Going to Pittsburgh in May, hotel ideas and must see things/things to do/places to eat

[miggs721]

Whats up,

the wife and I are going out east and spending a couple days in Pittsburgh, and I was just seeing if any members had ideas on a hotel to stay(where opposing teams stay or not) and things to do...thanks in advance

[Baldkin]

Go to Primanti Brothers for a sandwich.

Stay downtown if you can (I can't say where the Brewers stay) and walk over the Roberto Clemente bridge to go to a game.

Check out Church Breworks if you are a beer drinker. Awesome place.

[miggs721]

Thanks a lot. We most likely will be seeing the Astros play there the second week of may. Turns out its Hanrahan bobble night. Have heard nothing but good things about pnc. Looking at staying at the westin or Sheraton

[homer]

Go to Primanti but prepare to be unimpressed. It's pretty average if you ask me.

[hawing]

My all-time favorite hotel (of the admittedly lowish number I've stayed at) was the Renaissance in Pittsburgh. It's on the other side of the Clemente Bridge and is visible in most "skyline as seen from PNC" photos (the building with the center arch):

 

http://www.visitpittsburgh.com/photocontest/photos/091650153.jpg

 

We were there in 2002, so I couldn't tell you how its price nowadays compares to the Sheraton or Westin, but getting a room with a ballpark view is pretty awesome.

 

During our trip we parked in the ramp across the street (short, dark gray with a weird window pattern, just to the right of the Renaissance in the photo above) and mostly walked to downtown attractions. We enjoyed the Andy Warhol museum (and I can't say I'm deeply into art myself); the Heinz History Center - which now includes a Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum, something I don't remember being there in 2002; Point State Park and the Fort Pitt Museum...and I'd have to think back to what else.

 

The Duquesne and/or Monongahela Inclines (link) are fun to ride. We also checked out the Carnegie Science Center, which was well done but how much you'll like it depends on how you tolerate kids running around everywhere. I like Pittsburgh as a place to visit and am confident you'll find that the good things you've heard about PNC are on target.

[MJLiverock]

I stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown and had no problems with it back in 2004 or 05. I walked from there across the Clemente bridge to Heinz Field with a ton of people since they closed the bridge prior to the football game. Plenty of bars and outdoor partying around the baseball stadium on a football sunday so I imagine they have some of that for baseball games. The hotel was walking distance to the Strip District (my Pittsburgh native friend called it this and it has nothing to do with adult entertainment) where the Western Pennyslvania Sports Museum is, nightclubs, restaurants, the Convention Center, and the original Primanti Brothers (which I too found slightly disappointing. It wasn't bad but didn't live up to the hype).

[RightFieldCoder]

Right now the Renaissance is going for $269/night the weekend the Brewers are in town. That's about $100 more than I wanted to spend. Maybe I should take a mid-week trip to PNC.

[jazzytrav]

I would highly recommend the Omni William Penn Hotel. Easily the best hotel I've stayed at in the U.S. I've even stayed at much pricier hotels and found myself wanting to go back to that one.

 

As Hawing mentioned, the inclines are fun and the view is awesome. Although, I'll admit that I'm partial to Pittsburgh and the inclines, since that's where I proposed to my wife http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif PNC Park is beautiful, the Clemente Bridge is a must on your way to the game (not a far walk from the Omni, or any of the downtown hotels), and the Carnegie Science Center is also close by (and a ton of fun for nerds like me).

[hawing]

As Hawing mentioned, the inclines are fun and the view is awesome. Although, I'll admit that I'm partial to Pittsburgh and the inclines, since that's where I proposed to my wife http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

That's right. How're you doing with the royalty payments for the person who gave you the tip about the inclines? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

 

And woah, if the Renaissance was definitely not $269 a night when we stayed there, though that was summer 2002 and we had a mid-week stay. If it gets in your price range, it's very nice. It used to be an office building but you can scarcely tell when you're in a room. Plus I was often looking out the window and geekily saying things like, "Look! Now the Pirates are coming up to bat."

[RightFieldCoder]

During the Brewers mid-week trip the prices drop to $230. And these prices are for the "City View" rooms. There aren't many "River View" rooms that are available for the extra $100. But it does look beautiful in the pictures.

[homer]

If you are up for some minor physical activity, there's a kayak company located under the bridge beyond center field. You can cruise around all over the place for a few hours. Kind of a neat way to see the city.

[prophet]

Not sure how adventurous you are, but as for food ideas, there is a great little diner called Crystal's. It's down town and specializes in Lebanese food. When done right, which Crystal's does, Lebanese food is awesome. I'm a chef by trade, and I love trying other cultures traditional food, and Lebanese food is a hidden gem. If you've never tried it, you should give it a try. Lots of lamb dishes and tons of flavor.

[AZBrewCrew]

I was in Pittsburgh in 2009 for an Astros/Pirates game. We stayed at the Westin which at the time was the opposing teams hotel (not sure if it still is or not). Nice hotel and a short walk to the ballpark. We hung out in the hotel bar after the game with Carlos Lee (friend knows him through her former job) and other Astros players. The Heinz Field tour is pretty neat if you are into touring different football stadiums.

[dhoffman19]

I stayed at the Omni William Penn when I went to the Packer/Steeler game in 2009. Very reasonable as I recall and it's walking distance to the stadiums. I think I booked it through Hotels.com or a similar site to get a good rate. I want to say it was like $150 a night, or maybe even less.

 

I think Primanti Bros. is a little overrated, but try one at the game. Someone else mentioned Churchbrew, which I agree is pretty cool if you are really into beer. The casino (right by Heinz Field) is weird - virtual dealers.

[buckeyesteve]

Hey - I live in Pittsburgh so go ahead and ask away if you have any specific requests, ideas, etc...

 

Been living here for 10 years now. I'll probably go to 4 or 5 Brewer games a year when they come to PNC Park. Tickets are cheap and nobody in the stadium - It's great. Heck you can buy the 8 dollar tix and basically move anywhere.

[mothershipconnection]

Though I've never been to Pittsburgh, as a bird person the National Aviary would probably be destination #2 after PNC park.

[buckeyesteve]

I just went to the national aviary last summer. It was pretty cool. Have some HUGE Condor's and all sorts of cool stuff. I liked it a lot. It's not a huge place, you can get through it all in 2 hours, depending on how many shows, exhibits etc you attend.

[chadomac]

Pittsburgh was our last stop on a two week road trip this past fall. Saw Fenway, Camden Yards, and PNC - and PNC was my favorite of them all. We were there on 9/11, just for one day. Got $20 scalped tickets for 2nd row down in RF. Had a great time, hit the Andy Warhol museum afterward, then went to Fat Daddy's for better than average bar food. Seemed like an underrated city, we'll be going back.

[jazzytrav]

Hey - I live in Pittsburgh so go ahead and ask away if you have any specific requests, ideas, etc...

 

Been living here for 10 years now. I'll probably go to 4 or 5 Brewer games a year when they come to PNC Park. Tickets are cheap and nobody in the stadium - It's great. Heck you can buy the 8 dollar tix and basically move anywhere.

Yup, I paid $13 a ticket for 3rd row from the field, close to 1st base...close to the same spot on the 3rd base line the following day (which happened to be C.C.'s "no-hitter.") I remember thinking that these seats would have been at least $50 at Miller or most other parks in the league...probably over $500 for Wrigley if you bought them on Stubhub.

 

PNC Park is such a great place to watch baseball. Great food, cheap seats, and an awesome skyline.

 

 

[paul253]

I just wanted to bump this thread since I went to Pittsburgh for this past series. I just had a couple of thoughts:

 

Pittsburgh is just an awesome city, at least from the few areas I saw. The skyline is gorgeous and just puts Milwaukee to shame. The views from on top of the incline were world class.

 

We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott. Like most hotels in downtown it was expensive but it was right across the street from the stadium. You can literally see the entrance to the hotel as soon as you walk out of the home plate exit at PNC. Very, very convenient. For those of you who like the Steelers its about 4 or 5 blocks from their stadium too. The hotel itself offered a free shuttle for anything within 3 miles, which turned out to be very handy as it took us to the incline and then the strip district. The breakfast bar was ok, small pool (as in not one kids would enjoy) and it had a billiards room and theater. We spent very little time at the hotel though.

 

They have A TON of stores dedicated to Steelers, Pirates, and Penguins gear. I counted at least 8 in the downtown area that I saw. Downtown also has a bunch of restaurants. We walked by Primanti Bros (sp?) but didn't feel like sandwiches so we settled for a slice at Giovannis on 6th St. It was delicious.

 

Before the game we went out to a sports bar across the street from PNC called Mullens. There weren't a lot of people out but it was fun. The owner came up to us and started a conversation with us. He was very nice. We told him he needs to open up a sports bar in Milwaukee.

 

The stadium itself was very nice. I'm not going to say it was "better" than Miller Park, but definitely a much different atmosphere than Miller Park. At MP you feel like you are in a stadium whereas at PNC you feel like you are at a park, if that makes sense. The views are unbelievable too. There weren't a lot of people at the games we went to Tuesday and Wednesday and we walked around quite a bit. You can get a great river view from the outfield concourses. It is a very nice stadium, but the tradeoff for being open aired is the attendance.

 

The last thing I have to say is that after seeing Pittsburgh's stadium, I think Milwaukee missed a golden opportunity when they declined to build Miller Park downtown. I know people like to tailgate and are worried about traffic, but to be honest you can still tailgate in open lots downtown and downtown Milwaukee is not very big. Getting in and out is not that difficult. But all the restaurants and sports bars and team shops, even office buildings that may be built real tall to get a view into the stadium....Milwaukee missed out on all of that. A place like Mullens would be hard pressed to succeed in Milwaukee because sports bars do much better around stadiums. Other than Major Ghoolsbys sports bars just don't do well downtown. Plus the convenience of being able to walk to the stadium from your hotel. You just can't do that with Miller Park being where it is.

[torts]

i love pittsburgh, 7 years this august, probably one of my favorite cities in the country, hands down.

 

love that you loved coming here. I was at the thursday game with my dad and one of his friends, such a great time.