Folks: Pittsburgh is the last big city in the Northeast that I’ve never visited. Looks as though Thursday evening, March 20 will be when that changes (driving in from the Frank Lloyd Wright Fallingwater house). The current plan is to stay three nights and depart early in the morning on March 23 for Cincinnati (lunch in Columbus, Ohio, in case anyone has brilliant ideas for a restaurant there).
So… suggestions for what to see in Pittsburgh? (beyond the obvious art and natural history museums) What to do in the evenings? The symphony seems not to be performing, unfortunately, during this visit. What’s the best way to find out about good theater or other concerts?
Anything strange to photograph?
I grew up in Columbus. Of course, that means that my idea of a good restaurant in Columbus is one which appeals to a teenager and has been open for >20 years.
Lots of tasty ones in German Village, which is downtown just south of I-70, slightly east of the junction with I-71 North. German Village is the small section of Columbus which I would send someone to if they were looking for a neighborhood kind of like Boston. Try Schmidt’s Sausage Haus on Kossuth Street: http://www.schmidthaus.com/ , or just park on one of the side streets near The Book Loft on South Third Street (http://www.bookloft.com/), go in there and enjoy their 32 rooms of dead-trees books (I used to live in that place before Borders and the Web were invented), and ask them to recommend a nearby restaurant or deli.
Another nice place to go in Columbus is the Short North, loosely defined as the area on North High Street between the ugly Nationwide Center and the falling-down student slums of Ohio State University. The Short North appears to be sufficiently together that they actually have a pretty good community website at http://www.shortnorth.org/dining.asp — I’m pretty sure that I’ve eaten at Buca de Beppo and it was good, and I can certainly recommend the North Market, which is what Haymarket would be like if the folks in the North End kicked out the tourists and replaced the mall food with gourmet cheese and chocolate shops.
For the full-scale Columbus strip mall experience, take I-71 North to Morse Road. Get off the freeway and drive east until all of the joy is leached from your soul, which should be roughly three blocks. Then turn around, drive west under the freeway, take an immediate right on Sinclair Road and drive north to the Pizza House at Lincoln Avenue for the tastiest pizza I ever ate in Columbus: http://tinyurl.com/3d38hb . Be warned: this is the “midwestern style” of pizza.
The other thing I always eat in Columbus is Skyline Chili, but you don’t want to do that because Skyline is Cincinnati-style chili and you’ll be tripping over Skyline outlets every five minutes during your stay in the Queen City. I prefer Skyline to their archrival Gold Star, but the true connoisseur would try both. Cincinnati-style chili is traditionally eaten as a spaghetti sauce — ask for a “3-way”, which is chili, spaghetti, and cheese, or a “4-way” if you want onions too — but it also tastes fine on “coneys”. The secret ingredient is said to be chocolate. It’s a weird food, but you can’t claim you’ve really been to Cincy unless you’ve tried it.
My favorite food as a kid was La Rosa’s Pizza in Cincinnati. Again, midwestern-style, and with a uniquely flavored tomato sauce that I can still taste in my mind. Not exactly a high-class gourmet destination — the vibe would be kind of like that in a suburban Pizzeria Regina — but, hey, I liked it.
And, yes, as you may have guessed by now, I know absolutely nothing about Pittsburgh. But I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!
I grew up in western pa, and am somewhat out of touch with where to go and what to eat; so I won’t even try.
But here’s a short list of things you will see in Pittsburgh that you will not see anywhere else in North America that may be worth a photographic expedition:
– The University of Pittsburgh has a 20+story gothic skyscraper called the Cathedral of Learning. It’s near the Carnegie library and museums, so if you intend to visit any of those, you will have a hard time missing it; it’s in a neighborhood where most other buildings are 2-3 stories. Unlike most skyscrapers which were built to economize space in expensive real estate markets, this was built when Pittsburgh institutions were rolling around in more robber baron cash than they could reasonably absorb.
– The Monongahela Incline and the Duquesne Incline. These are called “funiculars” in most other parts of the world, and, just over the river from downtown, they take you to the top of Mount Washington, where you get the odd experience of looking down on the tallest skyscrapers in the city.
– If it were 15-20 years ago, I’d recommend a drive down the Monongahela river to tour the rusting hulks of the american steel industry, but most of these have been torn down.
– more billboards for hospitals and retirement homes than you will normally see in a northeastern city, reflecting the aging population and brain drain the region has experienced.
Random thoughts from someone who left Pittsburgh 2.5 years ago:
– Go to the strip district on Saturday morning, check out the markets and hang out at a cafe. A good way to see all sorts of interesting people and eat some yummy food.
– Bring a GPS. Pittsburgh is just as hard as Cambridge to navigate in — except many (most?) roads cross in places where they don’t intersect due to the 3D nature of the city.
– Check out the Cathedral of Learning on the UPitt campus. A very cool piece of architecture, with a nice view.
– Interesting things to photograph include many many bridges and ex-steel mills. (http://david.rochberg.com/steel/legacy/pics/)
– There are many choices for good food in Pittsburgh, but finding them without help is often challenging. Ask some locals for advice on what restaurants are currently good (as opposed to going downhill). For upscale dining, my fave places when I was there were La Cucina Flegrea in Squirrel Hill (homestyle Italian), and the Red Room near Penn Circle. For the best hamburger ever, anywhere, go to Tessaro’s, and be prepared to wait a while for a table. For the highest calorie density food per dollar, anywhere, go to Primanti Brothers.
– Immature fun on a Friday night (sometimes ok, sometimes inspiringly great): Friday Night Improvs http://www.fnipgh.com/
– I was pretty into salsa dancing when I lived there. If this interests you, more info on where and how to salsa in Pittsburgh can be found here: http://cityguides.salsaweb.com/pennsylvania/pittsburgh/
One thing you should try is the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern. Best polish food you’ll ever have. Go during the day, as late nights (weekends) it turns into a club. It is very very good.
Go visit Station Square (across the river) and then go up the hill there. You get a great view of the city. It’s really nice.
I always go during the summer, so I hit up the Zoo, the Warhol museum, the National Aviary, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Carnegie Museum. Take your pick.
Phil,
I’d suggest the following placesto visit:
1. The Strip District on Saturday/Sunday morning.
2. A stroll through Oakland, where you can check out Carnegie Mellon and University of Pittsburgh (Including the Cathedral of learning)
3. Station Square, if you’re interested in visiting the cliche national chain restaurants
4. The Duquesne incline, which will take you to Mt.Washington for panoramic view of the city
5. PPG place and Market Square
6. Primanti Brothers, for a traditional Pittsburgh-style sandwich
7. The Church brew works, for the best local brews
If you want a guided tour, i’ll be glad to take you around.
You won’t find world class cuisine in Columbus, but there are some decent places. My favorites are:
My Big Fat Greek Cuisine: The best Greek restaurant in columbus which is saying something given that many of the restaurants are owned by greek familie
Rigsby’s Cuisine Volatile: Italian / American contemporary cuisine with a menu varies daily depending of what ingredients were fresh. Service can be snooty.
I haven’t eaten at Handke’s, it it’s suppose to be one of the better restaurants in columbus.
I would also suggest you should check out the ice cream at either Jeni’s or Graeters.
As others have suggested, the short north, brewery district, and german village have the best concentration of good food which some interesting shops / galleries around.
I haven’t been to Pittsburgh in the last few years, so I will skip making any recommendations.
I went to Pittsburgh a couple years ago and found it a great town for walking around. Lots of beautiful steel bridges and parks near downtown. There was a science museum that was OK, but had one great thing you bought separately for $5: a tour of an old military submarine, floating in the river. I quite enjoyed that.
If you have time when you’re at Falling Water, try to visit FLW’s Kentuck Knob too. It’s only about 10 miles from Falling Water. It’s an interesting contrast/compare as it’s a much more practical and livable home.
My vote for the best restaurant in the ‘burgh is la Pommiere on Carson Street on the South Side. It’s country French, and the portions aren’t overwhelmingly large. Hopefully you’ll have someone to share it with.
The recos on the Strip and Permanti’s are right on.
Phil,
I lived in Pittsburgh for several years as a child. My recollections of the place aren’t positive, but I can back up the recommendation of the inclines:
http://incline.pghfree.net/
(As an aside, I seem to remember people humorously referring to Pitt’s Tower of Learning as the “Height of Ignorance,” reflecting the fact that Pitt is a party school, and not even a very good one at that.)
I’m guessing you’ll come back from Pittsburgh feeling a bit better about the Boston area. We may be overpriced decay but at least we’re still alive.
I’ve never been to Pitt, but I want to visit the National Aviary there one day.
See http://www.aviary.org
I miss Pittsburgh. I was a student at Carnegie.
Head to Walnut Street for a relaxing afternoon. The USX building downtown is a good photographic subject, afterwards you can walk to The Point (tip on the map) and see the bridges and the landscapes around. I also recommend the Botanical garden if spring hits early.
Lots to do in Pittsburgh. The nice thing is that it is a city that isn’t too big but that has amenities found typically only in much larger, less personable, and more expensive and congested cities.
The strip is the warehouse district. There you will find places to eat, including Primanti Brothers’ original store at 1150 Smallman St. where they make their sandwiches with the fries piled on (unusual but worth the calories) as well as lots of seafood and produce vendors. This is the largest seafood market between New York and Chicago (it may even be bigger than Chicago). Try Wholey’s on Penn Ave. for the takeout; they usually have a good fresh chowder every day.
Go up the incline to Mt. Washington. The city has built observation decks up there and you can get a view that gives you a sense of the geography of the city. And since you will be near the South Side, where the inclines are, go along E. Carson Street to see one of the popular nightlife areas in the city.
Go over to Oakland where the universities and most of the museums are.
I would suggest a visit to the Phipps Conservatory, which is next to Carnegie-Mellon University and Schenley Park which is a nicely restored public botanical garden in the Art Nouveau style of 1900. There is an admission fee (I think around $10).
As others said, the Cathedral of Learning of the University of Pittsburgh is a prominent landmark and has the nationality classrooms which are open to the public. They are classrooms built in traditional interior styles of the various nationalities of the immigrants who settled in Pittsburgh in the 19th century when the city was a steelmaking center.
Shadyside is an older neighborhood near Oakland with nice walkable shopping districts. If the weather is clear, I suggest you go there for a stroll and maybe shopping. There are lots of cafes and restaurants along Shady Ave.
Also next to Oakland is Squirrel Hill, a large and pleasant older city neighborhood with trees, sidewalks and a good business district along Forbes Ave and Murray avenues.
Pittburgh has managed to survive–not without significant continuing effort– the loss of its founding industry in ways other rust belt cities have not been so fortunate to manage, largely due to the robustness of the universities, medical centers and other support industries which have become the current economic base. The institutions paid for by the fortunes of the industrialists–the universities, their health care and research centers and museums are a big part of what sustains that city today.
March 21st happens to be Purim, so you could try to locate some fun party in the city with jolly folks and some good liquor 😉
I am surprised that no one mentioned the Frick Art Musem, http://www.frickart.org . There is also a large greenhouse (all weather) and grounds.
Pittsburgh is a city of neighbourhoods. It is best experienced by driving all around, taking in the huge architectural variety that I have seen nowhere else. For god’s sake do not go to the Frick Art Museum. Helen Frick had terrible taste and just got the dregs of what Morgan left to the Met. The Car and Carriage museum behind it was worth my visit. I pictured jalopies but a 1920s Lincoln is a beautiful ride. You needed a trained chauffeur for the old Rolls Royces because the carburetor mix and the spark timing were controlled by dials on the steering wheel. Imagine electric lights in a horse-drawn carriage!
I will tell you the secret pleasure I take in Pittsburgh: look at the art and adornment on the grand old buildings put up by the industrial titans. It’s the original mashup! The motifs are drawn from across time and space into a dissonant collage that tells you exactly who those people were and how they wanted to be seen.
Generally speaking, do not get Asian food here. Restaurants of the Big Burrito group (check their website) are a safe bet. Check into beer-related diversions. It is a good place for that.
I’ve been living in Pittsburgh for about 3 years now. Some of my favorite attractions and places are:
– Andy Warhol Museum
– Carnegie Museum of Art
– The Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines
– Squirrel Hill
– South Side / Carson St.
– The Cathedral of Learning / Oakland
For information on shows and other events, pick up a copy of the Pittsburgh City Paper, or visit their website at pittsburghcitypaper.ws. They publish weekly, on Wednesdays. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is the umbrella organization for many of the theaters downtown. Their website is pgharts.org.