Taste of Our Town

Good Food is a Pittsburgh Tradition

While Pittsburgh loves its reputation as the Steel City, the heavy industry is mostly gone now. However, we still celebrate our ethnic diversity ethnic diversity and enjoy a "work hard-play hard" love of good food and drink rooted in that history. Cooking and sharing food with family and friends is a time honored Pittsburgh tradition. Whether you are visiting, new in town or a lifetime resident, you can enjoy the unique taste of our town in Pittsburgh area restaurants, wineries, micro breweries, coffee shops, and bakeries as well as at one of the many Pittsburgh food festivals.

Located in the Strip District, Lidia's, serves Italian specialties like Fritto Misto and Pork Shank Ossobucco while, Mullaney's Harp & Fiddle will have you feasting on Irish Stew or Shepherd's Pie. Farm raised venison, rabbit, trout and quail can be found in neighborhood restaurants as well as gourmet restaurants in downtown Pittsburgh, like the Habitat Restaurant in the Fairmont Hotel. If you can't decide what to eat or where to go, ‘Burgh Bits and Bites offers food tours to help you move beyond the downtown area into the local neighborhoods in search of fabulous foods. Pittsburgh also has, The Conflict Kitchen, a small takeout cafe specializing in foods native to countries we may be in conflict with. 

When cooking at home, specialty spices and other fresh ingredients can be found in stores like the Whole Foods Market in Oakland and specialty shops in The Strip District. To help you prepare your home cooked meal, Sur laTable, located in Pittsburgh Southside Works, sells pierogi makers, pizzelle irons and woks. They also offer cooking classes to help you feed your culinary wanderlust.

Famous Pittsburgh Foods

Heinz Ketchup and Isalys chipped chopped ham probably top the list of Famous Pittsburgh Foods. A typical Pittsburgh tailgate menu may include a Ham Bar-B-Q sandwich featuring Isalys' chipped chopped ham alongside a variety of Heinz condiments for the hamburgers and hot dogs. The Primanti Brothers sandwich, an entire meal of meat, cheese, coleslaw and french fries stacked between 2 thick slices of fresh Italian bread, was created to feed hungry truck drivers while their trucks were unloaded in the Strip District. Most often, those trucks were unloading a local harvest of fresh produce, eggs, meats and dairy products from western Pennsylvania farms and dairies.

Download your Pittsburgh Visitors Guide and plan an evening out or a complete food tour of Pittsburgh.  Come hungry for the unique, fresh tastes of our town.