The Pittsburgh Strip I: Breakfast

The city of Pittsburgh is clearly divided into neighborhoods [1]. One of these, the Strip District [2] is east of downtown, a narrow strip of land south of the Allegheny River that once served the heavy industry and then the wholesalers. Now it is a vibrant marketplace, still with some wholesalers, grocery stores, markets, restaurants, clubs [3]. Given that LTH is primarily a Chicago site and other cities feature in but one section, I had planned to write about the Strip in one thread/post. My explorations and documentation for that remains woefully inadequate, mainly because of the magnitude of the task as envisioned; imagine a post about Chinatown, say, or Pilsen. So to bite off a manageable chunk, I'll start with this –

The Pittsburgh Strip District I: Breakfast

De Luca's

The heart of Pittsburgh beats in its Strip district. There's no better day than Saturday to experience what Pittsburgh's Strip District is about, and
there are few better ways to start that day than with breakfast at De Luca's.
All pictures clickable for larger images


On a Saturday morning, I'd suggest getting there earlier than a quarter to nine.
There's ample seating* – either at the extensive counter or at tables and booths




De Luca's has a fairly extensive menu, serving up classic American breakfasts. No matter what you order – waffles, pancakes, french toast, eggs, etc. – you'll get a plate of simple, hearty, no-nonsense food. It may not look pretty, but it'll be a handsome breakfast.
I've really enjoyed the pancakes, especially the buckwheat ones.

Note the small butter packets leant against the syrup that comes warm to the table. So whether it goes on your pancakes or toast, the butter spreads easily. It's these little touches besides the good food that make places like De Luca's endearing.

You can get eggs how you like them – with a side of excellent hot turkey sausage (back of pic) or tasty, not the usual insipid characterless, ham.


the hot turkey sausage is excellent – see how a large piece ended up on my plate

Can't remember now what was in that omelette – with 'home fries' on the side (pic taken after a fair amount was eaten).


As I said this may not be pretty food. It's just down to earth, honest grub. The kind of food that gets served and visiting friends can't help picking up the plate and saying, "Here, take a picture of this."


On my first visit there I saw a big pile of whipped cream(?) atop a massive waffle being delivered at a table far away. No idea what it was, but something to look for on the menu on my next visit I thought. But returning, I find it hard to resist ordering from the variety of pancakes.


Substituting menu items is handled without any fuss whatsoever. Rather than the specified choices on the menu and seeing it on a sign somewhere, I asked for some kielbassi with my eggs.
It came fried the perfect crunchy crisp with a garlicky juicy toothsomeness that with eggs elevated a simple breakfast above the ordinary.

*If you come by nine am or later, be prepared to wait. The fourth picture in the post was taken halfway through a breakfast and you can see the beginnings of a line forming near the door.
The later you come, the longer you'll wait (on Saturdays at least)


And for good reason.

De Luca's Restaurant
2015 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412 566-2195

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[1] Pittsburgh maps – by neighborhood printable pdf also available
[2] Map of the Strip District printable pdf also available
[3] More information on the Strip District Official site– (neighbors in the strip – merchant's association)

The Pittsburgh Strip District I: Breakfast

On a Saturday morning or anytime really, if De Luca's isn't right or perhaps, after the food at De Luca's has settled in your system as you walk about and you just want a little something to eat and drink, here are some other options:

La Prima Espresso Co.
All pictures clickable for larger images




There are other coffee stores and roasters in the Strip, but at La Prima the coffee is outstanding. Beans are also available for purchase.


As seen in the picture above the shop is little more than a counter with a few high tables to stand and drink, or a few outside where you can sit. Along with the coffee, you can have some pastries from the small counter in the adjoining room. The pastries, the few I've tried, were perfectly serviceable, but not altogether special.




The espresso though is tremendous. It is fairly easy to find La Prima Espresso – just follow your nose – it is on the side street just off Penn Ave.
La Prima Espresso (and pastry)


And yes, that is a saucer under that cup of espresso

La Prima Espresso coffee is available at other places. A Pittsburgh local 'chain' Crazy Mocha carries it, and there are some other La Prima counters (one at least in Wean Hall, CMU).

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To go along with my coffee or espresso at La Prima Espresso, I often pick up my pastries elsewhere. Here are some other pastry options:

On a Saturday morning there are numerous vendors that set up their tables on the sidewalks. For fresh pastries (easy to tell when you taste the cream and filling and your eyes close from the satisfaction), the tables outside the Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. or Penn Mac are a good bet.






Note that this is a vendor (from outside the Strip and Pittsburgh even) that ses up outside Penn Mac. Penn Mac itself is a large Italian store – but that's [url]a whole another post for another day[/url]

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Not exactly pastry and not necessarily to be had with coffee, a couple of doors down from PennMac, is

Enrico Biscotti Company



Not a huge shop, but a fairly brisk operation – with a lot of product that moves quite quick. And friendly natives, though somewhat camera shy:




Spoilt by A2Fay's pernod/anise version, I don't really care for (commercial) biscotti too much. Still, what you get there is fresh and quite nice and there is a lot of variety of biscotti and a few other baked goods. A lemon poppyseed version was quite good. There's usually some that you can sample.

There's even fare for your canine friends – I hear LTH'rs have dogs with discerning tastes so this may be a treat for some:


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La Prima Espresso Co.
205 21st St
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 281-1922

(On Saturday, Pastry Vendor outside) Pennsylvania Macaroni Co.
2010 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 471-8330

Enrico Biscotti Co
2022 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 281-2602
www.enricobiscotti.com

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Sazerac,

You have now made Pittsburgh a very appealing food destination on my next trip east. If this is breakfast, I cannot wait for lunch and dinner!

Thank you for your thorough efforts!

Regards,

Sazerac,

This is excellent. Makes me misty. For many years De Luca's was the de facto Saturday morning hangover clinic for my circle. I'd plan to order breakfast but invariably got the forearm-long fish sandwich instead-- well rivaled by the one down the way at Wholey's

Looking forward to more of these Strip essays.

m'th'su wrote:For many years De Luca's was the de facto Saturday morning hangover clinic for my circle. I'd plan to order breakfast but invariably got the forearm-long fish sandwich instead-- well rivaled by the one down the way at Wholey's

Hmm, I know De Luca's serves lunch but I've never been there after 10 am and so never thought about a fish sandwich there. Hmmm, will have to add that to my fish sandwich roundup... Thanks!

Wholey's and other fish sandwiches post forthcoming

Missed this when first posted, but caught it through Sazerac's index. I never could remember the name, but I sure remember the place. One of the best days of my life - a perfect Sunday in May in Pittsburgh - began at De Luca's with a paper, a dish of potatoes, peppers, onions and sausage, and a cup of coffee at the counter. I dawdled over my newspaper, enjoyed the buzz of the room and the mothering of my waitress and finally ventured out to discover Pittsburgh.

It was my first time in Pittsburgh and I had gotten in on Saturday night (back when that saved money) for a week of work starting on Monday, so I had an entire day to kill. Wandered the strip then downtown and up the river. Took in a baseball game, admired the swimming, wind surfing and skidooing down on the river (not at all how I had pictured Pittsburgh) and ended the day up on the incline watching the sun set and the city twinkle over a nice dinner. Pretty much fell in love with Pittsburgh that day and though I do not get back as much as I would like, that city and De Luca's still hold a special place in my heart.

Thanks for the reminder.

The strip used to have number of fish mongers who would have big pots of fabulous chowders and fish stews simmering, and you could just buy a bowl to carry out (or carry around as you picked your fish) -- it was a favorite lunch of mine when I used to visit Pittsburgh's Strip. However, it has been several years since I was there. Is that still happening? Since you say that it's less wholesale-oriented than once it was, does that mean the great wholesale outlets are gone?

Cynthia, I'll leave it to sazerac to give you the definitive answer, but here's mine: I've been up and down the Strip a zillion times these last twenty years (I'm adjunct on the Pitt faculty, so I spend time there every year), and I've never seen a kettle of chowder or fish-anything available on the street. Man, if I had, I'd have been all over it! :^)

What I usually do at Wholey's is grab a fish sand at the door (and, come to think of it, chowder IS an option at the counter), and then wander around or go upstairs and munch it. The Other Dr. Gale, who is a long-time Pittsburgher, much prefers Benkovitz. There I get the fish sand as well, while she stokes up on the sushi.

But on the street, I dunno. You can get all sorts of good stuff on the street, but I've never seen a fish kettle. Sazerac?

Geo

Like I said, it has been a while -- maybe closing in on 20 years. The photos above suggest that the Strip has changed pretty dramatically. It used to be all wide, steel roll-up doors that let into warehouses filled with delights. A favorite was the cheese warehouse, where industrial shelves were filled with massive chunks, blocks, and wheels of cheese from all over the world. Some of the cheeses would be cut (this was the first place I saw one of those cutters that is just a heavy wire -- though on an industrial size, not home-use size, machine), but many, if you wanted it, you had to buy five or ten pounds. I can remember buying a 10-pound block of Gloucester cheese. The places with the chowders and fish stews were likewise warehouses -- long tables packed with ice and piled with fish. Not stores, but warehouses and wholesalers that let regular folks shop on the weekend.

So I suspect that, if I returned to Pittsburgh, there's little I'd recognize.

Cynthia, I very well remember the cheese 'warehouse'. It was certainly there in '99 when TODG and I first met. We stocked our first joint dinner party from there: I remember especially the 5 lb chunk of havarti mit dill that we bought! Sadly, it's been gone for 5 or 6 years. There's still lots of cheese on the strip—at Penn Mac, for example—but it's by now all sold standard retail. Pity, too.

Geo

Lots of action outdoors in the strip on a Saturday, but no chowder these days.
Although as Geo mentioned, one can get soup (chowder sometimes) with other food at Wholey's.

I hate to disagree with my esteemed fellow LTHers in this thread, but I gave up DeLuca's many years ago for its lesser known and generally less packed neighbor JoJo's. Nevertheless, DeLuca's has received a good bit of love from the foodie media, so during my recent visit to the 'Burgh, I decided to give the place another shot. Boy do I regret it.

Our server (as well as the Man vs. Food guy) recommended DeLuca's specialty: The Mixed Grill. I went with hot Italian sausage for my choice of meat.



The sausage was quite good, but the rest of the plate was very poorly executed. Eggs not over-easy, but overcooked, with only barely runny yolks. Where the dish really failed was when I found that the eggs and sausage were being used to hide a pile of the most insipid vegetables and potatoes that I've ever tasted. It is really hard to imagine that anyone could eat this clump of steamed, limp, completely unseasoned garbage and like it.



A few bites in, I actually tried to convince REB that we should just pay for our food and go elsewhere for breakfast. She declined, and my guess is that she came to regret that decision. Here's why:



She ordered the Santa Fe Burrito. Now I know what you're thinking -- Pittsburgh is no place to order a burrito at a diner. But it was a breakfast burrito, and the server said it was their second most popular dish, and it was a breakfast burrito, and... Wrong.

The flour tortilla was crunchy, and not in a crisped-under-the-broiler kinda good way, but more in a week-and-a-half-old-should-we-still-be-serving-this kinda bad way. REB declared that the chorizo tasted more like sloppy joe. I don't even want to talk about the mealy tomato slices, or the brown cubes of avocado, or the sickly sweet sauce.

DeLuca's, we're done. Forever. Now, on to the good stuff...


Dear LTH community: If you find yourself in Pittsburgh, in the Strip District, for breakfast, please give JoJo's a try. It's two and a half blocks and a whole world away from DeLuca's.

Don't go looking for pleasant service or (any) decor though. JoJo's has the same brusque, old school diner approach to service, but man do they know how to cook breakfast.
Behold, the JoJo's Omelet:



This magnificent thing is a three-egg omelet filled with mushrooms, peppers, and caramelized onions, your choice of meat (hot or sweet sausage, or ham), cheddar cheese, and hash browns. Then they drop the sucker on top of a base of their crispy, delicious hash browns. It really isn't meant to be eaten by one person in one sitting. Share one with someone you love.

I guess that's my only problem with JoJo's - they don't know how to put out a plate with a reasonable quantity of food on it. Here's their standard, no frills, egg breakfast:



That's three perfectly cooked, over-easy eggs, a frisbee-like slab of juicy hot sausage, and fantastic, extra-crispy hash browns.

Go hungry. Very hungry,
--Rich


Jo Jo's Restaurant
110 24th St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-261-0280

I've wanted to post about JoJo's for the longest time, but I didn't have pictures of the omelet that would do it justice. I concur that this is is quite a treat.

RAB wrote:Dear LTH community: If you find yourself in Pittsburgh, in the Strip District, for breakfast, please give JoJo's a try. It's two and a half blocks and a whole world away from DeLuca's.

Don't go looking for pleasant service or (any) decor though. JoJo's has the same brusque, old school diner approach to service, but man do they know how to cook breakfast.
Behold, the JoJo's Omelet:



This magnificent thing is a three-egg omelet filled with mushrooms, peppers, and caramelized onions, your choice of meat (hot or sweet sausage, or ham), cheddar cheese, and hash browns. Then they drop the sucker on top of a base of their crispy, delicious hash browns. It really isn't meant to be eaten by one person in one sitting. Share one with someone you love.

I guess that's my only problem with JoJo's - they don't know how to put out a plate with a reasonable quantity of food on it. Here's their standard, no frills, egg breakfast:



That's three perfectly cooked, over-easy eggs, a frisbee-like slab of juicy hot sausage, and fantastic, extra-crispy hash browns.

Go hungry. Very hungry,
--Rich


Jo Jo's Restaurant
110 24th St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-261-0280

I'm going to be in Pittsburgh Saturday morning with a group of 10 people. I figure that means De Luca's, jojos and primanti bros will be difficult. Any recommendations on where we can go? Lunch is ok too, but it has to be before noon. We'll be staying downtown and heading south after lunch.