When we heard that Proper Brick Oven had a wood-fired oven for making their pizzas, we knew we had to check the place out. You pretty much can’t go wrong with a pie baked in one of those.
On our recent visit the pizza didn’t disappoint, but nearly everything else was uninspiring at best- even the service.
From the name alone, The Pub Chip Shop might not sound like anything other than a greasy fish and chips place for those who have imbibed a bit too much (after all, the restaurant is located in South Side).
However, the menu is rather extensive and offers some tasty surprises that are delicious even when perfectly sober, as we were on our recent visit.
Sometime in the last few years, Squirrel Hill has turned into the Little Asia of Pittsburgh. Korean, Thai, Chinese, ramen, teppanyaki, sushi, and even Asian style baked goods- all of these foods can be found in this bustling neighborhood.
At first glance this seems a little it odd- how many different Asian restaurants do you need in just a few blocks? But we’ve been visiting these restaurants one by one, and the cool thing is that each one has a pretty specialized menu with a distinct type of cuisine that they focus on.
Everyday Noodle is one such restaurant, where the emphasis is on, you guessed it: noodles.
After a somewhat disappointing visit to Spak Brothers in Garfield, we’ve been taking pizza recommendations in Pittsburgh with a grain of salt. It wasn’t until we met up with a group of acquaintances who shared our opinion of Spak Brothers (and Pittsburgh pizza as a whole) that we started to get excited about another option they were raving about.
That pizza joint was Slice on Broadway in Beechview, and it wasn’t but an hour later that we were in our car driving out to give it a shot.
I’m going to guess that you’ve never had food from Uzbekistan. I know I hadn’t until our visit to Kavsar on Mount Washington, and I consider myself to be quite well traveled.
In fact, if you would have asked me what Uzbeki food was prior to our visit, I probably would’ve fumbled in an attempt to make something up. Now that I have tried it for myself, I can try and give describing it a shot.
I am a staunch critic of the pizza scene in Pittsburgh.
It seems like there is a standard recipe that every pizzeria in the city uses when making their pies. The crusts are all the same, the sauce is the same, and the preparation style is virtually all the same.
The pizzas are all good enough when you want a quick meal, but when you go to different shops you really can’t say much to distinguish them from each other.
Sure, there are places to get a good pizza at a restaurant that isn’t a pizzeria (La Tavola, anyone?), but when it comes to takeaway from a dedicated pizza shop the options for something astounding are few and far between.
It is because of this reason that we don’t write about most of the pizzas we order in Pittsburgh on this site as most all of them would have the same exact summary.
For us to talk about pizza it needs to be something special, and we thought Spak Brothers in Garfield would be just that.
After living in Pittsburgh for five years and eating our way through neighborhood after neighborhood, Kaya is definitively one of our favorite restaurants in the city.
The laid back yet classy Caribbean vibe, awesome bar and happy hour, one of the best burgers we’ve ever had (just about anywhere), and a creative menu with Latin American and Caribbean influences combine to make this an all-around standout restaurant.
But to truly get the best out of this great restaurant in the Strip District, you’ll have to visit at least three times.
tako closed for refurbishment in 2026. At this time we are not sure when it will re-open.
Tako in downtown Pittsburgh is a modern taco restaurant with elevated and unique takes on this classic food. We hadn’t been to tako (Japanese for octopus) in several years, so we thought we were long overdue for another meal at this hot spot.
When it comes to barbecued meat, the country of Argentina could really teach the world a thing or two.
During our travels in Argentina we devoured the country’s famous barbecue and were so enamored with it that we frequently highlight the dish of Patagonian lamb as one of the best things we’ve ever eaten. (…and if you read our full travel destination list, you’ll understand that this is truly saying something).
That being said, crafting an authentic Argentinian barbecue is not easy, and we can attest to being disappointed in most Argentinian restaurants that try to produce this country’s iconic food outside of South America. As you can imagine, we had mixed emotions going into our visit to Gaucho Parrilla Argentina.
On one hand the reviews we’ve seen were all fantastic, but on the other hand we have a long history of being disappointed by restaurants in other parts of the country that simply do not stack up to the real thing.
Luckily for Gaucho Parrilla, they are absolutely spot on and routinely deliver what could be our favorite meals in all of Pittsburgh.
Tessaro’s is old school.
Upon stepping inside, everything from the waitresses calling you sweetie to the 1980s computer behind the bar suggests you’ve entered some sort of time capsule. After checking out so many up-and-coming restaurants and attractions in the past few weeks, we thought it was time to visit a Pittsburgh institution.
Tessaro’s has a pretty extensive menu with deli style sandwiches, salads, ribs, steaks, and chicken. But if you’ve never been here before, there’s really only one thing you need to know: get the burger.
Having been on all sorts of “best-of” burger lists, and being in search of the best burger in Pittsburgh ourselves, there was no question that we had to order burgers.