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Pittsburgh food in July 2020: What’s opening and what’s closing

A long, long time ago (a.k.a. March), we wrote what turned out to be our last monthly food and drink guide for a while.

If you’re new here (hi!), we usually publish a round-up of restaurant/bar openings and closings at the beginning of each month. Obviously, the pandemic changed all of that.

Things are far from “normal” in the local dining industry right now. On-site alcohol consumption is banned at bars/restaurants in Allegheny County, other safety measures are in effect, and some establishments are choosing to temporarily close.

But openings (and permanent closings, sadly) are continuing apace, so here’s what to expect this summer and what to catch up on from the past few months. Know something we should add? Tell us.


Hello

🍖 The Downtown location for the beloved Gaucho Parrilla Argentina is now open for take-out.

🍦 Happy Day Dessert Factory is serving up frozen treats on the North Side, and Pittsburgh Magazine’s got the scoop.

🍕  Black Lotus Pizza, “a gaming pizzeria,” is now open in Lawrenceville, but it’s not just for gamers.

🍖 Rumi Grill House is now open in Oakland serving Turkish and Mediterranean food.

🍗 Peruvian spot Chicken Latino has moved from the Strip to Beechview.

🍹 Bubble tea chain 朝茶 TSAOCAA is hosting a soft opening this weekend, PennsylvAsia reports.

🍺 Acclamation Brewing is hosting a friends-and-family opening for take-out only this weekend in Verona.

🌮 Empanada purveyor Mi Empanada has debuted its first retail location in Lawrenceville.

🍚 Dagu Rice Noodle is now open in Squirrel Hill replacing The Magic Noodle, per PennsylvAsia.

🥙 With a modern American menu, Sewickley Tavern is focused on sustainability — and not just with its food.

🥃 Wigle Whiskey debuted its expanded Strip District location in early March with a tasting room, bar, restaurant, and mini-museum.

🍔 Oddballs Southside opened along Carson Street in early March billed as “a twist on the average Southside bar.” Formerly known as Winghart’s, Oddballs says it kept some of the original menu items and added more.

🥘 Choolaah, a fast casual Indian restaurant in East Liberty, opened a second Pittsburgh-area location in North Fayette.

🍕 The Strip District’s Pizzeria Davide also opened a suburban location, this one in Robinson Town Centre.


See you soon

🍷 A giant Strip District building is transforming into 1700 Penn, a spot for local brews from Helltown Brewery and local booze from Pennsylvania Libations Wine Shop.

🍺 Heidelberg’s Insurrection AleWorks is making progress on a Strip District taproom.

🍳 Acclaimed chef Jamilka Borges will open Wild Child in Etna this summer for breakfast and lunch, Pittsburgh Magazine reports.

🌮 Gordo’s Tacos & Tequila, a “new double-decker restaurant,” is coming to Mount Washington this summer.

🍻  Two Frays Brewery in Garfield is expected to open sometime in 2020.

➡️ Smallman Galley is moving to Bakery Square.

☕️ Redhawk Coffee is expanding to Sharpsburg with an espresso bar and a coffee roaster, per Very Local Pittsburgh.

🔥 The long-awaited Fig & Ash, a “farm-to-flame restaurant,” is headed to Deutschtown and getting very close to opening.

🥙 Beloved food truck Pita My Shawarma is opening a brick-and-mortar in Lawrenceville, and the patio is open already.

🍰 Prohibition Pastries is planning a new cafe in East Liberty with alcohol-infused pastries, cupcakes, cakes, sweet pies, and savory pies, Good Food Pittsburgh reports.

🍲 At long last, Pusadee’s Garden in Lawrenceville is coming back.

🍚 Oishii Donburi is coming soon to Lawrenceville from the owners of Oakland’s Oishii Bento, Pennsylvasia reports.

🍕 Big Burrito is bringing a yet-to-be-named restaurant to Lawrenceville with a focus on pizza, veggie-forward dishes, and burgers, Pittsburgh Magazine reports. Look for it this fall.

🥖 Rolling Pepperoni is opening a storefront in Lawrenceville run by Who’s Nexter Katt Schuler.

🎸 After 19 years, Bloomfield bar/music venue Howler’s is moving to East Liberty, City Paper reports.

🍗 Coop De Ville, another DeShantz concept, is coming to the Strip District with a fast casual menu focusing on chicken, plus duck pin bowling, classic arcade games, pinball machines, pool tables, bocce, and ping pong.

🍏 Arsenal Cider House is turning an old Dormont bank into a new location with plans to open this fall, NEXTpittsburgh reports.

🧀 Tom & Chee, of “Shark Tank” fame, will open Downtown this fall. They’ll be serving melts, soups, and “grilled chee donuts,” per WTAE.

🍕 Caliente Pizza & Draft House is opening a new shop in Green Tree, its first location in the western ‘burbs, according to Patch.

🍔 Arlington Beverage Club, a new concept from well-known chef Kevin Sousa, is coming to an old social club in Allentown called St. George Lyceum, the Pittsburgh Current details.

🍺 Hitchhiker Brewing will take over a tiny storefront Downtown to serve beer — and coffee, per the Post-Gazette.

🍗 Beloved chicken-and-waffles purveyor The Coop is opening a brick-and-mortar location in the North Side, Good Food Pittsburgh writes. The food truck will remain in business, too.

🏛 Two new concepts are coming to the Pitt Building Downtown, the Post-Gazette reports. One is a sandwich shop. The other is a supper club called Saint Johannes.

🐟 Work on Wild Ninja Asian Grill is underway in Oakland, replacing Uncle Sam’s Gourmet Subs, PennsylvAsia reports.

🥗 Famed chef Justin Severino is planning a casual California-inspired cafe near North Park, the Trib writes.

🍺 The Woods House, a Scottish pub, is slated for one of Pittsburgh’s oldest houses.

🍻  Platform Beer Co., the Cleveland-based brewery, plans to open a brewery and tasting room in Garfield, the Post-Gazette writes.

🍗 The Eagle, a casual fried chicken restaurant, is coming to Penn Avenue Downtown, the Trib writes.


Long-term openings on our radar

🐉 The subject of years of anticipation, restaurateurs Richard DeShantz and Tolga Sevdik are expected to open Gi-Jin. When? Well, the opening date has continually been pushed back for a year, sooooo ‾\_(ツ)_/‾).

🍵 Tupelo Honey Teas in Millvale acquired the building next door and will renovate and expand over the next several years.

🎳 Shorty’s Pins x Pints, a new entertainment concept with duckpin bowling, bocce, pinball, cornhole, and giant beer pong, plus street food, is coming to the North Shore, per the Post-Gazette.

🚀 Grist House Craft Brewery is turning a Collier Township Cold War-era Nike Missile Command Center into another outpost for the popular brewery. But a lot of work is ahead, so be patient. An opening date is expected a year or two from now.

🎮 Look for a location of the Punch Bowl Social chain with food and drinks, plus ping pong, darts, bowling, classic video games, and karaoke in the Lower Hill sometime this year, NEXTpittsburgh shares.


Farewell

🍕 East Liberty’s Pizza Taglio, known for its wood-fired pizzas, will close later this month.

🍺 The Downtown location of Belgian beer bar Sharp Edge Bistro will “be closing our doors for the last time,” according to sign on the venue’s door.

🥗 Downtown’s Union Standard has closed.

🍷 Brugge on North at Alphabet City is closing after a two-year run on the North Side.

🍝 After 60 years, the Colaizzi family has closed Alexander’s Italian Bistro in Bloomfield.

🐱 Colony Cat Cafe bid farewell to the Strip District after finding homes for 350 cats.

🍳 A Butler Street classic, Coca Cafe is up for sale.

🍺  Full Pint Brewing is up for sale and will “stay open until we run out of beer.”

🍟 In one of the biggest restaurant stories of the year, The O in Oakland shut its doors, The Pitt News reports.

Like this story? Put your logo on it. We’re looking for sponsors for our mega-popular monthly openings-and-closings series. Think your business is the right fit? Let’s talk! Email: benjamin@whereby.us.