NORTHEAST
The 15 Best Restaurants in Pittsburgh: Where to Eat in Steel City
By Maria Rodriguez | July 7, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: With a day job that requires constant travel, Maria Rodriguez is likely a frequenter of your favorite restaurant. She’s reviewed restaurants since 2007 in publications from Barcelona to Bakersfield.
You can argue about the Steelers, the Pirates, or how to pronounce “Carnegie,” but one thing you can’t deny is that Pittsburgh’s restaurant scene has finally caught up to its ambition. New places are opening with rooftop views, wood-fired everything, and tasting menus that require a spreadsheet to book. I’ve hit the new and the newly talked-about, revisited my old favorites, and these are the 15 restaurants that actually live up to all that you’ve heard about Pittsburgh’s red-hot restaurant scene.
1. Fet-Fisk
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Chef Nik Forsberg is doing the kind of cooking that might sound like they came from an experimental kitchen: morels fried in schmalz, raw scallops with fermented strawberries, and this roasted chicken in a lingonberry sauce that’s both tangy AF and impossible to stop eating. This is Nordic food filtered through Allegheny terroir, served in a space that somehow feels both austere and chaotic. It’s the rare place where dinner tastes like a manifesto.
2. Morcilla
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Chef Justin Severino’s ode to Spanish small plates still feels like the most grown-up restaurant in Pittsburgh. The morcilla sausage is a must, but it’s the tapas-style pacing and serious wine list that keep this place relevant. Even when it’s crowded—and it always is—it never feels like it’s trying too hard.
3. Apteka
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A vegan Eastern European spot sounds like a dare, but chefs Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski have turned it into one of the most respected kitchens in town. Pierogis arrive stuffed with mushroom and sauerkraut, and the rye bread will haunt you in the best way. It’s moody, serious, and wildly flavorful—like a Dostoevsky novel you can eat.
4. Gi‑Jin
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This downtown sushi den trades in three things: raw fish, handrolls, and a gin, sake, and whiskey list that could double as a thesis on hard liquor. The toro comes dressed with yuzu salt and scallion like it’s heading to a gala, and the handrolls lean unexpected—hamachi with pomegranate jam, or beef tartare wrapped like a secret. It’s dark, compact, and better suited to date night than your book club’s annual outing.
5. The Vandal
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What started as a burger-and-beer joint a decade ago has evolved into one of the city’s most self-assured restaurants—where even a mushroom tartine can leave you rethinking your life choices. The plates walk a line between quiet refinement and full-on surprise: smoked trout pâté with salsa verde, beets with fennel and pistachio, cod in vadouvan and coconut. It’s not trying to be flashy, just unforgettable—and that’s exactly what it is.
6. One by Spork
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There’s only one seating per night, and it’s not cheap ($275 per person), but what chef Christian Frangiadis is doing at this 16-seat chef’s counter borders on obsessive. Everything—microgreens, garnishes, proteins—comes from a garden out back or from purveyors he’s probably personally vetted. The whole experience has the intensity of a dissertation defense, except with better wine.
7. Palm Palm
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This place looks like a Beverly Hills house party from 1978, but the dishes from chef Ed Smith are more inventive than the décor lets on. There’s black garlic in the truffle spaghettios, yuzu in the whipped mousse, and the cocktails come with names like Palm Reader and Dazed. It’s not subtle, but that’s exactly the point.
8. Chaykhana
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There’s something almost rebellious about finding a bustling Uzbek restaurant tucked into a Pittsburgh strip mall. They serve pumpkin samsas, hand-pulled lagman noodles, and kompot with enough sugar to double as dessert. It’s cheap, filling, and surprisingly emotional if you grew up on anything vaguely Eastern European.
9. Dish Osteria & Bar
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This South Side osteria is quietly precise—wild-caught Texas shrimp sautéed with garlic, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, and parsley lands like a homer before dinner even starts. The gnocchi in duck ragu, heaping and rich with reggiano and thyme, isn’t just comfort food—it’s a statement. Add in a curated Sicilian wine list and candlelit wooden tables, and Dish effortlessly turns a regular winter night into something worth remembering.
10. Rockaway Pizzeria
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This New York–style pizza spot from drummer-turned-pizzaiolo Josh Sickels has all the edge of a DIY show, with none of the attitude. The crusts are thin, blistered, and foldable, topped with things like fennel sausage or just an immaculate cheese blend. It’s the kind of neighborhood pizza place that reminds you why that phrase used to mean something.
11. Balvanera
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Chef Fernando Navas brought his Argentinian steakhouse concept to the Strip District with just enough modernity to feel like a special night out, and the open space fills fast with people who know this place is having a moment. Most people are here for the grilled meats and chimichurri, but what might win you over: empanadas caseras, croquetas, and a cheesecake that’s equal parts smoky and indulgent.
12. Chengdu Gourmet
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Chef Wei Zhu has quietly built a Sichuan empire just north of downtown, and both locations of Chengdu Gourmet deliver authentic Chinese in settings that skip any pretension. The green peppercorn fish soup will numb your gums and make you question your previous loyalties to mild food. Even the mapo tofu arrives with the swagger of something you’ll crave days later.
13. Kyuramen
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There are now dozens of ramen spots in Pittsburgh, but this one manages to feel both serious and unserious at the same time. Bowls arrive with cartoonishly perfect eggs and broths you could drink by the pint, alongside omurice that’s almost too cute to eat. Purple sweet potato fries and a milk tea float finish the job.
14. Namaste Momo Corner
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This tiny South Hills counter spot serves deeply comforting Nepalese street food, centered around the kind of dumplings that deserve their own devotionals. The jhol momo—chicken-filled and swimming in a fiery tomato-cilantro broth—comes on like a warm punch to the chest, while the pan-fried c-momo has a crisp shell and cumin heat that lingers. It’s fast, loud, and hits harder than you’d expect for something wrapped in dough.
15. Sushi I
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A rooftop sushi bar in downtown sounds like a risky choice, but co-owner Miu Zhuang pulls it off with smart interiors and strong technique. The hibachi entrées are solid, but the real reason to go is the view, a rare third-floor vantage over the city that actually feels like a getaway. Bonus points for the purple fried rice and matcha cheesecake.
