Pittsburgh, PAHot Chocolate

NEXTpittsburgh opens its hot chocolate guide with this South Side cafe, made from melted chocolate mixed with milk and served with a generous swirl of whipped cream. The magazine calls out the thick layer of chocolate that gathers at the bottom of the mug once the milk is gone, meant to be lapped up with a spoon. Order it and save the spoon for last, the move the guide itself recommends for the six-dollar-seventy-five-cent cup.

NEXTpittsburgh names this Shadyside bed-and-breakfast's Cookies and Cocoa service as the elevated pick in its hot chocolate guide, made with Callebaut Belgian chocolate and steamed milk, poured tableside over a dark chocolate lattice that melts into the cup. Pittsburgh Magazine separately covers the inn's Rosewood Tea Room, where the cocoa service sits as the entry point below full afternoon tea. Order the Cookies and Cocoa service for the lattice pour and the house-made marshmallows that come with it.

NEXTpittsburgh describes the hot chocolate at this Lawrenceville bakeshop as a hands-on experience, arriving as a mug of melted semisweet chocolate alongside a carafe of steamed milk so a customer builds the richness themselves, finished with the shop's own whipped cream. Pittsburgh Magazine covers the same bakeshop's Austrian-inspired room and its daily-changing dessert case. Order the hot chocolate and pour the milk in slowly, the build the guide describes as the point of the six-dollar-twenty-five-cent cup.

NEXTpittsburgh's hot chocolate guide names this Allegheny West biscuit shop for a house blend of melted chocolate and cocoa mix, rich and smooth, topped with a handful of mini marshmallows. Pittsburgh Magazine separately covers the cafe's breakfast and brunch menu across several roundups. Order the hot chocolate with a cinnamon biscuit bite or the shop's chocolate chip cookie, the pairing NEXTpittsburgh itself suggests for a cold day in Allegheny West.