Cocktail with Fernet, scotch, and apple cider at Apteka. Photograph by Laura Petrilla

The bones of Pittsburgh, the iconic buildings from the industrial age, have been through a century of economic ups and downs. Now they're bursting with new places to drink and eat, and we're here to celebrate in true local fashion: by throwing one back. Swing a Terrible Towel and you'll hit a bar—but until about five or so years ago, it was mostly all cozy dives and rowdy college hangouts. Now you've got options: inventive yet unpretentious cocktails at Bar Marco or elevated beer-drinking at Draai Laag, which specializes in funky sour beers. (If you're about to moan about hipster colonialism, don't, because the dives are still around. Just keep reading.)

But the real star of Pittsburgh's new wave is the food. Reserve a table now at Cure, Justin Severino's belly-stretching New American joint. (Severino's the chef other chefs call when they want to add in-house curing to their menus.) Get the salumi plate and let the duck speck convince you of the Steel City's renaissance. Or hit the just-opened Apteka, which, despite serving Polish food, isn't belly-stretching at all. Somehow the youthful couple in charge (both locals) coax impossible flavors out of ingredients like oyster mushrooms and cabbage.

Don't skimp on the salumi at Cure. Charcuterie is basically Pittsburgh’s bread and butter. Photo courtesy of Adam Milliron / Cure. Photograph by Adam Milliron

Consider, too, Pittsburgh's sartorial advancement. Swing by Mello & Sons and take home some gear fit for a 1972 United Steelworkers Union meeting (think overalls and denim jackets). A cynic might say that store captures this town in a nutshell: a shop transplanted from Williamsburg to Lawrenceville, the hippest neighborhood in Pittsburgh, selling vintage workwear to the techies who replaced the steelworkers. We'd respond by saying, "That's exactly right!" The city's economic comeback is so robust the place is eating its own tail. Whatever Pittsburghers were doing to combat gentrification—like the "Keep Pittsburgh Shitty" bumper sticker—it hasn't really worked.

Know why? It's already got the ultimate seal of Official Coolness: an Ace Hotel. The lobby bar is arguably the best spot to rub shoulders with the city's up-and-coming creative class.

Spend an afternoon at the Andy Warhol Museum. It's got seven floors to get comfortable on. Photograph by JeffG / Alamy. JeffG / Alamy Stock Photo

If you still don't believe us, check out the Mattress Factory, a contemporary-art space in an old factory…that produced mattresses. It's as vital an homage to Pittsburgh's prodigal son, Andy Warhol, as his own eponymous museum just across one of the many bridges straddling the city's three rivers.

By the end of your trip, you'll need an antidote for all the newness of new Pittsburgh. That's when you head to Gooski's. Inside, the lights are red, the patrons smoke Camel straights (indoors), and the bartenders will literally kill you if you don't have your $2.75 ready when they bring you your first High Life. At least, that's what the sign says. And that dark sense of humor isn't going anywhere. The city's still got these gritty gems left over from the "Shittsburgh" days. But Pittsburgh isn't an underdog anymore. Now it's just the shit.

Influencers influencing in the Ace Hotel lobby. Photograph by Rob Larson / Ace Hotel Pittsburgh

This story originally appeared in the September 2017 issue with the title "Steel Yourself: You’re Gonna Love Pittsburgh"