Sometimes Pittsburgh seems to be searching for a brand beyond bridges, steel, football, and fries on salad. Recently, at the office, we posited another identity: Pittsburgh is a city of milkshakes. When the city’s first Shake Shack opened in the Strip District in fall of 2023, people fawned over a trendy new chain restaurant with lines out the door onto Smallman Street. In 2025, we’re getting yet another Shake Shack, this time in a new mall complex in the East End.
Can Pittsburgh be a Milkshake City?
This is all well and good. But TABLE wonders whether Pittsburgh needs another chain milkshake joint. With only 300,000 inhabitants within its city limits, Pittsburgh has a shocking amount of good, independently owned ice cream places. We already punch far above our weight in milkshakes. We have a ton of high-quality independent ice cream places— Page’s Dairy Mart, Glen’s Frozen Custard, Churn, and Millie’s, to name a few. All offer a variety of milkshake flavors. But there’s more!
Boozy Milkshakes at Burgatory
Burgatory is perhaps the Pittsburgh’s most underappreciated chain. In our opinion, Burgatory, not Primanti’s, is the chain that should represent Pittsburgh. The food is quality. There’s something for everyone on the menu, with plant-based options, small bites, and a build-your-own burger program. (I have watched people create some truly vile burger and condiment combinations here, but the creative flexibility is part of the chain’s charm). The ambiance is quaint and quirky. Who would think up a heaven and hell themed burger joint? Only Pittsburgh, apparently.
But the crown jewel of the Burgatory menu is its boozy milkshake assortment. Every shake has the option of a spike, typically vanilla or chocolate vodka. Their Oreo Peanut Butter Pie shake with Sheep Dog Peanut Butter Whiskey in it? Ideal. Campfire S’mores with Vanilla Vodka? We love the extra kick. The menu implores that “[since this milkshake is] all your best memories of summer camp blended into a shake, you may feel the urge to start a singalong. Please refrain.” However, the addition of vodka just might make it hard to follow instructions. And isn’t that what happy hour is all about? We recommend you sit at the bar early in the evening. You don’t necessarily have to order a burger. A spike shake will hit the spot.
Note: The only customization option at Shake Shack is whipped cream or no whipped cream. The only boozy shake they ever offered was in 2017, a prosecco-spiked shake themed around the revival of NBC’s Will & Grace. Since then, nothing.
All Handmade at the Milkshake Factory
The Milkshake Factory grew out of a family soda fountain and chocolatier shop on Pittsburgh’s South Side in 1914. It manages a great feat of branding in that it feels homey and family-owned, even as it expands around the city and beyond. Each location feels slightly different, despite it being a chain. The Oakland Milkshake Factory on Forbes Avenue maintains slightly later hours, closing at 11PM for Pitt students on the hunt for a milkshake fix on nights out. The South Side location draws from some of the charm and history of the original soda fountain. The McCandless Crossing store makes for a great pit stop after book-shopping at nearby Riverstone Books.
Brand representative Jesse Byrnes explains that “We use our own proprietary recipe for our ice cream. Typically, when you go to ice cream shops, they use Perry’s or Hershey’s ice cream, but we make our own ice cream fresh every single day in store.” In all fairness to Shake Shack, they also hand-spin their ice cream. But Milkshake Factory also aerates their in-house ice cream, giving it a fluffy, light texture that makes for the most perfect of shakes.
One of the Milkshake Factory’s best features is their dairy-free shakes. The Milkshake Factory’s dairy free strawberry shake is especially good. “The dairy free ice cream we make is a vanilla-based soy coconut ice cream, blended with almond milk. It’s kind of our baby. We love our dairy free offerings,” Byrnes told TABLE.
So, next time you’re craving a milkshake, expand your horizons. Living in Pittsburgh means you have milkshake bliss at your fingertips.
Story by Emma Riva / Photo courtesy of Burgatory
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