Kennywood August 28 - Escaping Irene - Chain Restaurants - Pittsburgh

SFGAdv lover said:
I'll be spending 2 nights in Pittsburgh, and hitting Kennywood on Friday Oct 7th. I plan to hit Primanti Brothers and Quaker Steak & Lube, (both recommendations from Man vs Food). Any other suggestions? I will also have some free time for exploring the city...anything I should see?

Places to eat: Primanti brothers(as mentioned above) but it must be the one at Smallman/16th streets in the strip district. Delucas Restaurant 2015 Penn Ave also in the strip district..Best place for breakfasts this place was also on Man vs Food when he was at Quaker Steak and Lube.

Places to see and things to do. Best view of the City is up on Mt. Washington. It is a really great place to see the whole city including the stadiums and the famous three rivers. Then from there take the Incline(a trolley that goes down the side of the cliff ) to Station Square(shopping plaza) along the river and also has a bunch of good restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and Joe's Crab Shack. The South Side is a cool section of the city to walk through or stop at the endless number of bars there.

Hope this helps some..

Yes, you've all been very helpful, thanks.

Sorry to hijack your thread Richie.

SFGAdv Lover - - - > No sweat...uh do you have any napkins on your side of the table? And I understand that in many cases the homegrown local place can be a huge improvement over the chains any day.

I grew up in Brooklyn (Frank's Pizza, Mill Basin Deli, Rolln'Roaster) - used to work in Manhattan (Rays, Wo Hops) and I now live on Long Island (Palace of Wong, Piccolo, Bellagio Pizza) so trust me...I can locate good grub. [Which is why I gotta lose some weight!]

I did check out some of the websites of the places that were mentioned earlier in the thread and some of them looked great...but again...they were places local folks would mostly know. Although I do not like spicy food or Mexican food. (The atomic wings with the disclaimer made me very uncomfortable...but to each his own)

People are very loyal to their favorite restaurants and will defend them as much as they defend their musical tastes. One thing that is for certain...we need to go back to Pittsburgh and explore the area.

As usual, yet another one of my trip reports is off topic and to make matters worse...we just ran out of ketchup!

In Eat N Park's defense, they have seemed to step it up in the past few years. It used to be average "family restaurant" akin to Denny's/Elby's/King's, etc. They have some decent stuff on the menu now. Their soups and deserts are fresh made on premises, and their veggies are fresh from local farms. I'd still never go there on my own, but with having young kids it's a solid place to eat.

That being said, if you're in Pittsburgh, PLEASE do not eat at a chain restaurant.

Check out:
Mad Mex for great non-authentic funky Mexican Fare

Double Wide Grill has an eclectic comfort food-based menu and cool atmosphere.

Kaya is a super-good Caribbean food place. Be forewarned that there is generally no "normal" food on the menu, which changes every few days.

The Church Brew Works has Kobe steaks, good pizzas, and great beer.

Mallorca has award winning Spanish (NOT Mexican) food.

...and of course there's Primanti's.

There is a good reason for the Christmas music on the carousel. The Fall Fantasy parades held at Kennywood in August have Santa Claus on the final float just like in the hundreds of holiday season Santa Claus parades held in cities and towns throughout the United States and Canada.

As far as I know, the Santa Clauses and other costumed characters in the parades are regular Kennywood seasonal employees.

Santa is employed by Kennywood? I didn't know that. Does he cook Potato Patch Fries or run the Jack Rabbit? ;)

While we're naming fantastic Pittsburgh food joints, two of my recent favorites:

Meat & Potatoes - Incredible, unusual food (bone marrow and snails are among the appetizers), great cocktails, craft beer. A bit pricey, so I save it for occasions.

Point Brugge - The best mussels anywhere, paired with twice-fried Belgian-style frites (=fries). I'm told the rest of their menu is wonderful too, but after I tried the mussels, I haven't bothered with it. Oh, and a great Belgian beer selection. Best Belgian food I've ever had outside of Belgium.

BRGR - Amazing burgers, shakes, floats, sides, etc., and good craft beer too. It's a slightly upscale/hipster-ish twist on burger joints, and it's amazing. Reasonably priced too. Probably my favorite culinary discovery in Pittsburgh in the last year.

These guys aside though, I have to echo the recommendation of the Church Brew Works. It is my go-to place to take any first time Pittsburgher. Great food, good beer, great vibe, and just a wonderful, fun place.

Church Brew Works has average beer and great pizzas in my opinion. Worth a trip for a visitor for both however.

Absolutely. If you're craving good beer, I'd recommend D's SixPax & Dogz, Fat Heads, or Smokin' Joes.

Madmex is *AMAZING*... The steak burrito or tacos are to die for. The waffle fries are awesome and the beer selection is top notch. Many local and specialty drafts. We love it! Haufbrahaus is another awesome place to stop by... German place that has a fun atmopshere, good food and excellent beer... Beer is made on site. (See a trend??) :) The "O" downtown has excellent hot dogs which they are famous for. Plus many other excellent places to eat there. Pittsburgh is wonderful. We head there every few weeks to get dinner, shopping, casino, etc... So much fun stuff to do there.

As far as Eat-n-Park, never liked it. We have some in Cleveland I have not been in years. Waffle House on the other hand, LOVE it. Never been a dirty/scary one, and I have been to quite a few in Ohio, Georgia, Florida, and the states inbetween. The hashbrowns are killer, topped-smothered-chunked. Sorry you landed at a bad one. It really depends on the location how good it is. Always had excellent time there.

The "O" is in Oakland. Downtown is the triangle in between the rivers and 579. :)

D's is in my neighborhood and also has good dogs, both veggie and beef.

SteveWoA said:
Waffle House on the other hand, LOVE it. Never been a dirty/scary one...

I thought dirty/scary was the franchise motif.

^And, now "smoke free" - except in the kitchen (if you work there).

I think the reason why most of the big chain restaurants get an "ehhhh" rating from most of you is because they have to cater to the largest majority.

Local eats are usually a specialty brand. You go for a specific reason. The reason why you won't find "Atomic Wings" at a Freindly's is because not too many people want to eat something that hot. Those that do will find out about it and seek it out.

Since I don't care for spicy food (or certain types of ethnic foods) I am sometimes better off at a chain...especially when time is limited and I don't know the area.

By the way...I caught the tail end of the Atomic Wings segment on the Man Vs. Food rerun last Sunday. The place looks like a lot of fun...but the food is just not for me.

Regarding my upcoming Pittsburgh trip, as discussed earlier in the thread, I'm thinking about doing one of the inclines. Should we do the Duquesne or Monongahela, and daytime or nighttime? Thanks guys.

BBSpeed26 said:
Absolutely. If you're craving good beer, I'd recommend D's SixPax & Dogz, Fat Heads, or Smokin' Joes.

Fat Heads makes one of the best IPAs I've ever had. Someone had a growler of it at our last party and it disappeared quickly.

Duquesne is the one you always see on sports telecasts. It's the more scenic of the two. More charm per square foot on that one, but you get dropped off next to an empty parking lot near Station Square.

The Monongahela is not the one typically associated with them, but it's located right at Station Square, so you're right there if you want to get a meal or make a night of it.

^Thanks. We're short on time, so Duquesne sounds like the way to go...now is the view better at daytime or nighttime.

How is LeMont these days? My wife worked there back in college (mid-90s), but a lot has changed since then I believe.

LeMont? Now I'll show my age. Used to go there all the time...in the '70s. Quite the treat back then. First place I ever went to that cooked for us (fettuccine alfredo) at the table. So I'd love to hear the answer to Vater's question, too.