Trip to the Burgh

I've been to Pittsburgh several times for Steelers games in the past and have always just figured things out for myself. Now that I'm on the message board I was hoping you guys could make some suggestions on places to check out. I've been to the Strip distric, Bettis' place and Primanti bros. Any place that has awesome Pizza and Wings? Any must see sights? I'll have to wait till the schedule comes out, but normally we come up in October.
Thanks in advance,
Glenn

 

I enjoyed mt. Washington, it was a Sunday afternoon before the night game. The city was just starting to light up

 

There is a really cool place that nobody ever seems to talk much about when this type of question comes up.

It's called "Church Brew Works" (I think) they converted and old church into a brew pub. The food is passable and the beer if good, not great, but the atmosphere is awesome!

They made the alter where all the copper fermenting tanks are, the confessionals hold the liquor for the bar area and the pews are the seats for the booths!

It's down the street from Iron City Brewery.

 

Any oldschool Steelers bars?

 

every bar in pittsburgh is an "old school steelers bar"

 

Don't know of your age or if you are bringing kids but a trip to Kennywood is a must do one time thing. It is such a historical amusement park with one of the oldest wooden roller coasters still in operation.
If you just have a couple hours go to the cathedral at Pitt and tour it on your own from bottom to the very top. Its really a special place. Head stright down the street about 4 blocks after that towards Oakland and there is a pizza place there that my wife swears up and down was the best pizza she has ever had in her life. Don't know the name of it but it is right near Pitt.
Mt. Washington and the inclines are always a must.
Hope this helps.

 

Yup. CBWs. Good place. Good call.

 

Call me simple but I enjoyed the incline and recommend it to anyone that hasnt done it.

 

i travel all over the country and like to hit up the local favorites. i like to find the best steak house in town (Hyde Park in the burgh) and the best of whatever it is the local area specializes in (crabs in b-more, cheesesteaks in philly, pho in the pac northwest, bbq in the midwest, soul food in the south, etc). i also love to hit up the travel channel/food channel places that are featured on shows like dinners, drive-ins, and drives as well as adam richman's man vs food (i've pretty much been to every place he's eaten in the country and am almost always pleased with the experience). you might wanna google the places those shows visited. off the top of my head, local pittsburgh joints that were visited were DeLuca's for dessert pancakes in the strip district and Quaker Steak for the hot wings challenge. you also might want to eat 'the #7' (the original roethlisbUrger) at peppi's.

some off-the-wall stuff i like to do in town . . .

*depending on how 'cultured' you are, the warhol museum is worth the visit.
*i swung by central catholic to see where dan marino played his high school ball. seeing where some of the studs played their high school ball is something i like to do (i've visited bradshaw's hs in shreveport, lambert's in ohio, swann's in san mateo,cali, michael jordan's in wilmington,nc, and more -- i always find it interesting).
*paying respect to art rooney's grave at the north side catholic cemetery
*the heinz history center sometimes has some great steelers exhibits. if nothing else, they provide a great history of the city. but i've always checked out the center to see what was going on and have scored some great opportunities in doing so: dan rooney's book signing, an exhibition of the team photographer's unpublished photos, and a special exhibit celebrating the 75th anniversary.
*if you're there during the week at all, crashing the team practice on the south side can be cool. if you have little ones, the players' walk from the cafeteria to the indoor practice facility is a nice spot for photo ops/autos/etc. i saw hines stop and pose with some families on his way to practice.
*check out a pens game at the new consol energy place. i once had a great weekend with the pens hosting boston, pitt hosting notre dame, and the steelers hosting the bengals all in the same weekend.
*check out the team-sponsored charity events on the team's main web site. i fly in for a lot of the better ones where you get an opportunity to dine with the players, bid on memorabilia, free autographs, etc.
*take a tour of pnc park. i've toured most of the stadiums in the country and it's always enjoyable sitting in the dugout, visiting the locker room, etc. go in september (never october - ha!) and you might even be able to catch the bucs and stillers in the same weekend.
*if it's steelers' 'gear' you seek, hometown sports at station square is the obvious starting point. if you're spending any real kind of money (authentic jersey/helmet/etc) then you want to buy it at the sideline store at heinz becuase the sales tax is pre-paid. there's also a decent steelers store at the parkway center mall just on the other side of the fort pitt tunnel. i've found some cool stuff in there.
*road-trip out to state college (2.5hr drive) and visit the penn state campus, pay respects to paterno's grave at spring creek cemetery, eat a peachy paterno ice cream at berkey creamery, sneak into the locker room/onto the field (if you're as resourceful as i) and see that awesome stadium.
*road-trip to canton for the hall of fame and/or to cleveland for rock n' roll hof and pee on the side of browns stadium (guilty).

 

If you find yourself nirth of pittsburgh into beaver county go to the hill top in rochester pa home of the steack salad get the house dressing.

 

In 2010, for my fortieth birthday, my wife took me to Pittsburgh for the weekend when we killed the Raiders. Stayed at the Fairmont, and walked to the game along the river. We were some of the last folks to leave the stadium. If you want a pretty fantastic dinner, check out the restaurant 'Eleven.' Good times.

 

A lot good has already been said. Lots to do and see in the Burgh, I love it everytime I visit (once every couple years):

if interested, the Carnegie Natural History Museum and Art Museum share the same admission, and both right near Pitt. The Nat. History has the 3rd largest collection of dinosaur bones in the US.

For eats, I always try to make it to the Dirty O, aka the Original Hot Dog, on Forbes Avenue right near Pitt- (it's also near the site of old Forbes Field).

Here is a medium order of fries at the Dirty O- (that's a 32 oz drink for size comp purposes):

 

Thanks for all the ideas. It will be four of us, all guys. We went to a little Pizza place last year and back in 03 over on Banksville road. Think it used to be called Pietro's and can't remember what they changed the name to, but they had good pizza and wings. Been to Bettis' place a couple times, only problem is it takes forever to get seated. We will be up Friday afternoon so we will have a little time. I would like to find some type of cool big Steelers bar, something unique not a Buffalo Wild Wings type of place. Planning on doing those trains that run up the hillside.

 

If your going with a bunch of guys check out "THE TILTED KILT"....right behind Grill 36.. same building....A Scottish Hooters....Foods ok.... sights are GREAT!!...Tons of TVs

 

Quaker steak and lube in Robinson

 

CBW is definitely a place to hit. Don't forget a growler to go! Ditto on the Dirty O. The strip is always good to hit, and even as an adult I still love Kennywood (though it's nowhere near the nostaligic place I remember as a kid... be sure to walk through Noah's Ark!). The incline should be tradition too. The Lube doesn't have the same draw for me now since they expanded out of PA. Pirates game to see the new stadium, depending on when you go.

Love the 'burgh. Most of my family is still there and I enjoy it thoroughly every time I go back!