PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — If you love food and you haven’t been to Pittsburgh’s Strip District, what are you waiting for?
Located just east of downtown on Penn Avenue between 13th and 33rd streets, the neighborhood packs in butchers, fishmongers, a tea seller, spirits store, chocolate shop, distilleries, breweries and winery, as well as a melting pot of cafes and restaurants. You’ll find ethnic markets focused on Italian, Greek, Latin and Arabic foods.
It’s an easy drive for a day or a weekend from Northeast Ohio. When planning a trip, check the Visit Pittsburgh website for happenings. Avoid big events that drive up hotel demand and thus, prices. We found most rooms priced $800-plus per night when Taylor Swift performed in the city in June. And so, we postponed our visit to a slower weekend.
My sister and I got the most for our travel by staying two nights and shopping two days. We drove 2 1/2 hours on a Thursday after work and returned to Northeast Ohio on Saturday afternoon. That matters because we had all day Friday without weekend crowds and checkout lines.
Eating and drinking our way through The Strip District was too easy. Top left (clockwise) margarita standoff at Puttery, matcha latte, espressp seltzer and hazy IPA from Aslin Beer Co. (Photos by Paris Wolfe)
We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Pittsburgh Downtown, 1247 Smallman St., on the edge of the Strip. Unlike most city hotels, parking here is free. Street and lot parking can be difficult to find on Penn Avenue and fees add up. The drawback to walking everywhere is the need to haul culinary treasures back to the hotel. We did the drop twice on Friday.
It helped that we brought easy-to-carry reusable shopping bags and an empty cooler. On Saturday morning before leaving, we purchased perishables – including sausage, cheeses, dips — and packed them in ice for the return home.
I’ve been to the Strip four times; my sister had never been. We both enjoyed an orientation of the neighborhood from the Burgh Bits & Bites Food Tour, which makes numerous stops along Penn Avenue. We learned district and individual store history. We sampled retail specialties and talked with owners. The two-hour-plus tour is worth the $49 ticket.
Our tour guide told us that the district’s history as a food haven reaches back more than 100 years, even before Cleveland’s West Side Market gained its elegant, permanent home.
Because of its access to transportation, the Strip District started as an industrial area in the early19th century. Wholesale produce merchants moved in in the late 19th century. In fact, some current businesses occupy reimagined produce warehouses.
In the 1950s, 71 wholesale produce dealers operated in the Strip District. As this number dropped to less than 25 in the 1970s, many produce dealers reinvented themselves and opened retail stores in the District.
Today, the Strip District retains a vintage, gritty charm. That character could become endangered as the area becomes trendier, real estate more valuable and rents higher. For now, it’s a bustling mix of old and new.
We enjoyed nine tastings on our 10 a.m. food tour and had no need for lunch. Because we ended in front of R Wine Cellar, my sister and I ducked in for samples… our 10th tasting stop of the morning. Tour tastings included:
Mancini’s Bakery – Started in 1926, by James Mancini, the bakery now makes more than 10,000 loaves a day. We sampled their cinnamon bread.Parma Sausage –The family emigrated from Parma, Italy, in the 1930s. They specialize in dry-cured, Italian pork products like sausages, prosciutto and more. We tasted two varieties of dry sausage.Labad’s Grocery – Labad’s is like walking into another country. Shelves are stocked with Middle Eastern ingredients and foods. The friendly owners, from Syria, request no photos of themselves, for religious reasons. We sampled the hummus, which is made from dried garbanzo beans.
Sunseri’s Pepperoni Roll is big enough to share with several people. (Photo by Paris Wolfe)
Sunseri’s – This Italian deli is known for its bread, especially the pepperoni rolls. The rolls come with and without banana peppers. We sampled the pepperoni roll with marinara for dipping, sans banana peppers.Reyna Foods – This Latin grocery store makes fresh tortillas, fresh salsas and its own tortilla chips. Check out the wall of hot sauces. We sampled tortilla chips and salsa.Peace, Love & Little Donuts – This groovy doughnut chain offers 100 topping combinations. A chain today, it was born in the Strip District. I chose snick jagger, while my sister chose maple bacon.Enrico Biscotti Bakery and Cafe – The bakery makes a variety of pastries, but they’re known for a breadth of biscotti flavors. Among the many choices are black forest, chocolate orange almond, fig pecan and pumpkin walnut. They even have a version for dogs.Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. – In 1902, three brothers from Trabia, Sicily, opened an Italian food store. It has evolved into Pennsylvania Macaroni or Penn Mac. We tried their Asiago cheese dip.Stamooli’s Brothers – By 1910, the Stamoolis Brothers had established a Greek market in Pittsburgh. Available ingredients have expanded exponentially over the years. Our sample included cheeses and honey.
BONUS: R Wine Cellars—A small, urban winery that brings in juices and makes a variety of wines.
After the tour, we stopped at Mon Aimee Chocolat, which offers single-origin or unusual additions in bean-to-bar chocolate from more than 60 countries. The shop isn’t budget-priced, but carries one of the largest collections of premium chocolate in the country. My sister’s favorite stop was Allegheny Coffee & Tea Exchange, which carries a large array of loose-leaf teas among other caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages. And there were many other shops that we didn’t have time for.
In 1929, the Strip District Terminal opened as the Pennsylvania Railroad Fruit Auction & Sales Building as a produce distribution hub. Today it is part of a thriving entertainment district. (Photo by Paris Wolfe)
In the evening, when Strip retailers closed, we hung out at the new The Strip District Terminal. A shiny restoration of a historic food distribution center, it houses a variety of smaller retail. We were interested in Aslin Beer Co. and City Winery, both small chains headquartered elsewhere, as well as Posman Books and City Grows plant store.
I went into these chain beverage companies with skepticism and came out converted. While large and new, both had charm and well-crafted products.
Aslin offers regular and crafted coffee drinks – almost like cocktails – starting at 6:30 a.m. Perhaps the most interesting thing on the menu is “Iced Grandma’s Trip to Berlin,” a blend of espresso, milk and a handcrafted beer syrup.
When they shift to beer service in the afternoon, the selection is both familiar and funky, from IPAs to a variety of sours. The full-service kitchen recently reopened.
A new addition to The Strip District Terminal Building, City Winery offers several flights, glasses and bottles of wine. (Photo by Paris Wolfe)
City Winery makes vino from juice sourced worldwide. They offer eight wines on tap and 15 varieties in bottles. Expect them to open a winery in Columbus in 2024.
We finished the trip with dinner at Puttery Pittsburgh, a 21-and-over, immersive indoor miniature golf course. The facility has a restaurant, plus bar service throughout the building. Before playing we hung around in playful swings and indulged in dinner. She chose the locally sourced beef sliders with lettuce, tomato, pickle, white cheddar, applewood-smoked bacon and horseradish mustard-aioli. I went with harissa-spiced lamb sliders with arugula, shaved red onion, heirloom grape tomatoes, citrus vinaigrette and Greek sauce.
The Puttery Pittsburgh has three themed putt putt golf courses. The “lodge” uses a ski lodge theme. (Photo by Jamie Wolfe)
When we were done we tried two of the three themed mini-golf courses — library, lodge and museum. Each course offers different aesthetic experiences and putting challenges. Bar service is easily available to complement the putting experience.
When we were done, we walked the five minutes to our hotel and crashed until morning.
In a few months, we will make a day trip to restock on tea, chocolate, dry sausage, salsa and more.
Paris Wolfe writes about food, dining and drinking for Cleveland.com. You can reach her with story ideas at pwolfe@cleveland.com. Here’s a directory of her latest posts. Follow her on Instagram @pariswolfe.
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