The Best Cafes in Pittsburgh

Hall of Fame Cafe

★★★★★ 4.6 (11)

"I was in town for work and ate at this restaurant for breakfast. I thought the food and service were excellent.I had the Spinach and Feta Omelette with Marble Rye and a cup of coffee. The omelette was delicious. The rye was good, but maybe a tad dry. It didn't bother me and wasn't work knocking off a star. The coffee was normal.My waitress was personable and prompt with anything I needed. It was obvious that a lot of locals patronize this restaurants as the waitress would greet the patrons by name (almost all of them as well.)Things that can improve (but not deserving of removing stars):1. The map directions bring people to the door to the bottom section of the restaurant and not to the corner entrance. I almost walked away thinking the restaurant was closed until I kept walking. I am not sure if this is a fix the restaurant can handle, but it is worth noting.2. The seating arrangement is a bit perplexing as there is a big round table and some bar seating. I think this could be changed to provide more traditional seating."

Beach House Restaurant

★★★★☆ 3.5 (56) • $$

"This place is great! It's smaller and always busy so be prepared to wait. Also quick tip: They only accept cash. They do have an ATM there that you can use. We were seated right away, our waitress was friendly and attentive. I ordered the Buffalo chicken frittata with hash browns. The serving was HUGE! It tasted really good. The hot sauce wasn't overpowering and the chicken was perfect.I'm not a big fan of eggs but this really hit the spot. My boyfriend ordered the big beach and ate the entire thing. Sometimes I don't know how he does it! He did manage to get a few words out in between bites about how delicious it was. We both really enjoyed our meals here. The breakfast is spectacular! Hope to try out the lunch menu soon."

Nico Bakery & Cafe

★★★★★ 4.6 (9)

"Love having a new cafe to turn to when I am craving quality baked goods and a French inspired lunch. Quiche, soups, sandwiches, and much more. I love the transformation of this space that once housed Invisible Man Brewery, which moved to another location. The setting is very spacious, relaxing, and classy. Overall, the mood of staff and the environment was upbeat and positive."

Zero Cafe & Market

★★★★★ 5 (9)

"This new cafe is clean and comfortable...The breakfast sandwiches we had were delicious...And Katie is friendly and efficient...Definitely give Zero a try!"

Nourish Coffee + Kitchen

★★★★★ 5 (1)

"The double shot mocha latte is most excellent. Great place. Friendly staff.Can't wait to try the food next"

Parisi Cafe and Italian Market

★★★★★ 4.7 (30)

"This small cafe exuberates way too much cuteness for me. Simply adorable in every way! Interesting artwork, displays, and creativity all around makes guests feel comfortable from the start. Enticing pastries, and beverage options galore explains why there was non-stop traffic during my visit. Mostly regular customers based on their conversations . Nice find in a residential neighborhood. Great personal service from the proprietor."

Farmer X Baker

★★★★☆ 4 (59) • $$

"This pop up at Allegheny River park is just lovely with plenty of seating, great views, friendly service, and an overall fantastic experience.We had Marc's Fancy Popcorn which had a raspberry and white chocolate drizzle Footprints farm confit duck and kimchi pizza which was absolutely delicious. The park was beautiful with plenty of parking and seating by the water. @tracebrewing will be there every Friday until about mid-November with beer as a pop up."

Yinz Coffee Station Square

★★★★★ 4.7 (9)

"Friendly staff, quick service, tasty coffee. Wasn't sure what kind of coffee shop this would be as it was my first time trying it out while in the city, plus this location had no yelp reviews at all. Took a gamble on if it would be hit or miss, but it was surprisingly a nice hit. Thanks!Order: Hazelnut Latte with Soy Milk."

Juny Cafe

★★★★★ 5 (1)

"I highly highly highlllllly recommend Juny Cafe! I had been wanting to visit after seeing the place come together on instagram. I had pretty high expectations considering the number of quality coffee shops in the Mahoning Valley, and Juny delivered! The ambiance is new a unique! Very European feeling, like I'm in a 18th century tea room. Which makes sense considering the owners French background! Who by the way is beyond nice! He spent the time to talk with us about our upcoming vacation to France and gave us some great advice! The whole staff was friendly and made my wife and I feel so welcomed! We left feeling like friends! I had a Cortado, my wife had tea, and we both had Macaroons. It was all fantastic. I consider myself a coffee snob, and love to visit coffee shops all over the country. Juny can definitely deliver a fantastic espresso. I can't wait for them to fill out the menu more and show off what they can do! I'll definitely be back!!"

Mars Farmhouse Cafe

★★★★★ 4.6 (14)

"This is such a super cute place! Perfect for a quick bite for lunch and everything is made fresh to order! They also have candles and unique canned jams! One of my new favorite lunch spots. I highly recommend. Everything was absolutely fantastic. We'll definitely be back for more!"

Tazza D'oro

★★★★☆ 4.3 (7)

"The mushroom melt is so freaking good. Coffee is always tasty. The baristas are always super nice. I only knocked it down a star because it's so expensive. But I still keep coming back!"

Brother Andre's Cafe

★★★★★ 5 (25) • $

"This is Pittsburgh best kept secret. It's down under a church of epiphany in the hill district. Yinz offer coffee, bake goods and food and free wifi. Nice atmosphere and All the employees that work there our awesome.Hope this place stays open for all!!"

CFP Cafe

★★★★★ 4.7 (6)

"Visited their food truck when they were at Stick City - fantastic food & friendly service, 100% would recommend. I had the bolognese, just the right ratio of meat to sauce and a good variety of meats, really nice Maillard effects too... and the shrimp vodka was outstanding."

Mel’s Petit Café

★★★★☆ 4.3 (58)

"My daughter and I were excited to try this place out after the countless times we've passed by. Unfortunately, this was a "one and done," for us. Perhaps we didn't order the right things, but based on what we did have, the quality/flavor/value of everything did not add up well.LA CAPRESE: (2/5)The buckwheat galette flavor was a miss for us. it overwhelmed the taste of the rest of the ingredients. my daughter and I ate everything else in it and left the crepe part out.LE PROSCIUTTO MOZZA: (2/5)This sounds good and fancy right??? i was really excited about this. imagine my surprise/shock when i see it get pulled out of the refrigerator, pre-made (wrapped in cellophane) and just put on the panini maker. i would expect something like this to get made to order, but i guess not.SERVICE: (2/5)we went during brunch, which was pretty busy. it took a little over 30 minutes for us to get these 2 items to-go. there was one person making all of the crepes, which was nice to see them being made fresh, but it was longer than i was anticipating, especially for what these were."

Nardo's Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.1 (14) • $

"Nardos is a great little gem hidden in Altoona. Although the other review on here is pretty bad...I've personally never had a bad experience at Nardos. The wings are delicious, and the subs are out of this world good! I love the unique environment, and the strange hidden location of Nardos it's almost like having a dinner in your best friends loft. Overall I think Nardos is one of the top spots in Altoona for a sub and wings!"

Vacavi Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.2 (42) • $

"This place was super cute and roomy inside. I love the atmosphere and could totally see myself coming here for coffee or to work. They have a pretty extensive coffee and tea menu actually. I checked to see what chai they use, and they're using Oregon, which is not my fave (too sweet). Their food menu is limited and I was shocked to hear they had gluten free bread. That was super excited to hear and order their turkey and artichoke panini. But then a bummer to get the news that they pre-make their panini's. I'm sure there's a reason they do that, but it was disappointing. She said she could make a breakfast sandwich, but I really wanted a lunch item. So I asked if she could make a turkey sandwich and she said yes. I kind of assumed it would be the same as the turkey and artichoke, or a regular turkey sandwich with cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayo. I literally got bread and turkey. There was clearly some miscommunication. I'd think if you're offering gluten free bread, you'd want to do your best to make it as awesome as the rest of your sandwiches. I would go in again, but communicate better when ordering food."

First Watch

★★★★☆ 3.8 (47)

"Went for breakfast this morning and loved it! Had their current special Parmesan prosciutto toast and it was seriously amazing!! Full of so many amazing flavors. I hope they add this to their menu permanently! I will definitely be going back just for this dish! The million dollar bacon was delicious too!"

Coffee Au Lait

★★★★★ 4.7 (9)

"The cutest place with a lot of selection. I love all the variety of cute pastries. The girls who work here are very nice. I love that it is a shared space with Nosh and Curd."

Madeleine Bakery And Bistro

★★★★★ 4.5 (124) • $$

"Delicious! Some of the best chocolate chip cookies I ever had! They add sea salt which is soo good A small bakery. Kind workers, their rule is one at a time because of covid. Masks required as well. We got 3 different kinds of cookies and a chocolate lava cake! Can't wait to try the lava cake- everything else was delicious"

Coffee Brake

★★★★★ 4.6 (17) • $

"Very quick service! Kind staff and tasty coffee Wedding Cake- sweet and delicious!!"

De Fer Coffee & Tea - Troy Hill

★★★★☆ 4 (12)

"I stopped by here last Sunday with my wife for our morning coffees. We have been to the De Fer coffee location in the strip district before but never to the one in Troy Hill. The inside of this coffee shop is massive and is actually much bigger than it looks from Rialto Street. The floors are made from worn hardwood and then the walls are decorated with lots of bright and colorful art. In the main area there were a couple of display cases full of food and then a bunch of merchandise and coffee for sale. Beyond that there were multiple rooms with plenty of seating but since I have young twins, I enjoyed the one which had all sorts kids books from Sesame Street to Pete the Cat and even Llama Llama. For our coffees on this morning both my wife and I went with coffees from their specialty section. I chose the salted butterscotch latte while my wife went with the peppermint mocha. Then some of their food looked good too and so we added a ham and cheese hand pie as well. My coffee from here ended up being pretty good as the coffee tasted freshly roasted and then a hint of the butterscotch came though. What I didn't get was the salt which was honestly fine. As for the handpie, wow, was it good. First off it was stuffed full of ham and cheese and then the crust itself was flaky while the herbs and seasoning on the exterior was tasty. Then there was also a sauce of sorts inside which may have been a bechamel which was also very tasty.The bottom line for me is that I would head back here again in the future. I really enjoyed the handpie I had here and was also impressed with all of the children's books."

AngeNetta's

★★★☆☆ 3.3 (52) • $$

"I placed a carry out order and was told that it would be ready in 30 minutes. I showed up exactly 30 minutes after getting off the phone, and I was told my food wasn't ready yet. It took an extra 10 minutes after I had arrived on time.. I noticed that the staff were all wearing masks even though the mask mandate is over, which I was glad to see because most of the people working there were very young and probably not vaccinated. My entrée came with a side of pasta, and the sauce reminded me of the sauce you get at church spaghetti dinners. With this being an Italian restaurant that has a chef on staff, I was expecting a red sauce that would be more tasty. If I had to take a guess, I'd say they use those gallon cans of tomato sauce as a base. Perhaps I'm a little bit more picky than most about my red sauce because my mother always made homemade sauce from tomatoes that she canned from her garden. I just wasn't impressed with the red sauce, and the entrée was mediocre."

Crouse's Cafe

★★★★★ 4.7 (3)

"Being an avid Can-Am Spyder Rider, we stop into a lot of places to eat. We had ridden by this place and always on the days that they are closed. We finally got to eat some really good food, breakfast and lunch. The service was great and the food was really good. The waitress was outstanding and always came to out table for coffee refills. The only downfall were the Home fries/chips. Very bland and tasteless. My husband had them with onions and pepper's, but still were bland. Other than that, our guests enjoyed the food and we all will return."

512 Coffee and Ice Cream

★★★★☆ 4.3 (7)

"The breakfast food there is INCREDIBLE! Got the Mountain Breakfast Sandwich today. They also have coffee specials so I got the Pot O Gold Latte, which was also amazing! Definitely recommend going and supporting this small local business!!!"

Caffe Mona Strip District

★★★★☆ 4.3 (23)

"Do we need one more breakfast place in the Strip? Definitely yes, if they can dish out delicious crepes, omelettes and sandwiches like Cafe Mona.I'm a fan of the Bloomfield location, so I was delighted to find the same great food and wonderful service.This is a great place to go for conversation and good food. The music was all Latin, very charming, and the staff and customers didn't mind that we danced to one number before we said goodbye."

The Cub Cafe

★★★★☆ 4 (5)

"The biscuit sandwich was tasty and made to order and the baristas were friendly and knowledgeable! My cortado was good as well. If I had to critique something it would be the grits being super thin( I needed a spoon to eat them.) They would've been perfect if they had have been thicker. Will definitely stop by again."

The Soul Platter Cafe

★★★★★ 5 (6)

"Our first meal at The Soul Platter was amazing. Everything was delicious and so filling. The food was all very flavorful. Everyone enjoyed a nice meal together."

Novaria Coffee

★★★★★ 4.8 (33) • $

"What a great addition to The Strip! I love coffee but The Strip already has so many coffee shops that I was hoping this one would be more unique, and it definitely delivered in that regard.They have a really interesting menu that ranges from creative lattes to different coffee preparations from other cultures, such as a Japanese cold brew (can't wait to try this one when the weather warms up) and Syrian coffee. The latter is what I had the pleasure of trying on my first visit, and I loved the richness of the coffee as well as the small treat they served on the side with it (I didn't catch the name as I was in a hurry, but I thought it was a fun and interesting deviation from just being handed a cup of coffee!)The overall atmosphere of the shop when I went was very calm, and I think it would be a great place to relax or catch up on some reading/work. Overall, I'm really happy about this new spot and can't wait to try more drinks from them!"

Cafe on the corner

★★★★★ 4.9 (18)

"We asked Cafe on the Corner to cater our lunch and Mike brought some of the most amazing food I've had in quite a long time. Mike is great guy and his cooking skills are only matched by his kindness and commitment to customer service. They're known for their gumbo, but I can attest that their barbeque is top notch as well. We had barbequed chicken thighs, ribs with two different sauces (one BBQ and one mustard), homemade potato salad, mac-and-cheese, fresh fruit, and homemade pound cake. We will definitely be going back and I cannot wait to try the gumbo."

Zala's Cafe

★★★★★ 4.7 (50) • $

"Super cute place. Staff is really friendly! They had live music this past Friday night, which is always a good time to me, no matter the genre. I had the general tsos to eat, which was delicious. Definitely check them out!!"

2 Sisters Bakery & Café

★★★★★ 4.8 (5)

"Breakfast was great. Small little Cafe with 5 two seater tables and 1 four seater table makes this a cozy breakfast & lunch Cafe."

County Line Cafe

★★★★☆ 4.4 (10) • $$

"Good food at a good price. Good service. Won't hesitate to come back here! Cute lil restaurant."

Harmony House Café

★★★★☆ 3.7 (3)

"Great cafe on Main St. in Washington, Pa. Only open 3-4 days a week, check hours before you go. The food is worth it, usually open from 8am-2pm. From breakfast, breakfast sandwiches, to lunch specialties, this Cafe helps benefit local churches. Today was their Cheesesteak Special. Tender, juicy steak, onions, mushrooms, cheese, I added bacon, and extra onions. Fresh toasted roll, this 8 inch cheesesteak hit the spot, everything you want in a great cheesesteak. A nice local favorite to visit. If your a coffee lover, they have regular, gourmet coffees, and specialty expressos."

Pressed Coffee Bar and Eatery

★★★★☆ 4.2 (77) • $

"They're great. I do gig delivery work and UberEats got me onto them. It's amazing and much more affordable than I thought it would be. And they're local so give them a shot."

The Naked Egg Cafe

★★★★☆ 3.8 (259) • $$

"You want to feel like a local central Pennsylvania resident, this is where you would go."