Taste of the Weekend: June 24 to 27

Celebrate Pride this weekend! Stop by Kingfly Spirits to cool down after the Pride Ride with one of their spiked slushies.

Parties are back. This weekend, we’re listening to the call of clinking glasses and dancing crowds, closing out the last few days of Pride Month with a bang.

Pride Month, started in 1970 to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, has blossomed into a month of festivities celebrated nationwide, throughout June. After a quiet (and mostly online) 2020, Pittsburgh has gone all-out to celebrate the LGBTQ community, hosting drag shows, throwing block parties, and mixing up rainbow-studded drinks.

Trace Brewing

Called a “fierce drag brunch at a fabulous new brewery,” Trace Brewing has brought their drag brunch back for a second time this month, in celebration of Pride. Alongside the brewery’s top-notch beer, sip on one of Trace’s yet-to-be-announced special brunch drinks (we have no doubt they will be tasty) and snag food from Soul Biscuit PGH, a mobile eatery pulled by a tandem bike serving up breakfast sandwiches on thick, flaky biscuits.

Stick around for the afterparty! Dance your heart out to tunes from Ricky Moslen, one-third of Jellyfish, snag by North Indian cuisine from the window of Billu's Indian Grill, and of course, drink beer.

Kingfly Spirits

Down in the Strip District, Kingfly Spirits has been celebrating with their LGBTQ community and allies all month. Stop by the distillery on your way back from the Pride Ride – a bike trek in Millvale, starting on the river trail, celebrating the LGBTQ community – for one of their spiked slushies: the OG limoncello, cherry, bourbon float, or parfait amour. These are worth a brain freeze.

The Fairmont

Start the last weekend of Pride off right with brunch and a drag show. The event, hosted by well-known, local drag queen Dixie Surewood, has appearances from three other performers along with a delectable spread of brunch eats: pastries, fruit, yogurt, quiche, and cake pops. Naturally, the mimosas will be flowing.

Studio Raw

Studio Raw did not hold back for their first Pride Celebration, benefiting two LGBTQ-centered organizations, the Persad Center and Central Outreach.

The event kicks off with the arrival of the Studio Raw Float, a stage hosting performances by drag queens, singers, and more. With a cocktail in your hand, find the dunk tank, dance floor, and – COVID safe – kissing booth, before grabbing a snack from one of their food vendors and watching the much-anticipated Twinkie eating contest.

Pride Millvale

It’s Millvale’s first-ever Pride celebration this weekend, and the neighborhood has rallied behind the festivities. Find special Pride menus, like that of Tupelo Honey Teas – who has partnered up with local vegan cheesemaker Rabbit Foot Creamery and Cleveland-based baker Bitchy Vegan Homo – and Lemon Tree Pittsburgh, with a pay-what-you-can menu of coffee. A full day of activities is planned, including live music from Phat Man Dee and Liz Berlin.