{"id":168873,"date":"2026-04-17T21:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/168873\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T21:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T21:12:13","slug":"a-pittsburgh-nfl-draft-food-primer-iconic-dishes-to-try-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/168873\/","title":{"rendered":"A Pittsburgh NFL Draft Food Primer: Iconic Dishes to Try First"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nfl<\/a><\/p>\n

Jeet jet? That\u2019s Pittsburghese for \u201cDid you eat yet?\u201d If the answer\u2019s no, you\u2019re in luck! The Steel City is home to culinary oddities that tend to boggle the minds of visiting foodies. Hope you like carbohydrates.<\/p>\n

\"Lpetrilla<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO BY LAURA PETRILLA<\/p>\n

Primanti Bros. Sandwich<\/p>\n

Start your experience with an \u201cAlmost Famous\u201d Primanti sandwich (we pronounce it \u201csammich\u201d) \u2014 preferably at the restaurant chain\u2019s original Strip District location. Since 1933, the bros have been piling meat, cheese, fries and coleslaw between two slices of bread.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing more Pittsburgh than consuming the Pitts-Burger, a seasoned beef patty with all of the fixings, made by longtime employee Tonya Haggerty in \u201cThe House That Slaw Built.\u201d While you\u2019re digesting, check out the eatery\u2019s mural of legitimately famous local celebrities, from Mister Rogers to hockey great Mario Lemieux.<\/p>\n

Visit Primanti Bros.<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Heinz<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

Heinz Ketchup<\/p>\n

Henry John Heinz founded his namesake company here in 1869 but didn\u2019t start producing its signature tomato ketchup until 1876; before that, his mother\u2019s horseradish recipe was the marquee product.<\/p>\n

Although the condiment hasn\u2019t been produced in Pittsburgh since 2000, the Kraft Heinz Co. corporate offices are co-headquartered here and in Chicago. Heck, there\u2019s even a 35-foot ketchup bottle, previously part of the stockroom at Accrue Stadium (formerly and preferably known as Heinz Field) on a pedestal outside of the Heinz History Center in the Strip District. Yinz want fries with that?<\/p>\n

Learn more at Kraft Heinz Co.<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Salad<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re on a diet, you picked the wrong city to visit. When you order a steak or chicken salad at a Pittsburgh eatery, chances are there will be fries on top of it. Thankfully, we also have a lot of steep hills, so you can work off the extra calories in no time.<\/p>\n

\"Isalyssweater1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ISALY\u2019S<\/p>\n

Isaly\u2019s Chipped Ham<\/p>\n

Greasy, salty and paper-thin, chipped ham is a guilty pleasure that, frankly, we can\u2019t stop eating \u2014 especially when it\u2019s covered in barbecue sauce. Isaly\u2019s, the 121-year-old company behind the lunch meat, also introduced the world to the iconic Klondike Bar. In Pittsburgh, we\u2019re all on a first-name basis: \u201cIsaly\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Learn more at Isaly\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mancini\u2019s Bread<\/p>\n

Mancini\u2019s bread has been a staple in Pittsburgh tables since 1926. The company\u2019s signature twisted Italian loaves live up to its motto, \u201cOur bread makes butter taste better!\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past few years, co-owner Nick Mancini Hartner has earned accolades for this bread art. The Van Gogh of Dough has created more than 30 sculptures, from The Grinch and Beetlejuice to a \u201cNight of the Living Bread\u201d zombie, a nod to the city\u2019s role in the iconic horror flick.<\/p>\n

Visit Mancini\u2019s Bread<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Jennyleesammich\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER<\/p>\n

Jenny Lee Cinnamon Swirl Bread<\/p>\n

Each day, 5 Generation Bakers makes more than 8,000 loaves of Jenny Lee Cinnamon Swirl Bread \u2014 a key ingredient in making the world\u2019s tastiest French toast. The naturally fermented dough gets sheeted, dusted with cinnamon, rolled and baked in stainless steel, crimp-style pans.<\/p>\n

After emerging from the oven, the loaves are bathed in a mix of egg yolks, salt, melted butter and a proprietary blend of cinnamon and sugar. No wonder everyone in the \u2019Burgh loves it.<\/p>\n

Learn more at 5 Generation Bakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Ironcitynfldraft2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO COURTESY OF PITTSBURGH BREWING CO.<\/p>\n

Iron City Beer<\/p>\n

If you visit Pittsburgh\u2019s South Side neighborhood, you\u2019ll see a ticking advertisement for Iron City Beer. The name of this hometown brew is written on a towering clock that\u2019s nearly twice the size of London\u2019s Big Ben. Time for a beer!<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Brewing Co.\u2019s been churning out this traditional American lager for 165 years, and, thanks to its new 70,000-square-foot production facility in Creighton in northern Allegheny County, shows no signs of slowing down. Take a cold one down.<\/p>\n

Visit Pittsburgh Brewing Co.<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Eatn<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO: EAT\u2019N PARK<\/p>\n

Eat\u2019n Park Smiley Cookie<\/p>\n

If the Pittsburgh natural beauty and city skyline aren\u2019t enough to make you grin from ear to ear, perhaps a Smiley Cookie will.<\/p>\n

Eat\u2019n Park, a regional restaurant chain known as \u201cThe Place for Smiles,\u201d started offering the freshly baked, hand-decorated sugar cookies in 1986. These days, the company cranks out more than 6.4 million of them a year. All kids receive a free Smiley Cookie after their meal at every Eat\u2019n Park location.<\/p>\n

Now that\u2019s something to be happy about.<\/p>\n

Visit Eat\u2019n Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Pierogies1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO VIA PITTSBURGH PIEROGI FEST\u2019S FACEBOOK PAGE<\/p>\n

Pierogies<\/p>\n

Polish potato-filled dumplings have a cult following in this town. In 2025, more than 4,000 people converged on the South Side for the Pittsburgh Pierogi Festival. They devoured goods from 24 local and national pierogi purveyors, purchased pierogi-themed merchandise, snapped photos with the Pittsburgh Pirates pierogi mascots and sipped pints of pierogi beer garnished with, you guessed it, pierogi.<\/p>\n

\"Bananasplitatvalleydairy\"<\/a><\/p>\n

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER<\/p>\n

Banana Split<\/p>\n

The Banana Split was invented in the town where the world\u2019s first banana was sold in 1904.<\/p>\n

David Strickler, a pharmacist\u2019s apprentice and soda jerk at Tassel\u2019s Pharmacy in Latrobe, cut a banana in half lengthwise and placed a slice on each side of a boat-shaped dish. He then put three scoops of ice cream between the banana halves, and drizzled pineapple sauce over the vanilla, strawberry sauce over the strawberry and chocolate syrup over the chocolate. Strickler pushed his mighty caloric creation even further, adding whipped cream and chopped nuts to each scoop and placing a cherry on top of the scoops at each end of the dish.<\/p>\n

It takes longer to make than to eat!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jeet jet? That\u2019s Pittsburghese for \u201cDid you eat yet?\u201d If the answer\u2019s no, you\u2019re in luck! The Steel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":168874,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-168873","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pittsburgh","9":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","10":"tag-pittsburgh-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168873"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168873\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}