🍳 Yinz hungry? 2021 delivered on new good eats in the ‘Burgh

Plus, your last chance to enter The Incline’s Holiday Gift-away!

By Francesca Dabecco

It’s Tuesday, Pittsburgh.

Have you enjoyed any new food in Pittsburgh this year? Despite the negative effects of the pandemic on the economy, there were plenty of new restaurants, breweries, bars, and cafes to try this year.

Let’s have a look at some of the most notable openings. I’ve organized them into categories to make it easy for you to find your next meal.

Yinz hungry? 2021 delivered.

A lavender latte from Tonic Coffee in Lawrenceville. (📸: @francesca_dabecco)

☕️ Coffee and tea 🍵

Hilltop Coffee is serving fine coffees, espresso drinks, teas, baked goods, and more at its spot in the South Side Slopes.
Mosaic Leaf, Pittsburgh’s first matcha tea bar, is open in Lawrenceville with premium Japanese matcha straight from the farm.
Black Cat Market has moved to, where else, Garfield. The new space allows them “to expand and finally offer our dream of a larger cat room and a full coffee bar!”
Claussen Cafehaus is twisting things up on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield with its local organic soft pretzels, fair trade coffee, and all-natural ice cream.
De Fer Coffee & Tea, a Strip District fave, opened its doors at The Highline in the South Side this year and has another location coming to South Oakland.
Tonic Coffee, a woman-owned coffee/mocktail bar, is serving artful drinks in Lawrenceville “inspired by world travels and inclusivity.”
Adda Coffee and Tea House surprised us all with a new pop-up location in Downtown Pittsburgh in the corridor of Three PNC Plaza and will remain until the end of 2021 (and will become permanent in 2022 if we’re lucky). Another Adda location is expected to open in the Cultural District.
Yinz Coffee, which took over the old Crazy Mocha storefront on the North Side this year, opened another location in Bloomfield.
Brother Andre’s Cafe is a coffee shop in the renovated basement of Church of the Epiphany in the Hill District, and is staffed by Pat the baker extraordinaire, and other friends with various disabilities and abilities, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Cafetano is serving its signature Honduran Coffee with an Italian flair to the Strip District. The coffee purveyor is located in the former Gaucho Parilla Argentina space on Penn Ave and specializes in the full coffee experience. But there’s more: Cafetano also sells smoothies, breakfast, lunch, and dessert.

🍳 Breakfast ☕

Wake up with breakfast/brunch/lunch staples at The Nook in Lawrenceville. The restaurant is led by the owner of nearby Geppetto Cafe and took over the former Coca Cafe on Butler St.
Divvy Coffee & Buns on Forbes Ave. is your newest go-to spot for both sweet and savory breakfast bites, healthy salads, and of course, a variety of freshly brewed beans and unique drinks.
Dagny’s Eatery in Carnegie serves quiche bagels with lox, pressed sammies, fresh pastries, and more.

🍔 Burgers, sammies, and more 🍗

The Black-owned burger and wing spot, Back to the Foodture, moved to a new location on East Carson Street.
The popular pop-up Moonlit Burgers opened its brick-and-mortar on Potomac Avenue in Dormont, serving juicy smash burgers with delectable crispy edges.
Burgh’ers Brewing at the Highline in the South Side offers craft beers and smash burgers with names inspired by places in and around the ‘Burgh.
The Pittsburgh Sandwich Society food truck opened a brick and mortar alongside Strange Roots ExperimentalAles in Millvale.
Rear End Gastropub & Garage is parked on Butler Street in Etna in a converted auto service station and dishes out food inspired by an all-American road trip.
The popular riverside eatery, Farmer x Baker, opened its brick and mortar cafe and market on Powers Run Rd. in Fox Chapel, serving homemade bagel sandwiches, salads, a soup of the day, coffee and tea, and more.

🍕 Pizza 🍕

Woodfired by Lorelei is slinging tasty ‘za in East Liberty, plus a great selection of wines to pair with your pies. This spot is from the team behind Lorelei, a cocktail bar/beer hall in the historic Werner Building.
East End Brewing created East End Chewing. The popular craft brewery in Larimer opened an in-house kitchen serving rustic, thick crust pizza. On the menu are classic pies as well as unique takes like eggplant parmesan, Reuben, and of course, pierogi inspired pizzas.
Driven opened in Federal Galley on the North Side, serving inventive slices of Detroit-style pizza like the PBR made with pepperoni, banana peppers, ricotta, hot honey, marinara, mozz, and cheddar cheese.
Doughbar Pizzeria & Rotisserie is slinging pizza, rotisserie chicken, and hoagies on the South Side. Get the best of both worlds with their buffalo chicken pie.

Still hungry? We’ve got the details on the newest spots serving tacos, ramen, global flavors, beer, cocktails, and sweet treats over on our website.

🎁 Your last chance to enter and win!

Today is the last day to enter The Incline’s Holiday Gift-away! Enter before noon for a chance to win a variety of local gifts featured in our 2021 holiday gift guide.

Who doesn’t love a consumable gift? Appeal to the taste of your buds (hah, get it?) with a jar or two of Maple Street Jam made by a mother and daughter duo right here in Pittsburgh. You can find them in local stores such as Love, Pittsburgh; the shop at Phipps Conservatory; and De Fer Coffee & Tea.

🎁 Want a taste for yourself? The ladies from Maple Street Jam were kind enough to give away a Seasonal Holiday Trio (including flavors like Winterberry, Gingerbread, and Figgy Pear Jam) in The Incline’s Holiday Gift-away! ➡️ Submit your name and email address at the link for your chance to win.

The giveaway ends TODAY at noon EST. Winners will be notified via the email they submitted their entry with — good luck!

Things to do

Submit your events to our calendar.

Today

📖 Tune in for a storytime spotlight with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center (Online)

🎶 Listen to tunes by a musician and drag artist at Moon Baby’s Christmas Spectacular at Spirit (Lawrenceville)

🍪 If you live South of Pittsburgh, watch Home Alone, eat pizza and Christmas cookies, and hang out with Chad from I’ll Call You Right Back Podcast at Yoli's Cucina & Crafthouse (Jefferson Hills)

Tomorrow

🎄 Get your holiday cheer on at Home for the Holidays Concert by the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra at Pittsburgh Playhouse (Downtown)

Thursday

📖Join Phipps for a special virtual series of virtual stories with Santa (Online)

🎶 Enjoy live music by Acoustic Appalachian at the Bakery Square Conservatory (Bakery Square)

Friday

📽️Watch a holiday movie marathon and eat Chinese food at Row House Cinema, today and tomorrow (Lawrenceville)

Saturday

🎄 Tune in to WQED-FM 89.3 for three hours of holiday music and storytelling from Rick Sebak and Jim Cunningham (Anywhere)

One more thing…

Reminder: We’re taking a much needed break for the holidays, and The Incline won’t be publishing from December 23 through the rest of the year.