Chihuly at Phipps

Tomorrow my husband and I are driving to Pittsburgh to see Chihuly at Phipps and the Venetian glass exhibit at the art museum before visiting with family. Any comments or critiques about either or tips about lunch in Oakland are welcome.

Chihuly at Phipps

The Chihuly exhibit is spectacular, that alone will be worth your trip. I live five minutes away from the art museum, which means I haven%26#39;t seen the Venetian glass exhibit yet!

Lunch in Oakland: a wide range of decent affordable choices. There really isn%26#39;t anyplace very fancy in this college neighborhood. My favorite nearby is LuLu%26#39;s Noodles (Asian food) on Craig Street, and that is about one block up from the museum. There is an overrated middle eastern restaurant on Craig Street, Ali Baba%26#39;s. Unless you never get the chance to eat that kind of food, I wouldn%26#39;t bother with this place, although it has its fans.

There is an Indian store across Craig from LuLu%26#39;s that sells groceries and usually has freshly made samosas, etc. Not a restaurant, but you could stock up on mango juice, frozen nan, cheap rice and some other treats our local grocery chain doesn%26#39;t offer.

Some museums have good cafes; Carnegie Art Museum used to but switched to a cafeteria style setup with worse food. Skip it.

There is a funky, locally famous hotdog and fries joint called the Original at the corner of Forbes and Bouquet, just a few blocks away from the museum. Great kosher dogs, and excellent french fries. Quite the downscale atmosphere but friendly enough. Lots of kinds of beer.

Have fun. Check out the Nationality Rooms at Pitt%26#39;s Cathedral of Learning if you have time, they%26#39;re pretty interesting and you%26#39;ll be right there as you walk down Forbes for that hotdog!

Chihuly at Phipps

If you are staying in Oakland, go with Spice Island or Mad Mex.

http://www.madmex.com/locations/oakland.shtml

pittsburgh.citysearch.com/profile/8608841

Have fun!

Thanks for the tips. We went with Lulu%26#39;s Noodles (';Think globally/Act locally/Eat noodles'; ) in between two hours of Chihuly at Phipps and an hour long tour at Carnegie Museum of Art highlighting the creative dialogue between Venetian glass masters and American glass artists (including Chihuly). It%26#39;s an itinerary that we%26#39;d recommend highly.