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15 Best Cafes in Pittsburgh, PA

Blake Walsh

Aug 17, 2022 • 12 min read

Sean Pavone / shutterstock.com

It’s easy to lose track of time sitting in a café while enjoying a hot cup of coffee or having lunch or breakfast.

The relaxing atmosphere and calming tunes filling a café make it a great place for a work meeting, a night out with friends, and even a date night.

New cafes are popping up all over Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, giving you tons of options.

It also makes it difficult to find a perfect place that meets your style and taste.

Read this list of the best cafes in Pittsburgh, if you want help finding your next favorite food spot in the city and if your'e looking for restaurant ideas check out our other article here.

Banh Mi & Ti

Banh Mi & Ti is a popular Vietnamese café in Pittsburgh, located in Central Lawrenceville.

It has served the community since 2016 with its impressive menu featuring Vietnamese coffees and food options.

The popular coffee options of the café include house brew, decaf coffee, and French roast.

You can also try the café’s specialty pork roll, known as banh mi, served with head cheese and pate.

Its other bestsellers are the side dishes like house-made kimchi and Vietnamese cabbage.

You will enjoy your dining experience at Banh Mi & Ti because of its delicious taste, a pretty atmosphere, reasonable prices, and fast service.

Pitaland

Pitaland is one of the best cafes in the city where you can stop in for dinner, lunch, or breakfast.

The café offers fresh house-made specialties.

If you like Mediterranean and Lebanese cuisine, then Pitaland will be your next favorite café.

The popular breakfast food options include salads, falafels, gyros, and pastries along with freshly squeezed juices, coffees, and teas.

You can start your lunch with Lebanese chopped salad made with parsley, mint, sumac, radish, red onion, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and romaine.

Then you can try a pita pie, sandwich, or burger and pair it with different beverages such as lemonade or sparkling drinks.

The environment of Pitaland is welcoming and relaxing; it also offers vegetarian-friendly food options to serve all types of people.

Tazza D'Oro

Established in 1999, Tazza D'Oro offers delicious baked goods and coffee, and it’s one of the local favorites.

The café sources all of its ingredients from Western Pennsylvania farmers and local independent businesses.

You can find different paninis and pastries on the café’s menu, which continues to change with the seasons.

Plus, there is a wide variety of tasty iced mocha, ice tea, and espresso you can pair with cookies, pies, doughnuts, cooked muffins, and croissants.

The menu also features vegan-friendly and gluten-free food options to entertain all types of visitors.

Finally, Tazza D'Oro has a welcoming and warm atmosphere that will allow you to relax after a long and tiring day.

Bar Marco

Located on Penn Avenue, Bar Marco features a café along with a dedicated wine bar area.

It opened in 2011 and specializes in Spanish and Italian menus.

The café attracts people looking for a positive impression, a great atmosphere, and delicious food.

Likewise, its bestsellers are the pesto pasta, smoked salmon salads, pork tonnato, and Tuscan fish stew.

You can pair these dishes with a range of different drinks to enjoy a full meal.

The quality of food at Bar Marco is incredible.

Bring your partner to this place for a perfect date due to its lovely and romantic atmosphere.

Espresso A Mano

Established in 2009, Espresso A Mano is one of the best cafes in Pittsburgh, an always bustling joint.

Currently, this café has two different locations in Pittsburgh

You can find the first one in Lawrenceville, while the second one operates on Wilkins Avenue.

The café offers teas, coffees, fresh juices, doughnuts, sandwiches, and a selection of breakfast pastries.

The best thing about Espresso A Mano is that they roast their own coffee, earning renown for their outstanding latte art.

It makes for a great spot to hang out with your friends while enjoying espresso drinks, manual brews, seasonal house-made specials, or double ristretto shots.

Other great features of Espresso A Mano include complimentary wireless internet, comfortable seating, quick service, and a cozy ambiance.

Ineffable Cà Phê

Established in 2017, Ineffable Cà Phê is a café specializing in Vietnamese coffee, roasted locally.

The café offers an impressive menu featuring Vietnamese coffee, and baked goods.

If you stop in for breakfast you can try house-made granola, the Banh Mi Bo Duong, and Sunny Banh Mi.

The menu also features iced americano, ca phe sua, iced chai latte, cold brew, americano, ca phe trung, espresso, drip coffee, and so on.

Enjoy the cute décor and comfortable environment that will enhance your overall dining experience at Ineffable Cà Phê.

Cafetano

Cafetano is one of the best cafes in Pittsburgh offering incredible coffees.

It features a long menu that offers croissants, paninis, waffles, wraps, salads, toasts, desserts, cold fruits, and drinks.

If you’re in a hurry and don’t have enough time to dine in the café, you can go to a walk-up window to get your coffee or espresso on the go.

Cafetano offers all types of coffees with incredible taste; the café uses AeroPress, French press, and V60 to brew coffee.

Orbis Caffe

Orbis Caffe is a specialty coffee house that looks like a European café.

The café offers a rotating menu featuring drinks and food items, plus special offerings for Sunday brunch.

The special Sunday brunch menu makes it one of the best cafés in the city.

If you visit on Sunday, try the Reuben breakfast sandwich and polenta & BBQ smoked chicken.

Meanwhile, the regular bestsellers include smoked salmon bagel, ham & cheese bagel, chicken wrap, and veggie wrap.

The list of drinks on the menu is also impressive, featuring espresso drinks, hot and iced coffee, soda, and smoothies.

The atmosphere of the Orbis Caffe feels homely, allowing you to relax with an earthy cup of coffee with floral and fruity notes.

Everyday Café

Everyday Café is a great place to connect with new people and enjoy coffee.

The café offers coffees, teas, frappes, smoothies, and a decent food menu.

They harvest greens and other veggies in Homewood to prepare healthy and fresh wraps, sandwiches, and salads.

If you visit in the morning, you can try the delicious breakfast items, such as steak egg and cheese burrito, oatmeal, muffins, and cinnamon rolls.

The café also offers flatbread pizzas, soups, salads, wraps, and paninis to fill your appetite.

The coffee and tea list at Everyday Café is also impressive, featuring drip coffee, iced coffee, decaf coffee, espresso-based drinks, specialty hot tea, and shaken iced tea.

Caffe D'Amore

Caffe D'Amore is one of the best cafes that serve espresso in Pittsburgh.

It offers a cozy and welcoming atmosphere.

The menu features a long list of espresso drinks featuring some of the best cappuccinos, americanos, and lattes in the city.

You can also try the café’s specialty drinks such as matcha latte, hot chocolate, chai latte, lavender lemonade, and shrub soda with seasonal flavors.

The menu also offers some delicious munchable items, including spirit bagels, vegan doughnuts, and assorted pastries.

The spectacular service, cool décor, reasonable prices, and comfortable seating area allow you to sit back and have a good time.

Caffe D'Amore uses fresh and quality ingredients sourced from local dairy farms and restaurants.

The Garden Café

Established in October 2020, the Garden Café is a great spot to unwind with delicious top-notch treats and drinks.

The café is in a little corner of the city’s North Side and offers pastries, drip coffees, teas, and a range of espresso drinks.

Likewise, this café sources all its beans locally from La Prima Espresso’s Torrefazione, located in the Manchester neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

The café uses only high-quality and fresh ingredients to make its milk and flavored syrups.

If you’re a vegan, visit the Garden Café for vegan drinks as it offers multiple alternatives to dairy milk.

Meanwhile, its bestsellers are the extra shot espresso, nitro cold brew, and chai latte.

Kickback Pinball Café

Kickback Pinball Café first opened in the spring of 2013 as a small coffee shop on Butler Street.

It features several pinball machines and offers delicious drinks and food items and allows you to spend a fun time with your friends.

It’s one of those cafes in the city where you can easily lose track of time and spend hours playing pinball and drinking coffee, teas, and shakes.

You can try many Kickback Pinball Café favorites for a unique taste like the nuclear fallout, 3-mile iced tea, London fog, and cold brew.

There’s also a long list of games that you can play in this café, such as Halloween, Mandalorian, Grand Lizard, Frontier, the Walking Dead, Vikings, and more.

Friendship Perk and Brew

Friendship Perk and Brew is a veteran-owned café located near Penn Avenue and Bloomfield’s Liberty.

This café is a perfect spot for you, whether you’re looking for a place for family-friendly weekend events, freshly brewed coffee, or a relaxing and peaceful environment for work.

You can find a large menu of drinks including high-quality teas, lattes, cappuccinos, coffee, and more.

If you’re hungry, you can order great-tasting wraps, subs, and sandwiches as a hearty meal.

Friendship Perk and Brew also offers cookies, muffins, scones, bagels, waffles, salads, soups, and a large selection of beverages including beers.

Geppetto Café

Geppetto Café opened in 2016 and offers an exceptional range of savory and sweet crepes and a charming and relaxed atmosphere.

It’s a highly rated café in Lawrenceville and offers Italian and French-inspired food items.

The cheerful and warm ambiance of the café gives you an enjoyable experience whether you’re having a tasting cup of coffee or crepes.

Some of the best items on the Geppetto Cafe menu are raspberry and goat cheese French toast and spicy chicken salad.

You can also order your favorite coffee, tea, smoothie, milkshake, or even ice cream to complete your meal.

La Prima Espresso Company

Located near Saint Stanislaus Church, La Prima Espresso Company offers an environment that makes you feel that you’re visiting Italy.

The café opened in 1988 and currently offers more than 20 different coffee beans and a large range of drinks to choose from.

Here you can enjoy Italian-style coffee with many food options for a tasty lunch or breakfast.

If you’re feeling hungry, you can taste the cafe’s popular sandwiches, pizza, and pasta.

However, if you just want a delicious cup of coffee, try their vanilla latte, Italian espresso, and cappuccino paired with biscotti or chocolate croissant.

La Prima Espresso Company uses locally roasted coffee beans to ensure the freshness and quality of their drinks.

Final Thoughts

Finding the perfect café in Pittsburgh might be tough.

There are already tons of cafés in the city, with new ones popping up daily.

Fortunately, this list should help you find your next favorite place in the city where you can spend a peaceful time with a nice cup of joe.

These best cafés in Pittsburgh offer delicious food and a cozy atmosphere; you can feel confident about visiting them.

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