Top Stories Pittsburgh

Archive for the ‘restaurants’ Category

  I'm so excited to run this quick contest. I love food (you may have guessed from the size of my hips) and even more, I love to try out new local restaurants.  I'm sure there are a lot of you out there that are just like me.  So I was thrilled when I got an email today from a very generous Pittsburgh Magazine offering two pairs of tickets to Monday's Best Restaurants Party.  The tickets are valued at $110 each, making this a $440 giveaway!!  I'll give away two tickets to two lucky winners.  A great date night for you and your special one.

Monday, May 24, 2010
6-8:30 p.m.
David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Pre-Registration: $95  Feb. 1, 2010 through May 21, 2010 at 4 p.m.
Registration at the door: $110 (unless sold out)

Imagine a party catered by almost 60 of Pittsburgh's finest restaurants!
The
Pittsburgh Magazine Best Restaurants Party has sold out for the past
four years, and with good reason! Chefs prepare their finest delights,
from hors d'oeuvres to desserts, to share with Pittsburghers who love
great food. Don't miss the list of participating restaurants below.

For the past four years, the Best Restaurants Party has SOLD OUT!

2010 Participating Restaurants*

Avenue
B • Bangkok Balcony • big Catering • Bistro 19 • Casbah • Church Brew
Works • Claddaugh Irish Pub • Common Plea Restaurant • Cross Keys Inn •
Dinette • Eat 'n Park • Eleven • Franktuary • Girasole • Gullifty's •
Harris Grill • Hyeholde Restaurant • Ibiza Tapas Restaurant and Wine
Bar • Ichiban • Il Pizzaiolo • Iovino's Café • Isabella on Grandview •
JAC's Cafe • Jimmy Wan's Restaurant & Lounge • Joseph Tambellini
Restaurant • Kaya • LePommier • Levy Restaurants • Mad Mex • Mineo's
Pizza House • Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar • Monterey Bay Fish Grotto •
Nakama Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar • Panera Bread • Pangea •
Penn Brewery • Piccolo Forno • Plum Pan Asian Kitchen • Ruth's Chris
Steak House • Salt of the Earth • Sesame Inn • Seviche • Silk Elephant
• Smallman Street Deli • Soba • Square Cafe • SweetHouse Bake Shop •
Taj Mahal • Tamari • The Carlton • Toast! Kitchen & Wine Bar •
Typhoon • Umi • Vivo • Vocelli Pizza • Wild Rosemary • Wooden Angel •
Yo Rita.

*List updated as of May 18, 2010

Check out pictures from the 20th Annual Best Restaurants Party!

A portion of the proceeds benefit WQED Pittsburgh.
This is an adults-only event (21 or older).  No children please.

——————————————————————-

I'll run the contest just for three days, from now till Sunday and draw the winners on Sunday afternoon.  Make sure you can attend if you enter, we won't have time to draw a "second chance" winner.

(The tickets are electronic so I'll email them to the winner)

To enter, tell me what your favorite Pittsburgh restaurant is.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

  I'm so excited to run this quick contest. I love food (you may have guessed from the size of my hips) and even more, I love to try out new local restaurants.  I'm sure there are a lot of you out there that are just like me.  So I was thrilled when I got an email today from a very generous Pittsburgh Magazine offering two pairs of tickets to Monday's Best Restaurants Party.  The tickets are valued at $110 each, making this a $440 giveaway!!  I'll give away two tickets to two lucky winners.  A great date night for you and your special one.

Monday, May 24, 2010
6-8:30 p.m.
David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Pre-Registration: $95  Feb. 1, 2010 through May 21, 2010 at 4 p.m.
Registration at the door: $110 (unless sold out)

Imagine a party catered by almost 60 of Pittsburgh's finest restaurants!
The
Pittsburgh Magazine Best Restaurants Party has sold out for the past
four years, and with good reason! Chefs prepare their finest delights,
from hors d'oeuvres to desserts, to share with Pittsburghers who love
great food. Don't miss the list of participating restaurants below.

For the past four years, the Best Restaurants Party has SOLD OUT!

2010 Participating Restaurants*

Avenue
B • Bangkok Balcony • big Catering • Bistro 19 • Casbah • Church Brew
Works • Claddaugh Irish Pub • Common Plea Restaurant • Cross Keys Inn •
Dinette • Eat 'n Park • Eleven • Franktuary • Girasole • Gullifty's •
Harris Grill • Hyeholde Restaurant • Ibiza Tapas Restaurant and Wine
Bar • Ichiban • Il Pizzaiolo • Iovino's Café • Isabella on Grandview •
JAC's Cafe • Jimmy Wan's Restaurant & Lounge • Joseph Tambellini
Restaurant • Kaya • LePommier • Levy Restaurants • Mad Mex • Mineo's
Pizza House • Mio Kitchen & Wine Bar • Monterey Bay Fish Grotto •
Nakama Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar • Panera Bread • Pangea •
Penn Brewery • Piccolo Forno • Plum Pan Asian Kitchen • Ruth's Chris
Steak House • Salt of the Earth • Sesame Inn • Seviche • Silk Elephant
• Smallman Street Deli • Soba • Square Cafe • SweetHouse Bake Shop •
Taj Mahal • Tamari • The Carlton • Toast! Kitchen & Wine Bar •
Typhoon • Umi • Vivo • Vocelli Pizza • Wild Rosemary • Wooden Angel •
Yo Rita.

*List updated as of May 18, 2010

Check out pictures from the 20th Annual Best Restaurants Party!

A portion of the proceeds benefit WQED Pittsburgh.
This is an adults-only event (21 or older).  No children please.

——————————————————————-

I'll run the contest just for three days, from now till Sunday and draw the winners on Sunday afternoon.  Make sure you can attend if you enter, we won't have time to draw a "second chance" winner.

(The tickets are electronic so I'll email them to the winner)

To enter, tell me what your favorite Pittsburgh restaurant is.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

  I'm often asked what I miss the most of my life before kids. And I'm also asked by expecting moms what they should do a lot of before having kids.  Aside from the obvious answer, Sleep!, I usually tell them to go out to dinner.  That's what I missed the most.  I never realized how often we really went out to dinner (at real sit-down restaurants) and how much I really enjoyed that.  After a long day at work I enjoy being waited on. I enjoy better food than I am capable of cooking. I enjoy not doing the dishes. 

Then I had kids and the first few months were great. The baby slept in his car seat while we continued to enjoy the luxury of being waited on. 

Then he learned how to crawl. And it all came to a screeching halt.

No longer were we able to go anywhere that involved sitting still for long periods of time (not to mention the "no screaming rule").

Then I had a second kid. And my days of McDonalds with playplaces began.  We came to think of a McDonalds playplace night as a "date night" because the boys would go off and play while we talked about our day.

They were behaved well enough to go to "real" restaurants (so you can stop right there with typing the "if you were a better mother you could control your kids reply)   but it wasn't something that any of us enjoyed. We spent our time eating quickly and hoping that we had enough things to occupy the boys before their meal came. They spent their time asking if we could leave yet. 

I used to look longingly at the families nearby that had kids who sat at the booth/table and just colored quietly. I wasn't sure if it was something that would ever happen for us. My kids are not the "sit quietly and color" type.

But lately, things have changed. It's like we've turned a corner. The boys have both reached an age where going to a restaurant is something we can do without great fear of being "that family" (you know the one I mean).

The boys still don't LOVE going to grown up restaurants (except Red Robin, they love Red Robin for some reason) but they tolerate it. And we're trying to sell it as a special thing (which it is, we don't go that often).  They'd still rather go to ChicFilA and play on the slides when they're done eating, but they're capable of "sitting quietly and coloring".

We no longer walk into a restaurant with a suitcase-sized arsenel of things to occupy them. It's freeing.  It's great.

Of course, my butt and my jeans are none too happy. Have you see those portion sizes?!

So tell me, what's your "Restaurant Lifestyle" right now? Do you go to "grown up restaurants"? If so, do you bring your stash of magic toys? What are they?

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.