25 Best Restaurants
It's a great pleasure to share with you our annual Best Restaurants issue in a year that (despite a tough economy and an unforgettable snowpocalypse) made our region's dining scene more vibrant than ever.
Experienced restaurant owners report having an easier time sourcing top-notch ingredients because demand is up (a change from years past when they had to drive out to the airport to pick up items such as specialty cheese). Local chefs, delighted with the growing number of independent chef-driven restaurants, say they’re especially inspired by their hard-working peers.
All of this means that our “Best 25” list offers plenty to chew on. As such former stalwarts as Lautrec at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort or Le Pommier on the South Side were suspended from the list because of chef departures, newly opened restaurants burst into the winners’ circle. These include Tamari, winner of our “Best New Restaurant” award, and Avenue B, whose chef-owner Chris Bonfili earned our nod for “Rising Star Chef.” And at two-year-old restaurant Mio, chef-owner Matthew Porco won our “Chef of the Year” award. Rounding out the winners was the Cross Keys Inn, which won for “Delicious Design.”
As always, the “Best 25” winners and “Legends” are selected based on the anonymous dining experiences of Pittsburgh Magazine’s Restaurant Review Panel and annual secret balloting. And our Reader's Poll selections are picked based on anonymous balloting from our readership in print and online and complement the editors' picks.
This year, we’ve added more detailed reporting to each of our 25 reviews, including specific dishes we loved eating during the last 12 months as a means of portraying the strengths of each particular kitchen. We hope you find this new and expanded coverage as inspiring as it is helpful.
Bon appétit!
(Restaurants serve alcohol unless BYOB is noted.)
The price range indicated under each restaurant listing is based on the average price of entrée as follows:
$ $10-$15
$$ $15-$25
$$$ $25-$35
$$$$ $35 and up
* indicates a restaurant new to our listing.
Browse this year's list of the 25 Best Restaurants in Pittsburgh.
This article appears in the June 2010 issue of Pittsburgh Magazine
Did you like what you read here? Subscribe to Pittsburgh Magazine »
Email
Print
Feed
Reader Comments:
How did somewhere in Butler County take first place in the "Best Bakery" category? I think that entries should be limited to the city proper, or at least the same county!
How does Sesame Inn keep getting the number one spot for Chinese restaurants? I have tried them on three occasions and on all three occasions the food has been on a scale from horrible(literally spit out of your mouth) -to- unimpressive. Trust me, I want this place to be good. I live only a five minute walk from Sesame Inn and would love to have great Chinese food nearby. I do not subscribe to Pgh Magazine but often ponder the reasons for Sesame Inn receiving such high accolades with the press. I believe the answer is twofold: 1. Sesame Inn pays a lot to advertise in Pgh Magazine. 2. Many of the writers through the years have lived in Mt. Lebanon and so, were biased. I have given them three chances from 2004-2010 and can honestly say "I will never eat there again". Which is unfortunate because we own a house only 3 blocks away and we are only in our late thirties. I recommend to fellow Lebo-ites Green Garden over on Beverly Road. It is only a take-out place, nowhere to sit down and eat, but the food(tofu dishes especially) is far superior to that of Sesame Inn. Shame on you Pgh Magazine, and other media outlets, for endorsing and praising this terrible restaurant!
If you have to ask questions like the previous 2-postings, then it would appear that this ranking is of little to no value.
We've ordered from Sesame Inn for years. I'd say 95% of the time, we've been very satisfied, except that my mom complains that they give us too much food! I like the Thai food that they have added to the menu also. I see why it can be ranked as the best!