Pittsburgh's historic Strip District 'wonderful, gritty'

AP via CNN.com ^ | September 2, 2008 | Ramit Plushnick-Masti

[rightwingintelligentsia]

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- The smells of basil, Chinese food, fish and baked goods linger in the humid air along Penn Avenue, mixing with the sweat and grime of packed sidewalks and outdoor vendors.

Children cling to their parents' hands and young couples stroll leisurely while elderly people zip in and out of stores they have known for generations.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

The Strip District makes the Travel Section of CNN’s website. Ping the Pittsburgh faithful?

[edh]

In the morning/afternoon, it is rather lively area. At night, the smell of hookers on Liberty Ave. will kill you.
(OK, the hookers are gone...old Pittsburgh joke).

If you are traveling from, say, Youngstown, and have an appointment here in Pittsburgh, it is worth checking out. However, if you’re going to make a vacation out of it, you’ll be disappointed :-).

The author really should have reviewed the South Side...that’s where all the good entertainment is....Station Square is another decent place.

[mmichaels1970]

The smells of basil, Chinese food, fish and baked goods linger in the humid air along Penn Avenue, mixing with the sweat and grime of packed sidewalks and outdoor vendors.

When the wind blows from East to West, you can sometimes catch a whiff of Pittsburg here in Cleveland. It smells a lot more like "sweat and grime" then it does of "basil, Chinese food, fish and baked goods".

[rightwingintelligentsia]

you can sometimes catch a whiff of Pittsburg here in Cleveland

Cleveland--you mean "the mistake by the lake"? ;-)

[HamiltonJay]

Strip, South Side and Station Square are the tourist traps. Nice enough places, but aren’t remotely the best places in town. If you are a tourist these places are going to be confortable places to visit, and worth seeing.

However there is a lot more to Pittsburgh than these same old 3 areas that get all the press.

[HamiltonJay]

Pennsylvania, Where the wind always blows to the east, because Ohio blows and New Jersey sucks.

[mmichaels1970]

Pennsylvania, Where the wind always blows to the east, because Ohio blows and New Jersey sucks.

c'mon. That's a very old Michigan to Ohio to Pittsburgh joke around here.

[martin_fierro]

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[Glenn]

Oh, yeah. That’s my town!

[Soliton]

When the wind blows from East to West, you can sometimes catch a whiff of Pittsburg here in Cleveland

"Pittsburg" is in Kansas. "Pittsburgh" is in Pennsylvania. It's the one with the "h" on the end that is mentioned in the article. I've been to Cleveland to see the "Rock and Roll" Museum and was horrified to see that Madonna and Michael Jackson were considered Rock and Roll artists.

Does Cleveland still have a professional football team?

[merry10]

I love the strip district for three coffee shops I found. La Prima is really good, and a lot less than starbucks!

[toldyou]

Remember this sandwich?

[edh]

I’ve literally almost gotten killed for saying this (and I was born, raised, and still existing in Pittsburgh)....what the hell is the appeal of a Primani’s sandwich?....it looks like vomit and puke on fries with bread (almost forgot the “meat”). It has a great taste if you like mush and tainted grass.

I friggin hate to admit this, but I actually agreed with Ed Rendell on something...when he took a bite out of that crap during one of his campaign stops, he looked like he was 2 seconds away from puking...while he didn’t have the nerves to speak the truth about that “food”, you could read it in his slimey, crooked face that the thing tastes like sewer weeds. Pittsburghers get very defensive over those sandwiches for whatever reason....they’re as foul as a girl from Carrick (oh, man, I forgot, my mom grew up on Parkfield right across from the high school :-) ... sorry mom).

Sorry, but Philly wins hands down with their Cheesesteaks...

[SoothingDave]

I have to sadly agree with you, but perhaps not as vehemently.

I don’t like cole slaw and certainly don’t want it on my sandwich.

[mmichaels1970]

"Pittsburg" is in Kansas. "Pittsburgh" is in Pennsylvania. It's the one with the "h" on the end that is mentioned in the article.

I realized that I'd dropped the "h" shortly after posting. My proximity to Twinsburg probably had something to do with that. I would have corrected it, but I figured somebody truly from Pittsburgh probably wouldn't have been able to read it anyway.

MJ and Madonna are a slap to Rock N' Roll. I agree with you. Some New York weenie probably made that decision.

The Steelers have certainly owned the Browns since 1999. This is the year we finish ahead of them.

[Soliton]

When the Browns announced they were moving to Baltimore, no fans on Earth outside of Cleveland were more disapointed than Steeler fans.

A good sports rivalry is a great thing.

I will now salute all of the great things to come out of Cleveland. Drew Carey.

[mmichaels1970]

Superman was also born in Cleveland.

I will now salute all of the great things to come out of Pittsburgh: My in-laws. Without them, I wouldn't have my wife. I'm glad they escaped.

[econjack]

Yep! They also featured this place on the Food network some time ago. Neat place, as I recall.

[Soliton]

I have to agree that Primanti Brothers is no longer worth the trip. Like lots of famous food places, they lost their soul to franchising.

I was introduced to Primanti Bros in 1980. It’s claim to fame was that it was open after the bars closed. They served the truck drivers who delivered to the strip district late at night.

I had a hot Italian sausage, fried egg, and provolone sandwich with an Iron City Beer. The beer was served in a bottle with a 6 oz plastic cup over the top of the bottle. It was small, dirty, cheap, and wonderful. It is all gone now.

Now it is Atria’s. I live two blocks from the original Atria’s. Nick Atria lives down the street. It was a sweet local place with character and good food. It was purchased and franchised. There are dozens of them now, no better than a TGI Fridays, an Applebees, or a Max and Erma’s. I loved it when they had boiled eggs on the bar.