Pittsburgh is a city full of restaurants on seemingly every street corner. With so many options to choose from, deciding where to headout to lunch is not always the easiest task. That’s why we asked The Speckled Egg Chef Nathan Schoedel to tell us where he loves to go out in Pittsburgh for the best lunch. When in doubt, take your recommendation from a food professional!
About Nathan Schoedel at The Speckled Egg
Nathan Schoedel is a Pittsburgh-born chef and co-owner of the beloved brunch destination The Speckled Egg. He trained at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where he met his future wife and partner, Jacqueline Schoedel. Nate’s passion for cooking was sparked early, working in a diner and helping his mother—who ran multiple restaurants and bars.
After years working at notable Pittsburgh establishments like Donato’s Fox Chapel, Soba, Gaucho Parilla Argentina, Muddy Waters, and Bird on the Run, Nate took a break from the restaurant portion of food and worked as a farm hand at Rivendale Farms all before becoming a restauranteur.
While helping his wife during a busy brunch service at Josephine’s Toast, in the former Smallman Galley, the inspiration for The Speckled Egg came into fruition. The name took shape when Jacqueline noticed a flat of eggs in the cooler—beautiful, speckled, and symbolic of their dream—forging the restaurant’s identity, a brunch-driven, creatively playful restaurant, rooted in breakfast classics with elevated twists.
They opened their first location in the Union Trust Building downtown, offering all-day brunch, as well as cocktail and happy-hour service six days a week. In 2023, they expanded to a second, larger location in SouthSide Works, in collaboration with Commonplace Coffee.
Committed to supporting local producers, Nate Schoedel sources ingredients regionally—from maple syrup (Paul Family Farms), eggs (Pine View Pastures), and milk (Twin Brook Dairy Co.) to breads and baked goods (Mediterra Bakehouse). Nate Schoedel brings heart, nostalgia, and refinement to Pittsburgh’s brunch scene.
Nathan’s Best Lunch Restaurants in Pittsburgh
Wise County Biscuits and Café
My favorite lunch in the city would have to be the Soup Beans with side of collards at Wise County Café off of Western Ave in the North Side. Soup Beans are an old Appalachian staple. Wise County serves theirs with chow chow and cornbread. It is the right amount of savoriness from the beans, tangy from the chow chow, and a touch of sweet in the cornbread. Not to mention, you’re full after eating it. I adore the collards because they are simply that, a well seasoned side of braised greens. Cooked long enough to be tender, but not overly cooked and mushy.
Colangelo’s
Earlier in my career, I worked in the strip district. I fell in love with everything about it back then. Walking down Penn Ave, checking the bent and dent store (now Helltown Brewing) for an expired snack, and or stopping in WFH for another snack that I cannot pronounce. But my favorite lunch in the strip district is most definitely the Colangelo’s and La Prima combo.
I get a large cold brew from La Prima, then walk over through the cute gate to get at least one slice of Colangelo’s Sicilian pizza. I like that they reheat it in the back to get the bottom of the crust just a touch crunchier. Then, I finish off the order with an almond melee. The most delicious, laminated dough filled with almond paste topped with sugar. I top my pizza with parmesan, and chili flake and walk outside to lean against one of the red hightop tables to eat. The energy of the strip district, the tender yet crunchy pizza, finishing it up with the sweet almond melee and bold chilled coffee, all while being a little nebby and enjoying the fresh air.
The Speckled Egg
My current favorite lunch at my restaurants would have to be the Peaches for Me Salad with buttermilk fried chicken breast on top. The salad uses local greens, from just outside the Pennsylvania and Ohio border, local peaches, toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese, farro, mint, and a lemon honey vinaigrette. It’s a nice combination of flavors, textures, and you feel good after eating it. More than that, it is about what the salad stands for. It stands for what we are at The Speckled Egg. It’s something simple, however each week I go to the Northside Farmers Market and buy a few cases of peaches for both restaurants. The peaches aren’t in season for long, but I make sure we use them as much as we can while they are. You can find them atop our yogurt and granola, our chia seed pudding, in a salad, and your fruit cup.
Story and Photo Courtesy of Nathan Schoedel
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