DeLuca's

2015 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, PA - (412) 566-2195

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Posted By Michael Stern on 3/11/2008 9:57:00 AM

If you need a really satisfying breakfast in Pittsburgh, we recommend a visit to DeLuca’s. Located in the Strip District (an eater’s paradise by any measure), this fine storefront café serves mighty morning meals.

Mixed grill is the star of the show: sausage or ham sizzled with a huge heap of peppers, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and zucchini, crowned with a couple of eggs (the eggs are optional) and sided by hunky home fried potatoes and a couple of slabs of toast. Among the available varieties of toast are an aromatic cinnamon-raisin, rye, wheat, and white.

“Ordinary” omelets are jumbo, too, stuffed with giant hunks of fresh vegetables and/or your breakfast meat of choice; but for many visitors, DeLuca’s is an opportunity to indulge in one of the really outrageous breakfast items, such as the chocolate chip hotcake sundae, which is a stack of pancakes choc-a-bloc with melted and melting chocolate chips, topped with ice cream and strawberries. We are especially fond of blueberry French toast made with that sweet-smelling raisin bread.

DeLuca’s is open for lunch as well as breakfast, with a nice menu of hamburgers, cold-cut hoagies, and such square meals as meat loaf or pork chops with potatoes. Milk shakes are served in silver beakers … and topped with a dab of whipped cream.

Expect to wait for a seat at peak mealtime hours, especially on weekends when Pittsburghers throng to the Strip on a kind of eaters’ holiday. For us, the choice place in DeLuca’s is at the counter with a good view of the short-order chefs flipping eggs and hotcakes at lightning speed.

Scorecard

Overall: One of the Best - Worth a Trip

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"Believe it or not, this is actually breakfast. De Luca's has eight different hotcake sundaes on their menu."
Cliff Strutz

"De Luca's likes to add twists to conventional dishes, including making french toast out of their raisin bread and loading blueberries on top. "
Cliff Strutz

"De Luca's mixed grill is one of Pittsburgh's premier breakfast dishes. Below the egg and hot sausage you will find onions, tomatoes, red and green peppers and home fries."
Cliff Strutz

"With its Strip District location, De Luca's is pure Pittsburgh!"
Cliff Strutz

"Although I don't necessarily agree that De Luca's is Pittsburgh's best breakfast, it deserves to be on the short list of the best."
Cliff Strutz

"Big breakfast on The Strip"
Michael Stern