Pick any city in the world, and odds are good there are a few ghost stories to be told. Pittsburgh is no different, and the city once described as “hell with the lid off” is said to be just as haunted as the rest.
To seek out the city's supernatural side, we booked a tour with Haunted Pittsburgh to learn about some of downtown Pittsburgh's most famous hauntings.
If you are a music fan who grew up in Pittsburgh over the last 50 years, odds are good you know the name Johnny Angel. Throughout the decades, Johnny built an impressive career that continues to this very day. His current band, Johnny Angel and the Halos, can be found around the region performing songs from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond.
As you can imagine, throughout his career Johnny amassed an impressive collection of memorabilia from his own shows and experiences in the music industry.
To showcase these, Johnny decided to put everything on display for the public at his store Johnny Angel's Ginchy Stuff – a North Side staple that moved to its new home next door to the iconic Bicycle Heaven in 2016.
When it comes to unique Pittsburgh houses, be it the historical or downright weird, this city is full of them. Unfortunately, many of these houses are private residences that are not open to the public, which makes fully appreciating them somewhat tricky.
Throughout our quest to experience the many things to do in Pittsburgh, we've visited a number of the unique houses in the city and have fallen in love with several of them.
In this guide we wanted to share some of our favorites that you can also go visit!
This guide only features Pittsburgh houses we've personally toured. If you are looking for more details about each house, click the link inside the description to be taken to our full review. When we find more properties to explore in the future, we will update this guide accordingly!
Note: Most every house in this guide requires advanced reservations. Many do not accept walk-up visitors.
When I go out exploring in and around Pittsburgh, one of the things I like to do is look at the map and see what kind of public parks and spaces are near me. More often than not these turn out to be simple playgrounds or parklets that do not warrant an article, but every once in a while I discover something amazing that I never knew was there.
The Thornburg conservation area is one of those places, and after visiting this one I can safely say that I look forward to returning many times in the future.
Throughout its history, Pittsburgh has been known for a lot of things. The city was host to George Washington on multiple occasions, the departure point of Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition, home to America's early glass industry, and the world's leading supplier of iron and steel- and that is before even getting to the 20th century.
Although these are all incredible in their own right, it is the steel industry in Pittsburgh that made the city famous the world over.
In its prime, Pittsburgh was producing thousands of tons of steel per day- more than half of the entire output of all factories in the United States combined- and boasted a staggering number of mills located along the city's rivers. But by the 1980s this all changed- the steel industry went bust, nearly all of the factories were shut down, and Pittsburgh went through one of the largest depressions from which it only recently emerged.
Since then, most of the factories have been demolished and replaced with new industries. But a small portion of one massive factory, the iron-producing Carrie Furnaces, was rescued by the Rivers of Steel Heritage Foundation and turned into a historical site for future generations to come and learn about how the Steel City got its name.
Looking back at Pittsburgh's history, you come across many world famous industrial and business magnates who had a large presence in the city: Carnegie, Frick, Heinz, Westinghouse, and Mellon are just a few you may have heard of.
As their fame was spread to the corners of the world, their wealth at home grew, and so did their local estates.
In other cities these estates would likely have been handed over to foundations to ensure they stand the test of time, but in Pittsburgh many have been demolished over the years. Out of all of the famous Pittsbughers listed above, the estate of only one businessman, Henry Clay Frick, still stands- and it is kept in working order exactly as it was left as a part of the Frick Collection.
In many cases, weekend guides in popular cities focus on the main attractions that you should see and do. We enjoy these (and even wrote about them all in our first time in Pittsburgh weekend guide), but more often than not they leave us wondering what else a city has to offer outside of the iconic spots.
For our weekend guide series, we wanted to look at Pittsburgh from different perspectives. To do this we put together what we think are awesome itineraries for those who are on a mission to dive deep into just one aspect of the city.
For our outdoors weekend in Pittsburgh guide, we wanted to share some of our favorite outdoor spots in and around the city, all while keeping some of the major highlights in mind that you'd expect to visit during a weekend to Pittsburgh.
Note: Unlike other guides in this series, we know that going outdoors for a long hike can be rather exhausting. As such, we've built more downtime into this guide so you can relax or explore nearby attractions and Pittsburgh neighborhoods on your own.
There are some experiences in any city that come along once in a blue moon, and then there are some that are even rarer than that.
Despite the number of Pirates games we've attended over the years, enjoying the game from a VIP suite was one of those rare experiences we were only recently able to have.
But be warned– once you attend a game in a VIP Suite, PNC Park will never be the same again.
When you hear the word teppanyaki, your first thoughts are probably about those horribly themed hibachi restaurants that are available in just about any city in the country.
I'm here to report that the Japanese restaurant Teppanyaki Kyoto in Highland Park is not that.
What this restaurant is, however, is one of the most authentic Japanese establishments you'll find in Pittsburgh. As someone who has eaten his way around Japan, and loves just about everything there is about the country, it is high praise when I say that Teppanyaki Kyoto does it right.
But as much as Teppanyaki Kyoto offers an incredible menu full of Japanese items you may never have tried, the real gem of this restaurant is one particular dish: okonomiyaki– my favorite Japanese food of all.
Note: In fall 2021, Monterey Pub reopened with new owners. We have not visited since the pub was purchased. The below review is from a visit with the previous owners. As such, things may be different now. We will update this review once we return for another visit!
Tucked among the quaint row houses in the Mexican War Streets, Monterey Pub is exactly the kind of neighborhood watering hole you'd expect it to be: it's the kind of place with regulars, wooden booths, and dark corners.
But it's also got a few delicious tricks up its sleeve, including a great food menu full of Irish pub fare, burgers, salads, and sandwiches.