So someone recently asked, “Where’s a good place to people-watch in Pittsburgh?”
The first place that occurred to me was surprisingly, Bruegger’s Bagels at 18th and Carson in the Southside. This place is a MADHOUSE on the weekends and during lunch. I discovered this about two weeks ago when I popped in one Sunday to pick up some coffee. Wow! It seems all of the Senior Citizens within an 18-block radius FLOCK there. It’s like the old country. I sat in a plush chair to do some reading and couldn’t help but overhear a table full of Polish seniors discuss the pros and cons of various buffets on the south side of the Mon. Here is a conversations I wanted to post to Overheard in Pittsburgh, but didn’t get around to doing (sorry Chris 🙂
Man #1: You know who has a good buffet?
Audience: Who? What? Where?
Man #1: The Olive Garden.
(murmurs of agreement)
Man #2: So where are the Olive Gardens these days?
Man #1: Well … I’ve been to the one in Greentree, and up there near Southland in West Mifflin.
Man #3 (wide-eyed): Wow, you’re a traveler! You really get around!
Also, I didn’t realize the the hospital cafeteria was open to the public (well, maybe i did, but i never considered it as a lunch option.)
i suspect they flock there because it’s less yuppie than Starbucks and definitely less eclectic than the Beehive. It’s a happy, senior medium. And it smells like BAGELS. Yum.
Where do you people-watch in Pittsburgh?
Fifteen years ago it would have been the upstairs at the Oakland Beehive (oh I feel old). Now it's the Blue Slide Playground in Frick Park. It is like the United Nations of Playgrounds.
Just happy to get a mention on iheartpgh.
Any of the university campuses (?) are great places to people watch.
Also the buses, in particular anything going to Squirrel Hill.