Caffe Davio

Caffe Davio bills itself as "A diner by day, the heart of Sicily at night." As intriguing as this sounds, we were just there for breakfast this Saturday. Located at 2516 East Carson St. in Pittsburgh's South Side, Davio's is a very small storefront restaurant with just 10 tables with seating for just 24 at my count. So a very cozy place for a nice breakfast.

This seems to be a pretty popular place, though the southside is not very busy in the mornings as a general rule. We got lucky and only waited a couple minutes to be seated. (No standing in line outside this Saturday!) The kitchen is completely open to the dining area, so no secrets. I love the pictures on the wall...very cupid & romantic. I imagine the atmosphere becomes even more adorable after dark.

But that will have to wait for another day, as this visit was all about breakfast. The menu was thankfully just one page, plus a couple of chalkboard specials. For some reason the oatmeal and fruit sounded good to me today, and husband wanted a variety, so he chose a Greek frittata with home fries, toast & one pancake.  The Greek included mushrooms, black olives, spinach & feta, and the potatoes were sauteed with onions. The bread is made locally by Breadworks and is absolutely fabulous. And you can see how fat and juicy the blueberries were - yummy! (Sadly however the oatmeal tasted instant.)

The waitresses (2) were both quite quirky - very sweet but not overly attentive. And neither of them could seem to figure out how to make the water hot enough to brew tea. So lukewarm chamomile it was. (But no worries, as there's a Caribou Coffee within walking distance which was our next stop!)

I liked the minimalist menu, as it gives me the sense that an emphasis can be kept on quality selections. Maybe one evening we'll come back and see what the heart of Sicily is like.

 

Deluca's

Apparently Deluca's in the Strip District is the Mecca of all breakfast spots in Pittsburgh. Every time we go by on a Saturday morning there is a line stretching down the block. Oh, and their signage all proclaims it to be the "Best Breakfast in Town". So off we went, to see what all the hype is about!

This isn't the first Saturday this year we've spent in the Strip District. Even in cold weather (like today) outdoor vendors abound. The picture above gives just a glimpse of one store who pulls out their handmade sweaters, scarfs & hats, beckoning to the crazy folks who have decided to stand outdoors in the middle of February!

Inside the restaurant the line is much shorter, seems they eliminated any sort of waiting area and replaced it with tables instead. Makes sense when you're this popular! It's a long, narrow restaurant with counter seating running down one side and a couple rows of booths down the other.






We were seated at a table waaaay in the back. I'm actually kinda glad because I think I would have felt uncomfortable eating next to the giant mural of semi-clothed Ancient Romans lounging on the grass (??)

So why are these guys voted the best breakfast in Pittsburgh? I thought maybe the menu would help clue me in with some signature dish or something truly unique. I didn't find anything like that, but the menu is quite extensive for breakfast - 2 full pages. They did have a specials board, and since I'm not one to make up my mind quickly on an empty stomach, I decided to go with one of them - pumpkin pancakes with scrambled eggs & bacon. And husband picked a greek omelet made with chicken, tomato, spinach & feta, that came with hash browns, toast and an extra pancake.

I have to admit the food really was delicious. It doesn't look like much in this picture (taken from my camera...) but everything came together perfectly. The bacon was even done just the way I love it - not too burned - and the pumpkin pancakes had exactly the right spices.

The prices were some of the highest we've seen, but I guess when you have this much of a following, you can pretty much charge whatever you want. For as busy as they were, we didn't wait too long. Deluca's employs plenty of servers to help move through what seemed to be mainly locals enjoying a Pittsburgh tradition. I can't claim this is my favorite place in town, but it definitely is a slice of local culture. "Best Breakfast in Town" ?  We'll see...

Oh, and I just love clever things. And I thought this was a great solution to those sticky syrup pitchers you see so often at breakfast places - a top like you would use for olive oil, and in a re-used ketchup bottle! (Yes, I know, it doesn't take much to impress me ;)

Pamela's Diner in Millvale

At last count, there are 6 different "Pamela's" in the Pittsburgh area, all with awesome breakfast selections, and all with different ambiance. Sounds like they are a chain, but really I think they take over existing locations and share certain menu items. I can't back that up, not being native to Pittsburgh, but they all seem so different. This one in Millvale (right outside Pittsburgh) is half diner and half drug store. The sign on the front window says "Lincoln's P&G" but the menus are clearly Pamela's.

All the parking is off street - we got lucky and found rock star parking (the black Jeep is husband's baby). It was around 10am when we arrived, and we waited in line 10-15 minutes to be seated. A very popular place! [So popular, in fact, this is where Michelle Obama ate when she came to Pittsburgh during their 2008 campaign.] It really has the feel of early 20th century with lots of woodwork and high ceilings (although the music playing in the restaurant today seemed to be all 80's hits like John Cougar and Cindy Lauper...)

The specialty of all the Pamela's restaurants are their crepe pancakes. It's a good thing I don't have the recipe, because I'm sure I would be tempted to make these things every day. They just melt in your mouth. My favorite which seems to be found at all locations are the strawberry hotcakes: crepe hotcakes stuffed with fresh strawberries, brown sugar, sour cream and topped with whipped cream. YUMMY! But today, I decided to pass on all that sugar, and just went for their French Toast & bacon (which arrived pretty burnt) and husband wanted to try it all, so he picked the "Big Lincoln" consisting of eggs, sausage, famous hotcakes and signature lyonnaise potatoes. How can I describe the potatoes - not typical fried hash brown type, kind of creamy with maybe onion or pepper to give it some taste. And the sausage links were okay, but definitely better than siesage (see Quiet Storm post).

We didn't feel right lingering at our table too long after eating, as the line continued to form, so instead we enjoyed a little shopping in the old-time drug store. It had a cute selection of dime store items to complement both the restaurant and the pharmacy.

And how about this creepy mannequin who points the way to the bathrooms ?!?

No doubt we'll be visiting the other Pamela's Diners sometime in our Saturday Breakfast adventures to come, but none can compare to this neat place. To top off our delicious morning, there is an excellent French bakery across the street, and we picked up some amazing treats for later!

Dozen Bake Shop

I almost felt like I was cheating by picking Dozen Bake Shop for breakfast today in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood. *Technically* it's not a restaurant one would think of for breakfast on Saturday.  But it just happens to be our favorite bakery and they also have the best and lightest quiche around.  So breakfast we did!

The cookies in the cute little bag weren't part of breakfast, but I couldn't resist including them in the photo. The quiche of the day was roasted cherry tomato, rosemary, provolone, mozzarella with bacon.  And oh, so light and fluffy.  And that is a freshly made apple pop-tart.  Words can't describe how delicious that little thing was - we took up the offer to have it heated, and boy am I glad.  It just melted in my mouth.  Other breakfast items on a Saturday include whole grain oatmeal with all kinds of fresh toppings, as well as homemade granola & yogurt and even breakfast pot pies.  And don't even get me started on the pastries (all written on a giant wall-chalkboard).  Yummy!

Cupcakes are the specialty of this bakery. Different, sometimes exotic flavors are on the menu each day (such as "elvis", "cosmo" or "salted caramel", and they are also known for catering weddings with awesome looking cupcake tiers & towers for something a little non-traditional. You will always find something vegetarian or vegan on the menu, cupcakes, cookies, the list goes on - and often these are some of the best items in the whole place! Sundays in nicer weather feature Sunday Brunch items that are just as amazing as their pastry menu (things like waffle casserole, bananas foster french toast and other creative eats.)  The seating area is small and cozy with small tables that can be pushed together for bigger than 2, and the staff here is so, so friendly and always make you feel welcome.

Today, however, we were super excited to go home with the pièce de résistance - a gianormous Rice Krispy "cake" with buttercream decoration. Don't let the picture fool you - this thing is the size of an X-Large pizza.  I have no idea who we think is going to eat it all, but hopefully it will be good luck for tomorrow's game!!

GO STEELERS!!