Sharing The Best of Pittsburgh and Southwest Pennsylvania
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.
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!
If you've ever driven up McKnight Road, you have likely noticed Taj Mahal and possibly did not give it a second thought. But this rather unassuming Indian restaurant in the North Hills is worth abandoning your original plans, pulling a u-turn, and stopping for a meal.
In fact, to say this particular spot has a die-hard following who would do just this is an understatement. It is incredibly popular, and whether you visit for their buffet or to place a dinner order for takeaway, be prepared for a crowd.
We do not always need an incredibly fancy meal when we go out to eat in Pittsburgh. Sometimes we just want the staples, done right, in a fast-casual environment. When it comes to breakfast, Father's Diner in the North Side checks a lot of these boxes for us- simple breakfast items made with good ingredients served fast.
Wholey's in the Strip District is a feast for the senses in every corner of the store. Whether you're in the seafood section, meat department, or simply checking out the produce this one certainly has a lot to look over. Naturally, we walk through this one just about every time we are in the neighborhood.
But one of our favorite parts of Wholey's is the very first thing you see when walking in- Andy's Sushi Bar.
This staple sushi bar not only serves up some of the finest sushi in Pittsburgh, but is manned by one of the nicest guys you'll meet. So while you'll be visiting this one because of its sushi, you'll be returning, in part, because of Andy himself.
When walking around the Strip District in early 2021, we noticed some changes in front of Reyna's grocery store. Their short-order taco stand was replaced by a Colombina arepa stand. As we are just as crazy about arepas as we are tacos, it didn't take long for us to place an order.
But, as it turns out, Colombino is not just an arepa stand, but rather a coffee and cacao bar that also serves arepas.
This one is truly the best of all worlds, and in the span of 36 hours, we visited this one twice. It is that good.
If you ever look up reviews on where to get sushi in Pittsburgh, odds are good Mount Everest Sushi in Oakland is likely to appear.
We've seen this one pop up as a recommended spot time and time again, but it was only recently that we made a trip out to Oakland specifically to try this one out.
It didn't take long after looking at their menu to realize one very important detail you should know upfront- Mount Everest Sushi is quite reasonably priced. But it wasn't until we picked up our order to go that we realized that the portions are quite large too!
Although Pittsburgh is home to one of the highest number of pizza shops per capita in the country, we could always use more.
When we heard that Pizza Lupo opened up in Lawrenceville in December 2020, we knew we had to get in as fast as possible to try it out. This was especially true after we saw photos of the pies as they seemed right up our alley.
We quickly placed an order and were not let down with what we got.
Casa Brasil located in Highland Park is a cozy neighborhood restaurant cooking up traditional Brazilian food in a casual atmosphere. With occasional specials, weekend feijoada stews, and a respectable number of vegan options, Casa Brasil does a fantastic job showcasing the variety and deliciousness of Brazilian food.
Naturally, we had to order a feast when we visited.
If you've spent any amount of time on this site, specifically on our Pittsburgh restaurant reviews database, you would know that the Eastern European vegan joint Apteka is one of our favorites. While we are not vegans ourselves, we absolutely adore the intense and often rich flavor profiles this restaurant can get out of their dishes (they also have what could possibly be the best pierogi in the city, but we'll leave you to decide that one).
One thing Apteka does that we think is pretty awesome is having a periodic special menu of “junk food” (burgers and fries) that they aptly named Crapteka.
We should reiterate- their name, not ours.
This limited popup takes over the Apteka menu from time to time, but for several years we never made it in for any number of reasons. But in January 2021 the restaurant changed their entire menu over to the Crapteka theme for the month and we got an order on the first day before they inevitably sold out (in 30 minutes).
All we have to say is these vegan burgers are fantastic- if you can't get your hands on one at least.