Picklesburgh, America's top speciality food festival, celebrated its 10th year with over 250,000 visitors. The event featured pickle beer, lemonade, dill-stuffed pretzels, and even a pickle-shaped bucking bronco. Contestants competed in a pickle juice drinking contest, with one participant downing a litre in just eight seconds.
Once a gritty steel town, Pittsburgh has transformed into a food-lovers' city. Its culinary scene is rooted in Eastern European, German, and Italian immigrant heritage. The city's 90 neighbourhoods are home to family-run restaurants that cater primarily to locals.
Lawrenceville, once a dangerous area, has reinvented itself as one of the city's hippest neighbourhoods. Food tours showcase a variety of cuisines, from retro diners like Frankie's, serving garlic-spiced sausage rolls, to elegant restaurants like Senti, offering seven-layer lasagne and automated wine dispensers.
The Primanti Bros sandwich, a thick pastrami or corned beef sandwich piled with French fries and coleslaw, is a Pittsburgh staple. Originally wrapped in newspaper for warehouse workers, it remains popular as a pre-game ritual for local sports teams. Pierogies, soft Polish dumplings filled with potatoes and cheese, are another local favourite, often handmade by elderly church ladies.
Despite its rich food culture, Pittsburgh is not widely known for its cuisine, meaning restaurants focus on serving locals rather than tourists. This authenticity is something visitors appreciate, as they discover the city's diverse and hearty offerings.
