I wrote this for someone else who just moved into town - a friend of a friend. It's a list of places worth knowing in Pgh.
- Mediterranean grill - Forbes Street, near Forbes/Murray intersection. It's hard to spot from the street - head towards Shady (away from CMU/Pitt) and look on your right for a doorway with stairs going down and a lit sign with the restaurant name on it. They're down those stairs. Their Sleek is excellent, as is their Hummus.
- Pamela's - Forbes Street near Forbes/Murray. Excellent pancake breakfasts.
- Margaret's Fine Imports - Also on Forbes Street, not far from Forbes/Murray but much closer to Shady. This is a good place to get tea, although they also have other misc imports (e.g. Belgian chocolate)
- Sakura - Forbes Street near Forbes/Shady intersection. Good Sushi, mixed Chinese/Japanese cuisine
- Aladdin's - Forbes near Forbes/Shady. Middle Eastern "fast food". Not very authentic, but good-tasting
- Coffee Tree - Between Forbes/Shady and Forbes/Murray. Good coffee (or so I am told), poor tea. Not a bad place to hang out.
- 61c - Murray Avenue, Good tea, bad coffee (or so I am told), a very popular place to hang out. They also have good granola cereal and free wireless.
- Pinati - Murray Avenue down past Giant Eagle. Good Israeli food
- Srees - Murray Avenue near Pinati. Very very inexpensive somewhat spicy food.
- Kazansky - Murray Avenue near Pinati. kosher-style food (good matzohball soup, blintzes)
- Ma Provence - Murray Avenue near Pinati. Very expensive, nice French food
- Allegro Bakery - Near Pinati, very good breads, also good desserts
- There are also a number of small worthwhile markets around partway down the hill. The greek one has some of the best hummus in town
- Bruegger's - Forbes. Bagels.
- Milky Way - Murray Avenue, Kosher Pizza place with some of the best Pizza in town
- Dozen Copcakes - Forbes - Expensive but good cupcakes
- India Garden - Atwood Street (looks like you're in a slum/residental neighbourhood, but there are some shops around). Good Indian food, buffets on a schedule.
- India Garden Grocer - Right next to India Garden, this may not be it's real name. Nice indian grocer.
- EatUnique - Craig Street, good variety in foods, not too expensive. Often crowded.
- Veracruz - Forbes - Good light Mexican food, not really a place for a sit-down meal
- Ali Baba - Craig Street, good Syrian food
- Lulu's - Craig Street. Good noodles, bubble tea.
- Kohli's - Craig Street, Indian Grocer, inexpensive samosa to go plus some boxed foods
- Sultan's - Forbes - Good greek food, inconvenient location
- Fuel and Fuddle - Near Craig Street, highly overrated but they have a few things that are quite good and are open late. Very popular.
- Crepes Parisenne - Craig Street, fussy staff and weird hours but wonderful crepes
- Bruchetta's - Carson Street, Nice light Italian food, good atmosphere, nice wine selection
- Beehive - Carson Street, Probably the best coffeeshop in town to hang out in, excellent teas, nice snacks, bizarre atmosphere, very artsy-grunge-geek. Free wireless.
- Vesuvio's - Carson Street, near the Beehive. Incredibly good pizza, but their pizza is very rich so eating more than a slice at a time may be a bad idea.
- Kassab's - Carson Street, near the Beehive. Very good Lebanese food. Definitely worth a visit
- "The Library" - Carson Street, nice dining for moderate prices, no real genre
- Mallorca - Carson Street, expensive and very good Spanish dining
- Le Pommier - Carson Street, expensive and very good French dining
- Joseph-Beths - Carson Street, awesome bookstore
- REI - near the cheesecake factory
- It's worth noting that the southside is fairly spread out on Carson Street - the Beehive and REI, for example, are separated by a long walk.
- Shadyside's Walnut Street is a lot like a mall but a bit more pleasant
- The Waterfront is a huge shopping area not far from Squirrel Hill.
- La Foret - The best (and most expensive) French food in town. I don't remember where it is - not easy to reach
On the other side of that, as you may know I'm keeping an eye on CMU-Pittsburgh, MIT-Boston, and UTexas-Austin for interesting jobs as well as a few places in Ireland and Scotland. If anyone happens to know of any other places that meet most or all of these characteristics where I should consider looking for a job, let me know:
- Weather is warm and rainy - I can budge here
- University atmosphere - ideal, not necessary provided I can socialise enough in university circles. Must have a university, as I am looking for uni employment.
- Bike/walking/PT friendly - I don't want to own a car if I can help it. Public Transit would help...
- Near nature - It would be nice to live near the woods/ocean/mountains/lake/similar, most ideally within walking distance
- Not too big - I can comprimise here
- Liberal - big plus
- Cuturally lively - plus
- Favourable male-female ratio for me - would be a plus
- Someone I know there - would be a considerable plus
