As a luxury travel consultant, I plan trips for clients to destinations around the world. After years of booking trips all over the world, my favorite destination is by far Italy – the culture, the sights and the food are amazing. I have planned countless trips for Pittsburghians to Italy. My love of Italy and the connection between Pittsburgh and Italy are driving factors why I have become an Italian travel specialist. So why do Pittsburghians love to travel to Italy?
If you’re from Pittsburgh or have visited the area, you’ve experienced a city forged from a great melting pot of cultures, one of the biggest being Italian. In the 1800s, as Italian immigrants settled in the states, Pittsburgh received the second largest number of immigrants in Pennsylvania. These settlers began establishing their new lives in neighborhoods such as Oakland, East Liberty, the Lower Hill district, and Bloomfield. Italian culture and cuisine was embraced by Italians and non-Italians throughout the city and, in many ways, became integrated into Pittsburgh’s culture. Over the years, many of Pittsburgh’s Italians have mixed with other cultures and branched out to the suburbs, but the culture of Italy remains a significant influence on the borough’s way of life.
You can find local Italian restaurants (Tambellini’s, La Tavola, Del’s), grocery stores (Labriolas, Sunseris, Pennsylvania Macaroni) and bakeries (Moios, Mancinis, Sanchioli Brothers) all over town, and some of the best Italian food in America. You can even enjoy authentic Italian cuisine from celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich, who opened a Pittsburgh Lidia’s Italy location in the Strip District in 2001. And while it’s not Italian, Pittsburgh’s most famous sandwich, a medley of cold cuts and cheese, coleslaw and fries, is served on our famous Mancini’s Italian bread, a nod to the city’s Italian heritage.
In addition to food, you can enjoy a piece of Italy in Pittsburgh at the Italian Festival in Bloomfield, Pittsburgh’s Little Italy, or visit the Italian Room at Oakland’s Cathedral of Learning for more history and customs.
Pittsburgh is truly a mecca for Italian culture. It’s no wonder Pittsburghians love to travel to the Boot. Beyond its history, beautiful scenery, incredible food and wine, and family-friendly atmosphere, Pittsburghians can feel right at home in a special place in Italy’s capital, Rome. La Botticella, a Pittsburgh Roman bar, was founded by Giovanni Poggi as a simple bar. He soon realized that many Pittsburgh college students studying abroad would flock to his bar hoping to watch their beloved Steelers play on satellite television. It has since become a full-fledged Steelers bar, and now follows Pittsburgh sports year-round. It’s a home away from home for any Pittsburgh native living in or traveling to Italy.
