>Hi! I am looking for out-of-the-way, small, casual restaurants for my >dining-out club... (ethnic, great. whatever) in the Pittsburgh >area--best kept secrets, maybe family run--with either a liquor license >or allows BYOB. Thanks Judi (in Pittsburgh!) Some that come to mind: Papa J's - in Carnegie right on the yellow belt - GREAT pizza and Italian food in a very nice atmosphere, and very reasonable Star of India - in Oakland, on Craig St., I think, near the Carnegie Museum; best Indian I've ever had Max's - North Side, don't remember the street, but it's within a few blocks of Allegheny General - great German food, especially the schnitzels Primante Brothers - Strip District and Forbes Ave. in Oakland, near Pitt - great sandwiches served in a very unusual way C.J. Barney's - Forbes Ave. in Oakland, near Pitt - great burgers I'm afraid I don't remember the liquor situation at any of these. Happy eating! Carolyn Seaman U of Maryland (but a Pittsburgh native)
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh
Carolyn S. writes "Star of India - in Oakland, on Craig St., I think, near the Carnegie Museum; best Indian I've ever had" I guess it's been awhile since Carolyn ate Indian food in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh isn't exactly a mecca for Indian food, but Star of India rates worst in my book; First is A Taste of India on Penn near St. Francis (?) Hospital - BYOB; second is Darbar, on Centre, near Craig St. - BYOB. The tandoori dishes are best at A Taste of India. Lamb dishes tend to be better at Darbar. Service at Star of India is really bad, and the place is overpriced as well as being mediocre. For your dining club, try Nico's Recovery Room on Friendship near West Penn Hospital - decent Greek food, daily specials, cheap beer, and a great pizza and beer special on Wednesdays. Try the Greek salad. The potato salad is special.
>For your dining club, try Nico's Recovery Room on Friendship near West >Penn Hospital - decent Greek food, daily specials, cheap beer, and a >great pizza and beer special on Wednesdays. Try the Greek salad. The >potato salad is special. I secoond that one! My mouth is watering right now. I also want to recommend the Fajita Grill (in Pleasant Hills I think) for the most authentic and best tasting Mexican food in Pittsburgh.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, and I would heartily agree with the previous posting by a native Pittsburgher, especially concerning the mediocrity of the Mt Washington restaurants; also I second the recommendations for the "O" and Primanti Brothers. There is also a Primanti Brothers in Oakland, not far from the "O", although I don't know if it's comparable to the original in the Strip District. Some of my other favorites: Papa J's - on the main drag in Carnegie - moderate to expensive - incredible Italian pastas and pizzas in a trattoria type decor Max's - North Side, in the vicinity of Allegheny General Hospital - great German food, especially the schnitzels Grand Concourse - pricey, very fancy for Pittsburgh - this is a beautiful restaurant in the restored P&LE RR station (Station Square) - they don't have a predominate cuisine, I don't think, but everything I've had has been excellent. Their Sunday brunch is outstanding.
carolyn S. wrote: >I grew up in Pittsburgh, and I would heartily agree with the previous >posting by a native Pittsburgher, especially concerning the mediocrity >of the Mt Washington restaurants; also I second the recommendations for the >"O" and Primanti Brothers. There is also a Primanti Brothers in Oakland, >not far from the "O", although I don't know if it's comparable to >the original in the Strip District. Some of my other favorites: >Papa J's - on the main drag in Carnegie - moderate to expensive - >incredible Italian pastas and pizzas in a trattoria type decor >Max's - North Side, in the vicinity of Allegheny General Hospital - great >German food, especially the schnitzels >Grand Concourse - pricey, very fancy for Pittsburgh - this is a beautiful >restaurant in the restored P&LE RR station (Station Square) - they don't >have a predominate cuisine, I don't think, but everything I've had has been >excellent. Their Sunday brunch is outstanding. Also being a native, I must admit that Pittsburgh is one of the worst restaurant cities in America. Tastes run to meant and potatotes and lots of overpriced Italian. There has been virtually no influx of immigrants (except from West Virginia) so there nice, cheap ethnic restaurants are in short supply. There are, however, some pleasant surprises if you know where to look. 1) The one ethnic food in which Pittsburgh excels is Middle Eastern. Nobody seems to know why, but there are many good places. Samreny's is probably the best. 2) One big surprise is that you can get excellent seafood in Pittsburgh. For pricey, there is Poli's and for quick and cheap there is Wholeys. 3) The Chinese and other Asian are mediocre at best. My choice would be Young Bin Kwan. It's a bit off the beaten track at the end on the Bloomfield Bridge, but has many unusual dishes. 4) Italian also tends to medicore and very overpriced. The best bet is probably the Pleasure Bar in Bloomfield. 5) For continental, the locals first choice is the Common Plea. I've never been there. Papillon in South Hills isn't bad, if you're in the neighborhood. That's about it. If you want a good meal in Pittsburgh, probably your best bet is find some little place that sells grilled kielbassa. No there's a real Pittsburgh treat. Marc Green
>3) The Chinese and other Asian are mediocre at best. My choice would >be Young Bin Kwan. It's a bit off the beaten track at the end on the >Bloomfield Bridge, but has many unusual dishes. Now, I have to disagree with this slightly. "Chinese on Carson" on the South Side and Sichuan House in either Fox Chapel or Squirrel Hill are both excellent Chinese restaurants. We have taken world-travelling guests to Sichuan House, and they have found it to be among the top Chinese restaurants they have eaten at. The new Thai restaurant on Forbes is good. >5) For continental, the locals first choice is the Common Plea. I've >never been there. Papillon in South Hills isn't bad, if you're in the >neighborhood. I haven't been there, but people rave about Le Pommier, also on Carson Street in the South Side. Now what *I* would like to find is a fine full-service French bakery in Pittsburgh, something like Le Madeline in Dallas.
In article , [email removed] (Marc Green) wrote: > > > Also being a native, I must admit that Pittsburgh is one of the worst > restaurant cities in America. Tastes run to meant and potatotes and lots > of overpriced Italian. There has been virtually no influx of immigrants > (except from West Virginia) Have you ever been to Oakland? > so there nice, cheap ethnic restaurants > are in short supply. There are, however, some pleasant surprises if > you know where to look. When I got to this point in this post, I thought--perhaps this Pittsburgh native has not visited his birthplace as of late. > 1) The one ethnic food in which Pittsburgh excels is Middle Eastern. Nobody > seems to know why, but there are many good places. Samreny's is > probably the best. Samreny's is good, but as far as great ethnic, what about the terrific Thai, Indian, Spanish and even *Hungarian* cuisine I have enjoyed on a regular basis? At this point, I thought, gee, if this guy has been to the 'burgh lately, no-one let him out of the house... > 2) One big surprise is that you can get excellent seafood in Pittsburgh. > For pricey, there is Poli's and for quick and cheap there is Wholeys. True... > > 3) The Chinese and other Asian are mediocre at best. My choice would > be Young Bin Kwan. It's a bit off the beaten track at the end on the > Bloomfield Bridge, but has many unusual dishes. There are dozens of good Asian restaurants, a few outstanding, most as good or better than YBK (which has good sushi when the chef feels like coming in...). > > 4) Italian also tends to medicore and very overpriced. The best bet is > probably the *Pleasure Bar* in Bloomfield. HURL! What about Cafe Giovanni, or Primadonna, or Pasta Piatto, or (I could go on and on but I'm wasting Apple's valuable time...) > > 5) For continental, the locals first choice is the Common Plea. I've > never been there. It was good about ten years ago. I went there on prom night -ahh- *****Papillon in South Hills isn't bad, if you're in the neighborhood******* And that's when I knew! Papillon in the South Hills wasn't bad, if you were in the neighborhood about FOUR YEARS AGO, cause that's when it closed. > > That's about it. If you want a good meal in Pittsburgh, probably your > best bet is find some little place that sells grilled kielbassa. No there's > a real Pittsburgh treat. > > Marc Green If you want a good meal in Pittsburgh, the best thing to do is ask someone who's lived there recently. No offense meant :-). Marcy Robb who is tired of having to defend Pittsburgh's cuisine but will tirelessly continue to do so until the people who rail on it go back for another try!
Marc G. wrote: >Indian? Suely you're not talking about Star of India, which is barely >recognizable as indian food. I've eaten at every Thai place in Pgh and >they are also barely recognizable as Thai. As the lady said it SOUNDS like you haven't been in the 'burgh for awhile. At last count there are 4 Indian restaurants in the east end. The Star of India is by far the worst one. As for Thai several ok ones have opened recently and one that (so far) is as good as some of the best in the bay area just opened up in squill. We still lack decent Chinese. >>> 4) Italian also tends to medicore and very overpriced. The best bet is >>> probably the *Pleasure Bar* in Bloomfield. I'm not big on the Italian around here, but the Pleasure Bar certainly isn't even one of the better inexpensive places. In general I do feel I can cook better Italian at home for 1/4 the price of the better ones. >of the scale. Things that you take for granted in most cities, Thai, >Indian, Korean, Jamaican, Indonesian, etc., are either blah or nonexistent >in Pgh. There's an at least OK Jamaican place in East Liberty. Still no Ethiopian places though. All in all the situation has improved greatly since I first came to Pittsburgh five years ago. And we now have a reasonable selection of decent places to have coffee. Scott [email removed]
I myself am relatively new to the Burgh... but I get around. "Dahntahn" as they say is full of terrifically fattening joints like Primanti's in the Strip District. Just across the Allegheny is the Allegheny Brewery which has great german food and microbrews. So far the best mexican has been Cozumel's on Walnut street in Shady Side just 10 min from downtown. There are many good bars/restaurants in shady side (but like many places this is also where the Gay pride runs deep... don't get me wrong, it is safe and clean.) I have also been to Lewis & Clarks in Oakland where they have many micro-brews and some outlandish American cousine - buffalo, alligator... A magazine listing I just got places Cafe Allegro, PaPa J's, and Morton's of Chicago at the top with Jimmy G's and Cozumel honorably mentioned.
Wes G. wrote: > Looking for a good (price unimportant) restaurant, with confortable > seating and terrific food in Pittsburgh. We will be visiting my inlaws > (in their 70's) and would like to take them someplace special. Prefer > the eastern suburbs if not in the downtown area. > > I am from Pittsburgh, but haven't been there for 25 years... > I was there two weeks ago and highly recommend the Steelhead Grill in the downtown Marriott. It just opened and is a Drew Nieporent (Nobu in New York) special. The Salmon Pastrami sandwich for lunch is excellent as is the grilled salmon entree at dinner.
PUDMAN wrote: > > I'm going on a very quick trip to Pittsburgh. I'd appreciate > a few suggestions for moderately priced places--the more unique > and interesting the better, the funkier the neighborhood the better! > Style of food doesn't matter. > > Thanks!! > > Aaron > > _________________________________________ > Check out The Palindromes website: > http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/5716/ Hi! Here are a few of my favorites, with special emphasis on unique, funky or fun places: ETHNIC Sushi Kim: Good, authentic, Korean place. Decent sushi as well. Trams: Top notch family style Vietnamese Fajita Grill: Very good, slightly upscale, Mexican, better for their non-standard fare (pollo en mole,etc) than for burritos, tacos, etc. Road to Karrakesh: A sampling of exotic cuisine's (ethiopian, north african, south east asian) Very funky! The food is not spiced as boldly as the name suggests, but overall its a nice experience. Very Cheap. Spice Island Tea Garden: Pan southeast asian (thai,burmese,malaysian,indonesian). 5 stars for funky! The food can be inconsistent. Sree's : Family style fixed price (no menu) southern indian. Embarrassingly inexpensive. (four courses for 7:50 a person!) Il Pizzeola: Authentic Neapolitan pizza: A bit far out of town, but I included it because it is one of our absolute favorites. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Burrito restaurants: This company is a master of cutting edge restaurant concepts, with exotic, creative menu's and drop dead, very hip, decor. Unfortunately, they are not masters of the culinary arts as well. Typically the food does not live up to the anticipation created by the descriptions on the menu. Nevertheless, its still some of the most interesting food around here. Here are brief descriptions: Casbah: Pan-Mediteranean restaurant and wine bar. This is probably their best restaurant, but it is expensive. Soba: Pan asian. moderate kaya: Pan-caribean. moderate to cheap Mad Mex: Gen. X mexican. More of a college bar. Very cheap (especially after 11 pm on weeknights, when most food on the menu is 1/2 price). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brew pubs: We have a few very good brew pubs in town. Here are my favorites. Strip Brewery: Best beer! Good bar food, though stick with the sandwiches. The Foundry: Third best beer. Better food, though uneven. Allegheny brewery: Second best beer. Lackluster german food. (in all honesty I haven't eaten there in years, so I'm not really qualified to comment). Church brew works: good beer, very good, upscale, food. Cool layout. Its a converted catholic church. Valhalla: Lousy beer, but the food is supposed to be good (haven't actually eaten there). Hip industrial layout. Very popular. If you need addresses or directions for any of the places, send me email. Ralph
In article , ralph feldman
Someone wrote:
> Its Pirmanti Brothers, in the strip district.
Actually, it's Primanti Brothers, they have 3 shops: one in
Oakland on Forbes Ave, near the University of Pittsburgh; one
downtown in Market Square [a Sree's serves lunch in the Square too];
the original one in the Strip, on 17th street between Penn and Smallman.
Agree to all restaurants mentioned as interesting and pretty good food too.
Also on the strip is Wholey's, which on saturday's has folks
opening raw oysters (2/$1), and always has a fried fish plus take-out place
(or eat standing up at the 4 tables there). Definitely some atmosphere there!
Ali Baba, in Oakland - no atmosphere, but good cheap middle eastern food.
The brewpubs will be the most "atmospheric".
Go to the pgh.food newsgroup for more ideas, and ask about ribs
for funky places. Or look up their stored stuff on dejanews.
Christine
Christine Berliner
[email removed]PUDMAN wrote: > I'm going on a very quick trip to Pittsburgh. I'd appreciate > a few suggestions for moderately priced places--the more unique > and interesting the better, the funkier the neighborhood the better! > Style of food doesn't matter. Primanti Bros. in the Strip District (don't have the address offhand but they're in the phone book). They serve sandwiches with the coleslaw and french fries on the sandwich. I always get the fish sand- wich. They're a Pgh. institution. They also have a couple of other locations but the one in the Srip is the funkiest and the Strip itself is funky. It is an area along the Allegheny River just east of Downtown where there are produce, grocery, and flower warehouses, etc. It's now a trendy spot to shop with lots of cool places like Pennsylvania Macaroni where you can get any- and everything Italian. Lots of Asian groceries (New Sambok and Asian Foods, for example). Our one and only Mexican grocery, Reyna Foods. Seafood suppliers like Wholey's and Benkovitz Seafood. Then there's Mike Feinberg, the Party King, where you can get all kinds of neat junk. And lots more. I love Himalayan Tibetan restaurant on Forbes Ave. in the Oakland section. I read recently that there are only 10 Tibetan restaurants in the whole USA and we've got one of them. The owner is from Tibet but her American husband, who spent many years there and in Nepal, does the cooking. We did have a great Bulgarian place which unfortunately closed not too long ago. Bummer! :-( Another great place, but not actually funky, is the Grandview Saloon on Mt. Washington. Take the Duquesne Incline up to the top of Mt. Washington for a unique Pgh. experience. (Park at the bottom of the incline off West Carson St.) The Grandview is just 2-3 doors up the street from the incline station. Go in the evening for a great view overlooking Downtown Pgh. In this weather the deck will be open where you can take your drinks and sit and admire the view while you wait for your table (unfortunately they don't take reser- vations). The food is mostly pub fare but really good and you have to have the steak salad, a Pittsburgh specialty. It has sliced grill steak and french fries in it. Their version is the best I've had. Another unusual place is La Feria in Shadyside. It's a Peruvian restaurant. The food is quite good and not expensive. It's very small with a limited menu. One of my all-time favorites is a very small, very funky, very authentic Vietnamese place called Tram's Kitchen in the Bloomfield/Lawrenceville section (funky neighborhood). It's at 4039 Penn Ave. The closest to real Vietnamese food you're going to find outside of Little Saigon in Orange County, CA. Have the Banh Xeo (or however the hell you spell it) - it's a mung bean pancake with chicken and shrimp in it and you eat it by tearing off pieces and wrapping them in a lettuce leaf with herbs and then dipping it into a fish sauce- based sauce. Exquisite! More funky food and neighborhood is Donsville's Jamaica, Jamaica on Broad St. in E. Liberty. No a/c so in the warmer weather you have "ambiance" up the wazoo. ;-) Great Caribbean food. I recommend the escovitch. And make sure to try some ginger beer. That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I've ' forgotten a few. But that should be enough to get you started. Kate
ralph feldman wrote: > PUDMAN wrote: > > I'm going on a very quick trip to Pittsburgh. I'd appreciate > > a few suggestions for moderately priced places--the more unique > > and interesting the better, the funkier the neighborhood the better! > > Style of food doesn't matter. > ETHNIC > Sushi Kim: Good, authentic, Korean place. Decent sushi as well. I second that, although I thought Oakside was better. But since they're gone Sushi Kim is it. > Trams: Top notch family style Vietnamese Right on! > Fajita Grill: Very good, slightly upscale, Mexican, better for their > non-standard fare (pollo en mole,etc) than for burritos, tacos, etc. Always loved them when they were in Pleasant Hills, haven't been there yet since they moved to Shadyside but I'm going this month. Hope the food is as good as before. Truly authentic Mexican! > Road to Karrakesh: A sampling of exotic cuisine's (ethiopian, north > african, south east asian) Very funky! The food is not spiced as boldly > as the name suggests, but overall its a nice experience. Very Cheap. I had forgotten about this one but the one time I was there it was great. I wouldn't call it "very cheap" though. Reasonable would be my estimation. > Spice Island Tea Garden: Pan southeast asian > (thai,burmese,malaysian,indonesian). 5 stars for funky! The food can be > inconsistent. I never like this place after trying it 3 times. > Sree's : Family style fixed price (no menu) southern indian. > Embarrassingly inexpensive. (four courses for 7:50 a person!) I love Sree's but they're kind of hard to find for an out-of-towner. And I think Udipi Cafe (in Penn Hills, South Indian vegetarian plus a few North Indian vegetarian items on the menu) is even better but not so cheap, but they also would be a little hard to find for someone not from this area. Be glad to provide directions if you're interested. > Il Pizzeola: Authentic Neapolitan pizza: A bit far out of town, but I > included it because it is one of our absolute favorites. Ah! Speaking of pizza, the absolute funkiest, and in my opinion the best in the world, is Vincent's Pizza Park in N. Versailles/Forest Hills/Chalfant (I have never been able to figure out exactly which boro they are in since they're right on the border of all three). Anyway, people either love Vincent's or hate it. And Vinnie, the owner, is in his 80's and is still there making the pizza with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He's a real "character" locally. > Allegheny brewery: Second best beer. Lackluster german food. (in all > honesty I haven't eaten there in years, so I'm not really qualified to > comment). I believe they are now called Penn Brewery (unfortunately, in my opinion because I think Allegheny Brewery is a more meaningful name). I'm a big fan of their pilsener-style lagers. The food isn't that bad. Kate
Christine B. wrote: > Agree to all restaurants mentioned as interesting and pretty good food too. > Also on the strip is Wholey's, which on saturday's has folks > opening raw oysters (2/$1), and always has a fried fish plus take-out place > (or eat standing up at the 4 tables there). Definitely some atmosphere there! I agree about the atmosphere. In fact, they have a little *too much* atsmosphere for my taste! I don't care for Wholey's because of the rotting fish smell there. I usually go to Benkovitz. Cleaner, smells good, great fish sandwiches. But if someone wants funky, I don't think you can get any funkier than Wholey's and still be legal. ;-) > Ali Baba, in Oakland - no atmosphere, but good cheap middle eastern food. I find the atmosphere better than the food or the prices. I don't think they're all that cheap and I'm not at all impressed with their food. I've been there many times due to being dragged there by so-called-friends and relatives and usually I am not pleased with my food. A much, much better source of Middle Eastern food is Kassab's on the South Side at 10th St. and Carson. > Go to the pgh.food newsgroup for more ideas, and ask about ribs > for funky places. Or look up their stored stuff on dejanews. For ribs what about Wilson's BBQ on the North Side - although you have to take it out.
On 1 Jun 1998 19:17:28 GMT, [email removed] (PUDMAN) wrote: >I'm going on a very quick trip to Pittsburgh. I'd appreciate >a few suggestions for moderately priced places--the more unique >and interesting the better, the funkier the neighborhood the better! >Style of food doesn't matter. > >Thanks!! > >Aaron > > > >_________________________________________ >Check out The Palindromes website: >http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/5716/ Chiodo's (I think I spelled it right) in Homestead, just over the bridge. The bar is a great atmosphere of Pittsburgh memorabilia (primarily sports; I do remember a bra hanging from the ceiling, though). Order the mystery sandwich. Be Cool... [email removed]