The Miami Hurricanes head north to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Thanksgiving weekend in 2025. What can Miami fans look forward to on a trip to The Steel City?
Welcome back to a one-off edition of the Storm Chasers, this time covering the travel guide for Pittsburgh, PA. The Miami Hurricanes will face the Pitt Panthers on Thanksgiving Weekend, Saturday, November 29th.
Storm Chasers has covered Miami Hurricanes football road trips to Atlanta, Charlottesville, Blacksburg, Clemson, College Station, Tallahassee, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill.
I’ve spoken with Tom Listwak, Joe Schmidt, and Stephanie Schmidt about their favorite Yinzer sites, stops and snacks. I’m also visiting Pittsburgh for the third time this summer and pictures and recommendations will be included.
Miami @ Pitt, Saturday, November 29th
What’s the best strip/street/neighborhood to visit that’s away from campus?
Joe recommended North Shore for a “party spot.” North Shore is home to: Rivers Casino, The Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory, Kayak Pittsburgh, National Aviary, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Science Center.
The best pizza in Pittsburgh goes to…
Iron Born. All three guest contributors picked it and that’ll be our choice. There’s an Iron Born in Millvale and Strip District. IB makes a Detroit square style pizza, which is personally one of my favorite styles of pizza both to bake and to eat.
Other suggestions were Pizzeria Davide, Slice on Broadway, and Pizza Milano. I had a slice of Iron Born and if you like Detroit style pizza it’s a great option!
The best breakfast spot in Pittsburgh goes to…
Pamela’s Diner (and Joe recommends the chorizo hash, specifically). There’s a Pamela’s conveniently in the Strip District, as well as one in Mt. Lebanon, Oakland and Shadyside. The Lyonnaise potatoes look solid, too.
An honorable mention goes to DeLucas, also in the Strip District.
The best sandwich in Pittsburgh goes to…
We had a little disagreement going here between Tom and Joe. Tom prefers Peppi’s old tyme sandwiches and picking up the #7 affectionately called the Roethlis “burger.” A Hall of Famer, Peppi’s rookie of the year, aka the Roethlis”burger,” a sausage and burger juggernaut topped with egg and American cheese.
Joe prefers to get a sandwich at Primanti Bros. and to wash it down with an IC Light. There’s a Primanti Bros all over PA including the strip district. An IC Light is a pretty tasty light beer brewed by Pittsburgh Brewing Company.
IC Light is the only beer that embodies all things black and gold is low on carbs and calories, but big on bold Iron City flavor.
Steph, our tiebreaker, chose Peppi’s in general, because it’s a little off the typical travel guide radar from Primanti Bros.
The best donut in Pittsburgh goes to…
Better Maid Donuts won the donut challenge thanks to Stephanie. Better Maids sellout early and close by 10am. Every article or review says “the best choice to wake up early for” so don’t sleep on these donuts.
The best beer spot in Pittsburgh goes to…
Our contributors all had a different best place to grab a beer. Tom suggested Grist House Craft Brewery. Grist House has all of their own beers, it’s dog friendly, the food trucks that rotate, and there’s a great outdoor area. Tom also likes Hop Farm Brewing.
Joe chose the Dancing Gnome Brewing (says it’s a bit of a drive, though). Joe also recommends the Helltowne in the strip and Penn Brewery in Troy Hill.
Stephanie chose 11th Hour Brewing and Cinderlands Warehouse for their “Squish Beer.”
I put on five pounds on the trip sampling: Dancing Gnome, Iron City, Fat Head’s and others… you really can’t go wrong with a Pitt beer selection.
Here is our list of things to do while in the Pittsburgh area…
While in the Pittsburgh area there are things to do that don’t involve fries, fried dough, or beer. Our crew suggested to ride Duquesne Incline (below), to visit the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens…
The Senator John Heinz History Center and Clemente Museum are there for history buffs. We’ve mentioned The Strip enough, but one suggestion from Stephanie was the Coop De Ville. “The Coop De Ville is a very popular, vintage video games, duckpin bowling, fried chicken and a tiki bar all in one place.”
Coop De Ville is a southern table, fast-casual restaurant, bar and entertainment space located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Strip District. You’ll see fried chicken as the headlining ingredient along with classic southern side dishes, fresh baked pies, and pastries.
My 2c worth a wooden nickel…
The Pittsburgh, PA area is extremely underrated. The Steel City is a great sports town that loves their burgers, fries, sandwiches, and beer. Of course you can take a trip to Kennywood Park (above) which will be open November 28-30 per their website.
Of course the Pittsburgh Pirates will be out of season by November but PNC Park has the best view in baseball. In Allentown, Bottlerocket Social Hall is a 70’s stylized bar with Pittsburgh Steelers games playing on old TV’s and $3 draft beers.
About two miles from the Bottlerocket is Fat Head’s– a bar and grill type sandwich joint that had a live music duo, the NASCAR Truck Race on and of course the Pirates game.
There’s also the Yinzer Manual, for a low low price of $7.99, to brush up on all the Yinzerisms specific to Pittsburgh.