Tasteful Towns – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The Pittsburgh food scene is on the rise, just like the delicious Mancini’s bread used in the classic Primanti Brother’s sandwich. Today, the city boasts 300+ restaurants all within easy walking distance of downtown hotels.

W hat’s the dish on Pittsburgh’s new culinary scene? Try chef-driven fare, new restaurant concepts. and a cutting-edge beverage scene. Yes, this isn’t your father’s Pittsburgh any more.

Consider these tasty news morsels: Gaucho Parilla Argentina, located in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, was coined one of the top places to eat in the U.S. for 2013 by Yelp. Food & Wine magazine named Chef Justin Severino of Cure and Morcilla the best new chef of the mid-Atlantic region. Playboy magazine rated two Pittsburgh diners as having the best breakfast in the Northeast. The crepe-style pancakes served at Pamela’s Diner have received presidential approval, and Coca Café is noted as having “an artsy and adorable” 20-seat dining room with a foodie-focused menu. Even the food trucks are getting their share of notoriety. The Pittsburgh Taco Truck was named among the great spots in the nation for Mexican food, according to the Business Insider.

The Pittsburgh food scene is on the rise, just like the delicious Mancini’s bread used in the classic Primanti Brother’s sandwich. Today, the city boasts 300. restaurants all within easy walking distance of downtown hotels. Among the many newer Downtown eateries gaining attention all their own are Poros, Bakersfield, Butcher and the Rye, take., Ten Penny, Revel . Roost, Emporio: A Meatball Joint, and Pork and Beans.

Pittsburgh celebrates its 200th birthday in 2016, and The City of Bridges hasn’t forgotten its roots. A visit to the Original Oyster House will take visitors back 144 years to Pittsburgh’s oldest bar and restaurant. Located in the heart of Market Square, the unique tavern has been designated a historic landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation.

Pittsburgh’s appetite for Old-World fare – those pierogies, kielbasa, and cabbage rolls introduced by Easter European immigrants – is still going strong. In fact, the Pierogi Festival and Picklesburgh – a dilly of a pickle festival in honor of Pittsburgh’s own H.J. Heinz – are the city’s newest annual food festivals.

Foodies and locals alike love the Strip District. “The Strip” as the neighborhood is called, is all grit and pure Pittsburgh. With its ethnic grocers, sidewalk vendors, and string of small shops, the Strip is a scene seven days a week. Venture into the countryside, and find culinary nirvana in a AAA Five-Diamond and Forbes Five-Star restaurant, Lautrec.

The libation scene in the ‘Burgh has a long history – after all, Western Pennsylvania is the birthplace of the Whiskey Rebellion. Named for the man who sparked the battle, Wigle Whiskey puts on cocktail classes and offers tours of the distillery and barrelhouse. Cheers to that and Pittsburgh’s smoking hot food scene.