FEATURES
Greater Pittsburgh is a region of culinary surprises.
By Deborah Grossman
PITTSBURGH is a city rich in
culinary stories. As a “city of firsts,”
Pittsburgh is the town where ketchup,
the banana split and the Clark candy bar
were invented. Where else would the idea
of stuffing french fries in your sandwich
originate? Since the 1860s, when the
H.J. Heinz Company began making ketchup
and the other 57 types of convenience
foods for the home cook, the city continues
to innovate in all dining categories.
As a city of neighborhoods, Pittsburgh’s food
often reflects place. At the confluence of
three rivers and with more bridges than any
city except Venice, it’s not surprising that
food-centric areas such as the Strip District
and the South Side hug the river. And, the
restaurant scene is growing in the outlying
suburbs as several restaurant groups explore
new settings. Some of the venues’ specialties
relate to the city’s blue-collar roots, while
other menus cater to the diverse tastes and
heritage of Pittsburghers.
DINING ON THE STRIP
Pittsburgh is a city grounded in industry yet
constantly evolving. Take the Strip District,
formally known as the Historic Market
District. “Entrepreneurs in the Strip District
responded to a vacuum,” explains Becky
Rodgers, executive director of Neighbors in
the Strip. “Soon after industrial giants Alcoa,
Westinghouse and Crucible Industries left
the area, wholesale produce merchants
filled the business gap, taking advantage of
the convenient rail transportation.”
Primanti Bros., with a dozen venues in
the Pittsburgh area and three in Florida,
opened in the Strip District in 1933. Its
famous sandwich appeared one day in the
1930s, when a potato merchant asked
the owner if he could check whether his
potatoes were frozen. A cook grilled them
in oil on the flattop grill, and proclaimed
them fine. A patron said, “Let me try them.”
The cook put them on his sandwich, and a
Pittsburgh tradition was born.
The National Culinary Review | June 2010
