Sharing The Best of Pittsburgh and Southwest Pennsylvania
We're suckers for a good wine bar, and it didn't take long after 23rd & Vine opened in Pittsburgh's South Side for us to make it in for a couple of flights of wine.
While this one is heavily tilted to a few regional producers in Italy and California, we have to admit we loved the variety in the wine list here and can see returning many, many times in the future.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.