Breakfast
My parents have this quirky love of eating out for breakfast. Often on the weekend, they will go out for breakfast in the late morning, and count that as their main meal of the day with only a snack for dinner. They’re very particular about their breakfast joints, too. A good breakfast restaurant needs to have excellent omlettes that come with tasty potatos and a healthy supply of fresh brewed iced tea. They try to go to a variety of good restaurants, but there’s always a tendency to spend a lot of time at one or two favorites. Of course, they are always on the lookout for new ideas.
I enter the picture as their oldest son, who rather enjoys their delicious breakfast habbit whenever I go home. At some point, Sally and I decided to pick up the tradition and go out for breakfast every Sunday morning. Of course, we initially found ourselves at a loss. We live two hours away in Pittsburgh and don’t have the extensive catalog of great breakfast places frequented by my parents.
We are currently on a quest to seek out those breakfast places, and I decided it would be fun to catalog them here. The list below is our running list of decent places for breakfast. I will try to update it as we find noteworth places in the Pittsburgh region. If you have suggestions, don’t hesitate to post them as comments.
The Square Cafe
(412) 244-8002
1137 S Braddock Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15218
http://www.square-cafe.com/
This is a restaurant that we always kind of knew about—in Regent Square (haha). Sally happened to go there for breakfast one morning with some of her friends and was frustrated by a really long wait to be seated. Weeks later, we finally decided to give it another try and it became an instant favorite. The menu is filled with some unique vegetarian-type items, and their toast is fantastic: it’s made from ciabatta!
Smallman Street Deli
(412) 421-3354
1912 Murray Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
You may be wondering why the Smallman Street Deli is on Murray Avenue: well, the original location is on Smallman Street (”The Strip”). This is actually well on its way to becoming one of my favorite all-around restaurants. They have great sandwiches, friendly service, and a deli counter where you can pick up delicious deli meat. The only downside is that you have to place your order at a counter (rather than giving it to a waitress). They do, however, bring your order out to a table and are very friendly about bringing you anything you happen to need. The ordering situation doesn’t bother Sally or me, but it would certainly upset my dad. Overall, “Deli the way it used to be” is a great place for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and prettymuch all your deli needs.
Piper’s Pub
(412) 381-3977
1828 East Carson St
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
http://www.piperspub.com/
This is a pub—in the South Side, no less. We’ve only been there for breakfast, which they only serve on Sunday morning starting at 11:00am. You should definitely get one of the boxty variants. It’s a huge potato pancake wrapped around some amazing fillings. The Irish Boxty is my favorite (and came recommended by our friend Gina).
The Original Pancake House
(412) 358-9622
8300 McKnight Road
Ross Township, Pennsylvania 15237
http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/
The place to go for Pancakes and huge portions. You can grab a wide variety of pancakes, crepes, and waffles along with some standard breakfast items. Just be ready to eat: even the non-pancake items on the menu come with a short stack of pancakes on the side. I have a longer review of my trip out there in my blog.