Year: 2024

Braddock’s Battlefield History Center Connects Early History

You are likely familiar with how the British and French fought for control of the confluence in what is now downtown Pittsburgh during the French and Indian War in the 1750s.

Many local battles took place during the war, including the Battle of Jumonville Glen at Fort Necessity (where George Washington is thought to have inadvertently been responsible for starting hostilities), the Braddock Campaign's devastating loss at the Battle of Monongahela, the subsequent victory of the Forbes Campaign taking the confluence for the British (giving us the Pittsburgh we know today from Fort Ligonier to Fort Pitt), and more.

The Battle of Monongahela is memorialized in the appropriately named Braddock and North Braddock, PA, and today you can visit the battlefield site at Braddock's Battlefield History Center at the site of where the battle took place.

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E.T.A. Review – Japanese Whisky and Cocktails Downtown

We love a themed cocktail bar, and when it is run by the team behind The Warren, even better.

E.T.A is a Japanese whisky and cocktail bar that opened in The Warren's back room in early 2024. The space was where the former wine shop was located and has been a bar we've been waiting to check out for quite some time. In fact, it wasn't until our friend Alex Eats Too Much stumbled upon this one on opening week that we even found it was close to opening at all. 

Naturally, we visited right away.

Whether you are visiting for whisky, a highball, one of their inventive house cocktails, or even a modest food menu, there really is a lot to enjoy about E.T.A.!

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The Brinery Review – Massive Sandwiches and More

In mid-2024, The Brinery published that they are now no longer affiliated with the Bridge City Brinery and Smashery trucks. We have not updated this review to account for this change as of now.

If you are a fan of Pittsburgh food trucks the way we are, odds are good you are familiar with Bridge City Brinery and their spinoff burger concept, The Smashery. 

These trucks have been taking the city by storm with some of the finest, massive sandwiches we have had the pleasure to eat, and we have been known to go out of our way to find them specifically when the craving for a good sandwich hits.

As it seems to be a trend of food trucks opening up brick-and-mortar restaurants, it should be no surprise that in early 2024, the team of this particular truck opened up a dedicated restaurant, The Brinery, in Sharpsburg!

Naturally, we had to make our way over as soon as possible after opening to give them a try.

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3 Solar Eclipse Parties in Pittsburgh on April 8th

Inner solar corona seen during an eclipse

Solar eclipses are rare treats when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, and even rarer to see here in Pittsburgh!

While we are not going to be able to see the total eclipse in its full glory, Pittsburgh is still set to receive quite the impressive show all the same with a 97% magnitude (coverage) viewing.

In fact, April 8th, 2024 is going to be your last chance for twenty years to have the opportunity to see a total eclipse in the country as the next total eclipse won't occur in the United States until 2044 (in the northwest) and our region will not see one again until 2079 in eastern PA and 2099 in Ohio and the extreme southwest of PA!

Suffice it to say, when we say now is your chance, we really mean it. So in this one, we thought we'd share more information about the looming eclipse, where you have to travel to to see it in full totality, and share a few fun eclipse parties that are taking place right here in the city!

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Fet Fisk Review – Stellar Nordic Dining in Bloomfield

Fet Fisk is a new restaurant in Bloomfield featuring delightful Nordic cuisine with an old school yet trendy vibe.

As Fet Fisk has been around for several years now, its offerings have morphed from pandemic era takeout to pates and spreads at farmers' markets to pop-up dinners where reservations consistently booked up within minutes of being announced.

The culmination has been a James Beard nomination for Chef Nik Forsberg and one of the most highly anticipated restaurant openings in Pittsburgh in quite some time. We were fortunate to dine here on a soft open weekend and were thrilled at the way the menu feels familiar yet special.

Ingredients not typically found on Pittsburgh menus weave their way into a mesmerizing array of downright delicious plates. To top it off, the service is a pure delight!

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Dee Jay’s BBQ Review – West Virginia Staple Moves East

We are quite spoiled to have so many wonderful barbecue restaurants in Pittsburgh, and more keep coming out onto the scene with each passing year.

One famous barbecue spot we have been told about again and again since founding this site was Weirton, West Virginia, based Dee Jay's BBQ for their wildly popular ribs.

Admittedly, as our blog here focuses on southwest Pennsylvania, we have to admit we never featured them despite having visited in the past. But now that Dee Jay's has expanded with restaurants in Pennsylvania, now is the time. So on a trip down to Washington, PA, we made a stop at a location there for a brunch full of barbecue!

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Barcelona Wine Bar Review – Spanish Tapas and Wine Downtown

Barcelona Wine Bar is a new addition to the downtown Pittsburgh drinking and dining scene offering small plates and a huge selection of wine by the glass. Although it's a national chain, we absolutely love the concept of Barcelona Wine Bar- snacking our way through a meal and sampling Spanish and South American wines is our idea of a great night out.

Occupying the former Sharp Edge space on Penn Ave., Barcelona Wine Bar has completed a stunning reservation of the space; the decor suggests the kind of high end wine bar you might find in a much larger city. A long bar with sleek pendant lights runs the length of the space, with large, comfy booths beside the bar, and an adjacent room offers a larger dining space with tables.

Both the food and wine menus here are pretty extensive- it took us a while to take it all in and make decisions, as we truly wanted to order some of everything!

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Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show – Spring or Fall?

Ever since buying a house, we've been inundated with projects left and right. At times, it is really hard to know where to even begin as our list of improvements seems never ending.

So we've been heading to the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show at the convention center for their spring and fall shows to get ideas.

These events are quite massive and feature hundreds upon hundreds of local vendors covering everything from general contract work to gutter sales and everything in between.

While we'll be the first to admit that the spring show is the one to be at, if you are looking to get ideas for a future home improvement project, this one may need to be on your radar!

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5 Pittsburgh Museum Discounts You May Not Be Aware Of

We love our great Pittsburgh museums and try to visit them as often as possible.

But we'll be the first to admit that sometimes the admission costs can be fairly expensive. While this often drives us to purchase a membership for year-round access, often at the cost of just two or three visits to any museum in a year, we know this luxury is not available to everyone.

So, in this one, we thought we'd look at popular museums that typically charge admission and share more details on when you can potentially visit for free or for a significantly discounted ticket!

Note: Free or discounted opportunities at area museums can change rather quickly. As always, we recommend reconfirming the offer directly with each museum before visiting to ensure the opportunity is still available. Likewise, this article only focuses on traditionally ticketed attractions that offer free or discounted opportunities to visit. For some of our favorite free things to do in Pittsburgh, including some museums that are perpetually free, click the previous link.

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The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum Offers Good Family Fun

We often lament the fact that Pittsburgh no longer has trolleys. The closest we have these days is The T, and due to its limited operating area, is only really useful for a few neighborhoods in the city (and beyond).

For those nostalgic for days when trolley transportation was the norm, you are in luck- The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington shares the history of this transportation method with informative and interactive exhibits and a massive collection of trolley cars in their showroom.

But for those looking for even more, this one comes with a fun twist- you can even ride one of the historic trolley during your visit!

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