HYEHOLDE | PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

It’s an inspiring time to be covering Pittsburgh’s restaurant industry. There’s an undercurrent of electricity to dining in the city right now, driven by chefs who are growing into themselves and spaces that feel more self-assured than ever. We’ve never been a city that’s been focused too much on buzzy gimmicks and fleeting trends.

What’s happening here is deeper than that. Our chefs are digging into their identities and building menus that reflect who they are — and who they want to be. And it’s making me excited to see what’s next.

The 26 restaurants in this list exemplify the best of what’s out there, with dishes that stopped me in my tracks and experiences that lingered long after the last bite.

The List

• Alta Via
• Altius
• Apteka
• Balvanera
• Bar Marco
• Casbah
• Chengdu Gourmet
• DiAnoia’s Eatery
• Dish Osteria and Bar
• Driftwood Oven
• Duo’s Taqueria
• Eleven Contemporary Kitchen
• EYV
• Fet-Fisk
• Gi-Jin
• Hyeholde
• Lilith
• Morcilla
• One by Spork
• Otaru
• Pusadee’s Garden
• Siempre Algo
• Soju
• The Speckled Egg
• The Vandal
• Wise County Cafe

Alta Via

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Inspired by the flavors of Northern California and Italy, Alta Via (both at its original O’Hara location and its newer outpost in Market Square) takes a fresh, contemporary approach to Italian cuisine, steering clear of clichés like checkered tablecloths and oversized plates of red sauce.

Instead, under the guidance of big Burrito partner Bill Fuller, Alta Via leans into the refined simplicity of house-made pastas and vegetable-heavy dishes, like a plate of baby artichokes served with fresh mint-salsa crudo.

Fuller has spent years fine-tuning Alta Via’s concept, drawing inspiration both from his time living in the Bay Area and his travels through Europe. The result is a menu that’s anchored by delicate handmade egg noodles and extruded pasta, crafted daily in a dedicated pasta and bread-making room in the Market Square location. And while Alta Via initially avoided East Coast Italian staples (“We didn’t want to be too classic Italian,” Fuller says), one pandemic pivot led to the creation of the now wildly popular chicken Parmesan.

The dish is made with chicken breast brined in a blend of whole milk, garlic and Calabrian chiles before being sauteed and topped with, yes, their house red sauce. It may be a classic, but it’s perfectly their own.

O’Hara: 46 Fox Chapel Road
412-408-3816

Downtown: 2 pPPG Place, Market Square
412-981-5155

Altius

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

It would be a mistake to think of Altius as merely a special-occasion restaurant. Yes, the views are breathtaking; perched atop Mount Washington, it offers one of the most spectacular vantage points of Pittsburgh’s skyline. And yes, the service is impeccable, led by proprietor B DeFrancis and a front-of-house team that ensures every detail is flawless.

But beyond the elegance, Altius is a place where fine dining feels both luxurious and incredibly welcoming. When Chef and Owner Jessica Bauer opened the restaurant more than a decade ago, she aimed to create a space that was uniquely Pittsburgh. “We always strive to not be something that Pittsburgh is not,” Bauer says. “We do certain things that are unique to us, like the amuse-bouche, the takeaway treat, the whole experience. But at our core, we’re still a big, center-of-the-plate, meat-and-potatoes place.”

Signature dishes like the Heron Point Crab Toast (a truly special starter, with wild-caught crab and grilled artichoke cream cheese on a house-made baguette) highlight Bauer’s thoughtful approach to flavor. The Chilean sea bass, paired with seasonal accompaniments, and the flawlessly executed filet mignon (it’s a splurge, but the melt-in-your-mouth steak is worth it) are showstoppers.

Altius is a restaurant designed to impress, but it’s just as suited for a spontaneous Monday-night indulgence.

Mount Washington: 1230 Grandview Ave.
412-904-4442

Apteka

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Even after nine years in business, Bloomfield’s Apteka is still one of Pittsburgh’s most effortlessly cool dining experiences. Owners Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski, perennial James Beard nominees, have built something remarkable: a restaurant that defies convention, from its counter-service model to its all-vegan, Eastern European-inspired (and deeply labor-intensive) menu.

Apteka’s menu is a reflection of meticulous preparation and seasonal inspiration. “Everything is from scratch,” Lasky explains. “Some base ingredients take 72 hours. We’re soaking nuts, making milk, culturing it, fermenting it. But we love that. This is what we work for.”

And you can taste that effort in their food. Definitely order the pierogies; they’re time-tested and worth all of the hype. But you also must lean into the experience, and order something that surprises you, such as a rosehip soup with marfax beans, or Kluski Leniwe, a funky potato and sunflower-seed dumpling with sunchoke sauce (creamy and made of sunchokes, also known as Jerusalem artichokes).

The menu changes regularly, depending on what’s seasonally available. Lasky and Skowronski also dig into their own culinary archives for inspiration and make endless adjustments until they’re perfect. “There’s a very simple salad with nice Napa cabbage and herbs that Tomasz’s grandfather used to make growing up,” Lasky says. “But the thing that was really crucial for this dish is cottage cheese. So we ended up experimenting with culturing pumpkin seeds and we got this product that’s kind of waxy in texture and has a chew like a fresh cheese. All of a sudden, we’ve opened this door, and we can have this new thing to work with.”

It’s proof that even after nearly a decade, Apteka is still discovering new ways to surprise and delight.

Bloomfield: 4606 Penn Ave.
412-251-0189

Balvanera

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Sometimes, what you’re really craving isn’t just a great meal — it’s a little bit of fun. Balvanera gives you both.

The sprawling, 4,400-square-foot Strip District steakhouse doesn’t do quiet. It brings serious energy to your evening out. It’s loud, lively and offers a creative take on South American cuisine, with a menu that’s centered around grass-fed beef from Pampas of Argentina. The Ancho (the Argentine ribeye) was my favorite, deeply marbled and perfectly prepared. House-made sausages, like the pork and guanciale version laced with piquillo and guindilla peppers offer a strong showing, while the morcilla, a blood sausage with an unexpected bite, keeps things interesting.

But it’s the surprising touches that make Balvanera stand out. A seemingly simple cheese plate with Goat Rodeo Farm’s Bamboozle flavor is taken to another level when paired with poached quince (and had us asking for seconds), and a crème brûlée-style Basque cheesecake was impossible to resist, even after a delightfully heavy meal.

Add in a deep bench of South American wines and a clever take on classic cocktails and you have a restaurant that’s as much about the experience as it is about food. This isn’t just dinner; it’s a night out. Balvenera makes sure it’s a good one.

Strip District: 1660 Smallman St.
412-586-5617

Bar Marco

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

What does it take for a restaurant to be considered a classic? After more than a decade in the Strip District, Bar Marco has earned that title while still managing to feel as fresh as it did on the day it opened.

Now under the sole ownership of Justin Steel — one of the four original founders — the restaurant continues to evolve while staying true to itself. Bar Marco and its now-closed sibling, The Livermore, were the first no-tip establishments in Pittsburgh; Bar Marco continues that practice.

It brings an Italian sensibility to its menu, but not in the way you might think. “Italian restaurants in Italy aren’t ‘Italian restaurants,’” Steel explains. “They just use the best local products. So we take that philosophy and use as much local produce and meats that we can then supplement with really nice products from Italy.”

The menu, Steel says, shifts with the seasons, offering lighter, coastal influences in the summer and heartier northern Italian flavors in winter, like the hand-cut pappardelle dish I was fortunate enough to try in December. Made with braised duck, green peppercorns, duck brodo, cabbage and a cured egg yolk, it was a dish that lingered in my memory long well after I enjoyed it.

The evolution continues. Bar Marco recently expanded its offerings and introduced a more traditional menu format. We’re ready.

Strip District: 2216 Penn Ave.
412-471-1900

Casbah

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

In every city, restaurants come and go. The great ones leave a mark. But the legends endure. Casbah, celebrating its 30th year, is the definition of a legend.

A cornerstone of big Burrito Restaurant Group’s empire, it’s a restaurant that has grown with Pittsburgh, changing and evolving but never losing sight of what makes it special. You can taste it in the food, in dishes that have been fine-tuned to near perfection over decades.

The Long Island duck, for example, has been braised, rendered and fussed over with an obsessive attention to detail to the point where you’d be a fool to bet against it. Same story with the double-cut pork chop, a Casbah standard. Three decades in, it’s as sublime as it ever was.

The Mediterranean influences shine here, with North African and Middle Eastern flavors woven seamlessly into the menu. Start with the Mediterranean spread (house-made hummus, baba ghanoush and red pepper muhammara) before moving to the ever-popular arugula salad, a mix of pancetta, mushrooms and goat cheese with a pancetta vinaigrette that has been my personal Pittsburgh comfort food for years.

Then there’s my all-time favorite: the saffron pappardelle with lobster, a luxuriously creamy dish complemented with buttery bites of lobster. I’ve drifted from it at times, but I always come back. Just like I always come back to Casbah.

Shadyside: 229 S. Highland Ave.
412-661-5656

Chengdu Gourmet

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Pittsburgh is lucky to have Chengdu Gourmet. Not just because it’s good — though it is incredibly good — but because it’s the kind of place that rewards curiosity.

When James Beard-nominated chef Wei Zhu opened his Squirrel Hill location in 2014, it took time to catch on. But under his careful leadership, the kitchen started turning out magic, with deeply flavorful, beautifully balanced Sichuan cooking that made Chengdu Gourmet a destination.

There are two menus here: one full of the Chinese-American staples you know, the other a deep dive into Sichuan flavors. The sheer volume of items on the menus shouldn’t scare you, but allow yourself enough room to try just one more thing … and then maybe just one more. If you order General Tso’s, you won’t regret it, but the real thrill is in leaning into something a little unexpected, like the spicy dry hot pot. Add in everything from lotus root and winter melon to quail eggs and lamb.

Choose your spice level carefully (medium tests my limits) and allow yourself to revel in the numbing heat, while appreciating all of the textures of the individual components. Go with a group, order recklessly and share everything. I’ve also had some great experiences sneaking in for an early dinner on my own, over-ordering and taking the time to notice how every dish is built to work together. Either way, you’re in for something remarkable.

Squirrel Hill: 5840 Forward Ave.
412-521-2088, chengdugourmetfood.com

Ross: 4768 McKnight Road
412-579-0999

DiAnoia’s Eatery

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Dave Anoia and Aimee DiAndrea are building their own Italian empire in Pittsburgh. At the center of that empire stands DiAnoia’s Eatery, a restaurant that still manages to surprise in a city obsessed with red sauce and tradition.

If you’ve ever tried to grab a last-minute reservation, you know the deal: DiAnoia’s is one of the hottest tickets in town, and is packed every night with a crowd that defies easy categorization. “We don’t have a standard demographic,” says Anoia. “We get everyone.” They come for a reason.

The greens and beans – an untraditional take on the classic thickened to something more like a garlicky, sausage-laced stew with escarole and white wine – will ruin you for all others. The whole-roasted branzino, flaky and rich, is not to be missed. Then there’s the sleeper hit: their bistecca Fiorentina — a perfect cut of porterhouse, sliced thick, seared hard in a cast-iron pan, cooked medium-rare and drizzled with good olive oil and dusted with salt.

Nothing more, nothing less and absolutely nothing better. What truly makes DiAnoia’s special is the pasta. All of it is house-made. Some dishes, like the heirloom tomato tripoline, are fleeting — here for a moment, gone before you know it. It’s just a bucketload of tomatoes, some garlic, butter, basil and parm, but when the season is right, it tastes like pure summer.

Strip District: 2549 Penn Ave.
412-918-1875

Dish Osteria and Bar

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Dish Osteria and Bar is the restaurant that Pittsburgh chefs go to on their night off. What Michele and Cindy Savoia have been creating in their cozy South Side restaurant since 2000 is nothing short of magical.

“People loved it, even from the beginning,” Michele says. Dish started as a wine bar, offering little appetizers — a carpaccio here, a prosciutto-and-brie sandwich there. Then, as Michele tells it, one thing led to another. A little pasta made its way onto the menu. Then a little more. “Then one more thing, then one more thing, then … here we are.”

Almost 25 years later (aside from a two-year break between 2017-2019), “here we are” continues to be one of the best restaurants in Pittsburgh. The menu is the definition of seasonal. A recent radicchio salad with grilled baby artichokes in a fig dressing nearly brought me to tears. It’s not that Dish is unlike anything else in Pittsburgh; it’s that Dish is simply better. A culinary gem. A Pittsburgh institution. A place so good, so enduring, that it should be a national treasure. It’s where you send your out-of-town friends when they ask what Pittsburgh is all about.

The most beloved dish? The Rigatoni alla Scamorza Affumicata, with smoked scamorza cheese, prosciutto, peas, and roasted pistachios in a cream sauce. It’s dreamy. If no one at your table orders it, order it for the table.

Reservations are tough to come by, unless you’re looking to eat at 10 p.m.; Dish remains one of the few restaurants in the city that serves well after dark. But if you can go, you must. The small kitchen limits how many dishes can be on the menu at any given time, but it never feels limited. It feels revelatory.

South Side: 28 S. 17th St.
412-390-2012

Driftwood Oven

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Driftwood Oven is more than just a pizza spot; it’s a neighborhood staple. What began as a mobile pizza kitchen nearly a decade ago has grown into one of Pittsburgh’s most beloved pizzerias, where naturally leavened sourdough crusts and thoughtfully sourced ingredients set the standard.

Owner and baker Neil Blazin has a deep respect for fermentation, and you can taste it in every bite. His wood-fired pizzas strike the perfect balance: crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle and offering just the right amount of tang. The classic 16-inch pies and thicker Roman-style slabs are topped with everything from shiitake mushrooms and morita chili oil to herbed ricotta and a white-shallot cream sauce.

The sandwiches are just as impressive. The Italian, with mortadella, capicola, pepperoni, provolone and spicy pickled peppers on house-baked sourdough focaccia, is easily one of the best in the city. There is a cost that comes with sourcing top-level ingredients, using organic flour, Caputo Brothers cheese and produce from local farms.

“I know that our product cost is definitely higher because we’re using really quality ingredients,” Blazin says. “But I think our prices are fair.” Big changes are coming to the space in the coming months, including additional seating. But the things that make Driftwood special — the crust, the care and their underrated ginger molasses cookie — aren’t changing anytime soon.

Lawrenceville: 3615 Butler St.
412-251-0253

Duo’s Taqueria

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

How can it be that one of Pittsburgh’s best Mexican restaurants is run by a technology startup? Believe it, baby. The wildly inventive culinary arm of Duolingo started as a takeout window experiment and has since transformed into a full-fledged restaurant led by Chef Marcella Ogrodnik that takes its Mexico City-inspired menu as seriously as it takes language learning.

Duo’s Taqueria is an unexpected concept, sure, but this is no marketing gimmick. It is the real deal. The guacamole is classic, creamy and even better when topped with crunchy chicharrones. The crispy white fish taco, dressed with purple cabbage and smoky chipotle mayo, is a must. And the Suadero tacos are a nearly perfect bite, packed with tender Jubilee Hilltop Ranch brisket and a punchy salsa arbol.

Whatever you do, don’t skip the daily agua fresca, a refreshing accompaniment to anything on the menu. For dessert, I insist that you order the Tamal de Cacao, a chocolate tamale with corn mousse, cajeta (a thickened caramel) and pecans. It’s incredibly unexpected in the best way. Kind of like a restaurant from a tech company.

East Liberty: 5906 Penn Ave.
412-789-3852

Eleven Contemporary Kitchen

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Eleven Contemporary Kitchen has been standing tall in the Strip District for more than two decades, a rare feat in Pittsburgh’s ever-shifting dining scene. It was designed to be the fine-dining flagship of big Burrito Restaurant Group; in a city where elevated dining too often skews either outdated or overthought, Eleven still threads the needle.

It’s polished but not pretentious, refined but never fussy. “We wanted it to be the best of what we do,” says big Burrito Owner Bill Fuller. “But it still had to be Pittsburgh.” The dining room remains one of the city’s most effortlessly elegant spaces, modern, warm and open.

The menu leans classic American with a chef’s precision, thanks to Executive Chef Eli Wahl, who has spent years perfecting dishes that feel both familiar and exceptional. There’s swordfish over rock shrimp risotto, pastas that take the shape of the season they’re in and a short rib that all but dissolves on the fork. It’s the Gerber Farms chicken dish that tells the real story. “The chicken dish has stayed fundamentally the same, but it’s gone through multiple interactions to make it better than it ever was,” explains Fuller.

With a crisp-skinned breast and a risotto enriched by braised leg meat, every step has been honed over the years to deliver something excellent. Also excellent is Eleven’s pastry program, run by Selina Pragor. With sweets like a Brown Butter Creme Brulee — a layered delicacy with griddled marble cake, kettle-corn panna cotta, chocolate cremeux, caramel popcorn and caramel sauce — it could be almost too much. But like Eleven itself, it’s always just right.

Strip District: 1150 Smallman St.
412-201-5656

EYV

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

At EYV, it’s not about hiding your vegetables — it’s about highlighting your vegetables. Here, they take center stage, boldly and unapologetically.

Michael Godlewski, the chef behind this North Side vegetarian restaurant, isn’t out to make you forget about meat. “I love a good burger, and I love a good steak,” he says. “But I like the challenge of vegetables. The freedom to manipulate them in different ways, to highlight their essence.”

The menu at EYV is always changing, two or three dishes at a time — depending on the season and what’s coming in from local farms. Which is how you end up with a Farmers Salad that changes from week to week but sticks with you for months. The version I had was a perfect balance of textures and flavors: fresh greens, rotating vegetables, a crisp potato tater tot (because it’s Pittsburgh), balsamic vinaigrette, a creamy ranch mousse and a dusting of dried, pulverized vegetables and pistachios, made to look “like those little rocks you find when you were a kid digging around in the dirt,” Godlewski says.

Godlewski’s food is smart and fun. Cabbage pastrami? It doesn’t taste exactly like pastrami, but the essence is there (and maybe better). It’s all deeply thoughtful, endlessly creative and ridiculously delicious.

North Side: 424 E. Ohio st.
412-742-4386

Fet-Fisk

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

There’s a lot to love about Fet-Fisk — just ask, well, anyone. With accolades coming in from national outlets like The New York Times, Eater and the James Beard Foundation (which named it a Best Restaurant finalist earlier this year), Fet-Fisk is well on its way to becoming the crown jewel in Pittsburgh’s culinary dining scene.

And they absolutely deserve it. In just over a year, Nik Forsberg and Sarah LaPonte have turned their Nordic-meets Appalachian seafood fever dream into one of the spots with the hardest tables to snag in Pittsburgh. They offer a menu that reads like a dare, and eats like a revelation. Raw oysters? Obviously. But then comes the smoked sturgeon pâté, folded in with farmers cheese, served with house-seeded crackers and a just-right hit of caper and shallot.

The pickled mackerel? I certainly didn’t expect to love it, but here we are. And then — then — there’s the roast chicken, a dish that I didn’t stop talking about for days after I had it for the first time. Perfectly roasted chicken, lacquered with lingonberry sauce and paired with farmer’s cheese, so absurdly beautiful, it should be framed and not eaten. (But you should absolutely eat it.)

Fet-Fisk is swaggering, effortlessly hip, and (frankly) cooler than me. But that won’t stop me from squeezing in at the bar, nursing an aquavit cocktail and pretending I belong. You should do the same.

Bloomfield: 4786 Liberty Ave.

Gi-Jin

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

There was a time when Gi-Jin was the buzziest new restaurant in town. The sort of place you namedrop in conversations, where reservations were flexes and the low light (and high design) made every night feel like an event. After more than four years, it has settled into something better: a restaurant that knows exactly what it’s doing and does it exceptionally well.

From Richard DeShantz Restaurant Group, Gi-Jin is small, dark and intimate, the kind of spot where you lean in close to talk to a stranger at the bar and end up sharing your life story over too much sake. It’s sleek without being stiff, cool without trying too hard. And the sushi is still some of the best in the city.

The hamachi crudo is a bright, balanced bite — yellowtail kissed with ponzu, ginger oil and daikon. The nigiri is pristine; the chef’s selection is an exercise in trust rewarded with King Salmon, Kanpachi or a delicate Madai, each crowned with something like shaved marinated peppers or a dollop of wasabi, and just the right flourish. The dynamite crab is a must. It’s a burst of texture and heat and comes together in a deliciously, sneakingly spicy way.

For dessert, the silk chocolate torte with a soy caramel compote, complete with a surprising touch of umami, can’t be beat. Gi-Jin isn’t the new kid anymore. It’s better than that. It’s a sure thing.

Downtown: 208 Sixth St.
412-332-6939

Hyeholde

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Dining at Hyeholde isn’t just about a meal. It’s an experience. Pull into the winding driveway to meet the valet and the tone is set for an evening steeped in old-school elegance. Step inside, and you’re transported back to a time when dining out was an event.

There’s real history here. The restaurant first began serving meals in 1938 (yes, really), making Hyeholde a Moon institution for more than 85 years — and a rare holdout of refined, white-tablecloth dining. The service is attentive, the cocktail list is classic and the food is more exceptional than you might expect. The sherry bisque is legendary — rich, velvety and a bestseller for decades.

There’s a seasonal component to the menu, but some staples remain: fork-tender braised short ribs, Elysian Fields lamb rack and, if you’re lucky, a cassoulet worth savoring. For generations, Pittsburghers have celebrated life’s milestones at Hyeholde. Anniversaries, engagements, birthdays.

Some traditions are worth keeping. This is one of them.

Moon: 1516 Coraopolis Heights Road
412-264-3116

Lilith

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

You know when a new restaurant opens, and your first visit is that perfect, electric, can’t-wait-to-tell-everyone meal? Then you go back … and it starts to fade? You still love it, but maybe not with the same intensity? Lilith is not that restaurant.

Every time I’ve been to Lilith (and it’s been quite a few times) it has been better than before. Pittsburgh restaurant vets Jamilka Borges and Dianne DeStefano took over the storied Café Zinho space and turned it into something deeply personal. Borges cooks the kind of food that makes you want to stay all night — sipping cocktails, talking too loud, forgetting the time. Her steak is one of the best in the city, totally rich, indulgent and effortless.

There’s a monkfish dish with a brothy stock, heavy on the culantro, studded with lemongrass and tamari that’s worth its weight in gold. And DeStefano’s desserts? Pure alchemy. I had a baked Alaska that made me question why we don’t eat them every single day.

“If I had it my way, I’d change the menu every day,” Borges says. But part of being a great chef, she’s learned, is consistency. Some dishes have become signatures, the kind of comforting, dependable things that make a restaurant feel like home. “I don’t have anything to prove anymore,” Borges says. “I just want to make good food.”

Lilith is better than good. It’s magical.

Shadyside: 238 Spahr St.
412-744-9290

Morcilla

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Morcilla is the kind of place that never gets old. Almost a decade in, this Lawrenceville staple is still one of the most exciting restaurants in Pittsburgh, and still pulling off a trick that very few can: the art of reinvention without losing the essence of what made it great in the first place.

This is a restaurant where you go when you need to impress someone, but also where you go when you just want to eat well. Chef and partner Nate Hobart keeps the place running like a well-oiled machine while making sure no detail is overlooked. And it shows.

“It doesn’t feel like 10 years. It still feels like a new restaurant, which is a really good thing for us,” Hobart says. “We have a great system in place, but we don’t want to be complacent. We don’t want to miss those small details. We just want to keep pushing forward.”

The Spanish-influenced menu is consistent, but never static. Costillas de la Matanza — baby-back ribs swimming in harissa honey and balanced with za’atar and labneh — is a must. The braised oxtail is legendary. And when spring rolls in, a conical cabbage dish with lobster beurre fondue and trout roe steals the show. Mussels en Escabeche is sourced from Bangs Island in Maine, transformed by the season, with ramps in spring, Verona’s Coldco Farm’s best in summer.

Ten years in, Morcilla is still pushing forward and still essential.

Lawrenceville: 3519 Butler St.
412-652-9924

One by Spork

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Spork was one of those restaurants that made Pittsburgh feel like it was playing in the big leagues. When Chris Frangiadis shut it down last year, it felt like a gut punch. But he had a plan. One by Spork is that plan in action.

It’s a distillation of everything Frangiadis loved about Spork, boiled down into a prix fixe, seven-course tasting menu where every plate, every bite, is deliberate.

It’s a chef narrowing his focus, stripping away the distractions, chasing perfection. “Every single item is really well thought-out, researched and, hopefully, executed,” Frangiadis says. “We’re able to put more focus on each individual dish, and so I’m confident that when we make it, we know that it’s something that is really special.”

The experience starts in the lounge with welcome bites, maybe a smoked bass charcoal tartelette, maybe a BBQ turkey taco. Then guests take their seats at a 16-person circular table, where Frangiadis and his team finish dishes tableside. There’s tratoli pasta with semolina, gnudi with yakitori mushrooms and an Australian Wagyu steak with a Roquefort-collard green soufflé.

Or maybe not. Every week, one dish swaps out, keeping the menu in constant motion. Over at the bar, Cecil Usher shines at creating accompanying cocktails and wine for pairings. He’s a talent, and it’s great to see him have so much fun behind the bar.

It’s intimate and ambitious and a bet on Pittsburgh’s dining future (and at $275 per person, not including tax and gratuity, it’s also one of the most expensive individual experiences in town). If Frangiadis has his way, it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

Bloomfield: 5430 Penn Ave.
412-441-1700

Otaru

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Prepare to be impressed by Otaru. The Japanese restaurant, high on Mount Washington, offers stunning views of the city and an elevated date-night experience in the stylish, polished dining room.

If you’re feeling bold, take the “Otaru Experience,” a nine-course journey that flexes the kitchen team’s skills. Tosazu Shrimp, sharp and bright with vinegar, is a must-order whether you’re going all in or picking other dishes à la carte. Chawanmushi, a delicate, savory egg custard, melts away on the tongue.

Sushi is an art form here, but if nothing else, get the Bluefin toro. It’s fatty, luxurious, with a bite that lingers. Then there’s the honey- and lemon-marinated tomato, a dessert that shouldn’t work, but somehow captures the taste of summer in a single bite. I mainly ordered it on a whim, only because I was intrigued by its description, not because I really thought that it would be especially good.

I’ve never been so glad to be proven wrong. And those sights. They’re the kind that turn any night into something worth remembering.

Mount Washington: 1200 Grandview Ave.
412-586-5485

Pusadee’s Garden

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

The best way to enjoy Pusadee’s Garden is with someone who understands the unspoken agreement: Everything is for sharing. You don’t come here for just one dish. You come for the experience, for the layers of flavors stacked like a culinary Jenga tower, for the quiet luxury of a meal where every bite is a discovery.

For more than a decade (minus a years-long renovation detour), Pusadee’s Garden has been one of Pittsburgh’s most popular restaurants. Owners Watcharee Tongdee, Bootsaba Tongdee and Michael Johnson have built something rare and created a sophisticated space that still feels fresh, and still surprises.

On the menu, the Khao Yum, a 17-ingredient salad topped tableside in a tamarind dressing, is as bright as ever. The sweet potato roti, paired with a mild curry that somehow explodes with flavor, is one of those dishes that makes you happy just to know that it exists in the universe. Then there’s the pork belly. Succulent, caramelized, bathed in a sweet chili garlic sauce that defies reason. It’s the sauce I’ve been chasing for years — the kind that makes you want to bottle it up and smuggle it home.

For dessert, don’t miss the sticky rice and custard. It’s the perfect way to end your evening with a sweet grand finale.

Lawrenceville: 5319 Butler St.
412-252-2683

Siempre Algo

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Every dinner at Siempre Algo feels like the best yet. Brian Hammond’s North Side gem has been quietly turning out some of Pittsburgh’s most thoughtful New American cuisine since 2018, without a lot of noise, without much press. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t need hype — because the food speaks for itself.

There’s a warmth to the space, thanks in part to the kind of hospitality that starts you off with a complimentary sip of something bubbly, one of the nicest little touches in town. A New American menu that changes with the season but is always executed to perfection. A recent meal started with yellowfin tuna tartare, layered with Hackleback caviar, toasted benne, fermented chili aioli, avocado-lime puree, tempura crisp and black sesame tuile.

It sounds like a lot, but it lands perfectly, with every flavor being intentionally chosen. There’s a stinging-nettle soup that sings. A house salad that eats like an Italian hoagie in disguise (with pickled beet, Amish swiss, hot soppressata, Jimmy Nardelo peppers, a compressed cucumber and an herb vinaigrette). A porchetta dish, made with Ibérico pork tenderloin wrapped in house-made sausage, sits over braised navy beans and grilled escarole.

Your parents will love it here. So will you. Before long, it will be the place you recommend anytime someone asks you where to go for a meal that feels both special and effortless.

North Side: 414 E. Ohio St.
412-652-9968

Soju

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Soju, the tiny, beloved Korean spot in Garfield, shouldn’t be here right now. A burst pipe in January almost ruined everything inside. But Chef/Owner Simon Chough isn’t the kind of guy who quits. A few short months later, Soju returned. And, somehow, it’s better.

The menu is tight, without any room for fluff or missteps. I’m not, by nature, a fan of tofu, but Killer Tofu is an exception. It lives up to its name, and I order it every time, and enjoy crispy, golden pieces, drenched in a pineapple soy glaze that probably should be illegal. Then there are the kimchi nachos, which have a full-blown cult following at this point. The dish features fried wontons stacked with pickles, mushrooms, kimchi and cheese sauce, a messy, funky explosion of flavors.

Larger plates, like the Dwaejibulgogi (thinly sliced grilled pork in a spicy Korean marinade) and Bibimbap (a mixed rice dish) are sure bets, but you really can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

It’s a small place. There might be a wait. But you’ll be fine because Soju is worth it. It’s always been worth it.

Garfield: 4923 Penn Ave.
412-450-8968

The Speckled Egg

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

It’s hard not to make this entire entry about the homefries at The Speckled Egg. Really. I could write a love letter to those crispy, golden-brown breakfast potatoes, grilled with sweet peppers and onions until they taste like every perfect Sunday morning you’ve ever had.

But The Speckled Egg is more than its potatoes. It’s the kind of breakfast spot that makes you rethink breakfast. The kind of place where buttermilk poppyseed pancakes arrive impossibly fluffy, where avocado toast is an art form, where the breakfast sandwich (a deceptively simple thing) becomes essential. Two eggs (broke yolks, obviously), melty cheese, crisp lettuce, all stacked onto one of their onion-poppy buns.

Go ahead, add the bacon. You won’t regret it. It’s also the kind of place that, despite the weekend crowds, runs without a hitch. Brunch service is a warzone everywhere, but at The Speckled Egg, the servers move like pros, ferrying stacks of French toast and bringing fresh coffee before you even realize you need it.

Now with two locations — seating mostly in the ornate lobby of the Union Trust building, Downtown, and a sprawling South Side Works outpost — owners Jacqueline and Nate Schoedel have built something special. And those potatoes? They’re just one reason why I’ll keep coming back.

Downtown: 501 Grant St.
412-251-5248

South Side: 428 S. 27th St.
412-206-7793

The Vandal

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

It might seem unlikely that ordering a mushroom tartine (just mushrooms on grilled sourdough) could be life-changing. But that’s the kind of restaurant The Vandal is. The kind that takes something simple and makes it unforgettable.

This year marks a decade for the Lawrenceville mainstay, a place that started as a casual counter-service burger joint and evolved into one of Pittsburgh’s most compelling dinner spots. Owner Joey Hilty credits that shift to a love of what they were doing. “We’ve just slowly evolved — anybody who comes in can kind of see it, and understand it, that this experience is better than the last time they were here,” he says.

The menu leans toward the refined yet welcoming, where a smoked-trout pâté gets a jolt of brightness from herby salsa verde and a beet salad finds unexpected harmony with shaved fennel and roasted pistachios. The bar program is a dream for natural-wine lovers, always skimming the edge of what’s next. “We want stuff you can’t get in the state store, something unique to us,” says Hilty.

Dishes like Atlantic cod with mussels, vadouvan (a curry spice blend), coconut and fennel push the menu forward, evolving with the restaurant itself. After 10 years, The Vandal is just getting started.

Lawrenceville: 4306 Butler St.
412-251-0465

Wise County Cafe

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA

Wise County Cafe isn’t just a biscuit shop. It’s a community — a place that Lena Laskaris and James Wolfe built in 2024 after years of selling their homemade biscuits at farmers markets. Now, on the North Side, they’ve created something more: a cozy cafe where regulars sip coffee, community groups gather and couples linger over breakfast.

“What we wanted was a neighborhood feel,” Laskaris says. “We wanted to be somewhere, sort of like a soft cushion for people to fall. They don’t necessarily have to overthink things when they come through.”

Wolfe’s biscuits, adapted from his Applachian grandmother’s recipe, are the foundation of the restaurant. “We had to tweak them a bit,” Wolfe says. “My grandma’s biscuits were amazing, but they’d never hold up to a sandwich.” His are layered, structured and built for things like sausage and eggs, pimento cheese or soup beans with country ham. But Wise County isn’t just about biscuits. “We wanted it to feel like home,” says Laskaris.

So they make a burger, one that’s thick, juicy and slathered in “the sauce” on a house-made potato roll. They make soups that taste like someone’s been tending to them all day. They make coffee that keeps you sitting just a little longer. And the wait? Don’t worry. “We’ve gotten really good at convincing people to trust the process,” Wolfe says. “You’ll get a table when you need it.”

That’s Wise County. A place where, if you let it, breakfast can feel like coming home.

North Side: 911 Galveston Ave.
412-330-1389

Emily Catalano has been writing about Pittsburgh’s restaurant industry for more than a decade. She is the founder and editor of Good Food Pittsburgh and owns Highly Social Media, a creative content agency. She visited more than 70 restaurants while writing this piece, and loved them all in their own way.