As warmer weather arrives, Pittsburghers don’t have to dream about dining al fresco. For those looking for extra ambiance, the region is home to a number of rooftop bars and restaurants offering panoramic city views, elevated food and drinks, and a chance to snap golden hour photos. We’ve rounded up six rooftop bars to check out — not a complete list — from a Downtown mainstay to a Homestead upper deck.
Il Tetto Rooftop Beer Garden at Sienna Mercato
942 Penn Ave., Downtown
For skyline views, Downtown is a natural starting point. Probably most well-known to Pittsburghers, Sienna Mercato debuted its rooftop beer garden, Il Tetto — Italian for “the rooftop” — more than a decade ago. Designed to rival bigger cities’ sleek rooftop bars, the uppermost floor of the three-story Italian eatery serves craft beer and cocktails, house wines and a menu of small-but-mighty plates that include a meatball hoagie ($18) and fried mozzarella ($12). A greenhouse-like retractable glass ceiling lets rooftop guests take in the view year-round.
Over Eden at TRYP by Wyndham Hotel
177 40th St., Lawrenceville
When Over Eden, the rooftop bar atop Lawrenceville’s TRYP Hotel, opened in summer 2019, it quickly shot to the top of the list of Pittsburgh’s best views. Anyone can ride the elevator in the former-trade-school-turned-boutique hotel to the fifth floor, and when the doors open, “You immediately get that ‘wow’ factor,” said senior catering sales manager Stephanie Montavon. At the bar, which overlooks a road called Eden Way, garage-style windows roll up to reveal panoramic views of Downtown, while an outdoor deck looks out over the 40th Street Bridge.
“It’s especially beautiful at night, when the sun sets over the city or if you have any fireworks,” Montavon said. “It’s our mini Mount Washington over here.”
In the years since it opened, Over Eden and the hotel have weathered the covid-19 pandemic, a proposed conversion to affordable housing and a change of ownership — but reports of its demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, the rooftop bar is busier than ever, according to Montavon, operating year-round in its covered, temperature-controlled space.
“During winter, we’re in our own little snow globe,” she said.
Designed as an oasis, Over Eden has no TVs.
“It’s truly to come up, have a cocktail and a conversation,” Montavon said.
For cocktails, Montavon recommends the Butler Street Spritz ($15), made with cucumber-infused gin, elderflower liqueur and prosecco, and garnished with cucumber powder hand-ground from dehydrated cucumbers. The seasonal food menu offers snacks, including fried Brussels sprouts ($12) and truffle fries for two ($16), along with steak frites ($32) and salmon ($24) entrees.
The hotel’s other public spaces, formerly part of the Washington Education Center, are also worth exploring as they preserve the original schoolhouse details. Guests are greeted at a front desk decorated with tools recovered from the building and a video installation featuring former students. A Tom Savini mural by artist Jeremy Raymer peeks out over the hotel’s parking lot — and Savini himself has been spotted at the bar.
The Finch at The Distillery Complex
59 South Second St., South Shore
A rooftop view inspired developer Tony Mazzarini to transform a derelict 1850s rickhouse — a warehouse for aging bourbon — on Pittsburgh’s South Shore.
“I crawled up, stood above the roof line and looked out,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Oh my gosh. Look at this view.’ It was something I fell in love with the moment I saw it.”
The Distillery Complex — now a six-story landmark featuring a cigar lounge, bottle shop and event space — was not a straightforward project. But ultimately, it preserved that view.
“It’s cool to be a part of history,” said Mazzarini, a third-generation Pittsburgher. “It took a lot longer, but at the end of the day, it’ll be here for a long time. Hopefully, another 170 years like the rest of the building.”
The Finch, the complex’s rooftop bar and restaurant, is named for the building’s original occupant, whiskey distiller Joseph S. Finch. Its panoramic view frames Station Square and the incoming T, Downtown, Mount Washington and the Liberty Bridge, whose massive trusses guests can gaze up at from the open-air deck.
With two-thirds of the space enclosed, the rooftop bar operates year-round. Opened last August, Mazzarini said it’s gearing up for its first full outdoor season. The drink menu features cocktails made with Big Spring Spirits (where Mazzarini also serves as CEO), a central Pennsylvania craft distillery that has a location inside The Distillery Complex. The Finch Fusion cocktail ($14) combines Big Spring Vodka, ginger juice and grape cordial, garnished with candied ginger and grapes.
A seasonal food menu is designed to be shareable and casual, with customer favorites including a jumbo pretzel ($16) with a charcuterie platter add-on ($8) and fire-roasted chicken wings ($18).
“I’m super proud of the fact that we have a tremendous, unique view. We have a large capacity,” Mazzarini said. “I think we’re the new kid in town.”
New Amsterdam
4421 Butler St., Lawrenceville
As Lawrenceville has transformed, so too have its once-divey bars. For the nostalgic, New Amsterdam offers the best of both worlds. The family-owned neighborhood spot underwent a significant remodel in 2016 that included adding a rooftop bar.
A decade later, the rooftop patio overlooking Butler Street still has an artsy, industrial feel. Open spring through fall, the rooftop is fully covered and heated, allowing bargoers to enjoy draft beer and cocktails ($12) — including a pickle martini — rain or shine. Cold Friends Kitchen offers smash burgers ($14-22), wings ($15, except on Thursday’s dollar wing night) and snacks like cheeseburger egg rolls ($13).
Some rooftop bars draw a crowd with views from on high, but New Amsterdam sits closer to street level, where people-watching opportunities abound. While Lawrenceville may have changed, the chance to overhear a late-night conversation hasn’t.
Hazelwood Brew House
5007 Lytle St., Hazelwood
Another triumph of historic preservation, Hazelwood Brew House transformed a 117-year-old, 20,000-square-foot building into three breweries, a beer garden and a rooftop deck.
Visitors can grab a beer from three local taprooms — Abjuration, Abstract Realm and New France — and enjoy all levels of the four-story brew house. Comfort & Spice Cafe serves a menu of global dishes and “cheesy staples” designed to pair with any beer. Recent options range from Korean pork belly bowls ($14-18) to classic mac and cheese ($10).
From spring through fall, the rooftop patio, which shows off the brewery’s rustic brick, seats 70. Located in the heart of Hazelwood, it offers a vantage point distinct from Downtown or Lawrenceville spots. Take in views of the neighborhood — including the new community field being constructed by the Pittsburgh Steelers at Hazelwood Green — that stretch into Oakland.
Duke’s Upper Deck Cafe
122 West Eighth Ave., Homestead
Rooftop bars might have gained a posh reputation, but you’ll find an approachable version at Duke’s Upper Deck Cafe in Homestead. Located in the Eighth Avenue business district, the gastropub and its namesake patio have been a Steel Valley fixture for 40 years.
“It’s a low-key thing,” said owner Joe Ducar. “People just go up there, sun themselves and drink.”
The Ducar family — for whom Duke’s is named — owns and operates the bar out of a 130-year-old building they’ve gradually expanded over the years. The spot draws a mix of generational regulars, a few from the now-defunct Homestead Steel Works, Steel Valley locals, Pittsburghers crossing the Homestead Grays Bridge, “Waterfront runoff,” and, more recently, graduate students looking for a regular haunt.
Patrons order food from the first-floor restaurant, still enclosed in dark wood and tin, which boasts an “expansive” menu with daily and weekly specials. Veteran bartender Holly Showalter recommends the Cajun chicken (currently on a salad for $18), French onion soup ($6), and the Tomlin chicken supreme ($15, grilled chicken and red onion, mushrooms, sweet peppers, pepper jack cheese, lettuce and tomato topped with “mild and wild” sauce).
Once you’re sated, pick a beer from the bar’s rotating tap list of 48 brews and head up to the open-air deck, where two cornhole games await. If the weather turns, Duke’s also has an enclosed space one floor below with shuffleboard tables.
What else?
“Get a mimosa,” Ducar said.