Year: 2021

5 Reasons Why You Should Visit Pittsburgh on Your Next Trip

As a travel writer by trade, I have seen many tourism campaigns from cities all over the world trying to highlight the main reasons outsiders should visit.

Some highlight geographical features like beaches and mountains, others promote the libations scene in the form of winery or brewery trails. Some push sports, others promote their architecture and history as a draw. Some push that the city is a popular tourist destination, others promote that they're under the radar.

For Pittsburgh, however, I don't think we can push just one narrative. In fact, we have all of the categories mentioned above, and it is only when you take a step back to appreciate how it all works together that you truly get a feel for what makes Pittsburgh the city that it is.

So if you have no idea what Pittsburgh is all about and need to learn more before deciding if you should visit, this one is for you!

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Levity Brewing Review – Beer, Food, & Trail Access in Indiana, PA

There are a number of reasons to love Levity Brewing in Indiana, PA.

First off, they make stellar beer (really all that matters for a brewery). Second, you can round out your visit with food to make a meal out of it. Finally, and perhaps most interesting to us beyond the brews, is that they are located just steps off of the 10-mile Hoodlebug Trail and a short drive from the trailhead for the Ghost Town Trail in Black Lick.

So if you need reasons to make a day out of it when making the hour drive to the brewery, well, you've got some great options to consider!

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Oishii Donburi Review – Japanese & Korean Staples in Lawrenceville

If you've spent any amount of time on our site, you may have seen our review for Oishii Bento in Oakland. This small restaurant in the heart of the neighborhood serves up an array of bento box creations as well as other Japanese staples with decent portion sizes at an amazing price point.

So when the team behind that restaurant announced a new concept, Oishii Donburi in Lawrenceville, we were in.

While this one serves up an array of traditional Japanese menu items, we also found some of our favorites from Korea on the menu as well- all for the same great price point we love from Oishii Bento!

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Pizza House Review – Square Cuts to Eat on the Spot

We frequently share images of Pittsburgh pizza shops on our social media, often to a chorus of cheers, boos, and recommendations of where else to eat in the city.

On a recent share of Beto's Pizza (a local spot famous for square slices and cold toppings), we received a flood of suggestions to check out Pizza House in Ambridge (also called Police Station Pizza)- another shop that focuses on square, by-the-slice pies.

But rather than adding toppings after the pizza bakes for a cold / warm hybrid, this one ensures your meal is hot the whole way through with only a small sprinkling of toppings after the fact (including cold cheese, if you like) making for the best of both worlds.

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A Drinking and Dining Guide to Pittsburgh’s Shadyside

Shadyside is one of those neighborhoods that we absolutely love. It is primarily residential but with a thriving business district (three, actually) that is heavily tilted to restaurants, bars, and coffee shops.

Great to live, great to visit, and home to many of our favorite spots in the city. As such, we thought we should share them in this neighborhood guide!

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Learning to Curl at the Pittsburgh Curling Club in McKees Rocks

Curling is one of those sports we've always wanted to try, but never really had the chance. We've tried toned-down variants of the sport in the past at places like Sliders Curling (a seasonal rink outside of Lumberjaxes in Millvale), but when it came to playing via proper rules, well, we never had the opportunity.

Shortly after trying the variant out at Sliders, we heard that the Pittsburgh Curling Club was opening up a new, dedicated curling facility in McKees Rocks and would offer classes for non-members who want to get into the sport.

The facility opened up in early 2020 and we obviously all know what happened just a few weeks later. As such, it wasn't until early 2021 that we got to make it into the facility to try out the sport with their Level 1 Intro to Curling Class.

Although we are not the most athletic of people, we have to say, curling is a blast.

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Rockaway Pizzeria Review – Monster NY Style Pizzas in White Oak

You may know about our love affair with NY-style pizza in Pittsburgh. Whenever we hear about a shop serving up monster pies and slices to-go, we try and get there as soon as possible.

Rockaway Pizzeria in White Oak (about 30 minutes southeast of the city) is no different.

Normally, when we visit pizza shops, odds are good we'll visit once for a whole pie and again later on for pieces by the slice (if available). But because we had a 30-minute drive home ahead of us before enjoying this pizza, for this particular visit we did both.

Pizza for now and pizza for later? This really is the best approach when visiting Rockaway Pizzeria anyway.

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Alquisiras Paleteria Review – Mexican Cuisine and Paletas

Alquisiras Paleteria is an unassuming restaurant in Beechview that is known for two things- Mexican food and their namesake paletas.

But while we would encourage you to visit this one for traditional Mexican fare like tostadas, tacos, or tortas, we do have to strongly encourage you to always grab a paleta (or three) when visiting here.

Their namesake popsicles are a winner.

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Nak Won Garden Review – Large Korean Menu in Shadyside

As huge fans of Korean food, we have one rule whenever we order this cuisine from a restaurant or food truck- make it a feast. This rule works well as it brings back all the fond memories we had when indulging in all the food we tried when traveling around the country in 2019. 

Our first visit to Nak Won Garden in Shadyside followed this mindset perfectly, and their rather large menu of Korean staples made this one easy to go a bit overboard.

We had no regrets.

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Brassero Grill Review – Loaded Burritos and Tacos in Braddock

We always love it when Pittsburgh food trucks turn into restaurants, and one of the first ones we remember opening a store (since founding this site, at least) was Brassero Grill. This one traded their wheels for a brick and mortar in Braddock in 2017, just a few doors down from Brew Gentlemen brewery, and since then hasn't looked back.

On a recent beer run to the brewery, we swung by the restaurant to pick up some of their delicious burritos to go. But it was the side of taquitos that really stole the show here!

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