Weekdays in Pittsburgh

I’m gonna be in Pittsburgh from Tuesday until Friday night, staying in East Allegheny, and would appreciate some recommendations.

I went to CMU in the late 90s, and except for Polish food (recommendations?), Pamela’s pancakes, and the atmosphere of the Church Brew Works, there’s nothing I’m nostalgic for (RIP Sree’s). Bill Addison called Pittsburgh the Country’s Next Destination Food Town, so I’m looking forward to experiencing what’s new and good, or classic and better than I remember. Any must-have suggestions? We’re coming from San Francisco with our toddler, who is a good eater, but limits our dinners to 6pm or earlier. For this trip, the thriving cocktail culture isn’t of much interest.

It seems like some of the more interesting restaurants don’t do lunch, and I’m not finding much of interest near the tourist areas we plan to visit: Mexican War Streets, Andy Warhol Museum, National Aviary, CMU campus, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Any suggestions, or should we plan to drive for grub?

Some initial thoughts:

Any destination places we should add to the list, or best in show for pierogies and haluski? Other than Polish, any immigrant cuisines not common in the San Francisco Bay Area with great food?

Some lists I’ve been looking at: