Cornerstone Restaurant & Bar - Aspinwall

Thanks to the magical marketing powers of Groupon, we were introduced to the Saturday brunch at the Cornerstone Restaurant & Bar in Aspinwall (just north of Pittsburgh). Brunch is always a great change of pace from the typical Saturday morning in Pittsburgh since you are sure to have a wide variety to choose from. We arrived just after opening (11am) after sleeping in -- specifically with the intention of breakfasting! So we tried really hard to ignore the tempting "lunch" offerings and stuck to the breakfast part of the brunch.

The inside of the place is quite charming, with lots of exposed brick and high ceilings. The website says they were established in 2009, and everything feels relatively new, without being too "modern". For some reason I found it kind of amusing that both TV's in the bar were playing the Tennis Channel. I didn't even know there was a Tennis Channel...

Since we were there pretty "early" (not that our stomachs agreed that 11 was early) the place wasn't too crowded, though it started to fill up pretty quickly, including lots of ladies headed to their back party room with baby shower gifts. But we were still served quickly with friendly service.

Husband ordered their special fritatta of the day which included cumin, roasted red pepper and black beans, served with potatoes and an extra pancake on the side, and I picked the potato pancakes and scrambled eggs. While the eggs were quite overdone, the potato pancakes were absolutely amazing, with goat cheese and delicious caramelized cinnamon apples on top. The (regular) pancake was also notably tasty with an extra hint of vanilla.

Lots of stars for this place, and I have no doubt we will be returning to sample some of their other brunch items. It's not typical to find restaurants that serve brunch on Saturday (usually a Sunday experience) so we were really glad to find this place. Afterwards, we did some browsing in the cute little shops across the street, including a super cute miniatures shop.

I felt like I was in a furniture store, with display after display. Something cute they did was take bird houses and setup little scenes. This one was a patio complete with a fountain and lawn furniture. Looks like an expensive hobby, but it was fun to browse.

Totin's Diner - Wexford

This weekend husband had his Ducati serviced up North in Wexford and how happy were we to discover when we dropped it off on Thursday night a previously undiscovered (to us at least) breakfast spot! So when we drove the 25 minutes from Pittsburgh Saturday we happily stopped by Totin's Diner (right next door to European Motorcycles of Pittsburgh).

There aren't a whole lot of tables in this cute little restaurant (say 15?) and they were all filled with typical Pittsburghers, most of whom were dressed in St. Patty's day green. The menu here is all Pittsburgh, with breakfast items including hot sausage and even pierogies.

Always liking the hot stuff, husband picked the hot sausage omelet, accompanied by potatoe pancakes (that looked an awful lot like mini McD's hash browns) with an English muffin and a pancake on the side. The pancake was big enough to feed both of us! As for me, I was intrigued by the thought of chocolate French toast with a side of bacon.

I think the kitchen must have been a little too busy this-morning. I'm sorry to say that as pretty as they looked, the Chocolate French toast was completely underdone. I mean, soggy as all get-out. Raw. Eww. (Who needed all those extra calories for breakfast anyhow, right?) Luckily that giant pancake was very shareable.

So not sure I'm in a hurry to go back, but next time we have to take the long drive up to the bike shop, it's nice to know we can walk over for a Pittsburgh bite while we wait for service.

Mauramori Cafe - Lawrenceville

Just when we thought we had found all the Saturday Breakfast places in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood, we discovered Mauramori Cafe, just a couple of blocks past the Allegheny Cemetary (still one of my favorite places in Pittsburgh...) It is located in an old building down on Butler Street but is cleaned up very nicely.

Walking in you are immediately drawn to the open airiness and exposed brick walls with over-sized works of art on display. The large patterned tile floors are really well done and have become a source of inspiration for my back sun room!

Maybe it's because I loved the modern-esque decor so much that I had too high expectations for the menu. Sadly it turned out to be not quite as inspired as its surroundings. Not that the food wasn't perfectly tasty, but there was nothing other than the ordinary fare of eggs, toast, etc, etc. When the menu says "A Classic American Cafe" they are definitely keeping it real.

There was a special board and  I did take advantage, going for the fruit stuffed french toast, which did come with whipped cream but minus the promised granola (?) and husband opted for the Greek Omelet that came with potatoes and Texas toast with one pancake on the side.

After breakfast we headed up to take a look at the landslide and subsequent retaining wall being built up on Mt. Washington and took in some views of the city as the muddy flood waters are starting to invade. But these views help remind us every day how much we love this city!

 

 

Cafe on Main - Sharpsburg

Without jinxing it, I think I found my new favorite breakfast spot in Pittsburgh! For folks who thrive on searching out new breakfast digs every Saturday morning, it surprises even me that we have visited Cafe on Main Two Weeks in a Row! (gasp!) So what made it so enjoyable??

Before we walked in the front door, I noticed this cute storefront with ceramic roosters and a cute wrought iron cafe furniture, and made a mental note to stop by this quaint shop after breakfasting. Unobservant me soon realized that this "storefront" was actually the main dining room of Cafe on Main.

Our first visit last week entailed a 15 minute wait (around 10am) but this week was much quicker. (Likely due to morning dusting of snow, which often keeps Pittsburghers off the roads.) Inside the dining room the decor is very artistic, and not too crowded. There is plenty of light from the big front windows and a really cool antique tin ceiling with smooth jazz playing in the background. Very dreamy.

As for the food, it did not disappoint. The specials board featured many combinations of delicious omelets, as well as a couple of dessert-style pancakes. Decisions, decisions!

We ended up ordering off the regular menu anyway, which consisted of the Irish omelet for husband (corned beef & swiss) served with amazing chibatta bread & potatoes (oh, with a pancake on the side), and French toast with bacon for me.

I'm so glad we came back a second time. No pics of the food this time, but we tried the southwest omelet, some potato pancakes, and the blueberry cobbler hotcakes just for fun. I was more than surprised that the hostess remembered us from the week before (including our drink choices) and she made a point of asking our names. I have no doubt she will remember them if we return. Extra special service you don't see too many places, for sure.

After breakfast we took a walk a couple blocks down Main Street to visit a thrift shop that had been advertised via flyer at the cafe. Sadly, it wasn't open (maybe because of the snow) so instead we ducked into the gun shop next door. (I know...) In addition to your typical gun supplies, they also had some eclectic items, including these shrunken heads, which I couldn't resist sneaking a photo of as husband chatted with the shop owner. Yikes!

So now I'm happy to report that if ever we can't make up our mind about where to go for breakfast in Pittsburgh during our weekly Saturday outing, we now have a new favorite. Certainly this won't stop the quest to visit as many new as we can find, but it's nice to now have an official "favorite" at last!

Del's 80's Cafe - Carrick

Always on the lookout for new Saturday Breakfast spots in Pittsburgh, when we drove past Del's 80's Cafe in Carrick a few days ago, I was giddy as a teenager again! I mean, what could be better than Saturday Breakfast than flashing back to the decade of the Brat Pack, Big Hair and the Totally Awesome Music :) (The name reminded me of "Cafe 80's" from Back to the Future Part III when Marty has to pose as his dopey son to get him out of trouble, ha ha.)

The Cafe is located right in the heart of Carrick near St. Basil's and has plenty of on street metered parking. The first thing we noticed when we walked in were the album covers hung on the wall - - We had fun counting how many the two of us owned at the time! For me it was Duran Duran, Wham & Tears for Fears - Husband was proud his U2 collection was represented.

The breakfast menu here isn't really much to be excited about. Nothing really stood out, and if I'm being honest, if I hadn't taken a picture, I would have forgotten what I ate. (Cheese omelet for me and scrambled eggs breakfast with a pancake for husband.)

The food became such a side note because the menu also doubled as a jam-packed 80's trivia book!! Movies, music, tv, and all kinds of pop culture that easily kept us entertained. Never has breakfast been this much fun, I gotta tell you!  

Here are some examples of the questions:

1. Name 6 members of the Brat Pack.

2. What was the name of E.T.'s favorite candy?

3. Where did the Super Friends congregate to watch the latest happenings on a big screen TV?

    

Answers: 

1. Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy, Rob Lowe, Judd Nelson, Anthony Michael Hall, Mare Winningham, Demi Moore, Charlie Sheen, Matthew Broderick

2. Reese's Pieces

3. The Hall of Justice

And more fun with music quotes... Name the song & band!

1. "Buying bread from a man in Brussels, He was 6 food 4 and full of muscles"

2. "At this moment, you mean everything!"

3. "I'm on the hunt, I'm after you"

    

Answers: 

1. "Down Under", Men at Work

2. "Come on Eileen," Dexy's Midnight Runners

3. "Hungry Like the Wolf", Duran Duran

We could have stayed there for hours, just listening to classic tunes and laughing as goofy memories came flooding back with every question. I know 80's trivia can be found everywhere on the internet, but combining it with the best meal of the day... Priceless!