Pittsburg, PA
Jeff Goldblum and coffee, bikes and beer, and more Pittsburgh food news
Two Frays Brewery x Bike PGH
5113 Penn Ave., Garfield. twofraysbrewery.com
Bike Pittsburgh and Two Frays have teamed up on a spruce-infused winter beer. Be among the first to try the new bike beer (and learn its name) on Tue., Dec. 9, from 6-9 p.m. during a Beer Release Party at Two Frays. The free event includes giveaways, activities, and NA drinks. A portion of the proceeds benefits Bike Pittsburgh’s advocacy for safer infrastructure.
Holiday Cookies 2025
Last week, Pittsburgh City Paper brought you cold treats for the season, but don’t sleep on classic holiday cookies at swaps, walks, markets, and more.
Riverstone Books in McCandless relaunches its cookbook club with a Holiday Cookie Swap. On Thu., Dec. 11, from 6:30-8 p.m., bakers are invited to bring three dozen cookies to swap with other attendees, fill a take-home box, and vote for a Best-in-Show winner. RSVP online.
How about cookies with soup? Waverly Presbyterian Church in Braddock hosts its annual Cookie Walk and Soup Sale on Sat., Dec. 13, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Snag a kid- or adult-sized box of homemade cookies, a quart of soup, or a soup flight, and enjoy a raffle and crafts for sale.
The Lawrenceville Cookie Tour returns Sat., Dec. 13-Sun., Dec. 14. The 28-year-old tradition offers free homemade cookies and snacks at 45 stops along Butler Street. Participants include Cork Harbour Pub, Mix Candle Co., the new Kinship Gifting shop, the Office of Pa. Rep. Lindsay Powell, and Pita My Shawarma (plus its recently opened wine and mezze bar). Shoppers can also vote on which treat should earn the Cookie Tour Cup.
A Cookie Mall and Pop-Up Market coincides with the Cookie Tour on Sat., Dec. 13, from 1-5 p.m. at the Estelle S. Campbell (Lawrenceville) Boys & Girls Club. Help support seven nonprofit groups during an event that offers free hot dogs, a market with more than 40 artisans and vintage vendors, caroling, pictures with Santa, and more. The Pop-Up Market will return for a second day on Sun., Dec. 14, from 12-4 p.m.
Polish Hill Civic Association
3060 Brereton St., Polish Hill. polishhillcivicassociation.org
Who says hot dogs are only for summer? The Polish Hill Civic Association celebrates the season on Fri., Dec. 12, from 6-9 p.m., with a Holiday Weenie Roast that features festive glizzies, a craft vendor market, tree toss, refreshments, tunes, and a Santa appearance. The organization is also accepting bake sale donations for the Weenie Roast.
Attack Theatre x Trace Brewing
212 45th St., Lawrenceville. attacktheatre.com
Attack Theatre mashes up dance, cheer, and craft beer at its Holiday Hops winter celebration. On Fri., Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m., head to the dance company’s Lawrenceville studio for an all-ages cabaret-style event featuring a lighthearted “Holiday Unwrapped” performance (set to music ranging from classical to techno to klezmer), interactive games, craft beer from Trace Brewing, and other “surprises.” Tickets cost $45 for general admission, $25 for students, educators, and seniors, and $10 for kids 12 and under.
Grist House Craft Brewery
10 E. Sherman St., Millvale. gristhouse.com
Grist House promises to keep things extra merry and bright at its seventh annual Fire Fest. On Sat., Dec. 13 from 12-10 p.m., the Millvale brewery transforms into a “glowing, crackling celebration of craft beer and fire” with 10 custom indoor and outdoor fire pits and tabletop stoves. Those who “embrace the chill” enjoy a lineup of specialty stouts (including a Fire Fest Reserve) and hot cocktails, glassblowing demonstrations, and fire performances, along with the return of the “Gristmas” mystery gift tree. Fire Fest is free and open to the public. Guests are encouraged to dress warmly and arrive early.
7 Brew Coffee
5960 University Blvd., Moon Township. 7brew.com
7 Brew, an Arkansas-based drive-thru coffee stand with a legion of fans, opened its first Pittsburgh-area location on Dec. 8 in Moon Township. According to a company release, the new coffee stand near Robert Morris University features two drive-thru lanes and offers more than 20,000 drink combinations for a “completely customizable” coffee. 7 Brew also serves chillers, tea, infused “7 Energy” drinks, and sodas. The Moon Township location is the first in 7 Brew’s “growing Western Pennsylvania expansion,” with plans to open 80 locations by the end of next year.
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7 Brew Coffee Credit: 7 Brew Drive-Thru Coffee
Creative Chem Co.
4618 Friendship Ave., Bloomfield. creativechemco.com
In Pittsburgh, Jeff Goldblum always finds a way. Creative Chem Co., a Bloomfield-based cafe and coworking space, opened on Dec. 1 and debuted its “Jeff Goldbloomfield” mural. According to Axios, Pittsburgh artist Jeremy Raymer painted the 10-by-18-foot Goldblum mural, which appears on the cafe’s first floor. Billed as the neighborhood’s first coworking club, Creative Chem Co. includes a retro public cafe serving Commonplace Coffee on its first floor, and rentable members-only studios, meeting rooms, and quiet booths on the second floor. The space is now open Mon.-Fri. from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. and Sat. from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Food delivered from Carmi Soul Food: Carmi Rolls, shrimp and grits, and fish stew Credit: CP photo: Lisa Cunningham
Carmi Soul Food/Carmi Express
1912 Federal St., North Side. carmirestaurant.com
Carmi Soul Food Express announced it will close its final brick-and-mortar restaurant on Dec. 12.
“This decision comes with deep reflection, gratitude, and a heavy heart,” the North Side mainstay wrote on its Instagram page. “Carmi has always been more than a restaurant — it has been a place of family, comfort, celebration, and community.”
Owners Carleen and Michael King originally opened Carmi Soul Food on the North Side 13 years ago. The restaurant gained a reputation for its authentic Southern and soul food, including shrimp and grits and its famous mac and cheese, before moving its sit-down operations to the South Side in 2018. Carmi reopened its North Side location for “express takeout” during the pandemic, then closed its South Side restaurant in Jan. 2024, part of a strategy to “divest” from indoor dining and move to a take-out only model.
The closure announcement stated Carmi will continue its catering operations, special events, and pop-ups.
Pittsburgh ranks among the top 25 best places to live, work and visit in the U.S., according to a new report.
The 2026 “America’s Best Cities” report from Resonance, an international business consulting company, ranks the top 100 U.S. metro areas overall based on factors such as economic data, quality of living and public perception. Pittsburgh scored in the top quarter of cities nationwide.
Here’s a breakdown of how Pittsburgh ranks.
Pittsburgh ranks among top U.S. cities
Overall, Pittsburgh scored at No. 25 among U.S. cities.
Top-scoring cities almost all “made the visitor and resident experience a strategic priority,” according to the report. Rankings were also further broken down based on each key scoring components.
Pittsburgh has put a focus on its cultural amenities and food scene, as well as in revitalizing its neighborhoods, the report noted. While other similarly sized cities in the ranking have fallen, Pittsburgh climbed by five spots in 2026.
Pittsburgh among best cities for livability
Pittsburgh scored at No. 24 among U.S. cities for its livability.
The report’s livability scores were ranked in accordance to the quality of daily life in a city based on factors such as walkability, transit access, air quality, climate risk, green space, housing costs relative to income, broadband connectivity, healthcare access and life expectancy, as well as if the location is somewhere people would want to live.
Pittsburgh ranks in top 30 cities for lovability, prosperity
Pittsburgh ranked among the top 30 U.S. cities for both its lovability and its prosperity, scoring at No. 26 for lovability and No. 28 for prosperity.
Lovability was scored based on factors like the quality and quantity of venues such as restaurants, arts and entertainment sites, museums, outdoor experiences and nightlife. Digital data such as search trends, social media activity and other user-generated content was also considered.
Prosperity rankings were based on factors such as gross domestic product per capita, labor force participation, innovation capital intensity, educational attainment, unemployment and poverty rates, the presence of major corporate headquarters, university quality and the number of direct air connections.
Philadelphia ranked just a few spots above Pittsburgh at No. 20 overall.
Top 10 cities in 2026 ‘Best Cities’ ranking
The top 10 cities in the ranking are:
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Miami, FL
- San Francisco, CA
- Seattle, WA
- Las Vegas, NV
- Dallas, TX
- Houston, TX
- Boston, MA
Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.
Pittsburg, PA
Delta-8 is unregulated and untested. Here’s what to know about the synthetic cannabis.
Delta-8 is unregulated and untested, and more and more users are paying the price.
Health experts say the drug often contains chemicals and toxins, resulting in psychotic episodes and, in some cases, long-term damage.
Should Delta-8 be banned?
Walk into any of the now-hundreds of vape shops in the Pittsburgh region and just about any gas station, and it’s yours for the asking: Delta-8.
It’s an unregulated, quasi-legal form of synthetic cannabis. It’s supposed to be less potent than regular marijuana, but with some users, it’s resulted in psychotic episodes involving hallucinations, hospital admissions or even violence.
“You have no idea where it’s made, what it’s made with, what’s actually in it,” addiction psychiatrist Elizabeth McCord said.
Three years ago, a then-21-year-old University of Pittsburgh student took Delta-8 and went on a rampage. He stabbed Al Carlson, a random stranger in the city’s Shadyside neighborhood, seven times, leaving him for dead.
After his arrest, Jasper Hilliard told police he had been in an altered state, hearing voices. And in court, both the defense and prosecution experts said Hilliard acted in a “substance-induced state of psychosis.”
Still, Judge Edward Borkowski found him guilty last week of attempted homicide, saying even under the influence, Hilliard could still form intent to kill. Carlson agreed, but Hilliard’s father said his son wouldn’t have attacked but for the drug.
“My son was peaceful and non-violent for his entire life up to the day the crime happened, and it only happened because, like thousands of people in Pittsburgh, he took Delta-8,” Jasper’s father, Thomas Hilliard, said on June 16.
Delta-8 adverse reactions
The Food and Drug Administration has tracked 104 reports of adverse reactions from Delta-8, involving hallucinations, confusion, vomiting and loss of consciousness and has issued a public warning. The FDA points to the unregulated, untested nature of the drug and the unmonitored use of chemicals and potential toxins in the synthesis process.
McCord says every dose of Delta-8 is a crapshoot.
“It’s manufactured through chemical conversion rather than grown naturally, so you are exposing yourself to harmful chemicals,” McCord said. “It’s so unregulated that you’re also ingesting toxins.”
But since it’s so readily available, people assume it’s safe — especially in the ingestible form as gummies — which McCord says is an invitation to young people who may be susceptible to long-term brain damage.
“You go to a gas station or head shop, and you see Delta-8,” McCord said. “It looks like candy, and that’s predatory marketing toward young individuals.”
Delta-8 in Pennsylvania
But even though 22 states have now banned or severely restricted the sale of Delta-8, Pennsylvania is not one of them. A federal ban is scheduled to go into effect in November. And under proposed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana, synthetic cannabis would be subject to testing, and only authorized dealers could sell it.
This would take it out of vape shops and gas stations, but too late to prevent the tragedy involving Carlson and Tom Hilliard’s son.
“I’m surprised the state of Pennsylvania hasn’t done something already,” Tom Hilliard said.
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