This text first appeared at NEXTpittsburgh.com, a media companion of Kidsburgh. Enroll here for NEXTpittsburgh’s free publication stuffed with all the newest information concerning the folks driving change in our metropolis and the revolutionary and funky issues taking place right here. Photograph above of Café Carnegie by Sally Quinn.
A cease at a museum café rivals a visit by way of the reward store on any go to. Pittsburgh museums cater to the appetites of children and adults alike with high quality meals and tempting menus that replicate the establishment’s mission, perspective and patrons.
With some changes for COVID security, these cafés as soon as once more are welcoming diners for a pause between exploring exhibitions or assembly mates for pleased hour or a full-blown meal. They are often good for a special occasion out with the household.
Admission isn’t required for eating in any of those museum cafés, so preserve them in thoughts for a cease whilst you’re within the neighborhood.
1. The Café Carnegie
The Café Carnegie is a chic full-service restaurant that parallels the Carnegie Museum of Art’s sophistication. Overlooking the water characteristic on the museum’s predominant entrance, the gorgeous area invitations leisurely dialog over impressed dishes ready by Govt Chef Doug Genovese.
Toast your companions with a handcrafted cocktail such because the colorfully layered Glowing Dawn, a Prosecco Spritz or The Café Carnegie Bloody Mary.
Savor massive plates like Grilled Shrimp served over creamy polenta with sofrito and fried jalapeno or Wild Mushroom Risotto with kale, delicata squash and Manchego cheese. For meat lovers, there’s Quick Rib Pappardelle made with mirepoix, thyme and lemon crème fraîche.
Small plates, salads and sandwiches can be found, too. Nibble on Goat Cheese Crostini with roasted beets and Marcona almonds. Or poached Salmon Salad with a hearty mixture of crimson lentils, roasted celeriac, inexperienced beans, winter greens and pine nuts tossed in a zesty Dijon French dressing. Traditionalists may go for the turkey and bacon membership sandwich or the Brisket & Quick Rib Burger, whereas the Apple & Brie Panini will attraction to vegetarians.
Hanging out with choosy children? You may fulfill their easy tastes with a scorching canine or grilled cheese with Barmy Soda Firm Root Beer.
These on the lookout for a extra informal break can cease by the Coffee and Wire Bar simply outdoors The Café Carnegie. Count on specialty Commonplace espresso drinks, a full bar, craft beer and cask wines on faucet. Slide onto a barstool or get cozy within the lounge space along with your drinks. Head there for pleased hour on Thursdays when the museum is open late.
The Café Carnegie is open Wednesday by way of Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and accepts online reservations. The Espresso and Wine Bar is open on Monday and Wednesday by way of Sunday from 10 a.m. to five p.m.
2. Café Phipps
Café Phipps at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens has the excellence of being named to Meals & Wine journal’s 2019 checklist of the nation’s finest museum eating places, citing its health-focused menu and a spotlight to sustainability. The café’s mission is to create meals that’s not solely good for patrons but additionally good for the planet. Diners can discover a wide range of dishes which might be vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free — and scrumptious. In season, this Pittsburgh museum’s café cooks make the most of recent herbs, greens and greens picked from the positioning’s edible backyard.
A specialty of the home and ideal for a wintry day, the Cuban Model Chickpea Stew blends butternut squash, candy potatoes, chickpeas and Cuban spices served over rice. Seize-and-go dishes embrace a considerable Harvest Salad, Curried Chickpea Wrap and Carolina Mustard Pulled Pork Sandwich.
Meals for youths embrace an Almond Butter and Berry Sandwich served on complete wheat bread and Gluten-Free Pasta topped with a vegetable Bolognese sauce. Each are served with carrot sticks, Greek yogurt ranch dressing, salad and milk. Different treats embrace yogurt parfait and fruit salad.
Together with eliminating junk meals, Café Phipps eliminated soda with excessive sugar content material. As a substitute, order a signature Phipps Splash, a mix of recent fruit juice and seltzer. Grownups can take pleasure in a refreshing bottle of beer or glass of wine.
Café Phipps is open every day from 11 a.m. to three p.m.
3. Bean Sprouts Café on the Youngsters’s Museum
Billed as a hip and wholesome café, the award-winning Bean Sprouts eatery feeds children at 20 household locations throughout the nation. The most recent location is on the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. The area had been open to households who tote their very own eats. Now, dad and mom get a break from packing lunchboxes with an enticing menu that children are positive to like.
The intelligent Imaginibbles part of the menu gives child faves with foolish names and inventive plating. Grilledzilla is a gooey grilled cheese, lower right into a jagged mouth with cucumber and olive eyes. Spaceadilla is a rocket-shaped hen quesadilla. Crocamole seems like a crocodile with guacamole and veggie dippers. The Flutter Chunk is a turkey and cheddar sandwich that resembles a butterfly.
Mother and father admire that Bean Sprouts adheres to natural and sustainable meals sourcing. Be at liberty to substitute in accordance with allergic reactions and preferences, like switching customary pizza to a cauliflower crust or selecting gluten-free bread.
Extra grownup gadgets embrace salads just like the Mediterran-Yum and the BBCoop with barbeque hen. From the connoisseur sandwiches, standouts embrace Tuna Dillight, served chilly or as an open-faced soften, and the recent Hen Pesto Chango that features mozzarella, sun-dried and recent tomatoes, drizzled with balsamic French dressing on a ciabatta roll. There’s additionally a variety of scorching and iced coffees, fruity smoothies and tempting treats, too.
Bean Sprouts Café is open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., serving scorching meals till 3 p.m. and drinks and snacks till 4 p.m.
4. Riverview Café
On a vivid day, the RiverView Café at Carnegie Science Center is the right spot to catch a number of rays glinting off the Ohio River. Watch tugboats pushing barges upriver simply previous the USS Requin submarine. The café is a superb place to rendezvous for a lunch break throughout a day of high-energy SportsWorks play and absorbing scientific data.
RiverView Café caters to all ages with a recent, made-to-order menu. Wholesome choices embrace a Hen Caesar Salad and a Spicy Black Bean Burger with Pepper Jack Cheese. Order pizza by the slice or the pie. Deli selections — such because the Tuna Salad Croissant and Roast Beef with Cheddar on an Onion Roll — include a facet of macaroni salad. Little ones will probably be pleased with a Youngsters Meal of a PB&J, hand-breaded hen tenders or grilled cheese. You’ll discover a lot of grab-and-go snacks, too: yogurt, fruit cups, hummus with pretzels, and string cheese.
For security, the variety of tables has been lowered with loads of area in between households.
Riverview Cafe is open from 10 a.m. to three p.m. Wednesday by way of Monday.
5. The Café on the Frick
We had been delighted to see the reopening of The Café at the Frick on the Level Breeze campus of The Frick Pittsburgh. The newly refinished café at this widespread Pittsburgh museum is taking a gradual however regular strategy returning to its former stage of eating. At the moment, diners order on the counter and are seated to await supply of their meals. Hours are restricted and no reservations are being accepted. The hope is to develop hours and eating choices, together with including picnic fare, night dinners hosted by visiting cooks and excessive tea.
In the meantime, the meals stays top-notch for a brunch gathering or lunch break. Share a charcuterie board of Parma sausage, gherkins and olives or an assortment of flatbreads. Strive the personal-sized quiche with wild mushrooms, sausage, spinach and Swiss cheese.
Sandwiches are filled with impressed fillings on a wide range of bread: Turkey and Smoked Cheddar arrives with apple bacon jam and arugula on a pretzel bun. Black Forest Ham and Swiss consists of tomato and greens on rye with a swipe of brown mustard. A ciabattini roll works as the bottom for the Roast Beef and Provolone Sandwich, matched with horseradish mayo and blended greens.
Recent-baked scones, blueberry muffins and cookies are additionally out there. But it surely’s not possible to withstand the nice and cozy Ache au Chocolat, a chocolate-filled croissant. A scaled-down afternoon tea service has simply returned, however with out the fanciful tiered plate stand. Present tea service features a pair of finger sandwiches, a scone with house-made clotted cream, a cookie and recent berries, alongside along with your selection of unfastened leaf tea.
We’re trying ahead to heat sunny days once we can take pleasure in patio eating at considered one of our favourite out of doors spots.
The Café on the Frick is open from 11 a.m. to three p.m. Thursday by way of Sunday.
6. Atria’s Kookaburra Kitchen
The National Aviary accommodates household appetites with Atria’s Kookaburra Kitchen. Make your selections as you progress alongside the counter, then carry your meals to the sunny Backyard Room foyer, the place tables are unfold out within the open area.
Youngsters will discover pleasure in hen tenders with fries, pizza and gentle pretzels with cheese dip. Grownups can select from a Hen Salad Croissant, BLT Wrap or Inexperienced Salad. Look ahead to specials like Pot Roast Nachos, Black Forest Cake and the soup of the day.
Choose from a wide range of packaged treats: yogurt granola parfait, recent fruit, Uncrustable Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches and apple sauce cups. The freezer shares too many ice cream delights to checklist.
Atria’s Specialty Catering hosts occasional brunches for extra formal household outings, too. They’re held within the Backyard Room, the place weddings and different particular occasions are booked. Graze on dishes comparable to Firecracker Hen and Waffles, Cinnamon French Toast and Smoked Mozzarella Ravioli. The Valentine’s Day Brunch gives two seatings on Feb. 13. Aviary admission is included within the worth of $55 ($35 for youths). Mark your calendar for upcoming bunches deliberate for Easter, Mom’s Day and Father’s Day.
Atria’s Kookaburra Kitchen is open every day from 11 a.m. to three p.m.
7. The Café on the Historical past Middle
Such a cool setting for lunch! Eating on the Café at the History Center means sitting at tables surrounded by relics of Pittsburgh’s previous. There’s the previous crimson and yellow streetcar, the 7,000-pound Rodman cannon duplicate and the 1936 Ford Deluxe Sedan with a stainless-steel physique.
Whereas grownups can sip and savor Starbucks espresso at this Pittsburgh museum, spirited children can skedaddle up the round staircase to a second-floor play space. They’ll return to the principle ground by way of the Liberty Tubes corkscrew slide.
The Café store resembles a 19th-century red-brick storefront. Widespread Plea caters ready-to-eat choices like a Turkey & Provolone Wrap, a PB&J Bento Field and a Hen Salad Sandwich. Or put collectively your personal lunch from a choice of recent fruit, yogurt, string cheese and path combine. There’s selfmade soup and macaroni and cheese, too, that may be warmed in a microwave.
The Café on the Historical past Middle is open every day from 10 a.m. to five p.m.
8. Boxspring Café
What extra whimsical title may the creatives on the Mattress Factory provide you with? The Boxspring Café label brings an instantaneous smile. Look overhead at Ryder Henry’s fanciful spaceship sculptures for one more dose of fine humor.
The present menu is restricted to domestically sourced croissants and bagels from Spirit. Roasted espresso and teas come from Pittsburgh-based De Fer. The checklist of scrumptious, scorching drinks features a foam-topped Soiled Chai, Café au lait, milky Cortado and scorching chocolate with mini marshmallows.
Plan a go to with mates on Wednesday nights, that are scheduled for the museum’s late-night/date night time with BYOB within the café.
Boxspring Café is open from 11 a.m. to five:30 p.m. Tuesday by way of Sunday, with prolonged hours till 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
9. The Warhol Café
With 4 flooring of displays, plus artmaking within the basement Manufacturing facility studio, guests to the Andy Warhol Museum can simply fill a complete day. A cease at The Warhol Café is a positive pause for nourishment between actions.
The espresso bar gives nice brews and recent pastries like ginger pear scones and blueberry muffins. Count on packaged grab-and-go salads and sandwiches, plus fashionable drinks like Sanpellegrino Limonata, KÖE kombucha and a choice of Bare juices.
There’s a lot of area to unfold out within the foyer’s industrial setting housing metallic chairs and concrete. You may’t miss William John Kennedy’s putting “Homage to Warhol’s Marilyn” (1964). And it’s the right time for a photograph on Andy’s crimson sofa.
One nice possibility: Collect with the gang for this Pittsburgh museum’s weekly Good Fridays collection, when admission is half-price from 5 to 10 p.m.
The Warhol Café is open from 10 a.m. to three p.m. Wednesday by way of Monday, with prolonged hours on Friday when the museum is open late.
