Pittsburgh Foodies Thread (Clearfield, Oakland, Penn: retire, courses, quality)

[fleetiebelle]

Interesting essay about sitting at the bar: Insights about a city can be found at restaurant and bar counters - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[SolitaryThrush]

Pennsylvasia: "Ramen Bar" coming to Squirrel Hill.

[pman]

Deluca's is pretty average, not bad, but nothing special IMO. for an early morning breakfast I prefer la prima and a slice of fresh pizza. fresh pizza in the morning is something Ive never seen before (sure, Pennsylvania has a penchant for cold pizza leftover from yesterday but I never much cared for it) but it makes a surprisingly good complement to a coffee.

[LEFT]"Running a food truck is daunting." He cited city rules that prevent trucks from parking for longer than 30 minutes as a business hindrance

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/...#ixzz276jaP1ua
this essentially amounts to a ban on food trucks. [/LEFT]

[groar]

yep, food truck laws here were made with ice cream trucks in mind and really, really need to be changed.

i think one reason it hasn't been a no-brainer to make the city more food truck friendly is that restaurant owners are afraid of the competition from people with lower overheads.

and it would be awesome if there was a real ramen place in squirrel hill! hopefully with some vegetarian options.

[ML North]

Originally Posted by pman

Deluca's is pretty average, not bad, but nothing special IMO. for an early morning breakfast I prefer la prima and a slice of fresh pizza. fresh pizza in the morning is something Ive never seen before (sure, Pennsylvania has a penchant for cold pizza leftover from yesterday but I never much cared for it) but it makes a surprisingly good complement to a coffee.

I like your style. Generally, I opt for La Prima followed by the taco man at Reyna. For dessert, I go down to Wholey's and get some fresh fruit, compliments of Mr. Wholey himself!

Incidentally, where in the Strip do you get your pizza?

[pman]

Originally Posted by ML North

I like your style. Generally, I opt for La Prima followed by the taco man at Reyna. For dessert, I go down to Wholey's and get some fresh fruit, compliments of Mr. Wholey himself!

Incidentally, where in the Strip do you get your pizza?

next door, there isn't a lot open at 6 am. deluca's opens at 630 but I find I prefer sitting outside (weather permitting) at la prima, eating a slice of fresh pizza (I can't say as I love the danishes they sell). if you'd have suggested that to me a couple years ago I'd have thought you were nuts. I guess I should have known pizza is always good (fresh).

[ML North]

Originally Posted by pman

next door, there isn't a lot open at 6 am. deluca's opens at 630 but I find I prefer sitting outside (weather permitting) at la prima, eating a slice of fresh pizza (I can't say as I love the danishes they sell). if you'd have suggested that to me a couple years ago I'd have thought you were nuts. I guess I should have known pizza is always good (fresh).

Ah, Colangelo's? I haven't had their pizza, but everything they make looks pretty on point.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by groar

yep, food truck laws here were made with ice cream trucks in mind and really, really need to be changed.

i think one reason it hasn't been a no-brainer to make the city more food truck friendly is that restaurant owners are afraid of the competition from people with lower overheads.

I wish for consistency. If, as you suppose, the reason is competition with lower overheads, why is a hack like Zeke's Coffee allowed to do pop-up stands around the city, often right in the shadows of establishments that serve coffee? The only difference is he doesn't have a truck and he isn't "cooking" per se.

So let's get that B.S. for an excuse out of the way.

[groar]

Originally Posted by sskink

I wish for consistency. If, as you suppose, the reason is competition with lower overheads, why is a hack like Zeke's Coffee allowed to do pop-up stands around the city, often right in the shadows of establishments that serve coffee? The only difference is he doesn't have a truck and he isn't "cooking" per se.

So let's get that B.S. for an excuse out of the way.

i totally agree, the laws are bull as they stand and should be changed, and that reasoning is bull as well. but i could see business owners, the chamber of commerce (maybe?) etc pushing to keep the laws the same to prevent more mobile food vendors, even if some currently slip through the cracks. there ARE food trucks in pittsburgh now, they just have to operate on private property (or under silly limitations on the street) and they are generally attached to brick and mortar restaurants because they need somewhere to do their cooking.

it seems like there are people in the process of trying to get more favorable conditions for food trucks in this city, and more power to them. i HOPE i am wrong and they don't face too much opposition.

[fleetiebelle]

Night Market in PIttsburgh: Downtown's second Night Market set for Sept. 28 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Project Pop Up: Night Market #2 will run from 7 p.m. to midnight, during which time a parking lot at 917-919 Liberty Ave. will become a bustling little outdoor market of food and craft vendors