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| - YIV is amazing. If someone gave me a check for a very large sum of money and carte blanche to design my own coffeehouse/cafe, I'm not sure I could have come up with something so wonderful as this.
The drinks are fabulous - I've tried everything from pistachio soda, to Siamese coffee, to sparkling Meyer lemonade, and have yet to be disappointed. I haven't tried a very large selection of foods (and, on a couple occasions, was told the item I wanted was not available) but the pistachio hummus and fül müdammas were darn tasty. Depending on who's working and what's ordered, service can be sprightly fast or wonderingly slow.
For someone who's never been to YIV, the Sunday brunch is an attractive option - there's various items from the regular menu plus an exotic strata or two. Many of the buffet options are vegetarian or vegan, but there's also a whole pan of BACON for those who worship the pig.
I've yet to find a place with a more relaxing atmosphere - the back lounge is heavenly, with its pillow-lined coziness. There's usually some un-intrusive global-type music playing (60's French pop or Turkish instrumentals come to mind), and it's BYOB and smoke-free (which can be hard to find in Pittsburgh, sometimes).
And that's not even getting into the crazy variety of events - concerts, yoga, drum circles, film screenings, psychics, performance art - this place is Bohemia x 10.
Update 9-11-09: After a harsh year the current owner is looking to sell YIV - hopefully they will find someone with a similar vision. It would be a shame to lose such a neat place in Pittsburgh.
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