A Day in Pittsburgh

Ah, Pittsburgh. My future home away from home. I like Pittsburgh, I really do. It's a nice city, and what's more, it has a wide range of local restaurants serving delicious food. We were once advised by a Carnegie Mellon admissions person to never eat at a chain restaurant while in Pittsburgh because there's so many other options. And after four trips to Pittsburgh in the last two years, I have to say I wholeheartedly agree.

After a four and a half hour drive, Mom and I began our time in Pittsburgh with a stop at one of our favorite places, Pamela's.

Let me just preface the rest of this post by saying that it was oppressively hot on this day. And when I say hot, I mean, over 100 degrees hot.

So, we arrived at Pamela's to discover that it was extremely busy (and hot!). But because there were only two of us, we were seated quickly. And, to be honest, they were doing a pretty efficient job of bussing the tables so that more customers could be seated. It wasn't even as if all of the tables were full, I think there were just a couple of big parties that had to wait because of their size.

Fun, right?

But, anyway, Mom and I were seated and didn't even need to look at the menu. We know what we like here, the Strawberry Hotcakes.

The crispy edges are my favorite!

We originally found Pamela's on our first visit to Pittsburgh in 2011. We asked the friendly woman at the front desk of the hotel where we were staying, and she highly recommended Pamela's. I clearly remember her saying that she goes here about once a week herself. 

If the locals were going to Pamela's every week, we knew we had to try it. We only needed one visit to understand. 

The hotcakes are a little tricky to describe. They are fluffy like pancakes, but they're really thin- like crepes. I guess it's best to think of them as the perfect mix between pancake and crepe. 

See how it's thin and fluffy? How do they do it?!?

Simply put, they're fabulous. I highly recommend the strawberry ones. These come filled with brown sugar, sour cream, and lots of fresh, juicy strawberries. Now, I know the sour cream may sound a little crazy to some of you (Mom was, admittedly, unsure at first), but DO NOT BE AFRAID! This combination is awesome. Just trust me. (However, if you must have another flavor, there are others to choose from...)

I definitely plan on coming here to treat myself in the fall. It's delicious, inexpensive food, with fast service. And even in the heat (as it was a little humid at first because of all of the hungry bodies waiting to be fed- it did cool down as our meal progressed) Pamela's is one place you can't miss. 

The view above our table.

Even if you go just to look at the nostalgic board games hanging on the walls, you won't be disappointed. 

After our delicious breakfast, we found ourselves with a couple of hours to spend before my meetings at CMU. And really, what better decision on a hot day than to traipse the sweltering streets of Pittsburgh? 

We walked past my future dorm and then walked to the cathedral where I'll go to church next year. It's beautiful. (And that's an understatement.) After a 10 minute walk from the CMU campus, it was such a relief to feel the perfectly conditioned air inside of the church. 

We looked around, stayed for a while, and cooled off before taking the grueling 10 minute walk back to campus. 

Later, after we finished up at school, we tried a new dinner place on recommendation from one of my future professors. 

We usually go to Joe Mama's for dinner when we're in Pittsburgh (another spot we found on our first visit), but on this particular day we headed to something a little different: Ali Baba. 

Okay, so this place is kind of a dive. 

It was no frills, and it was humid. But with rush hour looming, we didn't want to have to go all the way back to Joe Mama's. So we settled in and thought we'd give it a try.

Our appetizer was perfect. 

  

Fresh hummus with warm pita bread. This was just what we needed. The hummus was cool and creamy, with just a hint of garlic and spices. It was a great starter, especially as it was so hot outside. The hummus was just so refreshing! The pita itself was also yummy. We happily dug in as we waited for the rest of our meal.

What came next was not as universally applauded.

Mom was not a huge fan of her falafel.

The falafel were home made, and the pita was the same yummy pita we'd just consumed. But there was something about the smoky-heat after-taste that Mom didn't really love. I'll admit, I didn't mind the heat of the falafel, but I really can't stand the tahini (sesame seed) paste. The wrap was overwhelmingly dry, and the extra tahini paste Mom asked for did nothing to help. 

It was pretty disappointing. I mean, when you go to a Middle Eastern restaurant, you kind of expect the falafel to be spot-on, right? 

But, never fear. My entree was delicious! 

I ordered the cheese pie. What is cheese pie, you may ask? It's a puffy dough filled with feta cheese and onions. I'd had cheese pie once before, so I thought I'd give it a try.

As you can see, my attempts at showing you the inside of the pie were somewhat less successful than I'd hoped. But you get the idea. 

This was great. And after trying mine, Mom said she would want to try the spinach pie next time (since it's made with the same dough.)  As for me, I'd definitely get this again. It was the perfect size, too. 

When it came time for dessert, we ordered the Baklava. Both Mom and I enjoy Baklava, so it was an easy choice.

Unfortunately, as soon as I saw our waitress take the pre-sliced Baklava out of a refrigerator, I grew suspicious. It's usually not a great sign to see a dessert pre-sliced, especially when it's a dessert that's supposed to be soaked in honey. How could it possibly be moist if it was sliced and sitting by itself?

But alas, we vowed to give it a go.

Unfortunately, my suspicions were correct. This was possibly the driest, crumbliest, dissatisfying baklava I've ever had. You know how some baklava is so sweet and syrupy, you can barely stand it? Well, even that kind of baklava is better than this. 

It was so bad. We both took a bite and left the rest. I always feel really bad about leaving food on my plate. But this was just terrible. 

The one redeeming thing (and the only reason we didn't mention the awful dessert) was that our waitress was super sweet and didn't charge us for Mom's falafel (since we didn't eat it). She didn't have to do that, but it was nice of her, and it is one of the positive attributes I will remember about this otherwise hit-or-miss restaurant. I guess if you know what to get (like hummus and cheese pie), it's great! If not, you could be setting yourself up for disappointment.  

We also made a stop at a local cupcake shop called Dozen. Every time we've been to Pittsburgh before, we've heard about Dozen, but for whatever reason they've been closed. We'd heard about them so many times, so we were really excited to arrive while they were open. 

Going inside was kind of underwhelming. Everything felt unfinished and ram-shackle. There weren't even that many cupcakes in the refrigerated case. I mean, yes, it was after four in the afternoon, but I still thought the presentation was messy. 

Mom and I got half a dozen and brought them home to try. 

When we ate them, we were completely disappointed. The cupcakes were dense and dry. The icing was the only redeeming quality, and they could only redeem so much. I am honestly having a hard time understanding how a place with such terrible cupcakes can stay in business. It was really terrible having to throw away fifteen dollars worth of cupcakes, but I guess that happens sometimes. 

So, that was that. And although I was disappointed by a number of our edible experiences, I've come to realize that not every bite is going to be great. That said, my experiences have not turned me away from Pittsburgh cuisine in any way. There's still plenty of places I'll be able to try, and plenty of time to try them.