Top 5 family-friendly breweries in Pittsburgh
My wife jokes that you know you’re a Fleisher if you bring a booster seat to a brewery.
It’s funny because it’s true. My son has been to more breweries in his first six years of life than I had visited by age 30, and my daughter saw her first brew kettle before she could drink milk from a bottle.
Before you judge, consider that many breweries nowadays not only tolerate children, they welcome them with family-friendly entertainment and accommodations such as changing tables and high chairs. It is a concept of the brewery as “community gathering space” rather than “watering hole.”
Below are five Pittsburgh area breweries that I consider among the more welcoming to people with kids. They may not all have stroller parking or a private nursing room, but each has features that make them a bit more inclusive for families.
I can’t think of a local brewery that is more accommodating to families than Spoonwood in Bethel Park. The spacious restaurant is easy to navigate with a stroller. There are high chairs for younger kids, a children’s menu, a separate family restroom with changing table, and a fenced outdoor yard where kids can run around or play corn hole.
Co-owner and head brewer Steve Ilnicki acknowledged Spoonwood’s kid-friendly reputation but said he never consciously aimed to become Pittsburgh’s go-to brewery for families.
“Ultimately, I expected to attract the ‘late-20s to early 40s’ crowd because that’s who I am,” he told me. “That’s my demographic, craft beer lover with young children in tow.”
For grownups, Spoonwood offers a rotating menu of around a dozen beers that range from pretty accessible cream ales to the more adventurous chili-pepper and smoked beers. There’s wine, cider, mead and spirits, a good portion of which are made locally. The food menu is anchored by a lot of specialty wood-fired pizzas, and includes burgers, meatloaf, fish tacos and mussels, as well as a few desserts.
East End in Larimer was the first brewery I visited with my daughter. She was only a few weeks old. I also had my then-4-year-old son with us and it was a perfectly comfortable place for everyone to enjoy.
The taproom is wide open with plenty of room to spread out. There is a single-use locking bathroom and the brewery has just purchased (though not yet installed) a changing table, owner Scott Smith told me.
There is house-made non-alcoholic root beer and ginger ale, and East End makes an effort to incorporate kid-specific attractions at special events.
There’s a lot of other good stuff on tap, though, for the adults to check out year round. Smith and his crew keep a decent rotation of seasonal releases, including a hard cider, and have been busy working on sour ales that you can sample at the brewery or take home in growlers or “crowlers.” No restaurant, but there’s usually food trucks parked outside. And the brewery hosts regular events besides Crafts and Drafts, including tours, beer festivals and a “beer belly” yoga class.
Grist House in Millvale has an outdoor beer garden that offers a low-traffic area where both kids and dogs can wander in relative safety. There are picnic tables large enough to spread out with coloring books or a card game while enjoying live music, treats offered by a regular rotation of food trucks and, for adults, some of the best IPAs you’ll find in Pittsburgh.
The inside can accommodate small groups, but a word of caution: It gets really tight when Penn State football is playing. The brewery is a popular place for the school’s faithful to get together and watch games, which keeps it festive but is probably more appropriate for the older kids.
Regardless of kid-friendly features, this is one of the best breweries in Pittsburgh. They can brew big beers like Belgian Strongs or Russian Imperial Stouts with the best of them. But I think what makes them great is their restraint. Not everything is a hop bomb and they pull off difficult styles like kolsch with skill.
Like Spoonwood, Penn Brewery in Troy Hill has a spacious restaurant that I’ve found to be quite kid-friendly. There is ample seating along big German beer hall style tables where kids can spread out with coloring books and markers. And there’s enough room to park strollers.
Penn has a separate kids menu with the usual staples — chicken fingers, pizza, etc. — but a sausage plate invites children to try the traditional German knockwurst and bratwurst their parents may be enjoying. And on Tuesday nights, kids eat free.
The 19th-century building is gorgeous and a large window in the restaurant offers a peek at the brewery side of the operation, featuring huge copper kettles that are sometimes steaming with hot wort.
A lot of kids enjoy just pressing their nose against the glass and watching the action. Who needs iPhones to keep your children entertained when they can watch beer being made?
I’ve really enjoyed their food, and while I’m not crazy about some of the seasonal beers, they’ve achieved a good balance of traditional European lagers (my favorite being the Kaiser Pils) and more American pale ales, red ales and spiced beers.
Hitchhiker in Mt. Lebanon is small, and the tight quarters in the tasting room are not ideal for strollers, but I’ve taken my kids here so many times that I had to include it on the list.
There are picnic tables out front and a cozy deck in the rear where families have a bit more elbow room and privacy. The menu includes non-alcoholic, house-made root beer and some light snacks.
There’s a stack of free games inside that are suitable for kids. Personally, I love the Major League Baseball-themed “Spot It,” which is easy for young ‘uns to understand and yet entertaining for all ages.
The overall atmosphere is a friendly neighborhood pub, which also makes it a nice place to hit for an evening even without the kids. It’s open until 11 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The beer menu is constantly changing, but usually has one or two IPAs and a saison, and head brewer Andy Kwiatkowski has been experimenting more with sours for anyone with adventurous palates.
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