starbucks is housed in what used to be the neighborhood laundromat, and it serves up a huge menu that's a mix of Taiwanese food as well as Americanized Chinese food.

With stiff competition just steps away, we wanted to find out how this one stacks up.

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The Pavilion at Star Lake Concerts – What is the Venue Like?

Pittsburgh's outdoor amphitheater, The Pavilion at Star Lake (formerly S&T Bank Music Park, KeyBank Pavilion, First Niagara, and Star Lake before that), is the preferred venue for many of the world's best bands and musicians as they make their touring stop in Pittsburgh.

But this pavilion, located about 45 minutes west of downtown Pittsburgh, has had some notoriety about it throughout the years as accessing the arena is quite difficult with its one and only road in and out. But since many of our favorite bands play there, we've sucked it up several times over the years to see performances with vastly different experiences.

As with everything, this review is not about the performance, but rather is about the arena itself. So, what did we think of Star Lake and what can you do to have the best experience when visiting? Read on!

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Our Favorite Things in Each of the 9 Allegheny County Parks

Boyce Park

Since founding Discover the Burgh, we've made it our mission to see, do, and experience everything Pittsburgh has to offer. One of our goals was to explore each of the nine county parks of Allegheny County, and over the last two years we finally completed our task of visiting them all.

What we discovered about these Pennsylvania parks from our visits is pretty incredible.  The nine parks in Allegheny county cover 12,000 acres (that's 18.75 square miles), have well over 60 blazed trails covering over 70 miles (our estimates), and feature numerous other activities throughout the year that will keep even the most active busy for a considerable period of time.

To help you determine which of the Allegheny County parks you should visit on your next outing, we put together this guide which shares some our favorite aspects of each park in the county. For more information about each park, click the link in the description to be taken to our full article!

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PPG Paints Arena Concerts – Is the Venue Worth It?

Everyone in Pittsburgh knows that PPG Paints Arena (formerly CONSOL Energy Center) is home of the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins. But outside of hockey season the arena does not sit empty, and is instead one of the best spots in the city to catch some of the largest bands and musicians in the world as they make a stop in Pittsburgh to perform.

One band we got to check out at PPG Paints Arena in 2017 was Red Hot Chili Peppers, and while we enjoyed the performance we wanted to take a look at PPG Paints Arena itself to see if it is truly a good spot to check out live music, what to consider before visiting, and what to avoid.

In knowing these things, you'll be better prepared for purchasing a ticket for when your favorite band comes to town!

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