Neighborhood Guide

Oakland Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

Oakland is one of the most bustling neighborhoods in Pittsburgh thanks to being home to several universities, even more hospitals, and a strong residential community- primarily students.

As such, Oakland offers a unique dynamic as far as Pittsburgh neighborhoods are concerned in that it is busy at all hours of the day and has a wealth of attractions and restaurants worth checking out.

So let's share some of our favorite spots in this neighborhood guide!

Note: Oakland is a neighborhood whose businesses are often in flux. As such, businesses may change faster than we can keep up with. If you spot a place that has closed, please contact us.

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Downtown Pittsburgh Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

Downtown Pittsburgh has come a long way over the years, and aside from being the economic center of the city (and truly, of southwestern Pennsylvania), the neighborhood that we would call downtown proper features a number of restaurants, activities, and attractions suitable for visitors of all ages and interests.

To share some of our own personal favorites, this guide to things to do in downtown Pittsburgh was born!

As with all our guides, it is worth noting that the following is not a collection of every business in downtown Pittsburgh. This one only features businesses we personally visit, enjoy, or are planning to visit in the near future. As such, it should only be taken as a starting point. If you see something interesting while walking around downtown Pittsburgh, do yourself a favor and check it out!

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Shadyside Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

Shadyside is one of those neighborhoods that we absolutely love. It is primarily residential but with a thriving business district (three, actually) that is heavily tilted to restaurants, bars, and coffee shops.

Great to live, great to visit, and home to many of our favorite spots in the city. As such, we thought we should share them in this neighborhood guide!

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Bloomfield Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

Bloomfield in central Pittsburgh grew to be known as Pittsburgh's Little Italy in the 20th century; however, the neighborhood's recent revival has seen many non-Italian restaurants, bars, and more move in. This has resulted in a diversification of the vibrant business district along Liberty Avenue full of many spots we absolutely love- Italian or otherwise.

So, in this neighborhood guide, we wanted to share a few of our favorite restaurants, bars, and coffee shops in Bloomfield you should check out!

As with all of our neighborhood guides, this feature is not a collection of all of the businesses you can find in Bloomfield but rather a cross-section of spots we love and other crowd favorites. As we visit more businesses, we'll update this guide accordingly!

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Garfield and Friendship Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

The neighborhoods of Garfield and Friendship are located in central Pittsburgh and bridge the gap between neighborhoods like Lawrenceville and East Liberty.

While these neighborhoods may have a smaller list of attractions and amenities compared to others in the city, they have been growing rapidly in recent years with artist spaces, restaurants, and more moving in. So we wanted to share some of our favorites in this neighborhood guide!

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Laurel Highlands Guide – Must-See Attractions and Parks

When it comes to day trips from Pittsburgh, we are fortunate to have a number of great options to consider. If you head east out of the city you come to one of our favorite parts of the state, the Laurel Highlands. 

From New Kensington to the north and Ohiopyle to the South, the region known as the Laurel Highlands covers three counties in southwest Pennsylvania and truly has a lot to see.

In this guide, we break down just about everything you need to know when exploring this gorgeous part of Pennsylvania!

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South Side Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

Pittsburgh's South Side is often known as its bar crawl neighborhood, and you do not need to spend much time exploring this one to understand why that is- the bars are everywhere.

While this one is incredibly popular for college kids looking for a cheap drink and anyone in need of a night out with libations, there is actually quite a bit going on in the neighborhood beyond your typical bar. For us, while we visit this one for a periodic adult beverage ourselves, we often visit for other reasons, and wanted to highlight some of our favorite attractions, restaurants, and of course, bars in this neighborhood guide!

It is worth noting that the following is not a collection of every business in South Side. This article only features businesses that we personally visit when we explore the neighborhood. As such, it should only be taken as a starting point and is certainly not a list of every establishment. If you see an interesting business while exploring the South Side, do yourself a favor and go inside!

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East Liberty Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

If there is any neighborhood in Pittsburgh that has changed the most in the last few years, it would be East Liberty.

The neighborhood is the poster child for gentrification and is now home to luxury lofts, numerous restaurants, and easy access to the growing tech hub in Bakery Square in nearby Larimer (although tenants there like to call themselves part of East Liberty partly due to association-by-gentrification).

While we could spend a long time discussing the gentrification of neighborhoods like these (we encourage it in the comments!), in our neighborhood guide series we want to take a look at what East Liberty is now and highlight the history and some of the spots we visit when exploring the neighborhood- namely the restaurants and a few limited attractions.

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Lawrenceville Neighborhood Guide – Attractions and Dining

If there is any neighborhood in Pittsburgh that would be the perfect case study for a revival, Lawrenceville would be it. In just under 10 years the neighborhood went from being one you likely never stepped foot in (let alone drove through), to becoming a hipster mecca, to being so trendy it is beyond hipster, and is now one of the most popular neighborhoods in all of Pittsburgh for visitors with all interests.

As Lawrenceville has grown to be a shopping, eating, and drinking hot spot, our neighborhood guide was created to cover our very favorite spots in each category!

As with all of our neighborhood guides, this is not a complete list of everything in Lawrenceville. It is simple a guide to places we personally visit when exploring the neighborhood. If your favorite is not included, it is likely that we have not checked it out yet. If this is the case, please comment at the end of this post and we'll happily check it out on our next visit!

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The Quest to Explore all 90 Pittsburgh Neighborhoods

Duquesne Incline and Pittsburgh's Skyline

Since founding Discover the Burgh, we've made it our mission to do everything Pittsburgh has to throw at us. From eating at all the great Pittsburgh restaurants, visiting all the museums, to exploring the many public spaces and hiking trails (to name a few), we've tried to live by the mindset of if it is there, we want to check it out.

Naturally, one of our goals along these lines was to visit all 90 Pittsburgh neighborhoods and find the highlights in each of them.

While we have visited all 90 neighborhoods multiple times throughout the years, we are still working our way to finding something unique in each of them as many are primarily residential. That being said, to date we have found unique highlights in 67 neighborhoods which is nothing to scoff at.

In this guide we wanted to share one recommendation for each neighborhood we've found something awesome in so far.

Are you ready to go exploring?

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