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Moving to Pittsburgh in August, Any Stuff I Should Know?

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Go visit the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and get anything you want.

I'm there almost every day on my lunch. Funny to think I'm always unknowingly passing GAFers.

Never knew that move had a name. People pulled it all the time in Rochester during Rush Hour when driving in the city where there are rarely turn lanes/turn signals to avoid having to wait for like 15 minutes to turn left.

People seem to think these things only happen in Pittsburgh. Another thing Pittsburghers thing they invented is putting a chair in the street to save your parking spot.

I don't agree about Fiori's pizza. It's alright.
 
Wow, you all pretty much covered it. The city is a wonderful place to be tbh. I'm moving out to Philly for medical school in August and man I'm gonna miss the last 13 years in 412

My so and I have made a list of a few good places to go:

Food:
Mercurios pizza
Las Velas
Tako
Burgatory
Stacked
Slice on Broadway
Minios
Everyday Noodles
Smallman's gallery
Pancake house
Pizza Ricadio
Ramen bar in Shady Side
Mad Mex
Proper Brick Oven & Tap Room
Poros
Mallorca
Whitfield
Fiori's

Drink:
Adesso Cafe
Allegheny Coffee Exchange
Many bubble tea places

Deserts:
Every days a sundae and cafe
Prantl's bakery
Millie's homemade ice cream
Sumi's Cakery
Greater's Ice Cream
The Ultimate Pastry Shop
Klavon's Authentic 1920s Ice Cream Parlor
Grandpa Joes Candy Shop
Grand View Bakery

Places:
Hundred Acre Mansion - Halloween
Soergel's Orchards Market
Ice Ring
Mattress Factory
Observatory Hill
Pumpkin Picking
Kards Unlimited
Wildwood Hylands - GoKart/SnowTubing/bumper boats
Everywhere in schenley park
Pitt's Cathedral
Carnegie Natural History Museum
Phipps
 
I bet something could be arranged. ^



Oh shit totally forgot about mad mex. It's not authentic Mexican whatsoever, but fuck do they have excellent burritos (and gobbleritos in the fall!)
 
Where were all of yinz during our October meetup? Someone else can schedule this one, just aim for a bar with an outside patio. Drinking outdoors > drinking indoors.
 
Sweet! Are there many pick up ultimate frisbee meetups? It's huge in Philly, and I'd love to keep playing.

Pitt and CMU both have big intramural/pickup groups that play often. Schenley Park usually had games.

There's a disc golf course in the North Hills at North Park. North Park's soccer fields have alot of pickup games on the weekends for frisbee.

Also, if you can make it out to Seven Springs in late September, do the ziplining. I did it last fall and it was a blast.

Oakmont Bakery, Bartram House Bakery for sweets.

I keep remembering things.

Bar called Stinky's in Lawrenceville has surprisingly great food.
 
Beware the Pittsburgh Left. It's this driving move where a car turning left will go as soon as the light turns green, regardless of whether a car opposite them is going straight. Right-of-way be damned. People pull this shit when I'm in a car, couldn't imagine how common it is for people on bikes
What I came to say. Gaf on point.
 
Ohiopyle is more than 45 minutes from Pittsburgh lol. Definitely worth checking out tho

Anyway, if you're into hiking/nature hit up Coopers Rock near Morgantown WV, about an hour to the south. Crazy view over a river gorge!

You are right... it's a little further than that at 1hr 20min. I usually just pass on it on a longer trip so time estimate was hard.

Have you ever been to Dolly Sods, WV? Went there 2 years ago and it was amazing. I'll look into Coopers Rock.
 
For cycling/hiking/camping, looking into Ohiopyle... about 45 minutes from Pittsburgh (it's not in Ohio). There are trails around the rivers though and Pittsburgh has four main parks... Schenley and Frick will be close to you at CMU/Sq Hill. There's also Highland and Riverview on the North Side. Riverview Park also has an Observatory (in the neighborhood Observatory Hill... my 'hood!). There are lots of smaller parks as well like Point State Park.

Squirrel Hill area is very nice, you shouldn't have any problems there. Very pretty older houses and lots of restaurants/things to do. Pretty sure going to CMU you should get a free bus pass. Transit system is pretty straightforward. If you use it in Philly you should be fine here.

I'll guess I'll just list some cool stuff to check out...

-Cathedral of Learning at University of Pittsburgh (check out the Nationality Rooms on the first three floors)
-Phipps Conservatory
-There are good breweries popping up. Grist House in Milvale, Allegheny City Brewing in lower North Side, East End Brewing Co in the East End, Arsenal Cider House in Lawrenceville
-Take the inclines up and down Mt Washington
-St. Nicholas Church in Milvale has these INSANE murals inside. I'm not religious but found it super fascinating. It's one of the coolest tours you can take. http://vankamurals.org/ https://solararray.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/injustice-maxo-vanka-_-spmmmv.jpg
-National Aviary on the North Side
-Catch baseball at the amazing PNC Park (Phillies @ Pittsburgh next month if you'll be here)
-if you are into art/museums there are some cool ones... Mattress Factory, Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Art/Natural History/Science Center

if you have anything specific you were wondering (types of foods, music venues) let me know and I'll try to answer.

This post pretty much covers it. I've lived in the Pittsburgh area for my entire life and love it. With CMU and Pitt being right next to each other, there's definitely never a shortage of things to do!
The Pittsburgh zoo & aquarium is actually pretty impressive so that's worth checking out. Also if you're looking for great chinese food for cheap, Szechuan Express in Oakland is fantastic.
Ohiopyle and the Laurel Mountain area in general are great for hiking/biking. Beams rock and Wolf's rock are both in that area and are beautiful.
Quakertown falls is also roughly 45 minutes away from Oakland and is a great waterfall to check out.
 
Beware the Pittsburgh Left. It's this driving move where a car turning left will go as soon as the light turns green, regardless of whether a car opposite them is going straight. Right-of-way be damned. People pull this shit when I'm in a car, couldn't imagine how common it is for people on bikes.

I'm in Pittsburgh and I don't allow that nonsense! I'm good at the game of chicken.
 
Since you like to bike there is a bar on the South Side (actually closer to Station Square) called OTB (Over the Bar) that has bike "parking" and is all about cycling. You can meet some like-minded folks there since that's your hobby. They have good food, too, and they have a funny guy come and do trivia on Mondays (also burger and Yuengling specials that night).

People hating on Primanti's are just wrong, or not doing it right.
Best gyro I've ever had at Lesvos on the South Side. Highly recommended.
Hit up Ikea in Robinson if you need cheap furniture.
Uber/Lyft do well there so you can always grab a ride if you want to get away from the downtown area.

I moved here a few years back and am happy I did. Plenty of fun to be had and on the whole it isn't as expensive as other major cities. Good to know there's a 'burghGAF, I'll have to hit that up.

Oh, and since you're from Philly I'd advise against publicly stating you are a Flyers fan, if you are. The Eagles and Phillies seem to get a pass, but not the Flyers lol.

Also this, haha:

I'd start adding "yins" and "jagoff" to your vocabulary now.
 
Since you like to bike there is a bar on the South Side (actually closer to Station Square) called OTB (Over the Bar) that has bike "parking" and is all about cycling. You can meet some like-minded folks there since that's your hobby. They have good food, too, and they have a funny guy come and do trivia on Mondays (also burger and Yuengling specials that night).

People hating on Primanti's are just wrong, or not doing it right.
Best gyro I've ever had at Lesvos on the South Side. Highly recommended.
Hit up Ikea in Robinson if you need cheap furniture.
Uber/Lyft do well there so you can always grab a ride if you want to get away from the downtown area.

I moved here a few years back and am happy I did. Plenty of fun to be had and on the whole it isn't as expensive as other major cities. Good to know there's a 'burghGAF, I'll have to hit that up.

Oh, and since you're from Philly I'd advise against publicly stating you are a Flyers fan, if you are. The Eagles and Phillies seem to get a pass, but not the Flyers lol.

Also this, haha:

Thanks! Penguin fans can bite me though, I'll rock Giroux jersey with pride.
 
It's a great city. I miss it a bunch. The infrastructure regarding traffic just feels quite old in a lot of spots.

Southside is fun but it's kinda old. Mostly just dive bars.
North Shore is a fun time.
 
You are right... it's a little further than that at 1hr 20min. I usually just pass on it on a longer trip so time estimate was hard.

Have you ever been to Dolly Sods, WV? Went there 2 years ago and it was amazing. I'll look into Coopers Rock.

Yeah Dolly Sods is fantastic. I've been there twice and I still haven't seen everything it has to offer.
 
ACE... you said you are a vegetarian, here are some suggestions...

-Apteka (Polish vegan food) in Bloomfield
-B52 Cafe (vegan Mediterranean-American cafe) in Lawrenceville
-Onion Maiden (vegan) in Allentown
-Zenith (amazing vegetarian brunch/buffet) in South Side

I don't like Double Wide Grill in the South Side (you'll probably get some recommendations for here). They do have a lot of vegan and vegetarian options but I think their food is pretty average. If you order a side of fries you honestly get like 8 french fries. They specifically tell you "You may want to order two orders of fries" which is stupid.

Other places that aren't full on vegan/vegetarian but have good options.

-Pho Van (vegetarian pho yum) in the Strip
-Scratch (they seem to have less veggie options than before but still really good) in Troy Hill
-Gaucho (maybe the most popular restaurant in Pittsburgh)... they don't have a ton of options but what they do have is great. The grits are amazing.
-El Burro (Mexican) in North Side/Regent Square... Chile Relleno Burrito
 
ACE... you said you are a vegetarian, here are some suggestions...

-Apteka (Polish vegan food) in Bloomfield
-B52 Cafe (vegan Mediterranean-American cafe) in Lawrenceville
-Onion Maiden (vegan) in Allentown
-Zenith (amazing vegetarian brunch/buffet) in South Side

I don't like Double Wide Grill in the South Side (you'll probably get some recommendations for here). They do have a lot of vegan and vegetarian options but I think their food is pretty average. If you order a side of fries you honestly get like 8 french fries. They specifically tell you "You may want to order two orders of fries" which is stupid.

Other places that aren't full on vegan/vegetarian but have good options.

-Pho Van (vegetarian pho yum) in the Strip
-Scratch (they seem to have less veggie options than before but still really good) in Troy Hill
-Gaucho (maybe the most popular restaurant in Pittsburgh)... they don't have a ton of options but what they do have is great. The grits are amazing.
-El Burro (Mexican) in North Side/Regent Square... Chile Relleno Burrito

This is INCREDIBLY appreciated, awesome! I'll have to check these out for sure.
 
Nicky's downtown has excellent Thai food, just don't go during lunch rush.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time is also a great place in Bloomfield to eat.

Nakama and Fatheads are great places to eat in the Southside.
 
Things to consider: Route 28 sucks. Two lane highways are stupid (see PWW and PWE). Just get used to traffic if you have to head downtown.
 
also as far as groceries for veggie stuff, my GF and I usually stick to Whole Foods, Giant Eagle, Trader Joe's and local farmers markets.

there's some good Asian markets around (Oriental Market on McKnight Rd in the North Hills and Pittsburgh Asian Market in Wilkinsburg).
 
...Anyone near CMU need a roommate? -_- the craigslist apartment hunt is rough. Finding a studio within 2 miles of CMU for $700 or less is super challenging, also compounded by the fat that it needs to be at least somewhat pet friendly because my girlfriend will visit semi-regularly with our small dog.
 
Nicky's downtown has excellent Thai food, just don't go during lunch rush.

Peanut Butter Jelly Time is also a great place in Bloomfield to eat.

Nakama and Fatheads are great places to eat in the Southside.
Was at Fatheads last week. Excellent as always.

Get the Jack-O, OP.
 
Ramen Bar in Squirrel Hill! Good luck going anywhere without a car, the public transportation is terrible and the city has like barely any residing population. It's only really busy Monday to Friday.

A'pizza Badamo in Mt. Lebanon has the best pizza, by the way, but it's located south of the city and GOOD LUCK GETTING THERE WTHOUT A CAR.

I spent practically my entire life in Oakland, where CMU and Pitt are, except for when I went to Bucknell or lived in Japan. Went to primary and middle school at Carlow, went to high school at Central. PM me if you have any questions!
 
Others covered it pretty well.

Need to give the Carnegie Museum of Natural History some extra love though. It's my home away from home, grew up volunteering there.

The dinosaur hall is of course awesome.

Primanti Bros. fucking sucks.

This is blasphemy. The capocollo and cheese sandwich is great.

Fiori's is the best pizza in Pittsburgh.

Tessaro's in Bloomfield or Benjamin's in the North Side for burgers.

Cultural district is cool and some good places to grab a drink.

Yinzers are the worst. Kennywood sucks.

Shady Grove is a good place to grab a drink, that would be close to you if you're in that neighborhood. Industry Public House in Lawrenceville.

CMU is an amazing school. I'm jealous.

If you go to Mt. Washington on the inclines, hit me up and we'll go to Bigham Tavern.

Fiori's is great - though sometimes I prefer mineos.

Kennywood isn't awful - it's not a typical amusement park, but it's fun.
 
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