Pittsburgh
You're flying out of Pittsburgh Airport, you have 90 minutes to kill, and you'd like to do better than a Pret. Good news: airport drinking has improved more in the last five years than the previous fifty. Pre-flight drinks at Pittsburgh Airport range from chain reliability to surprisingly polished hotel-style bars in the airport hotels. This is barsforKings's editor-curated guide to drinking better at Pittsburgh's airports.
Lawrenceville · $$$
Pittsburgh's most awarded cocktail bar.
Squirrel Hill · $$$
Tiki bar that takes the genre seriously.
Downtown · $$
Speakeasy reached through an unmarked door behind a bookshelf.
South Side · $$
Cocktail bar with a long whiskey list and a tight rotating cocktail menu.
Want a real drink before flying? The fastest play is to get to airport hotels next door — most run polished bars that beat anything post-security. We list them at the bottom. If you've got 60 spare minutes pre-airport, see our shortlist of bars in Pittsburgh proper at the end.
Plays for Pittsburgh Airport: post-security, pre-security, lounges, and the airport-hotel cheat code.
Pre-flight drinks, hotel-bar reviews, and the openings we're watching across 200+ cities. Friday mornings, no filler.
Looking beyond Pittsburgh? See our guide to the best airport bars worldwide, or compare airport bars city by city.