We are giving one lucky sandwich lover 2 tickets to the Northside Sandwich Sampler event on Thursday, June 20th, from 6 to 9PM at the Northside Elks Club. Our own Julia Gongaware will be guest judging the best sandwiches at the event! And you, dear winner, can try ALL of the sandwiches that are available throughout the week at the party, including:

Atria’s at PNC Park (North Shore) – Atria’s Reuben: Hand carved roast beef, swiss, sauerkraut, and special sauce on Jewish rye

Penn Brewery (East Deutschtown and Troy Hill) – Northsliders: Juicy beef and bacon patty slathered with chipotle mayo, grilled onions, and a dill pickle

James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy (Historic Deutschtown) – Pulled Pork & Slaw: Slow cooked pork shredded and smothered in house BQ sauce, topped with fresh apple and jicima slaw

Modern Café and Little Deli (Alleghney West) – Spicy Italian: Virginia baked ham, capicolla, salami, pepperoni, pepperjack cheese, banana peppers, lettuce and tomato grilled on a hoagie bun

Bistro To Go (Historic Deutschtown) – Bistro Classic: Smoked turkey mounded on Breadworks asiago cheese roll, spread with a spinach and artichoke aioli, topped with fresh tomato basil bruschetta, shaved parmesan cheese, melted & drizzled wuth balsamic vinegarette

Max’s Alleheny Tavern (Alleghney West) – Cabbage and Corn Beef Sliders: Corned beef, reuben kraut, swiss, grilled pumpernickle

El Burro (Central Northside) – Torta: Guacomole, sour cream, beans lettuce, arbol salsa, onion, cilantro, and served on a bollilo (Mexican bread)

Peppi’s (Allegheny West) – The Big Wheeler: Steak, sausage, provolone, and grilled onions served on an Italian roll

Deli on North (Historic Deutschtown) – Avacado Blue Panini: Oven-roasted turkey, avocado pesto, bacon, bleu cheese, honey mustard. Choice of italian, wheat, or rye

Benjamin’s (Allegheney West) – Signature Burger: Seasoned beef party, rosemary, balsamic, goat cheese, and apple

Rumerz Sports Bar and Grill (North Shore) – Cryptonite: Steak, egg, peperjack cheese, coleslaw, fries, spicy sriracha mayo, on french bread

Alleghney Elks (Historic Deutschtown) – Elk’s Fish Fry: Fried fish on an Italian hoagie

Monterey Pub (Historic Mexican War Streets) – Pub-Style Shredded Beef Sandwiches: Our signature Guinness shredded beef, English double Gloucester cheese, slaw, fries and our secret recipe Pub sauce served on a Breadworks ciabatta roll

If you don’t win, you should still check it the event! Tickets  for the Sandwich Sampler are $25 and include sandwich samples from each restaurant, 2 Penn Brewery beers, dessert and live music. A portion of ticket sales benefits Northside Rox, which provides free music lessons and instruments to low income kids.

*For more information and to purchase tickets, click here*

To enter to win, tell us which sandwich you most want to try! We will pick a winner at noon on Tuesday, June 18th.

Good luck!

Delicious pre-chocolate

Friday’s event is from 6:30 to 8 PM and Saturday’s activities take place during Museum hours, 10 AM to 5 PM.

Participants in the Friday night Colonial Chocolate Evening will get access to the Fort Pitt Museum, be treated to some treats (chocolate, obvi), and get some learnin’ in. Explore the history of chocolate (i.e. learn about all that is good) and how Pittsburghers indulged in this tasty snack during the 18th century.  Best part? This magic happens for $5 per person. TREATS. HISTORY. TREEEEAAATS.

Making chocolate whilst donning colonial finery.

On Saturday, with the price of Museum admission ($6, $5 for seniors, $3 for those ages 6 to 17, free for Heinz History Center members), watch colonial re-enactors demonstrate coffee roasting and get free chocolate samples from Mars Chocolate History Ambassadors.

Did you know… Chocolate was primarily a drink in colonial time? WHAT? Yes.

Want more delicious info? Check out heinzhistorycenter.org.

They ran.

Since we chose to stick to the sidelines during this year’s Pittsburgh Marathon, we thought… why not bring a little bit of extra fun with us? Something to get the spectators a little more riled up. Naturally, we thought of food. In celebration of Cinco De Mayo, we teamed up with our friends at The Steel Cactus to give away chips and salsa!

Yes, it was 9 AM… but seriously, when are chips and salsa NOT a good idea? We roamed up and down Walnut Street passing out the free goodies to anyone who would “Shake Their Maracas” for us. And people did it. THANKS YINZ GUYS!

It was awesome to be a part of the excitement yesterday and even though we weren’t running, we really felt like part of the race. We shook our maracas and shouted well wishes and encouragement to all of the participants as they sped past. We don’t have voices today, but it was totally worth it.

Here’s a look into our day…

A special thanks to The Steel Cactus, our friends at Revive Marketing Group, Dick’s and the Pittsburgh Marathon! Congrats on another successful year!

Probably not.

If you’re not planning on tormenting yourself for 26.2 miles through 13 Pittsburgh neighborhoods, you can still thoroughly enjoy the day. It’s one of those times in the city that you can actually feel the pride and love we all share. Strangers become friends as they stand together holding “Worst Parade Ever” signs and wearing banana suits all in support of the runners on their road to athletic glory.

How do you pass that fun up? You don’t. Plus there are going to be a fun food-related happenings all of the city!

Fiesta with eatPGH
We’ll be hanging out in Shadyside roaming the streets in search of a few fans willing to shake their maracas for our goodie bags filled with chips and salsa from Steel Cactus, mustaches, candy, and more! Follow us on Twitter ( @eatPGH ) or follow the sound of the mariachi band to find us and show off your moves. For other fun Pittsburgh blog-related good times follow the #RaceBlogPGH hashtag on Twitter.

Munchies with the Marathon
Local restaurants are rewarding participants and spectators on race day with a city-wide program, “Munchies With The Marathon!” Restaurants like E2, Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina, Habitat, Steel Cactus, and more will be offering specials, events, and promotions for runners and spectators.

Fuel the Fans
Head to the parking lot of First National Bank at 1114 E Carson St. Pittsburgh, PA 15203 for tasty treats from Fukuda, Bella Christies Sweet Truck, Oh My Grill, and more. Stop into the South Side Welcome Center for activities and more fun while you are fueling up to Cheer on the runners!

This Saturday, we (Julia, Sarah, and Mandy) will be signing copies ofFood Lovers’ Guide to Pittsburgh at GoodTaste! Pittsburgh starting at 2 pm! Come find us at the Barnes & Noble booth!

We will miss Laura as she will be scouring Chicago in search of a mighty fine slice of pizza.

GoodTaste! Pittsburgh is being held at the Pittsburgh Marriott North in Cranberry. Tickets can be purchased here! 

Hope to see yinz there!

Giving out our John Hancocks!

G Squared Gallery in Ligonier showing us the love. <3

We may have even found ourselves a new publicist!

Sarah and Laura with Judy from G Squared!

After we closed up shop on the signing, our gracious hosts treated us to a legendary lunch at The Kitchen on Main. A beautiful restaurant nestled right beside G Squared, serves up breakfast (ALL DAY!), lunch and dinner. Everything on the menu looked good and it was difficult to decide what to order. We had a great seat and sneaked peeks at the plates coming out of the kitchen. Salads piled miles high, soup served in real people bowls (as opposed to teeny tiny give me a bigger dish cups) and did I mention… BREAKFAST!?

Our table munched on Eggs Benedict, Burgers, Turkey Sandwiches and Salmon Burgers. And tons… of… fries.

Look at those sweet tater fries!

Because we are who we are… we couldn’t pass up the Ligonier Creamery. One of the only places on planet Earth (that I know of) that sells Teaberry ice cream. Teaberry is my favorite gum (yes, like an old man) and anyone who knows me knows that aside from pizza, ice cream is my favorite food. Match. Made. In. Heaven.

I of course had to get sprinkles. And these weren’t your average waxy colorful dots. These were crystallized, crunchy, sugary, sprinkles.

Teaberry ice cream from Ligonier Creamery!

Then we had to walk off all the food we just consumed. So we moseyed into Second Chapter books and perused the adjoining bead shop.

Overall, good times were had in Ligonier. We’ll come back soon. Thanks friends!!

The Judges

Bread to sop up all that soupy goodness.

Wedding Soup!

2 Day Beef Stew

Split Pea with Ham

Chicken and Rice

Beef Short Rib Vegetable

White Bean and Chorizo with Spinach

Oh! And as an added bit of awesome. FROWNIES! : (  :)

One frown we’re OK with.

You will get to indulge in all of the creations from the chef duos and support a great organization, Best Buddies.

Who will be cooking, you ask? Some of Pittsburgh’s finest: Chef Kevin Sousa, of Salt of the Earth, Union Pig and Chicken, and Station Street Hot Dogs; Chef Kate Romane, of e2; Chef Andrew Hebson from NOLA; and Pastry Chef Meghan Walsh from Cioppino.

Learn more about the event and buy tickets online here.

About Best Buddies:
The mission of Best Buddies is to establish a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Email us at eatPGH@gmail.com by 5 p.m. TODAY to claim your tickets!

If you didn’t win, you can still purchase tickets to all the events here.

One of our favorite food-lovin’ events starts Friday. The 7th Annual Farm to Table Conference celebrates local food, farmers, and more over two days. This year’s event is all about “doing it yourself” and is packed with great speaker sessions on canning, grass fed beef, honeybees, and more!

We’re giving away tickets to the Food Tasting event on Friday!

Simply leave a comment with which food vendor you’re most excited to try. You have until midnight (EST) on March 20, 2013, to enter. We will draw the winner on Thursday, March 21. CONTEST CLOSED.

Good luck! Shop Local! Eat Local!

Purchase tickets to all the events here.