Downtown Pittsburgh Help Needed

I'll be in Pittsburgh for four days from Wednesday til Saturday and am looking for recommendations in the downtown/strip/south side/shady side areas. I won't have a car and will be relying on the hotel's shuttle, taxis, and my feet for getting around. I'm looking for places unique to Pittsburgh, light on the wallet, and heavy on deliciousness. I'm determined to make it to Tessaro's and appreciate the heads up here: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1921&start=30. I've also read the following thread: http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16376 and it has been useful but hasn't been updated in a while so I thought it may be easiest to start a new thread requesting help. Some places I'm considering hitting up:
Primanti Brothers
Quaker Steak and Lube
Southside CheeseSteaks
Pamela's
Deluca's
Penn Brewery
Fathead's Saloon
Church Brew Works

Is there anything I shouldn't miss? Thoughts on my list so far?
Thanks in advance for your suggestions

Sorry, I haven't updated the index in a while.
Definitely Tessaro's (at night).
Yes to:
Primanti's, De Lucas, also JoJo's (which is great, but less 'variety' than De Luca's), Wholey's - all in the strip district (go on Saturday morning)
Downtown - Original Oyster House for their fish sandwich

Skip Quaker, go to the nearby 'O' instead.
Church Brewworks is great for the novelty, but one time is enough. The beer is good, the food decent (but a tad overpriced).
I would suggest instead check out The Sharp Edge - incredible beer collection (especially belgians on tap) and good bar/pub food [hmm, I haven't uploaded those pics? Ok, here's their link

Another great place for beer and good food is D's

Big Jim's (down in the run) - may not be not easy to get to.

mkess wrote: Some places I'm considering hitting up:
Primanti Brothers

It's very Pittsburgh, and maybe everyone should go once, but it's not really very good. I'd skip it.

mkess wrote:Quaker Steak and Lube
Southside CheeseSteaks

Nothing special at either of these places.

mkess wrote:Pamela's

This is a decent greasy spoon breakfast joint. Highlights are the pancakes and Lyonnaise potatoes (aka home fries).

mkess wrote:Deluca's

Skip Deluca's, go to Jojo's for breakfast, which is a few blocks away and incomparably better. I'd pick this grease trap over Pamela's or Deluca's for sure. I haven't found anything like it in Chicago.

mkess wrote:Penn Brewery
Fathead's Saloon
Church Brew Works

Penn Brewery is a terrific old brewery with some fairly good, German-style beers and decent German beer hall food.

The folks that put the Church Brew Works together did an amazing job on converting and old church into a brewpub. The beer is standard issue, but not particularly inspired microbrew (you'll do way better at Goose Island Clybourn) and the food is half as good as the beer. If you dig old converted churches or would love to see a fermentation tank on an altar, go have a beer and move on to somewhere else for dinner. (Tessaro's which is very close to the Church is an excellent choice, but don't bother ordering anything other than the burger.)

Don't miss Fathead's. Tons of taps pouring excellent beers of all types and the absolute best bar food I've had anywhere.

I agree with sazerac about the Original Oyster House or Wholey's for a fish sandwich, and also about the "O" aka The Original Hot Dog Shoppe. Get a dog and do not skip the fries. Order a small fries even if you think you might want a medium.

Also agree about the Sharp Edge, but I wouldn't necessarily send an out-of-towner there. It is, however, a very good, friendly pub with a very good beer list.

Have to disagree on Big Jim's though. This is another 'Burgh institution that survives not on top quality food, but on nostalgia and schtick. Go for giant portions of red sauce Italian (pronounced Eye-talian, of course). You may not be wowed, but you will be full.

If you want something a bit more upmarket, consider Legume on Braddock Ave in Regent Square. This is Pgh's entry into the farm-to-table sector, if that is something you're into. The husband and wife team who own and run it do a very nice job with a small space and a handful of tables. Legume is across the street from D's Six Pack and Dawgs, which saz mentioned and I agree is worth a visit if you're already in the neighborhood.

More in the area of your original request is Cafe du Jour on Carson Street in the South Side. This is another funky little independent restaurant with a shifting menu of interesting, upscale comfort food with a hint of the local, seasonal thing. CdJ is BYO and feels kinda like going to a friend's house for dinner.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions or want any other specific tips. Enjoy!
--Rich

I'll second sazerac on The Sharp Edge. A bunch of really rally good beers on tap, and, I think, one of the better bar menus around. Their frys are great, as are the burgers. IIRC, you *should* be able to get there from the Centre Ave bus.

Also, a visit to Wholeys (pronounced "woolies") for the fish sand is a genuinely Pittsburgher thing to do.
(I even met Mr. W. one Saddie noon in his side lot: "How do you like it?" he said. : )

Now here's something that probably sazerac would decline mentioning, but I'm going to mention it bcz I've been hanging about in Pgh for a looonnggg time (I'm adjunct faculty at Pitt). There's a place on Craig St, Moré, that is Your Father's Italian Restaurant. A great, great dark bar where the man pours great martinis, and a resto where there's nothing but old hits on the music and on the menu. This is REAL Pgh, like it hardly ain't no more, and like it's dying fast. One must-have item on the menu is Virginia Spots, a delicate fish filet that is completely and totally local to Da 'Burgh. And there's no place better to taste them than Moré. Trust me on this, it's like a time-travel trip, to a strange land where the natives are friendly and welcoming.

Geo

RAB wrote:Have to disagree on Big Jim's though. This is another 'Burgh institution that survives not on top quality food, but on nostalgia and schtick. Go for giant portions of red sauce Italian (pronounced Eye-talian, of course). You may not be wowed, but you will be full.

I haven't had the red sauce dishes - but their sandwiches, particularly the Reuben are great. I went there first towards completing my fish sandwich roundup (just one more place - but it's way out of my way).
And RAB, thanks (from me and A2FAy) for the JoJos rec* - Pictures now uploaded. I'll have to update the Pittsburgh Strip thread.

*omlettes as big a baby - just what the wife needed, post-partum.


And Geo, now you mention Moré? I had heard 'good things' but have never really fancied big red-sauce dishes. Good drinks you say, now in that case I'm there tomorrow evening (rather than the planned break at the Union Grill).

Just remembered - perfect timing for the 49th Annual Greek food festival - May 2nd to May7th (Friday).
I still haven't found where the Greek places are (though recently, I did spy one close to where I live now). Surprising, as I know there is a sizable Greek population. Next to where I work in Oakland is St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral. Doesn't look that big, but there's a cavernous basement and filled with fresh food for this event. At times, depending who doles the plate the lamb 'combos' aren't the greatest; the moussaka was very good. The pastries are great especially as they are fresh (I do have a sweet tooth) - especially the loukomades. Never tried dinner there - flyer mentions music and dancing in the evenings...

Pics from 2007 here

http://www.stnickspgh.org
(you can even place your pickup order - online or fax and skip the longer lines!)

It's at the corner of Forbes and Dithridge.

sazerac--sorry to have held off on the Moré recce, it just ex-kaped my mind! But check it out. The bar really is 50s all the way.

Now you're talking with the St. Nicholas basement festival!! Oh boy, those church ladies know zackly how to do it. And if you go two days in a row, it'll be different. Enjoy!

Geo
PS. But you're right--where Greek Town in Pgh??? Some talk about a couple of places on the SahSide, but I never got it there. Dunno. Mystery to me. Easier to find Portagee eats, eh?! Sardines for everyone!

Just wanted to give a big thanks to Sazerac, Geo, and RAB for their suggestions / opinions.
My culinary jaunt through Pittsburgh:

Day 1: Ballpark Food at PNC Park
(couldn't pass up Garrett's Popcorn on the way through O'Hare and brought it into PNC Park)
Quaker Steak and Lube - Hot Wings - Reminded me of Buffalo Wild Wings sauce and the wings themselves were dry. I wasn't too optimistic going in seeing that it was stadium food and most people telling me to expect disappointment.
Primanti Brothers - Capicola Sammy - Maybe it was because it was the PNC outpost but there were three razor thin slices of meat on the sandwich. It was completely lost among the other mountain of ingredients. I remember much more meat on the sandwich from my last visit years ago. It could be due to fact that my last Primanti Bros. visit took place at 4am after a night of imbibing.

Day 2: Southside and a return trip to PNC
Walked the Southside and stopped at Cafe Du Jour for lunch. The soup of the day was terrific. It was a cherry smoked chili gazpacho topped with chili oil, yogurt, and chopped green onions. The flavor combination was superb and each spoonful just burst on my tongue. For the main course, I had the Apricot-Dijon Glazed Roasted Pork Flatbread Sandwich with a spicy chile-napa cabbage slaw, cucumber, tomato, red onion and snow pea shoots. The combination of vegetables worked very well with the pork. However, I felt that the spicy chile slaw's heat took away from the crisp, cleanness of the veggie combination. As much as I love spicy food, I felt like the end result would've benefitted with a little less fire. It was still a decent flatbread. After that, we walked to the Monongahela Incline and did the roundtrip, which was shut down the following day for repairs. If we weren’t on a time schedule, I would have liked to check out La Taviola. We made a couple sandwiches with the Isaly's Chipped Chopped Ham we picked up at Giant Eagle and took them to PNC.
After the game, we took a cab to the Southside and bar hopped a little. At Fatheads, we had the fried mushrooms which were coated in spicy “Fat Head’s Ale” Beer Batter, fried crisp, and included a horseradish cream sauce reminiscint of Prime Rib Horseradish Cream. This was truly a mountain of mushrooms and the breading was good although a little thick. The sauce was great for dipping.

Day 3: Downtown
We took an architecture walking tour of Downtown and worked up an appetite. We started heading towards the Original Oyster House but ended up stopping at Six Penn. I chose the BBQ Chicken Sandwich on Homemade Brioche. The bread was the only thing good about the sandwich. The BBQ sauce tasted like Heinz Ketchup, pepper, and liquid smoke and the chicken was so dry that a steak knife was the only thing that could cut through it. The cole slaw was tasteless. With the sandwich being a big letdown, I tried to concentrate on the positive and asked for another brioche roll, some butter, and a couple more dill pickles. It wasn’t the perfect lunch but definitely hit the spot. At night, we returned to the Southside and bar hopped from 24th to 10th. At the Library, we had the “Of Mice and Men” small plate. It was described as assorted cheeses and marinated olives drizzled with honey and served with two boursin stuffed cherry peppers. It appeared to be cubes of cheddar cheese, slices of brick cheese, tiny black olives and shriveled green olives with pimentos. I am not sure what happened from the description on the menu to the execution in the kitchen. However, the waitress noticed that we weren’t impressed and bought us a couple shots to compensate.
Throughout the trip, we indulged(alright, over indulged) on the local brews and I enjoyed every local beer that I drank. I was enamored with Penn Pilsner and Fatheads Headhunter. I also appreciated drinking Yuengling on tap.

Day 4: Strip District
We had breakfast at Pamela’s and waited about 15 minutes at 10:00am on a Saturday. I had the breakfast special consisting of scrambled eggs, lyonnaise potatoes, chorizo patties, and crepe pancakes. The crepe pancakes were delicious, almost reminding me of Swedish pancakes in thickness but the crispy edges were just perfect for sopping up syrup. The potatoes were also great and I can imagine how many orders of potatoes season the grill every week. I’m a huge fan of chorizo but the chorizo patties were just too dry to eat.
The rest of the morning was spent strolling the strip. We stopped at a farmers market where I picked up some pointers for my indoor tomato plant. Also, I encountered cinnamon basil plants which I had not seen previously. A stop in Enrico Biscotti yielded a chocolate almond biscotti and sfogliatelle. While the chocolate biscotti was a little too dry for me(still dehydrated from the previous evenings’ activities), the sfogliatelle was tasty. It wasn’t the best one that I’ve had but damned good nonetheless. We strolled through Penn Mac wishing we had bigger Italian Grocery Stores in Chicago. As my friend remarked, it was like Bari Foods on crack. We bought a couple more pastries right outside of Penn Mac. Our next stop was Wholeys, which I know locals pronounce as “wooleys” from the post above. However, I’m leaning toward pronouncing it “Holy’s” as in the Cathedral of Seafood or Holy’sheet, that’s a lot of seafood. I was amazed at the selection, quality and prices. I remember seeing a place that had Lobster for $6/lb on my last trip to Pittsburgh and believe it was here. I really enjoyed that they gave out so many samples. Even though I was full, I had no problem making room for a couple samples of the lobster crab bisque which was velvety smooth with big meaty pieces in it. A quick stop in Manzini’s for some fresh bread and a bottle of Mexican coke were great for a nosh on the curb while people watching.

While waiting for a table at Pamela’s at the beginning of the morning, we circled the block. I noticed on Smallman St, there was a donut shop with the smell of sweet dough permeating the air. I made it a point to stop on the way out of the Strip and wasn’t disappointed. Peace, Love, and Little Donuts seemed to be a family operation with a line out the door and the son passing out samples to the line. The father was turning out the donuts from the hot oil while the wife and daughter tended the cash register. They were frying mini donuts fresh with a multitude of toppings. The fresh out of the oil mini donut with cinnamon sugar was melt in my mouth magic. It wasn’t until getting back to Chicago and looking them up online did I discover that the owner blogged his personal beliefs and has alienated Pittsburgh’s LGBT community. It brought to mind a recent discussion that recently took place on the Pasticceria Natalina thread in ‘Eating Out’. While at Peace, Love, and Little Donuts, the owners were extremely nice, conversing with anyone and everyone, and it was apparent they were extremely passionate about their product.

Since we didn't rent a car, we were unable to make it to a couple things that I was really looking forward to, including Tessaro's and Greek Fest among others. Thanks again for all the suggestions.

Peace Love and Little Donuts
2018 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
412-489-7693
http://www.peaceloveandlittledonuts.com

Café Du Jour
1107 East Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
412-488-9695