Saturday in Pittsburgh and I'm on the shuttle
from the Priory Hotel, headed for a late breakfast at DeLuca's in the Strip
District. DeLuca's was recommended by a friend (as well by Roadfood.com) for
its pancake breakfasts. But when I tell the shuttle driver where I want to go,
he laughs. Weekend breakfast in the Strip District is a Pittsburgh tradition,
he says, and DeLuca's — or any other eatery in the area — will be jammed, as
will the sidewalks.
He's right. It takes more than 20 minutes to go
less than three miles, and when he pulls up in front of DeLuca's, the line
outside is halfway down the block. It's snowing, and although I've got a warm
coat on, I'm wearing sneakers. By the time I get inside, my feet will be blocks
of ice. When I hesitate, the driver says, "You should try Pamela's."
Pamela's P&G
Diner is just
around the corner and has a long line too. But this line is waiting inside. I
tip the driver and he gives me one final bit of advice: On Sundays, he says,
the lines are four times as long. Better to get my Strip District breakfast
today.
I go inside, add my name to the list of people
waiting for a table. It's warm in here, relatively speaking, but every time the
door opens, a blast of icy air reminds me what it's like outside.
There’s a longstanding rivalry between DeLuca’s
and Pamela’s — both are old-fashioned diners, cash only, where breakfast is a
specialty. At Pamela’s, which is more than 30 years old, the painted-brick wall
is crowded with pictures, most of them old, but by the cash register is a
framed page from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette showing President Obama eating
pancakes there in 2008. The Post-Gazette reported that the president ordered
only a single pancake, plain, but the following spring, he invited the
co-owners to Washington to prepare their distinctive pancakes for a White House
event.
I'm not as health-minded as the president, but I
did ask that the whipped cream be left off my strawberry pancakes. They are
served crepe-style, rolled around the filling of strawberries, brown sugar and
sour cream (no butter or syrup), but they are definitely pancakes, not crepes,
very thin with crispy edges. And very good.
Around the corner is Peace, Love and Little
Doughnuts, known for its maple-bacon doughnuts. I'm tempted to get one for later,
but having already consumed more than my daily ration of sugar, show rare
restraint and pass. Instead, I wander around, doing a little sightseeing, but
the day hasn't warmed and snow flakes are landing on my sneakers, and I quickly
wrap up my icy excursion to the Strip District. I’ll be back, either in summer
or on a weekday, to try DeLuca’s.
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