Just outside the city, where the Beaver River flows into the Ohio, Jerry's Curb Service claims credit for inventing the Pittsburgh salad. "It was on a fateful night in the early 1960s that the now famous Steak Salad was born," the website recounts. "A customer placed a rather unusual order—a steak sandwich, hold the bun, add fries and salad dressing. Not one to disappoint a customer, Donna Reed [wife of owner Jerry Reed] placed the order. She noticed the man cut up the steak, mixed in the fries and poured the salad dressing on top. Curious about this rather odd concoction, Donna decided to try it for herself, but with one small change. Donna placed her sliced steak, fries and salad dressing atop a fresh bed of lettuce." But did Donna's mysterious customer really invent the Pittsburgh salad? Hilltop Grill, across the Beaver River in Rochester, may disagree—they, too, claim to be the salad's originators.
Put simply, Pittsburgh is the best place in the world to call home. Those of us who have left haven't stopped thinking of ourselves as Pittsburghers. It's an identity that's ingrained in our way of life, from our "Pittsburghese" speech to our beloved Steelers to our unique fusion of culinary...
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