Where to stay in Pittsburgh?

[Mike]

Hi--wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to where to stay in Pittsburgh that is nice/relatively inexpensive.  Going to see Lambchop there in April!  Not a city I know very well either, so any off-the-beaten-path suggestions of what to do would be welcome too.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Mike

[Greggulator]

Pittsburgh rules and is maybe the most underrated city in the country. It's REALLY beautiful. No one believes that but it is. It's also a very big college town so it's a lot younger than you'd think.

We stayed at whatever discount hotel we found in Oakland, which is right by the University of Pittsburgh. That was convenient to get to the rest of the city without any problems.

As far as what to do:

1) PRIMANTI BROTHERS. This is a big local favorite and is to Pitt what cheesesteaks are to Philly. All kinds of awesome sandwiches with cole slaw and fries in the sandwich itself. Must attend.

2) WARHOL MUSEUM -- Andy Warhol's from there and they have an awesome museum in his honor.

3) PNC PARK -- Maybe the best baseball stadium in the world if that floats your boat.

4) SOME WEIRD CABLE CAR THING -- They have this strange cable car deal that takes you up the mountains for views and the like. We didn't do this (rain) but my friends who have done it say it's great.

5) GOOSKI'S -- Awesome punk/dive bar in Polish Hill.

6) SOME BREW PUB THAT WAS A CHURCH -- I forget the name of it but it was really good.

7) SQUIRREL HILL -- Shopping/restaurant area away from downtown that was pretty cool. We didn't go to the Southside but if you're into bar-hopping that's apparently the spot.

[ArchieFromPGH]

eide's entertainment for records and comics! it really is nice here!

[ArchieFromPGH]

If you stay in Oakland, the Original Hot Dog Shop has excellent french fries and lots of 'em.

The Cable Car thing to which greggulator referred is the incline. The brewery is Church Brew Works. We aren't very original.

The local hipsters make the scene in Lawrenceville. It's pretty easy to get to all of these places.

[Mike]

Thank you both--I remember riding the cable cars once many years ago, and it was PACKED with spiders like a very lo-fi horror movie. 

Mike

[nec13]

There are lots of relatively inexpensive cheap chain hotels/motels in the city proper. The South Side and Oakland might be your best bets. There are quite a few nice hotels in Downtown Pittsburgh, but they will be a bit pricey. 

Regarding getting around town, it's really best to have a car. There aren't many taxis around here. And our public transit system isn't all that great. Although, if you have to, a bus will take you where you need to go.

Things to Do:

If you want to visit a museum, there are plenty of them here. The Heinz History Center in the Strip District (focuses primarily on local and regional history); the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History over in Oakland (near the Pitt campus); the aforementioned Warhol Museum on the North Side; there's a Toonseum in Downtown on Liberty Avenue; finally there is the Carnegie Science Center near Heinz Field (also on the North Shore). And if you like animals, you may want to seek out the National Aviary and/or the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium (the former on the Northside, the latter in Highland Park)

RE: Shopping: For records, there's Jerry's Fine Used Records over in Squirrel Hill, which is a skip, hop and a jump away from the University of Pittsburgh. For comics, there's Eide's near the Greyhound terminal, and Phantom of the Attic in Oakland. Clothing-wise, there are a lot of merchants on the South Side, in Shadyside, and in Lawrenceville. The Strip District, which is essentially a large outdoor farmer's market, is a place where you could spend hours, maybe days.

For a city its size, there's a surprisingly decent bar/restaurant scene. The South Side, specifically the area in and around East Carson St., probably has the best selection of dining options in the city. Because it's the hub of Pittsburgh's nightlife, it can get pretty hectic down there in the evenings. All in all, though, it is a fun neighborhood to visit. In addition, there are some good spots over in Lawrenceville and Garfield. And there are plenty of good, affordable restaurants in the Shadyside/Squirrel Hill/Oakland area near the universities. Of course, most everyone who visits the Burgh wants to try the infamous Primanti Bros. sandwich. I'm not all that fond of the sandwich myself, but there are others that will swear by them. The flagship Primanti's is in the Strip District on Smallman Street.

One thing I would definitely make a point of doing is visiting one of the overlooks on Mt. Washington. If you do decide to go there, make sure you go at night. You'll be rewarded with arguably the best skyline view in the entire country.

Hope this helps.

[ArchieFromPGH]

Are you in Pittsburgh, NEC13?

[Mike]

Helps a lot!  Thank you!

Mike

[Pete from Boston [and NJ]]

A number of accidental stays led to me making a point of spending a weekend in Pittsburgh every couple of years for the past decade or so.  A giant steel and brick compost heap which, like all compost heaps, is extremely fertile -- for interesting discoveries all around.


If you like steel, concrete, and infrastructure in general, it's a paradise.  Just drive down Carson St. west past the bars and you launch into what seems like some god-kid's Lego set that he forgot to keep playing with.  The way down the Monongahela is a continuing lesson in how the whole metropolis is laid out as essentially one big machine.  Visit the Rivers of Steel Heritage Area visitor's center in Homestead for a good starting point to understanding it.

Primanti's is good but a little heavy.  I prefer the "O" and it's truly great hot dogs.  The church brewery is Church Brew Works.  A great little bar I like nearby is Brillobox, hipstery but like all of Pittsburgh more down-to-earth than a lot of places. 

But really, just wander around.  It's the most geographically interesting city I know -- rivers, cliffs, hills, valleys... All they're missing is flat ground.

I've used Priceline and gotten really good hotel deals in Monroeville and Irwin to the east and along 79 to the west, never more than $50 before tax.  YMMV.

Finally, I'd recommend to anyone who has never been to Pittsburgh to go as far out of their way as they have to in order to enter the city the first time via I-376 from the west.  If you come in from the airport you'll already be coming this way.  Some have called this the best entry to any American city.  That may or may not be true, but it's pretty spectacular.

 

[Pete from Boston [and NJ]]

Sorry, Church Brew Works was already noted, I see now.

And yes, PNC is really a great park in a great setting.  Let's hope they can get a reason for anyone else to notice one of these days.  It would make for some nice establishing shots in the playoffs on TV.


Study materials:  Striking Distance (1993), featuring Bruce Willis as a boat cop on the three rivers, and Sudden Impact (1995), in which Jean Claude Van Damme fails to save the Penguins' season from an errant helicopter crashing into the late Mellon/Civic Arena.