Things to do in Pittsburgh
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Interior Design District
Formerly gritty Lawrenceville has recently become the city's Interior Design District, comprising the stretch on and around Butler Street from 16th to 62nd Sts. It's a long and spotty strip of shops, galleries, studios, bars and eateries that's on every hipster's radar, and runs into the slowly gentrifying Garfield neighborhood, a good place for cheap ethnic eats.
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Abay
This funky spot features great Ethiopian cuisine from chicken- to lentil-based stews, all served with a particularly good version of that spongy, delicious injera bread instead of cutlery.
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Original Hot Dog Shop
Affectionately nicknamed 'dirty Os' or 'the O' by locals, this is a favorite for its cheap dogs and mounds of crispy fries - especially after a night at the bars.
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Cathedral of Learning
- Pittsburgh, USA
- Sights › Tower
The University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University are here, and the surrounding streets are packed with cheap eateries, cafés, shops and student homes. Rising up from the center of the U Pitt campus is the soaring Cathedral of Learning, a grand, 42-story Gothic tower which, at 535ft, is the second-tallest education building in the world. It houses the elegant Nationality Classrooms, each representing a different style and period, with gorgeous details such as the red-velvet upholstered chairs of Austria; most are accessible only with a guided tour.
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Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
For pretty much any outdoor pursuit, the best option is the elaborate, 1700-acre system of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, which comprises Schenley Park (with a public swimming pool and golf course), Highland Park (with swimming pool, tennis courts and bicycling track), Riverview Park (sporting ball fields and horseback riding trails) and Frick Park (with hiking trails, clay courts and a bowling green), all with beautiful running, cycling and in-line skating trails.
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Monongahela Incline
The South Side, bursting with shops, eateries, bars and cool characters, is a great place for strolling. To see it from above, ride the Monongahela Incline. The historic funicular railroads that run up and down Mt Washington's steep slopes and afford great city views (and along which a young Jennifer Beals rode her bicycle in the classic '80s film Flashdance). You can also try the Duquesne Incline (www.incline.pghfree.net).
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Andy Warhol Museum
The Andy Warhol Museum celebrates Pittsburgh's coolest native son, who became famous for his pop art, avant-garde movies, celebrity connections and Velvet Underground spectaculars. Exhibits include celebrity portraits, while the museum's theater hosts frequent film screenings and quirky performers. Friday-night cocktails at the museum are popular with Pittsburgh's gay community.
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Frick Art & Historical Center
East of Oakland, in Point Breeze, is the wonderful Frick Art & Historical Center, which displays some of Henry Clay Frick's Flemish, French and Italian paintings in its Art Museum; assorted Frickmobiles like a 1914 Rolls Royce in the Car & Carriage Museum; more than five acres of grounds and gardens; and Clayton, the restored 1872 Frick mansion.
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Carnegie Museums
Nearby are two Carnegie Museums - the Carnegie Museum of Art, with terrific exhibits of architecture, impressionist, postimpressionist and modern American paintings; and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, featuring a complete Tyrannosaurus skeleton and exhibits on Pennsylvania geology and Inuit prehistory.
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UUBU 6
The first high-end eatery to open in the rapidly gentrifying South Side Slopes, this cozy newbie is housed in a spiffed-up old union lodge, and serves delicacies such as asparagus-and-peeky-toe-crab risotto (for lunch) and, for dinner, duck meatballs with mustard greens and seared basil swordfish.
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Eleven
The ubiquitous Big Burrito Restaurant Group (which also owns Kaya) has done it again with this slick, high-ceilinged, eclectic eatery, with top-notch fare such as gnocchi with broccoli rabe, Alaskan halibut and an elaborate vegetarian tasting menu.
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Gypsy Café
The purple floors and walls and brightly colored rugs make loyal patrons here as happy as the fresh, seasonal fare. Sample menu items include a smoked trout plate and a stew of shrimp, scallop and feta. Hours are changeable so call ahead
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Pittsburgh Combination Tour
6 hours (Departs Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
by Viator
A study in contrast takes you to the old and the new in Pittsburgh. Your tour begins with a ride on the historic Duquesne Incline to the top of Mt. Washington f…
Not LP reviewed
from USD$39.99 -
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Primanti Bros
A Pittsburgh institution on the Strip, this always-packed place specializes in greasy and delicious hot sandwiches - from knockwurst and cheese to the 'Pitts-burger cheesesteak.' Other outlets are in Oakland, downtown and South Side.
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Dish Osteria Bar
A tucked-away, intimate locals' fave. The simple wood tables and floors belie the at-times extravagant Mediterranean creations, which range from fresh sardines with caramelized onions to fettuccine with lamb ragù.
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Golden Triangle Bike & Blade Shop
Active types can find guidance at places such as the Golden Triangle Bike & Blade Shop, which rents bikes and leads various tours of the city; there's even a continuous trail all the way to Washington, DC.
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Cafe du Jour
Part of the raucous South Side 'hood, Cafe du Jour has a constantly changing menu of Mediterranean dishes. It does especially good soups and salads for lunch; try to get a seat in the small outside courtyard. It's BYOB.
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Bash Nightclub
You'll find several big, frenzied dance clubs clustered at the edge of the Strip district, including Bash Nightclub, which is rowdy, cruisy and packed on weekends - not to mention the home of a bucking mechanical bull.
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Kessab's
Kessab's, a Lebanese restaurant on the South Side, serves splendid baba ghanoush, and the tiny and popular Pho Minh does excellent Vietnamese noodle, soup and tofu dishes.
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August Wilson Center for African American Culture
- Pittsburgh, USA
- Sights › Other
In September 2009 the August Wilson Center for African American Culture christened it's strikingly contemporary new building, which houses a museum, classrooms and performance space.
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Heinz Field
Pittsburgh is a big-time sports city. Fans will tell you they bleed black and gold, the colors of the hometown NFL franchise the Steelers who play at Heinz Field.
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Pittsburgh Children's Museum
The Pittsburgh Children's Museum features loads of interactive exhibits, including a chance for kids to get under the hood of real cars and some child-friendly Warhol works.
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Matrix
Matrix is a sort of mall of nightclubs housing Club Exit ('80s classics), Club Liquid (techno and trance), Club Velvet (salsa and merengue) and Club Goddess (Top 40 pop).
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River Moon Café
This recent addition to the exceedingly popular Lawrenceville nabe serves creative, diverse (and beyond satisfying) fare from salmon and lemon angel hair pasta to filet mignon gorgonzola.
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Bloomfield Bridge Tavern
Bloomfield Bridge Tavern, 'the only Polish restaurant in Lil' Italy, ' is a gritty pub serving beers with excellent sides of pierogi and the occasional indie rock band.
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