Pittsburghers find food and holiday traditions in the Strip District
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The days are counting down to Christmas, and for tens of thousands of Pittsburghers, that means making their annual trip to the Strip District where they find more than those last-minute items -- they find the Christmas spirit.
It's a Pittsburgh Christmas tradition like no other. Every year people descend upon the Strip District just to soak up the vibe or spend a couple of hours waiting to buy some cheese.
What is it that draws such huge crowds of people every year to the cheese counter at Penn Mac to wait two hours or more just to buy some cheese? It's the cheese, of course, but folks like Natalie Miller and Janice Neimiec say it's something more.
Andy Sheehan: "More about the tradition, I guess?"
Miller: "Absolutely."
Neimiec: "We come together every year for Christmas."
Sheehan: "And wait three hours for a piece of cheese."
Neimiec: "And now we'll go have lunch and get a drink."
After the pandemic, the bustle is back.
Some come looking for a connection with Christmases past -- like the vintage candy brands of their youth at Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop. Jeff Davis makes the trip every year from New Cumberland, West Virginia. He says it brings back Christmas memories.
"You know it's busy if I'm working," said Henry Dewey of Penn Avenue Fish.
Dewey is fileting a record number of fish this year, trying to keep up with the Christmas orders, especially for people like Georgiana Riley of Avella, who every year prepares the Feast of Seven Fishes on Christmas Eve -- a lifelong tradition that's never lost its flavor.
"It's delicious. And it's special. It's time the whole family gets together, and friends. We just have a great time," Riley said.
It's a tradition that never fails. Every year people come down to the Strip looking for cheese or fish and they leave with the Christmas spirit ready for the holidays.