Wild Rosemary closed in October 2025.
We always love a good prix fixe dinner experience, as they can make for a great way to taste around a restaurant's menu.
But some restaurants only offer prix fixe dining, and Wild Rosemary in Upper Saint Clair is one such spot. But they take this one even further by serving things family style, meaning you are in for a fun evening with new friends, and a whole lot of food.
So check the monthly menu to see what is on, and dive into the feast here!
Senza closed in July 2025.
Senza is a cozy and welcoming restaurant in Etna serving up seasonal, scratch-made dishes during regular dinner hours on the weekends as well as during Sunday brunch and ticketed dinner club events.
The dishes here are comforting, the flavor combinations are unique, and the hospitality is off the charts. The environment is so welcoming that a meal here feels like dining at your best friend's house- if that friend was a creative, talented chef, of course.
It appears that Butler Ballooning ceased operations in June 2025.
We've been fortunate enough to take a hot air balloon ride in Tanzania, and we always wondered what a flight in the Pittsburgh region would be like.
In 2024, we got to find out that Butler Ballooning opened up just north of the city to provide sunrise hot air balloon rides high above Butler County.
We were guests of Butler Ballooning to check out what a flight is like shortly after this one opened, and we have to admit, this one is quite the experience well worth getting up early for!
The Roundabout Popup was taken over by East End Brewing in 2024 and Smoketoberfest is set to return on October 18th in 2025. This review is from a Smoketoberfest hosted by Roundabout. While we expect the upcoming event to be the same, some details may be different.
When Roundabout Brewery announced that they were closing their Lawrenceville location, we were pretty bummed. Thankfully, this one did not entirely cease operations and went to remote brewing to continue hosting its seasonal Roundabout Popup space on the North Shore River Trail.
Naturally, their end-of-season event, Smoketoberfest, also remained to celebrate all things fall with fun, friends, beer, and a whole lot of smoked food from some of the best food trucks in Pittsburgh.
We had missed attending this one for many years due to seemingly always being out of town, but after visiting Smoketoberfest for the 10th annual event in 2023, we can see we made a big mistake missing out all those years!
The Asian Lantern Festival is not returning in 2024. We are unaware if this one will return in future years.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is known for putting on many events throughout the year, and in 2023 they are bringing back one of their most popular events- the Asian Lantern Festival running on Thursday to Sunday nights through October 29th!
We were fortunate enough to visit the Seoul Lantern Festival when visiting South Korea in 2019 and absolutely loved the large, ornate, and colorful paper sculptures that lined Cheonggyecheon Stream in the heart of the city (see some of our favorites over at our travel blog at the previous link).
Naturally, when we heard that the Pittsburgh Zoo was going to host their own lantern festival, we knew we had to attend. We love this one so much that we return back to check out every year's show right after opening in early August.
In this one, we thought we'd share a bit more about what the Asian Lantern Festival at the zoo is like in 2023, share a few of our favorite pieces, and give some tips to help you plan your visit for this limited-time show.
This one should go without saying, but we love lamb. It is one of our favorite meats, and we are spoiled here in western Pennsylvania to have so many fantastic producers that raise lambs.
As such, it should be no surprise that there is a festival that celebrates all things lamb, and the Western PA Lamb Fest does that and then some at the annual event!
At this time, we're not sure if Kayak Pittsburgh is operating the Sharpsburg launch any longer. Check out Kayak Pittsburgh's downtown dock by the convention center!
For many years, Kayak Pittsburgh operated a rental location right on the Allegheny River just below the Roberto Clemente Bridge on the North Side. We always tried to get a rental here, but the days we were free often were met with extreme heat or super high river levels (read: incredibly fast flow) such that we missed our chance before they closed.
So when the company moved upstream to a new location at the James Sharp Landing in Sharpsburg in 2022, we knew we had to go as soon as it opened.
Lawrenceville Distilling is closing its operations in Lawrenceville and moving to Verona in the future.
Lawrenceville Distilling started making craft spirits in their namesake neighborhood in 2018. Since then, their popularity increased quite a bit to the point that they were awarded the title of Pennsylvania's Gin Distillery in 2019 and Absinthe Distillery in 2020 by the New York International Spirits Competition.
Unfortunately for us, we only made it into this gem of a distillery (tucked away off of the booming Butler Street) in late 2021. While we would still say that this one only has a few spirits available to purchase, their cocktail program and resident food pop-up make for a delightful night out all around.
40 North closed in July 2024.
40 North is the newest restaurant concept in the Alphabet City space located in the North Side. With James Beard Award-nominee Bethany Zozula at the helm, the restaurant features local and seasonal cuisine that both comforts and inspires.
When we heard Zozula was going to lead 40 North we had high hopes for this space that has seen its share of restaurants come and go over the past few years. Zozula was most recently the chef at the now-closed Whitfield, a standout spot for steaks and weekend brunch.
While the menu at 40 North is decidedly new, fans of the Whitfield will likely find much to love here. Entrees include simple but well-executed preparations of steaks, fish, and chicken, while the sides and appetizers make use of seasonal produce with middle eastern and Eastern European flavors sprinkled in.
Carmi Express closed in 2025.
Long a North Side institution, Carmi Soul Food was previously located on Western Avenue, relocated to South Side, and now has opened a second location dubbed Carmi Express back in the North Side (on Federal). Although Carmi Express is a takeout only joint, it still satisfies our cravings for chicken and waffles, barbecue, and other classic soul food.