Maeve and Eric

Pennsylvania COVID regulations require restaurants to limit guest to 50% capacity. Alcohol can only be sold in conjunction with food, and alcohol can not be sold after 11pm. Masks must be worn except when seated at your table.

The Porch at Schenley: 221 Schenley Drive, on Schenley Plaza. We recommend their pizza.

Spirits &Tales: top floor of the Oaklander Hotel, 5130
Bigelow Blvd

Stack’d: 3716 Forbes Avenue. It is known for its custom built burgers.

Spice Island Tea House: 253 Atwood Street. This place is an institution, having been around when some of the older wedding crowd went to Pitt (see father of the bride).

Ali Baba’s: 404 Centre Ave. Here you will find a third generation serving traditional Syrian dishes. The lamb shank is a particular favorite.

Roots Natural Kitchen: 3610 Forbes Ave. Great salads to go. 

Mercurios: 5523 Walnut Street. nice wood-fired pizza, home-made gelato


Girasole: 733 Copeland Street. Quaint Italian restaurant on a Shadyside side street. They do take reservations, but we are pretty convinced they don't write them down. Expect to wait, but know it is worth it. 

On a nice day, this is a very doable walk straight up Forbes Avenue (passing the Carnegie museums on your right). But it gets its name honestly as there is a bit of an incline.

Though well known as the Jewish cultural center of town, this neighborhood is more popular for Asian food than Jewish delis. You can probably find any kind of Asian food you want here. We will list a few of the more unique ones:

Everyday Noodles: 5875 Forbes Avenue. As the web site says, every meal comes with a show because you can watch the noodles being made.

Sichuan Gourmet: 1900 Murray Avenue.  As the name suggests, its specialty is Sichuan dishes, but what makes it unique is that it has a whole menu in Chinese. And it’s not just a translation of the English. The dishes on the Chinese menu are very traditional Chinese dishes not found in your run-of-the-mill American-Chinese restaurant. So, go English if you are looking for familiar food that is very good. Or, if you want to try something new, ask for the Chinese menu.

The “newest’ old neighborhood, Lawrenceville has exploded with skyrocketing real estate and dozens of award-winning restaurants. It’s hard to narrow it down to just a few. The best way to get here is an Uber.

Unami: 202 38th Street (412-224-2354)
Serving contemporary sushi and Japanese street food, here is where you want to go for Asian modern, with ramen, sushi, sashimi and tempura. Bring 6-8 and ask for a table in the front room where you sit down in a pit and the waiter, any waiter, looks really tall! Reservations are a must and need to be made well in advance.

Merchant Oyster Company: 4129 Butler Street. Oysters on the half shell, lobster rolls and chowder served with local beers.

Still in Lawrenceville, and while not in its “heart”, it is deserving of a mention:

The Church Brew Works: 3525 Liberty Avenue
The atmosphere alone is worth the visit. It is an old Catholic church and the table seats are the pews. A brewery, its vats sit up on the altar. If you can move past that it’s all a bit sacrilegious, this is a fun place to go, offering flights of beer and a nice varied menu. Large crowds are welcome.

Craft breweries deserve their own section because Pittsburgh has a long history of brewing beer. The Bride’s family (on her father’s German side) was involved in the beer business for at least three generations. Pittsburgh is home to over 60 breweries; we are going to list a few that are in the same general area so you can easily sample more than one.

LAWRENCEVILLE:

Cinderlands Beer Co. has two locations. The one in Lawrenceville is where to go for a saison (3705 Butler St ). Further down the road in the Strip District is the larger location with more choices (2601 Smallman St)

11th Hour: 3711 Charlotte Street. Good beer and usually food trucks in their lot in case you get hungry! 

Roundabout: 4901 Butler St. This brewer worked in breweries all over the world before opening up Roundabout in Pittsburgh. 

Hop Farm: 5601 Butler St. Great beer and friendly vibe. 

And, of course as mentioned above, Church Brew Works

EAST END:

East End Brewing -147 Julius St. More than 35 beers are brewed each year at this brewery. And they offer a grains to glass brewery tour for those who want the more educational experience. 

BrewDog-6144 Centre Avenue. A Scottish brewery, BrewDog opened its first American location in Columbus, Ohio several years ago. The bride and groom have been to all three BrewDogs now in Columbus, as well as one in Iceland, but have yet to make it to this new BrewDog in their hometown. The Groom says get the Elvis Juice. The Bride prefers the Hazy Jane.