Pittsburgh isn’t usually considered a culinary center. But a Saturday morning at the Strip District is a serious eater’s paradise, when everything from mung bean pancakes to fresh-baked biscotti can be snagged without leaving the sidewalk. (Not to mention the ubiquitous Steelers garb.) Just up the Allegheny from the city’s downtown, the Strip was once a major center of industry. While the Steel City’s mills and factories now lie dormant, the markets are as lively as ever. A walk down Penn Avenue shows off Pittsburgh’s Polish, Greek, Irish, and Italian roots, as well as relative newcomers from Korea and Vietnam—passionate eaters of every extraction. The Strip is at its best—if also its most crowded—on Saturday mornings. So show up...
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Even the shortest visit to the Steel City will teach you that Pittsburgh pride runs deep—starting with the Steelers, and ending with the sandwich. The Primanti Bros. sandwich, that is. I had hardly touched down at the Pittsburgh International Airport before being whisked from baggage claim straight to Primanti’s for my first taste of the ‘Burgh. Their flagship location in the Strip District, where a colorful mural of notable Pittsburghers hangs along one wall, is something of a city landmark. Originally a wooden lunch stand serving huge, hearty sandwiches to Depression-era truckers pulling up to the loading docks across the street, Joe Primanti’s operation has spawned fourteen satellites throughout the city—though the first (and best) is the only one...
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