AlexEatsTooMuch August 2024 Restaurant, Event and Travel Roundup

I had a few great meals and went on some really cool adventures in August. I returned to a restaurant I had not visited in a long time. I ate at a restaurant that is seeing a new life under a new owner. I attended something that most people would find hard to believe I’ve never done in Pittsburgh. I went on two really amazing trips to Erie and then West Virginia and Virginia. More about that below. This month was all about trying to figure out next steps in the AlexEatsTooMuch brand.

Pittsburgh Restaurants

I ate at Pusadee’s Garden for the first time in probably over a year. I shouldn’t wait that long to eat here again. It’s easily one of the best restaurants in Pittsburgh. We saw and ate some great updates on the menu. The squid with a lemongrass chili lime sauce and the pork belly Hung Lay, five-spiced & slow-cooked were incredible. The service is top notch too. We were there on a delayed celebration of my friend’s birthday and they sent over glasses of prosecco.

I went to First Friday in Sharpsburg to eat at The Brinery and grab cocktails at Love Katie Distilling. We were there to support Karen’s Cystic Fibrosis 50 Finest fundraiser. I got at The Brinery the Levittown Cheesesteak and Pickle Tots. Then we went to Love Katie for fantastic cocktails. Sharpsburg is becoming quite the fine place to go for food and drinks.

I went to the one year anniversary of Puttshack Pittsburgh. There was a bunch of Pittsburgh content creators there so we got a ton of food and drinks. I also actually like their mini golf courses.

I ate at Gi-Jin again. It had been a few months. The seasonal Scallop Crudo and Beef Tataki were both incredible. The reason I keep going back to Gi-Jin is for incredible dishes like this.

At Barrel and Flow, I got food from Café Momentum and PGH Dumplingz. Café Momentum had these incredible chicken and biscuit sliders. PGH Dumplingz had a fantastic assortment of dumpling flavors.

I got a Primanti Bros sandwich after Barrel and Flow. It was a lifesaver. I don’t care what people say, I love their sandwiches.

I went to Burghers Brewing Company at the Highline to celebrate the reveal of their September Burgher of the Month, the Juicy Jess. They collaborated with Jessie’s Eddies to create a burger similar to the Juicy Lucy from the Midwest. This burger is delicious filled with cheese and with a secret sauce.

I was back at the Highline to go to Sly Fox for a happy hour with the Penn State Alumni Association and other Big Ten schools. I ordered off the happy hour menu and got the cheeseburger egg rolls and chicken bacon ranch flatbread. The happy hour menu is an amazing deal.

I finally ate at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse during Pittsburgh Restaurant Week. I took my parents out for their anniversary. I got a delicious Lobster Bisque, 16oz ribeye and chocolate mousse.

I got a Chickie & Pete’s Cheesesteak at the Pirates game. It’s a pretty damn good sandwich.

I was invited to an amazing family style dinner at the reopened Wild Rosemary Bistro. Chef Ray, formerly of Café Raymond in the Strip has reopened Wild Rosemary and started a Supper Club. He created a great atmosphere where everyone ate a delicious meal while conversing. We enjoyed several courses of amazing Italian dishes featuring seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.

I walked up the block from my house to Jamison’s on West Liberty for wing night. This dive bar is highly underrated for their food. They have fantastic wings, burgers and mac & cheese.

I went to The Parlor Dim Sum for their 2^nd anniversary party. The Parlor has become one of my favorite restaurants. They had a bunch of special dishes for the party including the new Hawthorne Chicken with Rice and a special dumpling made with beef, ginger, quail egg, and activated charcoal.

I ended my month at Grist House for the first Penn State Football game of the season. They partnered with the Penn State Alumni Association Greater Pittsburgh Chapter to be the official game watch location in Pittsburgh. I got food from Blue Sparrow and The Smashery. Those are two damn good food trucks.

Pittsburgh Events

The best beer festival in the US happened again. Barrel and Flow was in the Strip District. The beer festival celebrates Black brewers and Black artists. The collaborations that happened that day with beer and arts are amazing. It’s such a fun and welcoming experience, which adds to why it’s such an amazing day. Everyone should try to attend this one every year.

It’s hard to believe, but I went to my first ever Steelers game in the 15 years I’ve lived in Pittsburgh. Sure, it was a preseason game, but it was a lot of fun. The Steelers marketing team invited me to attend the game and share my experience. I go to a lot of Pirates games, but this is a different experience. The fans are just more excited. The Steelers unfortunately lost. I should go to more Steelers games.

That said, I spent the next day at the Pirates game for Penn State Day. I got on the field for pregame activities. I got my photo with the Pirate Parrot. The Pirates lost.

I attended Riverlife Party at the Pier for the first time. I have heard for years this was one of the premier parties of Pittsburgh and the fashion event of the year. I bought a fun shirt for the evening. I had an amazing time hanging out with a whole bunch of my creator friends.

Erie, Pennsylvania

I spent 48 hours in Erie, Pennsylvania as part of a partnership with VisitErie to feature their Hello Erie app Unlock Erie Challenge. You use the app to find landmarks and eateries in Erie and check in. Collect enough check ins in each tier to win prizes. In these 48 hours I got to so many places.

I started at Federal Hill Smokehouse. This BBQ restaurant regularly gets ranked best in Erie and in Pennsylvania. I got a 3 meat plate of brisket, sausage and ribs. The brisket was my favorite. I heard after I needed to try the smoked turkey. I guess I’ll have to go back.

Then I headed to Presque Isle State Park. I walked around this beautiful Pennsylvania State Park for hours. I looked over Lake Erie. I climbed the Presque Isle Lighthouse. This park feels completely out of place in Pennsylvania, but it is now my new favorite park.

I got dinner the first night at Samurai Kitchen and Sushi. Multiple people told me this was the best sushi in Erie. I got the Sushi and Sashimi Combo and Chicken Lemongrass Potstickers. They made me an unbelievable plater of different cuts of sashimi including a martini glass filled with tuna and salmon.

I was staying at the Courtyard Marriott Erie Bayfront which had a beautiful view of the lake. My room was very nice too. It was pretty central to most things I was doing in Erie. They are really building up that spot too and it’s next to the convention center.

I took a walk around the neighborhood the next morning to the Erie Sign. This giant sign sits in a park overlooking the bayfront. Then I walked back to the Bicentennial Tower and went to the top to get a view of the lake and the downtown.

I went to lunch at Ippa Pizza Napoletana at Flag City Food Hall. They are making artisanal pizzas with fresh house made mozzarella. I tried three of their pizzas and a Nutella dessert calzone. This is a must visit in Erie.

I made an afternoon stop at Lavery Brewing Co for a couple of beers. The brewpub had a nice relaxed vibe on a Sunday afternoon.

I made my way back to the Bayfront to sit out in the sun at Oliver’s Beer Garden, sip on a beer and listen to live music. Then I went upstairs for dinner at Oliver’s Rooftop where I ate Lake Erie Walleye.

I finished my day watching the sunset over the bayfront.

The next day before leaving town I hit up Sara’s Restaurant. It’s an Erie classic right at the edge of Presque Isle State Park. I got a footlong hot dog and milkshake.

MATPRA Marketplace, Capon Springs, West Virginia & Roanoke, Virginia

MATPRA

I was invited to attend a conference by the Mid-Atlantic Tourism Public Relations Alliance (MATRPA) called MATPRA Marketplace. It was held in Roanoke, Virginia and hosted by Visit Virginia Blue Ridge. This conference brings together tourist destinations with journalists and media professionals. Since I started making videos about my visits to destinations, I was able to apply and I was selected. This was an amazing experience in which I met a lot of great new people and made connections with so many destination marketing professionals. Part of this trip included visiting key sites around the host city of Roanoke called FAMs or familiarity trips. I was also selected to attend a pre-FAM at Capon Springs and Farms Resort in West Virginia before the conference. Full disclosure, I was hosted for all these experiences. I just had to pay for my travel to attend.

I am also still working through photos and videos from this trip and they will be added later.

Capon Springs, West Virginia

Capon Springs and Farms Resort is located in Hampshire County, West Virginia or about a three and a half hour drive from Pittsburgh. This is a rustic all-inclusive resort built around a natural hot spring. People have been staying here and returning year after year to get away from everything. The resort is so secluded and only has one Wi-Fi hotspot to help you disconnect. The hot spring has a temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit making it one of the coldest hot springs. The spring has been known for over a century for its healing medicinal properties. This has to do with the water being naturally higher in pH, so it is more alkaline than most tap water and counteracts acid in the stomach and body. This water is used all over the resort.

I spent my time at the resort participating in multiple activities around the resort. I went on a hike on one of their six trails up to the top of a cliff overlooking the resort. I went twice swimming in the spring-fed pool including a morning cold plunge. We got a demo of the up-and-coming sport of Fling Golf. We got a chance to solve their Capon Station Escape Room. They have so many other activities like golf, ping pong, basketball, tennis, and more, all included in the stay.

We also got the opportunity to try one of the few paid add-ons to the resort, the Hygeia Bath House & Spa. They offer traditional body work if you want a massage, but the highlight is the the hot spring soaking bath in which they heat the water to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and give the option of adding scented salts. You can then relax in the bath releasing tension. This was a great experience.

The meals are also included in the stay. We ate a barbecue chicken dinner and a great breakfast of pancakes and bacon. These are not fancy meals, but that is the point. They are supposed to be like a family-style home-cooked dinner.

The one thing that might be a deal breaker to most is the lodging is also very rustic. The rooms we were in are very out of date. None of the rooms include air conditioning. We were there during a heat wave so it was difficult to get the rooms to cool down, but finally, after midnight you could start to get a little bit of a chill from the fresh air.

Roanoke, Virginia

I spent a very busy 48 hours in Roanoke, Virginia for the MATPRA Marketplace. The conference was being held at the Hotel Roanoke, part of the Hilton Hotels Curio Collection. The hotel was originally built by the Norfolk and Western Railroad, but then taken over by the City of Roanoke and Virginia Tech. It’s a beautiful Tutor style building with the conference center added on. I got the opportunity to take a guided tour of the hotel and conference center after check-in. It is impressive the updates they made to the classic building. The building incorporates lots of murals, historic artifacts and nods to the history of the region. I loved the renovated 1882 Lobby Bar and the AKA Speakeasy for special events hidden away in the basement. The updated rooms are large and comfortable. All of our breakfast and lunch meals that were part of the conference sessions were amazing. We also learned that the Hotel Roanoke served its first dinner on Christmas Day and is a very popular location in December for their special Christmas season dinners and events.

The opening reception of MATPRA Marketplace was held at the Center in the Square in Downtown Roanoke. The Center in the Square is an arts hub built into a renovated seed and feed warehouse. The building has multiple museums such as the Roanoke Pinball Museum, Roanoke Starcade Arcade Museum, Kids Square Children’s Museum, Harrison Museum of African American Culture, and the Science Museum of Western Virginia. I spent most of my time in the Pinball and Arcade museums. I liked that they aren’t just a collection of the machines, but there were also explanations of the history of the games. We had dinner at the restaurant on the rooftop, Six & Sky. This restaurant has beautiful views of the city and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. The buffet style dinner we ate was delicious. The Red Snapper Creole Style and Sesame Crusted Tuna were my favorites, but the prime rib was pretty great too.

My other Roanoke dinner was at Sidecar. The restaurant is named for the cocktail. This restaurant is in what looks like a renovated former bank. We sat in a space that looked like the former front desk with a small vault. The feature French and European style dishes. I ordered the Haus Sausage plater and Duck Pastrami. Both were fantastic.

The first of my FAM tours in the region took us to Rocky Mount, VA to learn about the region’s cherished Moonshine heritage. We started at Twin Creeks Distillery. It’s a family owned business where they are still making moonshine the same way for generations. We sampled their Sugar Shine, Apple Pie Moonshine cocktail and the bourbon. The Sugar Shine and Apple Pie were so smooth and tasty. Then we headed to Old Town Social House which is a bar and restaurant with a very relaxed vibe, a speakeasy in part of the basement and the site of the Moonshine Explosion Museum on the other side of the basement. This was the site of a rumored explosion of moonshine vehicles. The rumor was proven true 85 years later when the basement was uncovered.

The second FAM tour I did was of breakfast and coffee options in Roanoke. We started at Scratch Biscuit Co for a tasting of some of the best biscuits I’ve ever eaten. They had a wide range of different meats for the biscuit sandwiches. I tried the bacon, the brisket and the chicken and all were so good. I was also told I had to try the Stone Ground Grits and they were the creamiest and most buttery grits I’ve ever eaten. They also roast their coffee. The next stop was Cardinal Bicycle and Café to try Field Day Juice Club. They make fresh pressed juices and smoothies. This was probably the healthiest thing I had on my trip. Our last stop was at Bloom Restaurant and Wine Bar to try a sampling of food and coffee from them, their neighbor RND. Coffee Lounge, and Kind Baking Co. These were all delicious and elevated items.