We always love it when several brands collaborate for something greater than the sum of the parts. Unspeakable does just that with Vietnamese influences from Ineffable Ca Phe and select spirits from Noire Distillery next door, all with a speakeasy vibe.
A cocktail bar with Asian elements, local spirits, and well-executed drinks? We're in for this combo!
We have a soft spot for all things Oktoberfest, and after getting to enjoy the celebration in Munich for its wild party, we love checking out all of the Pittsburgh Oktoberfest celebrations that take place throughout September (and spill into October).
As there are no shortage of events taking place in breweries and other public places, we thought we would share a few of the top Oktoberfest events you may want to consider. Prost!
There is a lot to love about Pittsburgh distilleries and locally-made spirits. From the numerous options to the great local grains and products sourced, those who love a good cocktail are truly spoiled when it comes to all things local drinking.
In the past, we've liked to highlight the distilleries themselves that we have visited over the years. But in this one, we wanted to shift and look at the spirits as there are five bottles made in Pittsburgh and southwest Pennsylvania that we always seem to have on hand in our home bar.
Western Pennsylvania has always been a hot spot for whiskey. Since the country's early days, the region has been producing (and aging) whiskey using local grains to end up with a spirit unlike those found elsewhere.
Liberty Pole Spirits embraces this history by doing the same for their business with the added benefit of modern technology.
The ingredients are all local, many recipes are unique to historical Western Pennsylvania distilling, and the tasting room is a throwback to the history of the Whiskey Rebellion- one of the region's most infamous events surrounding alcohol which took place shortly after independence from the British.
This all comes together to make one unique family-run business that should be on everyone's radar.
Note: In 2023, Liberty Pole Spirits expanded to a new location in Washington, PA, with a larger tasting room, a proper rickhouse, and a stunning production space.
City Winery has been taking the entertainment world by storm with its unique combination of being one part winery, one part entertainment complex.
While City Winery has been operating in several major cities in the USA for many years now, their first Pittsburgh location opened right in the heart of the Strip District in the Terminal building complex in 2023.
Wine, live entertainment, and late-night hours in the Strip? We're in for that!
From the moment you arrive at Commerce Bar in East Liberty, you know you'll be getting the full speakeasy experience.
That is because to even access this one you need to make your way to a back alley behind a popular stretch of restaurants and seek out the door to the bar. We could tell you which door, but where is the fun in that? (The end of this article will have a hint.)
Once you enter, the fun of this bar begins.
When we first visited Sly Fox Brewing, it was for their downtown Pittsburgh location just steps away from Point State Park.
To put it bluntly, we were not fans.
While the beer was true-to-form for their traditional styles, we just generally thought the space was small, cramped even when the patio was closed, and wasn't the kind of place we would make a dedicated trip downtown to enjoy. If you work nearby it is great for a quick round, but we just never found ourselves prioritizing a second visit.
Thankfully, Sly Fox Brewing has opened a second location in Pittsburgh, at the stunning Highline in South Side (close to Station Square right on the Great Allegheny Passage), and has quickly become one of our favorite spots for beer in Pittsburgh!
We're just going to be upfront here- Pittsburgh isn't known for being a late-night city.
Part of this is cultural- the demand for late-night entertainment simply is not great (yet). Another part is due to local laws- late-night serving is often heavily restricted. Furthermore, many of our popular business districts are also nestled within residential neighborhoods where noise ordinances cause businesses to close earlier than they'd otherwise like. And yet another part is simply that those who do want a nighttime vibe almost always head to South Side.
That being said, the late-night scene in Pittsburgh is changing for the better, so in this one we thought we'd share a few great activities you may want to check out after the clock strikes midnight!
Notes: While we always recommend reconfirming hours before visiting any place shared on our site, this is especially important for late-night spots. Hours can and do change faster than even we can keep up with. One spot may be open with food service til 5 am one week, then suddenly change to 2 am, 11 pm, or 8 pm the next (the original Primanti Brothers in the Strip District is a great example- it was once 24/7 but as of publication now closes at midnight). Finally, as always, if your late-night outing involves alcohol, please be responsible and Uber or have a designated driver.
Barcadia opened in 2022 as a second-floor concept for The Market Exchange (this later expanded to take over the Market Exchange space). This bar boasts several dozen games (a mix of pinball and arcade games), a bar, and access to a backroom speakeasy with separate bar menu to name a few.
For our first visit, we had a bit of time before a dinner reservation downtown and decided to pop by to play a few games with an alcoholic beverage. While I want to tell you that we liked our brief time at Barcadia, I have to admit, there were several misses here.
If you're like us, you were probably pretty sad to hear that the Allegheny Overlook was not returning for another season in 2022. This pop-up space on Fort Duquesne Blvd was a relaxing hangout spot with food trucks, great views of the Allegheny River and PNC Park, and, perhaps most importantly, beer flowing from one of our favorite breweries- Braddock-based Brew Gentlemen.
While we still lament this closure, there is good news in that Brew Gentlemen is sticking around downtown Pittsburgh in the summer of 2022 with a new pop-up beer garden at Steel Plaza on Grant Street!
Naturally, we had to check this one out shortly after it opened for the season and share a bit more about what to expect at this one.