I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like cupcakes – cake, frosting (buttercream), and a soft wrapper that hold all of that goodness together. Cupcakes have been around for decades, but recently there’s been a serious surge in their popularity.

My love affair with hot meat began about fifteen years ago at a place called Drovers Inn in my hometown. After swim meets or football games, family and friends would crowd into the rustic restaurant, and devour baskets upon baskets of hot wings and cheese fries.

Roberto’s is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That means, if you need a Mexican-food-fix, you can get it- no matter what time of the night it is, or which particular Holiday happens to roll around.

I like doing things by myself: going to movies, going to bars, going out to eat. I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel. Monday night I decided to take a drive to Bellevue to check out a new Thai restaurant that I’ve been hearing a lot about. Thai Suan Thip may be located off the beaten path, but it’s worth driving a few minutes out of the city for a high quality Thai dining experience.

I was really looking forward to visiting the Hofbräuhaus when it opened in the South Side Works in the spring of 2009. I just had a feeling it would be a place I would thoroughly enjoy… and I was right.

“You haven’t tried Legume?” That’s all I’ve been hearing for the past year, and my answer was always the same, “No I haven’t.” I finally decided to make reservations to see what all the hoopla was about. My girlfriend and I arrived at 7pm on a Friday evening. The restaurant was filled to capacity (40 or so seats) and as we made our way to the table we noticed that the patrons were busy eating, talking, and drinking wine. We sat down and had the opportunity to see a few of the main dishes that were being served around us; they looked delicious. We were becoming more and more eager to sample the food.

I’m my continued search for good Italian food in the city of Pittsburgh, I stopped by DeNunzio’s Italian Trattoria, in Monroeville, with a few friends. The proprietors have three restaurants; one in Jeanette, the other in Latrobe.

Shiloh Grill is the newly-opened addition to the Shiloh Street commercial corridor on Mount Washington, taking place of the former Shiloh Inn which closed earlier this year. It is also the brand-new baby sister of Harris Grill, one of my favorite neighborhood bars in Pittsburgh. When I moved from Shadyside to Mount Washington, I was so sad to leave that cozy neighborhood hang-out. What a welcome twist-of-fate that it should follow me up here!

Despite Starbuck’s attempts to completely monopolize the coffee industry, there are still small coffee shops that exist in metropolitan neighborhoods. One such café is Voluto’s in the East Liberty/Friendship area of Pittsburgh. I had never heard of Voluto’s until a colleague scheduled a meeting there.

Vincent’s Pizza Park, Ardmore Boulevard I’ve had the opportunity to eat many Vincent’s Pizzas over the past several years. Most people have heard …