Squirrel Hill
Updated August 2026 · 12 spots reviewed
Squirrel Hill is the best eating value in Pittsburgh: the city's densest run of Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, Turkish and kosher kitchens, most of them under twenty dollars a head. Murray and Forbes reward the adventurous order, and the fluorescent lighting is part of the deal.
Every rating below is one critic's 1 to 5, scored on food, vibe, value and service. Chengdu Gourmet leads at 4.9. Nobody paid to be here.
Squirrel Hill tops these boards
Chinese, Sichuan · $$ · 5840 Forward Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Wei Zhu's Sichuan cooking is some of the best Chinese food in the country, full stop. Strip-mall setting, transcendent food. Order off the Chinese menu.
Order: Mapo tofu & cumin lamb
Full review →On the map
Chinese, Dumplings · $$ · 5875 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Watch them fold soup dumplings through the glass. That's the draw, and they deliver. Expect a wait at peak.
Order: Soup dumplings pleated behind the glass
Full review →On the map
Pizza · $ · 2112 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
The other half of the Murray Ave pizza rivalry. Good, classic, and best argued about with a Mineo's slice in hand.
Order: 16-inch pepperoni pizza
Full review →On the map
Bakery, French, Dessert · $$ · 5837 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
A genuine French patisserie on Murray Ave where the macarons look like jewelry and actually taste like something. Skip the line at the diners across the street and get a box of these instead. The pistachio is the one. Pricey for a cookie, but these aren't cookies.
Order: Pistachio macaron and a proper almond croissant
Full review →On the map
Pizza · $ · 2128 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
A beloved square-slice institution. It's nostalgia pizza. Comforting and consistent, not life-changing. Pick your side in the Murray Ave war.
Order: Square cheese slice
Full review →On the map
Thai, Laotian · $$ · 5846 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Laotian cooking is thin on the ground here, which makes this one worth the trip on its own. Ask for it properly spicy and mean it; the kitchen will take you at your word.
Order: Larb, and anything with sticky rice
Full review →On the map
Taiwanese, Chinese · $ · 1711 Shady Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Taiwanese comfort food done properly: beef noodle soup, three-cup chicken, scallion pancakes. Small, busy, and much better than the strip of storefronts around it suggests.
Order: Beef noodle soup
Full review →On the map
Turkish, Middle Eastern · $ · 5819 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Charcoal grill, generous plates, no fuss. The kind of neighbourhood kebab house every city needs and Pittsburgh has too few of.
Order: Adana kebab, off the grill
Full review →On the map
Bar, Brewpub · $$ · 1704 Shady Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Squirrel Hill's beer bar, pouring almost exclusively Pennsylvania breweries. Knowledgeable without being insufferable about it.
Order: A local draft and the beef empanadas
Full review →On the map
Thai, Tapas · $$ · 1712 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Thai small plates, which sounds like a gimmick and works. Order five things for the table and let the kitchen show off.
Order: Thai tapas, several plates
Full review →On the map
Sandwiches · $ · 5808 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Cheap, fast, enormous subs, made without a single concession to fashion. Feeds Pitt students and cab drivers at the same counter.
Order: A steak sub with everything
Full review →On the map
Chinese, Sichuan · $ · 1900 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15217
Murray Avenue Sichuan that goes properly heavy on the peppercorn. Not the city's best Chinese, but it is open late and it does not flinch.
Order: Mapo tofu, numbing
Full review →On the mapWhere Squirrel Hill spills into next.
