What To Do When You Aren’t at St. Vincent

A strip of Route 30 just past St. Vincent offers a handful of dining and lodging options for visiting Steelers fans. Two are must-stops: Sharky’s Café and Dino’s Sports Lounge.

Each regularly hosts radio shows from camp and offers the best chance to see a player or a coach seeking a respite from football and dorm life.

Sharky’s has an indoor and outdoor bar—each is spacious—and a solid menu with good chicken wings and pizza among other things. No bar/restaurant is closer to camp.

Dino’s is just up the road and is known for its chicken wings. The bar is a little smaller than the ones at Sharkey’s but the walls are covered with Steelers paraphernalia and Dino’s is also a great place for fans to hit after watching practice.

A couple of options for those looking for sit-down dinners include DeNunzio’s Italian Chophouse at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport and DiSalvo’s Station Restaurant in downtown Latrobe.

From the wild-card department when it comes to bars and restaurants in the Latrobe area, consider a stop at Ferrante’s Lakeview Lounge in nearby Greensburg. Lakeview has long hosted banquets and proms as well as regulars who want to grab a meal or a drink. It also has a connection to the greatest ending in World Series history.

Bill Mazeroski belted the game-seven home run that won the 1960 World Series for the Pirates and he celebrated the legendary feat at Lakeview. The off-the-beaten-path locale gave “Maz” as much privacy as he could reasonably expect and former owner, the late John Ferrante, had a long-time association with the Pirates and Pittsburgh sports in general.

A wall inside the bar is covered with pictures and it is a monument to Pittsburgh’s rich sports history. There are photos of Steelers greats from the 1970s, including a couple of Terry Bradshaw with hair, and an autographed picture of former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Former Pirates players are also prominent on the wall as is an ode to former Steelers fullback Fran Rogel. Fans who watched the Steelers in the 1950s at Forbes Field regularly chanted “Hey diddle diddle, Rogel up the middle,” an, ahem, commentary on the team’s play-calling. But he is another Steelers player who shouldn’t be forgotten because he played before the 1970s, and Lakeview’s Pittsburgh sports wall gives Rogel his due.