Savoring Bloomfield’s Little Italy Days – August in Pittsburgh

One of the most enjoyable things you can do being a hometown tourist in Pittsburgh is to spend an August weekend at Bloomfield’s Little Italy Days. This year, the Heritage Festival starts on Thursday the 18th and goes through Sunday.

For entertainment, there will be a number of tribute singers and multiple stages for other performers:

Jimmy Sapienza – Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett

The Jersey 4 – Frankie Vallie & The Four Seasons

Billy Mancini – doing my favorite, Dean Martin

Byron Cancelmo – Tom Jones (coming to the Benedum at the end of September)

And, of course,  Pittsburgh’s own icon Donnie Iris sings along with the Italian Granati Brothers.

Besides a huge array of vendors (plan on sampling a few cannoli), there’s a Miss Little Italy Pageant, Italian Idol competition, and a Celebrity Bocce match. The Italians will be competing against the Irish and Franco Harris gets in on the action.

In addition to food vendors on the street—have I mentioned the cannoli?—, Bloomfield has some truly scrumptious places to eat:

Thai Cuisine may be out of place in Little Italy, but the food couldn’t be better.

Lombardozzi’s Restaurant has been pleasing palates since 1973.

Lot 17 offers food, a cooling beer or a robust Chianti.

There are several more places to dine—from a thick American burger at Tessaro’s to Vietnamese at Pho Minh’s, so don’t plan on cooking supper.

The festival is a great family time. Delve in and enjoy the events, the delectable delights, and most of all, the people. It is, after all, Italian.