Black Friday fare, weird rankings, and more Pittsburgh food news

Black Friday Restaurant Updates
Various locations
Tired of shopping, or looking for a boost while seeking out great holiday deals? Be ready to enjoy everything from brunch to festive Happy Hours when area restaurants reopen after Thanksgiving.

Make your reservations for the Black Friday Brunch on Fri., Nov. 25 at Scratch & Co., where you'll find craft coffee drinks, Hellbender bagels with housemade schmears, and main dishes like the Short Rib & Hash with Yukon potatoes, cubanelle peppers, onion, fried egg, and herbs, or the Shakshuka with spiced tomato sauce and griddled sourdough topped with a poached egg. Square Cafe will also have brunch bites, coffee drinks, and more, including the Vegan Chive Biscuit Breakfast Sandwich and the Salted Caramellow Latte.

Station will have Happy Hours deals from 4-6 p.m., including half-off small plates, $10 classic cocktails, $11 featured cocktails, $8 wines by the glass, and $6 draft beer. Head to the PA Market, which will open early that day, welcoming guests from 1 p.m. through 12 a.m., or wind down with a drink from The Commoner's winter cocktail menu.

City of Asylum
40 W. North Ave., North Side. cityofasylum.org
Franco-Palestinian chef Fadi Kattan will host an event at City of Asylum's Alphabet City event venue. Fadi Kattan on Food and Community, taking place at 7 p.m. on Tue., Nov. 29, will explore the importance of food for diasporic communities, and for communities in conflict. Kattan will discuss this topic with Omar Abuhejleh, owner of Allegro Hearth Bakery and B52 Café. In-person and virtual tickets are free with registration.

Commonplace Coffee
7514 Thomas Blvd., Point Breeze. commonplacecoffee.com
Rockwell Park, an industrial area being transformed into an 800,000-square-feet multi-use space, will welcome a new Commonplace Coffee location. The cafe will sit across from East End Food Co-op and down the block from Construction Junction. The opening means that Commonplace will close its existing cafe in Point Breeze at 6736 Reynolds Street, effectively relocating its equipment and staff to Rockwell Park. A release says that dates for the Point Breeze cafe closing and Rockwell Park grand opening are tentatively scheduled for December.

Commonplace Coffee x Jim Pollock
Multiple locations. commonplacecoffee.com
Commonplace Coffee partnered with Pittsburgh-based folk artist Jim Pollock to release a limited-run collaborative donation blend. Now available through Jan. 10, 2023, the Pollock Blend is described as having "tasting notes of dried cherry, peanut brittle, and dark chocolate." Commonplace will donate 25% of proceeds from sales of Pollock Blend to The Divided Sky Foundation, an organization founded by Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio that "delivers quality care and compassionate treatment to those affected by alcoholism and addiction."

Pittsburgh Winter Beerfest
1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd., Downtown. PittsburghBeerfest.com
Pittsburgh Winter Beerfest announced that it will return to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center for another celebration of the city's craft brew scene. Tickets for the event, happening Feb. 24-25, 2023, will go on sale Dec. 26. Proceeds from the Beerfest will benefit Animal Rescue Partners and Biggies Bullies.
Chipotle
1600 Smallman St., Strip District. chipotle.com
A new Chipotle opening in the city may not seem like big news, but a press release touts the Strip District location as the first in Pittsburgh to feature a walk-up, "allowing customers to pick up digital orders without ever entering the restaurant."

Frankie Bunz
2108 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill. frankiebunz.com
Frankie Bunz, a family-owned hot dog shop in Squirrel Hill, announced that it now sells a Korean Corn Dog. Enjoy this fried, all-beef hot dog on a stick enhanced with pepper jack cheese, sweet Asian batter, and panko bread crumbs, all topped with Heinz ketchup and mustard.

Lawn Love and Mandoe Media
lawnlove.com and mandoemedia.com
Pittsburgh has done it again, and by "done it" we mean "made it into more weird lists." The site Lawn Love ranked Pittsburgh at number 15 in its "2023’s Best Cities for Breakfast Lovers" list. The determination looked at "access to breakfast spots like diners, cafes, and doughnut shops," and "considered quality and popularity by measuring consumer ratings, Google search interest, and the number of breakfast clubs, among 16 total metrics." The digital signage company Mandoe Media did a study that named Pittsburgh the U.S. city with the "most independent coffee shops per capita." An email from Mandoe says the study was based on "analyzed independent reviews, prices, and availability."

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