July was a whirlwind of dinners, events, travel and unending stress at work. I will only reminisce about three of those four things. I had quite a few good dinners. I went to a couple of concerts. I did a great partnership with Visit Hershey Harrisburg. You can read more about everything I did in Hershey after all the Pittsburgh related fun. I’m also so behind on posting so I know there is stuff in this roundup I haven’t shared to Instagram yet that will get there soon.
Restaurants
I started the month with a great meal at Meat & Potatoes. They proved again why they are one of the better restaurants in Pittsburgh. We family styled a ton of different items. The Cowboy Ribeye and Braise Lamb Pappardelle were my favorites.
We took my dad out for his birthday to Legends Eatery in the North Side. This was my first time at this classic Italian restaurant. The walls are adorned with Pittsburgh memorabilia. I got a very good chicken parm and I had one of the best wedding soups here. I will definitely be back there again.
I went to dinner at The Parlor Dim Sum with the Pennsylvania Junkie. She was in town and wanted to experience some of what Pittsburgh has to offer before leaving. I picked one of my favorite restaurants. We got a bunch of my favorite dim sum items like the siu mai, pork bao, juicy dumplings, egg tarts and the Singapore style noodles.
I got drinks and dinner with Dietitian Jess and Alexa, Fooduzi on Instagram. We started at Grapperia for cocktails. We then moved to Long Story Short for dinner. I got a fantastic diner burger.
I drove out to Coast & Main in Monroeville to get an impromptu brunch. I don’t go out for brunch often and when I do go, I don’t typically get a sweet brunch. I got the Cannoli Pancakes with a chocolate chip ricotta filling which was fantastic.
I finally made it to Barcelona Wine Bar for dinner. I went with Jeremy and Angie of Discover the Burgh and Dietitian Jess. We ordered a bunch of tapas. The Chorizo with Sweet and Sour Figs were the table favorite. They all got wine where as I ordered cocktails all evening. For a wine bar, they make a good cocktail. I’ll be eating there again for sure.
I was back at St. Clair Social to have dinner with my friends at Gilded Travel. They are a boutique group doing curated adventures for millennials. I got a Cajun cod sandwich and several of their great cocktails. St. Clair Social is one of my main regular spots.
I got dinner at Soba for my friend Dani’s birthday. Soba made some changes to its menu. They have a new Smashburger that was very good. I was also very happy with all the other small plates as always.
I went out to dinner with my parents to Caliente Pizza and Drafthouse in Mt. Lebanon. I have found their pizzas are way better when eaten at the restaurant. We got a Luca Brasi and a plain cheese. We also got the fried zucchini which was very good.
I took a ride out to the McDonald’s Big Mac Museum in North Huntington. The Big Mac was created in the Pittsburgh area. They have lots of history and memorabilia related to the Big Mac including a giant Big Mac. This is also the place to get the best Big Mac ever.
I got dinner with Karen, Sophia and Mike at Café Momentum. This was my first time here. They have a mission of transforming justice involved Pittsburgh youth through teaching them about the culinary arts.
Takeout & Popups
I visited The Hungry Group to get food from The Hungry Cowgirl and The Hungry Siren and to check out their new food assembly robots. They use robots to build the bowls of prepared food reducing the time and cost and increasing the consistency and efficiency of each order. I found this whole process to be really cool. My bowls of food were delicious and quite filling.
I got food from the Malaysian Kitchen popup. Pittsburgh does not have any Malaysian restaurants. One of my friends started the popup as a way to introduce food from her home to Pittsburgh. I got the Beef Rendang, an assortment of desserts and drink. These popups are monthly and I really recommend trying them out.
I ordered wings again from Big Shot Bobs. They are more expensive than most places, but their wings are always so good.
While driving on the PA Turnpike, I always have to stop for Roy Rogers Fried Chicken at one of the Service Plazas. They have some of the best seasoned crispy breading on the chicken.
Events
I went to watch my first ever Anthrocon parade downtown. This was something crazy but endearing. Watching so many people both enjoying the costumes and enjoying wearing the costumes. It was a packed crowd near the convention center.
I went to Community Kitchen again to check out their in-house butcher program with Unified Fields. They showed me their butcher shop, told me about how they are teaching the next generation of butchers and events they are planning. I left with one of their new butcher boxes, which I used all weekend to make dinner. These boxes are for order on their website and they can be picked up at Community Kitchen. I even partnered with them to give away a box. The giveaway is now complete.
I was invited to a new supper club Popover for Dinner. This monthly dinner party is posted on their Instagram with a different theme. You can sign up and try these great dishes and meet new people. I got to check it out with a bunch of other Instagram creators and we had a great time.
I attended Picklesburgh on the first night. I liked that they added a 4th day and spread it out a bit more. It definitely didn’t feel as crowded on Thursday evening. However, there are also fewer big events happening. I got my Pickled Meatballs from Dianoia’s Eatery and great pulled beef and pulled pork sandwiches from Hyeholde Restaurant. I think in the future I need to try to attend Picklesburgh twice to eat everything I want to eat.
I went to see Guster again at Stage AE. I think this is the 8th time I have seen them. They always put on a fun show. Their opener Kohane Concept was was great too.
Hershey!!!
My brother and I drove to Hershey for a few days to see the Foo Fighters perform at Hersheypark Stadium. This was my third time seeing a Foo Fighters stadium show; they are meant to play in a stadium. They play for over 2 and a half hours. They play all the songs of theirs you want to hear. Dave Grohl is just excited to be there the whole time and he turns it into a big sing along. I highly recommend seeing the Foo Fighters at least once. Another one of my favorite bands, The Hives opened for the Foo Fighters. They should be so much more popular in the USA. The played an amazing high energy set with one of their main goals is to convert you into a fan of The Hives. When they asked who has seen The Hives before, I was the only person in my section to cheer. The warmup act was Amyl and the Sniffers, an Australian punk band who were awesome for their short set and I would love to see them again.
I partnered with Visit Hershey & Harrisburg while I was in Hershey to show off food, drinks, and attractions. There’s so much to do there and not all of it is chocolate related. Everything below happened thanks to this partnership.
Food
We visited three of their breweries on the Brew Barons Beer Trail. There are over 20 breweries in the region.
Troegs Independent Brewing is located right outside Hershey. This was my favorite brewery stop. We both got fantastic flights of their limited-release beers. We ordered a smoked brisket sandwich, crispy red snapper, and a charcuterie board of local and house cured meats. Their food was great too. I would love to spend a whole afternoon or evening at Troegs.
We got our lunches at Rubber Soul Brewing Company and Englewood Brewing Company. I really liked our beers at Rubber Soul. We tried an IPA and a sour. Englewood is in an amazing new building with an event space. We both got a tasty coffee porter. Our food at both places was pretty good and went well with a beer.
We went to the Hotel Hershey for their all you can eat breakfast buffet. The Hotel Hershey is one of the finest historic 4-star hotels in America. You don’t need to be a guest of the hotel to eat here. I love an all you can eat experience and this buffet had everything. There was an amazing selection of so many breakfast foods. I knew I had to get a made to order omelet.
At the concert, we both got a sausage with peppers and onions from one of the vendors. I don’t know what local vendor they were using for the sausage, but it was quite good.
Attractions
We started the Hershey visit at The Hershey Story Museum. This turned out to be a great place to start because you learn so much about Milton Hershey, the story of the factory and city of Hershey, and how the Hershey company and brands grew. I learned so much quickly. They also offer as an add-on a tasting of chocolate around the world. You get to do shots of hot chocolate milk featuring chocolate from 6 different regions in the world, including Hershey’s chocolate.
Keeping the chocolate them going, we went to Hershey’s Chocolate World at Hersheypark. This attraction is actually free to the public, but has multiple paid add-ons. You can access Chocolate World without a ticket to the park and parking is free for three hours. The Hershey’s Chocolate Tour is a free ride that takes you through a simulated chocolate factory filled with animatronics and cartoon chocolates. It teaches you about the process of making a chocolate bar. I really enjoy it. We also did Chocolate Unwrapped, which was a family friendly theater show about the six flavor families of chocolate. The most important reason to go to Hershey’s Chocolate World is it is home of Hershey’s largest chocolate store. We left with lots of candy and a bunch of Hershey’s Swag.
We had a few hours before the concert to go into Hersheypark and get on some rides. We are big fans of wooden rollercoasters. We got on the Comet, which was a lot of fun and really fast for an older wooden coaster. We also got on the Trailblazer, which has a really cool helix design that takes you in 4 quick circles. I would have loved more time in the park to try a few more rides. They also have a full water park which would have been nice on a hot summer day like when we were there. Hersheypark is much larger than I realized and really needs an entire day to do as many rides as I would have liked.
The last place we visited was the Antique Automotive Club of America Museum. This museum is not your traditional car museum. They are a non-profit that features permanent and rotating collections of classic autos. While we were there the rotating collection was showing off classic economy cars. They also have permanent exhibits on Tucker Automobile and buses, including a bus from the movie Speed. This is an awesome stop for the car lover.
