At NEXT, we love sharing all kinds of Pittsburgh stories with our readers. But if we had to pick a favorite topic, it would be covering new restaurants. Can you blame us?

The regional food scene shows no signs of slowing down: There were so many openings this year we couldn’t possibly visit them all. Our favorites of the year include dishes from India and Poland to Brooklyn and Korea. Some of them are tucked away in tiny boroughs and some are in busy city neighborhoods, but they’re all deliciously unique. If you haven’t tried these places yet, put these eateries on your list now.

Roman Hladio

Chief Reporter

Tatva’s curries or biryanis are stellar, but they play second fiddle to all the small plates and sides that you can’t help but order droves of. Its Punjabi samosas are about the size of your palm and dusted lightly with spice so you can devour them before any sauces hit the table and still get a flavorful bite. The pastry is flaky yet doesn’t crumble to dust between bites, and the filling is just the right texture — you’re never left fighting through a large chunk of potato to reach those rich spices or sweet peas. If you were raised a carnivore — like myself — and have an innate disinterest in vegetarian cooking, you need to try the Hara Bara Kabab off Tatva’s Tandoori menu. The spinach and pea patties are creamy, spicy and have an uncannily crisp crust that makes them irresistible. I’ve shamelessly ordered two portions in one sitting, and they’ve been my gateway drug to other vegetarian and vegan entrees.

Jennifer Baron

Events & Jobs Editor

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Stepping into Polska Laska sets the scene for a memorable dining experience: Nestled within a narrow brick building — like a humble mini flatiron — the iconic corner storefront beckons with its bright red double doors, large windows and cheerful sign decorated with stencil lettering and folk art motifs. Taking a seat in the sun-bathed interior is more akin to having dinner at your grandmother’s kitchen table than it is a formal dining setting. For this patron, it even feels more like home, since I am also the proud owner of several 1950s-era Formica kitchen tables and have collected vintage dishware for decades. Receiving the genuine warmth of owner Olive Visco, it’s hard to not be equally smitten with the proprietor, the place — and those signature pierogies — equally. With delicately braided edges, the vegan potato and sauerkraut pierogies had me hooked. On a steamy August day, the Vegan Golabki did wonders, with buckwheat, potato, kapusta, stuffed cabbage and tomato gravy. Fresh beet salad provided side dish perfection.

One of my favorite things about Visco’s approach is that her menu features locally sourced ingredients and is constantly changing, which means you should keep going back to try all the new things she’s perfecting. The best way to keep up with the rotating specials of the week before they sell out is by following their Instagram to drool over the irresistible photos. When riffing on the ‘rogi, Polska Laska thinks way outside the dough. During their first year in business, they’ve served everything from Pumpkin Beer Cheese Pierogies to The Vegan Cowboy Pierogi with potato, soy chorizo, corn, pepper, pickled red onion, jalapeño and vegan cheese and sour cream.

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Turkish/Greek cuisine always shines most during warm weather if you ask me. That’s especially true at AVVA, which offers ample outdoor seating on its spacious wrap-around porch and patio, which is heated and covered during the winter for outdoor diners who don’t mind keeping jackets on. The dinner menu includes meze staples like banaganoush, hummus and htipiti, plus shish kebabs, lamb chops, bronzino, salads and much more. The real standout for me, though, was brunch. The savory egg plates with haydari yoghurt, warm chili butter, sujuk, capers and hollandaise sauce paired with Turkish coffee make for a delightful start to a slow weekend morning.

AVVA, which opened in April in the former Mike & Luke’s Front Porch location, does offer indoor seating in its dining room, but space is limited, and reservations are recommended. After brunch, stop and walk around Aspinwall’s charming business district, which includes Spark Books, Bella Christie’s Sweet Boutique Bakery, Rosebud’s gift shop, The Sōl Collective and Aspinwall Beans ’n’ Cream.

Aakanksha Agarwal

Contributing writer

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When a long-mythologized New York pizzeria chooses Pittsburgh for its first out-of-state expansion, we pay attention. F&F, from Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli of Brooklyn’s Frankies restaurants, ended up being one of my favorite openings of 2025 by doing something very simple very well.

Pittsburgh already has great pizza. Just ask Joe Manganiello. But between deep-dish, Neapolitan, Detroit-style and classic red-sauce pies, F&F finds a fourth (or 20th) lane. Call it hybrid NYC-Neapolitan if you will.

The pizza comes thin, lightly chewy, crisp underneath and flexible enough to fold. The classic cheese is my baseline, all tomato-ey bright but restrained, mozzarella in soft pools, finished with a good drizzle of Sicilian olive oil. The clam pie, a Brooklyn signature, is more expressive with chopped clams, garlic, breadcrumbs, and finally, a squeeze of lemon, tasting faintly of the ocean.

What seals it is how easy the pies are to eat. Three slices in, a fourth still feels possible. Add buttery olives, stewy beans and greens, and a properly cold, bitter Negroni, and there’s no real reason to leave.

Aakanksha Agarwal

Contributing writer

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Top Pot & KBBQ is an all-you-can-eat Korean barbecue and hot pot spot where both happen at the same table. You can choose to do one or both, and each setup comes with a built-in grill and a simmering pot. I love that you’re cooking as you go and setting the pace yourself. There’s also a sauce bar stocked with soy, garlic, chili, sesame oil and other essentials, which you’ll want to visit early and often.

Once orders arrive, the table fills quickly. Thinly sliced galbi and bulgogi, pork neck, shrimp and assorted seafood are accompanied by enoki, shiitake and oyster mushrooms, leafy greens, tofu, corn and noodles. Broth options range from mild and savory to tom yum–style, and the breadth of ingredients keeps the experience varied from start to finish. There’s beer, soju and cocktails to pair with the dishes.

The fun comes from the collective momentum. Someone inevitably will be fighting off a food coma mid-meal. Someone else might create an unhinged sauce that becomes the table standard. You eat in rounds, pause to talk, then jump back in. Service is good at walking first-timers through the process, then backing off once you’ve got it.

One quick note of wisdom: Don’t come right after washing your hair. With open grills and steaming broth at every table, the experience is immersive and intensely aromatic. Accept it, plan accordingly, and consider it evidence of a night well spent.

Honorable mentions:

Roman Hladio

Chief Reporter

I can’t give you a firm date on when this one will return to Pittsburgh, but since it was one of my favorite meals of the year, I can’t pass up a chance to heap praise. If you’re looking for the best burrito in Pittsburgh, you have to track down Chef Beth. Her homemade tortillas have a little tug to them that not only makes them an ideal vessel for stuffing full of toppings, but also just makes them fun to eat. The braised lamb and beans inside coat your mouth and leave you licking your teeth for just one more taste. If borscht happens to also be on the menu when Zozula next rolls around, save a bit of your dill yogurt for dunking your burrito in. You can thank me later.

Technically, Balena Bagels opened at the tail end of 2024, but they became the talk of Castle Shannon throughout 2025, so we’re being cheeky and including them here anyway.

I’m always on the hunt for great bagels in Pittsburgh. It turns out that I’ve got lots of kindred spirits in the South Hills. And they found them first.

I had wanted to check out Balena Bagels since our food writer, Aakanksha, mentioned them in one of her restaurant roundups. So, a couple weeks ago, I popped down to this cute shop in Castle Shannon (right by the Willow Station on the T). But no luck – or should I say “no lox”? They were sold out two hours before the 2 p.m. closing time.

Fortunately, owner Audrey Brown was there and graciously pulled a spare bagel from an emergency bagel kit for me (which absolutely should become a thing!).

Brown was also kind enough to spare a little time to talk shop with a fellow bagel nerd.

I asked Brown what she’s learned in the past year that she didn’t have in mind at opening: “Cream cheese is super important! People really want it,” she said. “We’ve had to figure out how to make our own cream cheese, and what flavors we want to make.”

One team member, Michelle, acts something like a cream cheese sommelier when it comes to determining which flavors to make for the shop. Brown said, “Michelle does a lot. She has this super sense of smell. If she doesn’t like the smell of something, we have to move on. … We just try different things until we hit what we want.”

It’s clear there is both passion and expertise in the bagels that Balena makes. The chew is great. It’s got that signature bagel tang. And the shop is clearly home to a team of people committed to serving the community what they desperately want: a darn good bagel with tasty cream cheese.