We had a great discussion about new restaurants in Pittsburgh and great food bloggers so many new places to check out. Plus lots of love-ly events to check out this weekend and for Valentine’s Day.

New Restaurants in Town

• Station Street Hot Dogs - located behind the new Target – check out some photos here.
• MadMex Shadyside – opened in the past year on Highland Ave, near Highland and Penn – huge space, free valet parking across the street
• Casa Rasta – new taco shop in Beechview – check out BurghGourmand post, with lots of photos here.

Follow the Burgh’s Food Bloggers – looking to learn more about where to eat in Pittsburgh? Check out some of the food bloggers who are keeping tabs on where to go and what to eat in town.

• BurghGourmand
• Cooking For My Dad
• Taste of Pittsburgh
• Food Collage
• These are just a few – check out more local food bloggers on UrbanSpoon here.

Make it Now Workshops at Pittsburgh Glass Center

• Friday, February 10, 2012 4-10pm
• Some reservations available – walkins also welcome
• Make a glass flower or heart with your date – also great activity for kids over 12.

Flamingo Fest @ the Aviary

• Warm up with the national bird of the Bahamas this weekend at the Pittsburgh Aviary
• Saturday February 11 & Sunday February 12 11am-3pm
• Special flamingo activities and a flamingo story time are planned
• Meet Marilyn – the newest member of Pittsburgh flamingo flock

Cupids and Canines 2012

• Fundraiser for Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, and the Bow Wow Buddies foundation
• Saturday, February 11 at Cefalo’s Night club

Free Concert – Brad Yoder

• Sunday, February 12, 2pm
• Carnegie Library in Oakland

Valentines Day Date Ideas

• The big day is Tuesday! Check out our list of 14 ways to celebrate Valentine’s Day in Pittsburgh
• Gateway Clipper Dinner Cruise
• Double Wide Grill St. Valentines Day Dinner Massacre Dinner
• Schenley Park Couples Skate
• MadMex $35 Dinner for Two
• more ideas here.

Photo via GrapeThoughts

We have searched high and low (ok, we read a lot of blogs and answered a lot of tweets) to bring you a list of 14 unique ways to celebrate February 14, 2012.  I had an annual Valentine’s Day tradition of pizza at Aiello’s in Sq. Hill with a dear friend who now lives in New Orleans.

This list includes something for everyone at every price point.  Do you have a Pittsburgh Valentine’s Day tradition? Something special planned that we should include on future lists?  Please share in the comments below.

The folks at the Big Burrito restaurant group are good at special events – check out their latest newsletter for a run down of all of their restaurants - reservations are suggested.  ( I just looked at OpenTable for Tue. Feb 14 – there are a few seating left for early – before 5pm or late – after 9:30pm at Soba, Casbah, Umi.)

Should you need something on the wild/casual/affordable side – Mad Mex has a valentine’s day deal $35 gets you a four course dinner for 2.  And a deal that is sure to please those that are happily single, couples on a budget (or if you happen to be on a bad date) – MadMex has you covered with $6 Big Azz Margarita’s all day.  From what I can tell this deal is available at all Pittsburgh MadMex locations.

We got a sneak peek at the place from Dave Lagnese (who is a super supporter of the neighborhood – stop by and say hello to him at the East Liberty Farmer’s Market on Saturday mornings – he is the man behind the Kew Park coffee bar).

Here is his report on Station Street with a few photos…

Station Street Hot Dogs opened today at 5:00. I am happy to report that I was the first paying customer! I had a new york dog and a kimchi dog with an order of fries. All were excellent. The photos are of the menu board being chalked when I arrived about 10 to five. And Kevin preparing the first order (mine). He seemed to have the same intensity putting fixins on the dog as he does plating a dish at SALT. They told me the hours would be something like 11:30 am until 11:00 in the evening. Check it out and spread the word.

You can check out the entire menu at www.stationstreetpgh.com.  They have a great website – we aren’t sure who designed the site but we hope to track that down.  They also share some history of the place.  It is nice to see a local business getting an update.

Station Street is a hot dog shop in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA. Opened in 1915 at the corner of Station Street and Larimer Avenue and relocated in 1969 to Broad Street, the shop was closed for several decades before being resurrected in 2006 by Bob and Ruth Tortorete. In February 2012, Station Street was reopened by brothers Kevin and Tom Sousa, and designer Jay Fanelli.

Follow Station Street on Twitter @stationsthotdog

It’s a chance for people from the city, suburbs, and surrounding areas to eat out at some great local restaurants even if they’re on a budget. OpenTable has teamed up with Pittsburgh Restaurant Week to make your dinner plans even easier by letting you make reservations online for select restaurants.

The following is a list of restaurants that we are hoping to check out next week, the full list can be found here.

• Alma Pan-Latin Kitchen Regent Square $25 Fixed-price Three-Course Meal
• Bite Bistro Bellevue $15 Fixed-price Three-Course Meal
• Bocktown Beer and Grill Monaca and Robinson $20.12 Tapas-style Meal with Beer Pairings
• Braddock`s American Brasserie Downtown Pittsburgh $25 Fixed-price Three-Course Meal
• BRiX Northside $30 for Four-Course Dinner for Two
• Meat & Potatoes Downtown Pittsburgh $30 Fixed-price Three-Course Meal
• Mediterrano Millvale $30 Fixed-price Three-Course Meal
• Pino’s Contemporary Italian Restaurant and Wine Bar Point Breeze $30 Fixed-price Three Course Meal
• The Porch at Schenley Oakland $30 Fixed-price Three/Four-Course Meal
• Toast! kitchen & wine bar Bloomfield $30 Fixed-price Four-Course Meal
• Verde Mexican Kitchen & Cantina Garfield $25 Fixed-price Three-Course Meal

Here is how GrubWithUs works:

• You pick a meal – either by a specific restaurant or by the type of people you would like to meet.
• Sign up for a meal – you prepay for your food an gratuity.  The sooner you sign up, the more you save.  So if you are the first person to sign up – you get a bit of a discount because you are taking a risk on who else might show up.
• Print out your ticket, which also serves as your name tag, show up at the restaurant and meet new people.

I have been patiently waiting for GrubWithUs to add Pittsburgh to their cities list.  They had been organizing some good looking meals in cities like Chicago and DC.

Last week GrubWithUs sent out an email which details some upgrades they have made for 2012.  First on the list – the ability to organize a meal in any city. So we have organized the first GrubWithUs dinner in Pittsburgh.  I picked a time and a price range and GrubWithUs does the rest.   The first meal is scheduled for Sunday, January 15, 2012 @6pm.  The location is still a mystery.  Once enough people sign up – GrubWithUs will confirm the location.

Join GrubWithUs: Use this link to sign up for GrubWithUs and you will get a $5 credit towards your first meal.

Sign up for the first Pittsburgh GrubWithUs Dinner:

There are still a few seats left for the dinner this Sunday.  There are 6 people signed up this far.

First Pittsburgh GrubWithUs Dinner
Sunday, January 15, 2012 @ 6pm
Location TBA
Cost from $22/person
Sign up here

Create your own GrubWithUs meal:

You can use the GrubWithUs platform to organize a dinner with friends – take the headache out of splitting the check by having everyone pay online first. Or organize another open meal here in Pittsburgh.  Visit grubwithus.com/create-a-meal to create your own meal on GrubWithUs.

Related articles

• GrubWithUs Now Wants To Plan YOUR Group Meals (And Do All The Legwork) (techcrunch.com)
• Get tips from Y Combinator alumni at GrubWithUs dinners (venturebeat.com)
• Tale of Two Dinners (crudedame.wordpress.com)

2012 is already looking like another great year for the Pittsburgh food scene as well.  Here are a few openings to look forward to…

Station Street Hot Dogs
Salt of the Earth’s Kevin Sousa and partners are reopening the hot dog shop that is located behind the new Target in East Liberty. Pittsburgh food blogger Cooking For My Dad has been tweeting with Station Street about their new menu.

Union Pig and Chicken
Kevin Sousa is also working on opening a BBQ place on Highland Ave in East Liberty. Discount gift cards are available online here.

Winghart’s Burger and Whiskey Bar to Open South Side Location
While we haven’t had a chance to visit the Market Square Location, we have been hearing rave reviews of this place.  The Post-Gazette’s Bill Toland is tweeting that they will be opening a South Side location soon.

Wild Purveyors to Open a Market in Lawrenceville
Brothers Tom and Cavan Patterson have been selling their Certified Organic and/or sustainable farm fresh produce, and meats at the public market and directly to restaurants since 2009.  With the help of a very successful Kickstarter campaign they will be opening their own storefront in Lawrenceville in the next month or so.

Walnut Grill to Open in Mt. Lebanon?
The Post-Gazette reported that Molly Brannigans in Mt. Lebanon closed in early December.  The building has been purchased by the owners of the Walnut Grill.

The Release Party is this Thursday (tomorrow), December 15th from 6 – 10pm at Commonplace Coffeehouse in Squirrel Hill.  Tickets are $22 and get you a taster of the Porter, as well as a  gift bottle to take home and a half-pound bag of Commonplace’s Sumatra coffee. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

For more information, please visit:

East End Brewing: http://eastendbrewing.com/

Commonplace Coffeehouse: http://www.commonplacecoffee.com/

Fat Beckett: (Pittsburgh now– Luxembourg soon.)  By Gab Cody in collaboration with Rita Reis. Directed by Sam Turich. The show runs through December 18. It’s a beautiful hilarious piece.  Reviews:   Pittsburgh Tatler,  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh Post Gazette The show is sold out for several nights, but tonight is open and there are still tickets available for closing weekend! Buy tickets here.  Student and artist rate available at the door: Buy Fat Beckett Tickets

Progression: Progression is a feature-length narrative film project, set in Lawrenceville, shot in Lawrenceville and about a real-life Lawrenceville institution: the 27-year-old progressive dinner, which began with about 15 friends and has become a community event with more than 150 participants. Written and to-be-directed by Gab Cody and Sam Turich.  We need your help! Any amount helps! Visit here to watch a teaser trailer and contribute: Visit Progression on Kickstarter

Tenacity: The Sprout Fund’s 10-year anniversary gala promises to be an incredible event! $25 Balcony Seating now available. Limited seats remain on the main floor. Doors open 7pm; curtain at 8pm. For complete information on performances and event supporters, visit tenacity.sproutfund.org. And– they’re showing Mombies, which is a treat to watch with a big crowd!