There is no doubt about it – the Pittsburgh food scene went into overdrive in 2017. Over the course of the year, over 50 (yep, we counted them) new restaurants found their home across the city of Pittsburgh.
Between oyster bars, breweries, and beautiful cafes, we’re still trying to check out all of this years spots. However, it’s time to hurry, because Pittsburgh’s dining scene shows no signs of slowing down in 2018.
Choolaah Indian BBQ
East Liberty
Choolaah has been teasing Pittsburgh for months with “coming soon” signs in the windows of their new location on Centre Avenue in East Liberty. Finally, the wait is over! Choolaah plans to open their East Liberty location on January 26, 2018. The fast-casual restaurant is known for cooking their food in custom tandoor clay ovens at temperatures around 400° F. Popular items include chicken biryani, chicken tikka masala, tandoori wraps, and their signature Choolaah salad. The full menu can be viewed online.
Choolaah Indian BBQ (6114 Centre Avenue)
Poulet Bleu
Larenceville
No one was surprised to hear that Pittsburgh restaurant tycoon Richard DeShantz (Meat & Potatoes , Butcher and the Rye, tako, and Pork & Beans) was opening another restaurant in Pittsburgh. However, this newest venture – a French restaurant named ‘Poulet Bleu’ – strays from the typical Downtown formula. Poulet Bleu will not be located Downtown, but rather in the former Tamari spot in Lawrenceville. Aside from painting the exterior of the building with a French motif, little information has been provided on the restaurant.
The wait to find out may be shorter than expected – the website states that the restaurant intends to open in January 2018
Poulet Bleu (3519 Butler Street)
Chantal’s Specialty Cheese Shop
Bloomfield
Soon to be filling Pittsburgh’s much needed, “quaint cheese shop” niche is Chantal’s Specialty Cheese Shop. The business (which also already has their sign up) is located on Penn Avenue, near the Children’s Hospital. Chantal’s Facebook page promises to bring Pittsburgh “the romance and artistry of cheese” and specialize in “artisanal, fresh-cut cheese and charcuterie, elegant cheese plates, and decadent grilled cheese sandwiches.” As painful as it is to wait for artisanal grilled cheese, we may have to hold out a little longer. Chantal’s Facebook hints that the business is still in the renovation phase.
Chantal’s Specialty Cheese Shop (4402 Penn Avenue)
Insomnia Cookies
South Side
Insomnia Cookies has been “coming soon” to Pittsburgh since last summer, but the wait continues. Insomnia Cookies is a popular cookie delivery chain. As the name suggests, this late-night spot serves fresh and hot into the early hours of the morning. Also great for office meetings, or parties, Insomnia plans to deliver throughout the city of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Insomnia Cookies will be located on E. Carson Street, and will hopefully open in early 2018.
Insomnia Cookies (1734 E. Carson Street)
Spork Pit
Garfield
The popular Pittsburgh restaurant Spork announced this summer its intention to open a sister BBQ restaurant across the street from their location in Garfield. This new concept – based loosely on Franklin Barbecue in Austin – is named Spork Pit.
After a rush of early enthusiasm, the team wasted no time procuring their smoker, and testing recipes while renovating the permanent Spork Pit building. Throughout the summer and fall, Spork held weekly “barbecue popups” in the lot next to their restaurant.
Once open, the restaurant will be simple, with a focus on the food. Guests will slide a tray down a line and order meat, sides, and drinks. Items to keep on your radar include the brisket and smoked turkey. Another fast favorite from the pop ups were the sides, especially the Pigeon Peas with white milk rice, made by Frangiadis’s wife – Marilu Castro-Adames – who is of Dominican descent.
Spork Pit (5430 Penn Ave)
Driftwood Oven
Lawrenceville
Driftwood oven has been baking pizzas in Pittsburgh since 2015. Despite bouncing all over the city (or perhaps because of it), this mobile pizzeria quickly developed a dedicated following.
Soon there will be no need to track down Driftwood! The business announced last month that it’s opening a permanent home on Butler Street in Lawrenceville. The duo behind the business, Neil Blazin and Justin Vetter, are dedicated to producing high quality, naturally-leven pizzas from fresh and local ingredients. Once open, two popular pies to lookout for are the “Major Tom,” and the “Archer.”
Driftwood Oven (3615 Butler Street)
Penn Cove Eatery
Downtown
Earlier this year, Pittsburgh cocktail legend Spencer Warren announced his plans to team up with Penn Avenue Fish Company to open two new food and drink ventures downtown.
One of these projects will be the “Penn Cove Eatery,” a Downtown extension of Penn Avenue Fish Company’s popular restaurant in The Strip. Penn Cove plans to serve a seasonal, seafood forward menu. The eatery will also be a wine store, selling around 200 wines. The goal for the wine shop is to offer a well balanced variety of bottles. The selection will have varietals aimed for general retail, as well as options to excite wine enthusiasts. Warren is particularly excited to have a section curated by different Pittsburgh sommeliers.
Penn Cove will be a Downtown lunch spot where customers can pick up food and take it back to the office, or eat at the tables on the other half of the space, which will be a for a bar named “Mr. Rogers.”
Mr. Rogers
Downtown
On the other half of the Penn Cove Eatery will be a neighborhood pub named “Mr. Rogers.” Although the name is still pending, The bar hopes to become a casual bar serving upscale cocktails. Penn Cove will be open for lunch, but Mr. Rogers will open later in the afternoon with with another seafood-forward menu.
Mr. Rogers will serve local beer and wines by the glass. Guests are encouraged to bring over a bottle from wine shop and enjoy it with corkage fee. On the cocktail side, Warren says that the drink menu will be a mixture of experimental and classic drinks. Everything will be approachable. Located very close to the Benedum on 7th street, the cocktail menu will be influenced by different plays and musicals in town.
Penn Brewery Taproom
Downtown
Penn Brewery was one of the first comers to Pittsburgh’s craft beer scene when the brewery opened in the mid-1980s. Their brewery campus – located at the foot of Troy Hill – includes several buildings and a restaurant.
In 2018, Pittsburghers will also be able to procure their drafts, as well as light snacks, from a downtown location. The business announced in September its intention to open downtown taproom in Pittsburgh’s Firstside Historic District. The taproom will be housed in the 1st Avenue Lofts. According to NextPittsburgh, the taproom will seat 30 and include takeout and outdoor seating.
The taproom was slated to open in fall of 2017, and will hopefully open in early 2018.
Penn Brewery Taproom (432 First Avenue)
The Black Cat Market
Lawrenceville
Pittsburgh will be getting another cat cafe in 2018! The Black Cat Market will be located in Lawrenceville near 52nd Street and B52 Cafe. The business (which plans to open in early 2018) promises to provide coffee, tea, baked goods, and “quality time with cuddly adoptable cats!”
For those unfamiliar with the concept of a cat cafe, these cafes provide patrons with the option to spend time in a room with several adoptable cats. Rather than meeting a shelter animal in a cage, guests can spend hours cuddling and playing before making the decision to adopt. They are also great places for people who can’t bring an animal into their home because of allergies.
The Black Cat Market (5171 Butler Street)
Pie For Breakfast
Oakland
Pie for Breakfast, the third restaurant in Trevett and Sarah Hooper’s Good Faith Restaurant Group, will be located right next door to their other two restaurants, Legume and Butterjoint, in Oakland. Pie for Breakfast will feature breakfast, lunch and dinner service, with café -like, made-from-scratch dishes that adhere to the Hooper’s tradition of serving a seasonal and local menu.
The space is under construction right now, and expect it to open its doors in early 2018.
Pie for Breakfast (214 N. Craig St)
Heirloom Superfood Market
The Strip District
The team behind Pittsburgh Juice Company is in the process of renovating a building in The Strip District into a health food store and kitchen. Although they have owned the building since 2015, the renovation has ramped up in the past few months. Guests can expect a selection of health products that would otherwise be difficult to procure in Pittsburgh. As they also have a kitchen, Heirloom plans to pair with local businesses to vend fresh and healthy food.
Heirloom Superfood Market (3101 Penn Ave)
Relish
Bloomfield
For months, Pittsburgh’s very popular vegan doughnut bakery, Relish, sold their beautiful donuts at different coffee shops, events, and pop ups across the city. Earlier this year, the business procured the former Bread & Salt kitchen in Bloomfield, and has been hosting brunches (with lines out the door) every weekend. In addition to their donuts, Relish also makes vegan “cheeseburgers,” seitan wings with vegan blue cheese, and breakfast sandwiches.
While they continue to host weekend brunches for now, keep an eye on their social media pages for future announcements about regular hours.
Relish (330 Pearl Street)
DiAnoia’s Eatery Pizzeria
Lawrenceville
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced last month the the popular Italian cafe, DiAnoia’s Eatery, plans to open a pizza shop by summer 2018. The new pizza space will be attached to DiAnoia’s physically, but feature a separate entrance. Currently, DiAnoia’s serves their very popular, New York-inspired pizza on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Demand for more pizza inspired the business to expand to a separate pizzeria.
Follow DiAnoia’s for updates on their pizza parlor.
DiAnoia’s Eatery (2549 Penn Avenue)
gi-jin
Downtown
Gin is currently undergoing a spirit resurgence, and Pittsburgh is hopping on this trend with Gi-Jin. This Asian-influenced restaurant, lead by the prolific DeShantz Restaurant Group, will feature a menu of raw seafood and various gins. Once open, this will be the fifth Downtown restaurant for the DeShantz Group. When he spoke with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr. DeShantz said there would be 25 to 30 seats, and they were going to take their time on the renovation, as to make something spectacular.
gi-jin (208 Sixth Street)
Coop de Ville
The Strip District
The DeShantz Group is at it again! In addition to opening new restaurants in Lawrenceville and Downtown (seriously, do they sleep?), the team behind restaurants like Pork & Beans, Meat & Potatoes, and tako, are working on a fried chicken restaurant in The Strip District. Coop de Ville will be “a Southern table featuring chicken as the headlining ingredient.”
The restuarant plans to open in 2018. If you can’t wait to try some of this chicken, keep an eye on the Coop De Ville Instagram. The restaurant frequently hosts popups Downtown.
Coop de Ville (5523 Penn Ave)
The Pennsylvania Market Food Hall
Strip District
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has reported that The Pennsylvania Market, will open this spring, and will feature “an upstairs food hall, a wine bar and on the 18th Street side, a courtyard with covered stalls where a coffee vendor, produce seller, bakery, pizza place, blacksmith and others will sell their wares.”
Pittsburgh Food Truck Park
Millvale
The Pittsburgh Food Truck Park will bring together some of Pittsburgh’s best food trucks, and fantastic local breweries, in one location – Millvale. When the park offiicially opens this spring in the Millvale Riverfront Park, it will feature food truck vendors that change daily, plus a beer garden with more than 30 local drafts, a performance venue, event space and game yard.
Know of any new restaurants opening soon that we missed? Let us know in our comments!
Nicole M says
Don’t forget Mediterra Cafe is opening in the spring of 2018 in Sewickley PA! Expect big things!
Andy says
It’s about about pittsburgh not the suburbs
MCQ says
Wow, Andy. What’s your problem. No need to be so rude. There’s room for everyone. Shut up.
Orlinda Janiors says
WAHLBURGER’s in NORTH HILLS
Andy says
Not pittsburgh though.. 18 restaurants in pittsburgh not the suburbs.
kelly harbadin says
The Lot at Edgewater in Oakmont!
Terri H. says
Siempre Algo, on East Ohio St. (Northside)
HJ says
I’d love to grab some healthier eats.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a Panera downtown. Au Bon just doesn’t seem as interesting or quite as fresh as Panera.
Lindsey says
What about the East Liberty restaurant opening by the Muddy Waters team?
ENM says
How about some authentic hot pot and real dim sum joints? I find most of these entries yawnsville.
jonetta mazur says
does any one serve chinese soup dumplings?
Marlyn Parra says
What about Cilantro & Ajo the Venezuelan restaurant on Carson Street.