Summer is here, and while the Pittsburgh weather might not be the cheeriest, one surefire way to put a smile on your face is a nice dinner out. Whatever you’re in the mood for, there’s something for you at Pittsburgh restaurants. Summer menu updates include savory seasonal flavors like beets and passionfruit, extra-savory seafood and steak, and all new desserts like semifreddos and gluten-free cheesecakes. Fuel your warm weather nostalgia and make new summer memories at these restaurants.
Kick Off Summer with These Menu Updates
Khalil’s
Oakland
Khalil’s has you covered for summer vveggies with their Mediterranean Summer Salad with dates, apricots, walnuts, figs, and drizzled with tahini. The Kibbee Kabkoub features fried seasoned beef and bulgar wheat, made by hand and filled with ground beef, onions, almonds, and pine nuts, served with a light yogurt cucumber sauce. A new dessert on the menu is the Mahalabia, an elegant summer dessert with house-made milk pudding, orange blossom water, fresh fruit, pistachio, and rose petals.
Fet-Fisk
To start its second summer of service, Fet-Fisk is bringing back favorites like their Sweet Pea, Mint, and Pistachio Semifreddo—a star dessert of last summer. This dessert takes inspiration from the nostalgia of an ice cream sandwich with frozen goodness between two dark chocolate cookies made from oat flour topped with olive oil, lemon zest, and crushed pistachios.
For savory dishes, Fet-Fisk updated its Rye Cavatelli to be a celebration of brassicas. It now has oyster mushrooms and broccolini in a sauce of malted barley, ramp, and fermented apple cider with a broccoli stem and turnip green pesto stirred in. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s topped with shaved hakurei, shaved horseradish, and fava leaves. The NY Strip Steak is now served with the fat cap and a salsa verde made of chopped dill, parsley, lemon, caper, and garlic with lobster butter hollandaise on the side.
Square Café
East Liberty
Every month, Square Café rotates their specials for seasonal flavors. Fill up on the Chorizo Hash with house-made chorizo cooked with onions, garlic, peppers, tomatoes, and fingerling potatoes. It’s topped with an over-easy egg, fresh cheddar, and green onion garnish. For dessert, Square Café’s summer menu updates also include the cafe’s famous Butterscotch & Bacon Pancakes which are filled with butterscotch chips and candied bacon pieces.
Title 9
East Liberty
You can also pop over to Square Café’s neighbor, Title 9, for the T9 Burger with American cheese, greens, tomato, candied bacon, onion straws, and an over-easy egg and the Lindsey Vonn Veggie Burger, a sweet potato and chickpea burger topped with Harissa sauce, tomato, and greens. Shared plates such as crispy wings, flatbreads, and the Boatload of Shoestring Fries with the house-made Asiago cheese sauce are ideal for chill summer hangouts.
Vallozzi’s
Downtown
The menu at Vallozzi’s, true to Italian family recipes, always has handmade pasta. You can always get the classic Vallozzi Pizza topped with house-made red sauce and fresh provolone, no matter the season, but the tomatoes are going to be especially fresh for summer. Other fan favorites include options like Buffalo Caprese, featuring locally grown tomatoes, basil, olive oil, and sea salt, or Burrata with arugula pesto, roasted red peppers, and 24-month prosciutto. Also, try Vallozzi’s house cellos as they get ready for the restaurant’s Festa di Limoncello on June 21!
Ritual House
Downtown
Executive Chef Edwin Smith of Ritual House starts off his summer menu with Shishito Peppers with sweet onion glaze with pickled onions. You can also try the Heirloom Tomato Flatbread with basil pesto, caramelized onions, arugula, Parmesan, and red wine vinaigrette. For fish lovers, the Chilean Sea Bass with charred pineapple mango, rainbow carrot, and sushi rice is a showstopper. For brunch, the Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes topped with caramel and cherry syrup pairs perfectly with the Peachy Keen cocktail with house prosecco and fresh peach nectar.
Bistro 19
Mt. Lebanon
Enjoy the newly added Paesano Con Tomate starter of grilled paesano bread, roasted tomato reduction, shaved grata cheese. All of that is in garlic cloves, basil truffle oil, roasted garlic oil. It’s a simple dish but made to a high standard of quality, true to Bistro 19’s vision. For vegetarian summer mains, the restaurant is bringing out Trottole Pasta with Cippolini onions, leeks, spinach, foraged mushrooms, charred ramp cream sauce and burrata di bufala. Meat and seafood lovers can try Argentinian Shrimp with sundried tomato and artichoke risotto, sautéed spinach, basil pesto, and chili crisp or the Pork Ribeye served with Taro funnel cake, buttered cauliflower and parsnip purée, and apricot and arbol chutney.
The Commoner
Downtown
Once you walk through the lobby of the elegant Hotel Monaco, you’ll find yourself at The Commoner, where summer menu updates mean seafood and fresh produce. Try the Spicy Crab with chili crunch, gruyere, and cheese bread. Snack on Croquettes with smoked halibut, arborio rice, and lemon aioli before getting to the main course. Entrees like the Crispy Bass with almond Romesco and fresh fennel salad and the Chicken served up with a side salad of arugula, pesto, asparagus, and preserved lemon, serve up bright flavors for the season. For pasta lovers, try the Trofie pasta with red pepper sauce, Manchego, olives, and sundried tomato. To finish off, try the Buttermilk Panna Cotta with morello cherry and chamomile almonds on top.
Fish Nor Fowl
East Liberty
Fish Nor Fowl is one of Pittsburgh’s most expansive menus, with quality ingredients and beautifully presented dishes. Share small plates of Duck Confit, Mussels, and Bone Marrow Risotto to start off at Fish Nor Fowl. Classic pastas like Bucatini all’Amatriciana and the delightful Squid Ink Mafaldine make for delicious mains. Or, if you’re in the mood for a protein-packed large plate, the Arctic Char Piccata and Rack of Lamb are recent additions to the menu.
And don’t sleep on the Lobster Fra Diavolo. The Lobster meat is folded into a silky Cognac cream mornay with Calabrian chiles and wild mushrooms, then baked back into its own shell. A bright lemon-fennel pollen crumb and focaccia croutons bring zesty contrast and a shower of fresh chives adds herbal lift.
Lilith
Shadyside
We love Lilith’s recently added Passionfruit Cheesecake with sesame brittle, Chantilly, graham, and vanilla bean meringue. Plus…it’s gluten free! For summer savory dishes, try the Shrimp Ceviche with coconut, ginger, guanabana, curry, lime, blood orange, and avocado. And no summer meal is complete without oysters and a passion fruit mignonette. For a vegan summer dish, try the Farrotto with kale, ramps, mushrooms, pickled fennel, pepitas, and pink peppercorn.
Story by Emma Riva Cover photo courtesy of Vallozzi’s
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