Updated June 2, 2025. Last updated May 25, 2022.
Everyone loves Kennywood. It’s such a great hometown Pittsburgh amusement park. I definitely don’t get there enough. They have fantastic wooden roller coasters. Unfortunately, I never get there enough. However, Kennywood gave me another great reason to go with the introduction of their new Bites and Pints Food & Drink Festival. Starting May 23 thru June 29, 2025, on Friday to Sunday, Kennywood will have chef-inspired cuisine from around the world available in the park. I’ve updated this for 2025 after getting to preview it again.
Full disclosure, Kennywood asked me to come by again in 2025 to try out the Bites and Pints food.
Kennywood chef-inspired tastings of international cuisine plus craft beer, wine, and specialty cocktails to create a culinary trip around the world. This year the countries are South Korea, Spain, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Poland and Cuba. New for 2025 are Spain and Cuba. They set up booths around the Lagoon serving food and drinks themed to each of these different types of cuisine. It is encouraged to buy a Bite Card to purchase food at all of these booths. Park visitors can buy a Bite Card with either 8 bites or 12 bites. A supersized 15 bites pass is available for Season Passholders. The passes can be used in one visit or over multiple visits throughout June. All of the food items can be purchased a la carte as well. The cards start at $54.99, but they are worth it if you want to eat things other than the normal amusement park food.
This gave me a great opportunity to visit Kennywood. So with a Bite Card in hand, I got a chance to taste some of the food which is part of the Bites and Pints. I went around the Lagoon tasting different bites from most of the 8 different types of cuisine which are available. Every booth has a few food items, and some specialty drinks and beers. I focused using my Bite Card mostly on food with a couple of sample size beers mixed in. I’m going to highlight some of my favorite bites of the 2025 Bites and Pints Food and Drinks Festival. See some examples from previous years down below.
Cuba – Ropa Viejo & Cubano Sandwich
These were my favorite bites of 2025. Cuba is new this year and knocked it out of the park. These two both had rich flavors and sizeable portions. The Ropa Vieja had a delicious and tender sofrito beef, rice and beans, and a plantain. The Cubano had a pretty great smoked pork.
South Korea – Chicken Bao & Yaki Mandu
This is one of the booths that has always had really good options. I was impressed by the Chicken Bao. The order has two bao. Each had a nice sized piece of chicken with a very tasty chili garlic BBQ sauce. The Yaki Mandu was a good serving of chicken kimchi dumplings with sesame chili oil.
Poland – Pierogi & Naleśniki Dessert
It’s very Pittsburgh to claim the pierogi were a favorite, but it’s the truth. It’s six mini cheese & potato pierogies with sautéed onions, bacon bits & sour cream. However, I’d say the Naleśniki were the real winner of the Poland booth. The dessert was basically two mini blintzes. It was filled with sweet twaróg cheese and topped with whipped cream & raspberry. These were so sweet and tasty.
Overall, I was very impressed by the food and the menu. Some more photos of this year’s food are below. There were probably a couple of things I wouldn’t get because they weren’t of interest. The Bites and Pints Food and Drink Festival is a great and tasty alternative to the typical amusement park food. I like that you can either buy a pass or purchase all food individually.
Although I finished my card in one trip, not everyone will be able to eat too much like me. The most rewarding part of my evening was getting my photo with Chef Kenny. I’m excited to add that to my Pittsburgh mascot photos.
This year, I got on a bunch of rides at Kennywood. It was a surprisingly chilly day for the end of May, so there were almost no lines. I love the more classic wooden roller coasters, so I went on Jackrabbit, Racer, Thunderbolt, and The Exterminator. Steel Curtain is finally open again. I rode it a couple of years ago and it is definitely exhilarating, but not for me.
Learn more about Kennywood Bites and Pints on their website.
Bites from Previous Years
Porchetta Sandwich – Italian
This was my absolute favorite of the evening. The sandwich was made of shaved pork belly and loin, provolone, and rapini on grilled ciabatta bread. The pork was piled on thick and it was delicious soaked in its own natural drippings. This was a sizable sandwich too. I would highly recommend starting with this sandwich. If you plan to eat a lot, split it with someone.
Carne Asada & Grilled Elotes – Mexican
I clearly love the more savory items. The marinated sirloin is shaved and placed on top of refried black beans on a crispy corn tortilla. This was another very filling item and just a little bit of heat. I really liked the combination of different flavors and textures on this one. I also got the grilled elotes so I could eat a vegetable. These were just as expected and delicious.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken – Caribbean
These grilled chicken wings were coated in jerk seasoning. The chicken was tender and peeled off the bone easily. They come served on a bed of steamed rice and black beans. This was another quick bite which was also very filling.
Yakitori – Japanese : 2021
These grilled beef skewers were delicious. They are marinated and grilled and then topped with a dijon glaze. These are a tasty and filling quick bite. Another great shareable as you will get two skewers with 4 or 5 pieces of beef on each. I devoured them quickly and considered getting a second order right away.
