The North Side eagerly welcomed Badamo's Pizza to Federal Street in December 2017. This pie shop already has a well-established following and location in the South Hills, and as North Siders ourselves we are extremely excited to have another great pizza option in our neighborhood.
NorthSide
Federal Galley Review – A Stellar Restaurant Incubator
Federal Galley follows in its sister restaurant's (Smallman Galley, now closed) footsteps in that it is a restaurant incubator that features four chefs in a food hall format.
Each chef receives a small stall in which to prepare their meals and has a contract for a variable length of time that will allow the galley to rotate new chefs in and out over the years. If you were a fan of Smallman Galley in the Strip District, then this one is for you.
Much like our review for its sister restaurant, we visited Federal Galley no fewer than five times after opening and in this review will be breaking down our meals from each chef individually!
MCG Jazz – A Hidden Gem for Live Music in the North Side
MCG Jazz is a hidden gem at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild on the North Side, hosting live jazz concerts each year in a season that runs from fall through spring. These concerts bring in some of the best names in jazz today, from vocalists to instrumentalists, and from Broadway stars to Grammy Award winners.
Despite living a few blocks from this one for several years, we never knew it existed until a coworker told us about it. Naturally, we bought tickets right away.
Threadbare Review – Local Ciders and Artisan Pizza in the North Side
Threadbare Cider House in the North Side is the brainchild of the folks at Wigle Whiskey, arguably Pittsburgh's most famous local distiller.
When wanting to branch out into a new venture, the owners stumbled upon the history of Johnny Appleseed (or John Chapman by his real name)- a rather eccentric fellow who, in the late-1700s/early-1800s, wandered around the region, preached conservation and planted nurseries to be tended to by locals (giving rise to the modern legend), and spreading the gospel far and wide.
Some stories of his travels had him based near Pittsburgh for a while (possibly even during the famous Whiskey Rebellion that Wigle proudly promotes), and when the owners realized this the idea for Threadbare came to life. Fast forward a few years, and they are now ramping up production of fine ciders made with locally sourced apples and are serving them at their North Side production facility along with stellar artisan pizzas.
Shortly before opening, our friends at Wigle gave us a call and invited us down to try out their menu- and sample the menu we did. Between three separate visits we had just about everything they offer!
Tequila Cowboy Pittsburgh Review – Where Every Night is Country Night
Tequila Cowboy is a country-themed bar on the North Shore that features a mechanical bull, karaoke room, and live country music.
This spot is perfect for those who like to sing and dance to country music when they go out- be it for a birthday or bachelorette party or even for varied drink specials with a lively ambiance.
It's also the kind of place that most people will either love or hate.
And we can safely say that we sway towards the latter.
Pittsburgh Children’s Museum 21+ Night – Being a Kid Again
One museum we've always wanted to visit in Pittsburgh, but had few to no opportunities to check out, is the Children's Museum. As adults without kids (or kids we can adopt as defacto parents for an afternoon), we always felt uneasy with the idea of going to this one on our own.
Our problems were solved when one of the museum's quarterly 21+ night events came about, and we put on our detective hats and went to work as the Murder Mystery theme ensured that all of us became a kid again- for one night at least.
North Side Music Festival – Three Days of Music
The North Side Music Festival takes place each July in Pittsburgh's North Side and features hundreds of bands, dozens of stages throughout the region (most in Deutschtown, giving the event the former name the Deutschtown Music Fesitval), food trucks, art and other vendors, and so much more.
In fact, there is so much to see in this three-day event you really plan to spend the entire day down at the festival to get the most out of it!
Imbibe Northside – Local Beer and Contemporary Art Combine
We've been in the habit of checking out many of Pittsburgh's beer tours and beer events in Pittsburgh recently, and one of our favorites so far is also one of the newest: Imbibe Northside.
This event is the brainchild of the team over at the soon-to-open War Streets Brewery and is hosted at the Mattress Factory museum of contemporary art.
If that combo isn't enough to pique your interest, the other dozen or so breweries, wineries, and distilleries in attendance will definitely do the trick.
Huszar Bacon Roast – A New Tradition in the North Side
Close your eyes and imagine the perfect camp fire. If you're like us, and everyone in the United States without an Eastern European heritage, you are probably thinking of marshmallows roasting on a stick.
But if you are fortunate enough to have Eastern European family, especially those from Hungary, you may be envisioning something a bit different- a bacon roast.
The premise is exactly the same as making S'mores over a fire, but swaps the marshmallows for pork belly, and the graham crackers and chocolate for bread and vegetables, to make what could be the ultimate sandwich.
It wasn't until we were invited out to the North Side Hungarian bar and restaurant Huszar for their annual roast that we knew this was a thing, and we'll never look at camp fires the same way again.
Holiday Inn Express Pittsburgh Review – Approachable Hotel
The Holiday Inn Pittsburgh North Shore shocked us, there is no other way to put it.
This budget friendly hotel in Pittsburgh's North Side offers a perfect location to the city, PNC Park, and, the one thing we did not know about before our visit, an incredible view of the Pittsburgh skyline!