Summer may be coming to an end, but Pittsburgh Restaurant Week is ready to heat things up even more. About 50 restaurants will be offering special menus from Monday, August 12, through Sunday, August 18. Participating establishments will be offering multi-course, prix fixe meals to show off their skills—literally. Check out the list and make reservations on the Pittsburgh Restaurant Week website.
In other Pittsburgh food news, James Beard Award-nominated chef Bethany Zozula announced via social media that her restaurant and bar 40 North was permanently closing on July 28.
40 North – a nod to Pittsburgh’s global latitude and the restaurant’s address – was hosted in Alphabet City. Writers’ and artists’ asylum City of Asylum has operated out of Alphabet City since the building opened in 2017. Brugge on North occupied the restaurant’s space from 2018 to 2020.
In the post announcing the closure, Zozula writes that staff were notified of the closure at 5 p.m., which was exactly when the restaurant’s usual evening service began. Following the closure, 40 North’s Instagram account was renamed “whatwaspgh.” The restaurant’s Facebook page has since been deactivated.
Three days later, on the evening of August 1, Kathy Bzdziak – the chief financial officer of 40 North LLC, an independent company that leases the space – sent a message to City of Asylum’s email subscribers confirming the restaurant’s closure. Bzdziak did not specify why 40 North had closed and never mentioned the concept by name, calling it simply “the restaurant in Alphabet City.” Bzdziak then issued a press release on August 2, but largely reused information from the previous message.
“We have loved providing our neighbors with wonderful food over the years and are excited to continue serving the community,” she wrote in the Aug. 1 post. “We are in this for the long haul. We love the unique blend of ingredients that make up Alphabet City and building community together.”
Bzdziak then announced that the space would reopen in mid- to late August as Alfabeto, a Northern Italian restaurant helmed by Chef Maurizio Esposito, who has had a long and successful career in restaurants around the world and has been executive chef at the Richard DeShantz Group’s Fish Nor Fowl since February.
Esposito is also married to Caro Llewellyn, who joined City of Asylum as executive director in January.
Comments on the Instagram post announcing the closure were varied. Some thought the account had been hacked, others were confused as to why the post came a day after 40 North announced new specials, and others were angry that management had pulled the rug out from under the restaurant’s staff.
“As a new hire, I just want to say that Chef Beth and every other member of the (team) did an outstanding job and the business owner made a huge mistake by throwing away this unique restaurant vision in an incredibly disrespectful and inappropriate manner (just minutes before the last shift of the work week),” writes Ami Furgang.
In an Instagram story on her personal account, Zozula wrote that she was taking a momentary break from the internet, but hinted that she would return soon.
To stay up to date on Alfabeto and Zozula’s future endeavors, follow our food and drink coverage.
I hope you’re still hungry because that was just a taste. Here’s more Pittsburgh restaurant news:
Closures
The Cadillac packed up and drove off in the middle of the night – no, this is not the beginning of a hit from the 50s.
The Robinson restaurant closed abruptly on Friday, July 26. A sign hung on the door that read, “We are grateful for the support of our community and encourage our guests to visit us at another nearby Landry’s location!”
Landry’s restaurant brand purchased Cadillac Ranch after its parent company filed for bankruptcy in late 2019, according to restaurant publication FSR Magazine. Landry’s also owns the national Rainforest Cafe chain and the Grand Concourse at Station Square.
Users of the r/Pittsburgh subreddit write that the quality of Cadillac Ranch began to decline around the same time.
“Surprised it lasted another 5 years,” writes one user.
Landry made no statement about the closure.
Josh Sickels is leaving White Oak with his pizzeria, but the concept isn’t staying forever. Sickels confirmed on Facebook that Rockaway Pizzeria will be leaving White Oak later this year and moving to a new home in Regent Square.
In the July 25 post, Sickels writes that he has lived in Regent Square since the Rockaway opened in 2017 and that the move will make his life “a lot easier” — he has since opened the “irreverent food and cocktail” restaurant Hemlock House in the area.
“As much as I would love to keep the White Oak location open, I can’t,” Sickels writes. “Rockaway is my baby. It can’t exist without me. My staff is great and does a great job of recreating my pizza, but Rockaway was a concept in my tiny apartment in Greenfield long before I opened. Most of my recipes are based on flavor, and that flavor exists only in my head. No one but me can replicate it exactly. I have no interest in offering a half-hearted version of something I’ve dedicated my entire life to.”
More information regarding the closure and subsequent reopening will follow. Currently, the White Oak location remains open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
opening hours
Beercode, the newest restaurant at Pittsburgh International Airport, brings a crucial part of the city’s identity to its biggest hub: the beer scene.
The gastropub unofficially opened in June ahead of its grand opening ceremony on Thursday, August 1, and is the first of many new shops and restaurants that will populate the airport’s Airside Terminal when the modernization project is completed next year.
Beercode has Dancing Gnome Beer, Helicon Brewing, Cinderlands Beer Co., Abjuration Brewing and 11th Hour Brewing Co. on tap. The menu features a mix of pub classics, healthier fare and Pittsburgh favorites and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You can’t go wrong with a burger, chicken Caesar salad, giant pretzel or pierogi, but don’t be afraid to stray from the norm. Beercode’s Chicken and Waffles have the perfect balance of sweet, savory and spicy and are definitely a treat – especially when paired with 11th Hour Brewing’s New Cult, a New England-style IPA with little hops.
In August, the new venue’s connection to local brews will double down: Four of the merchants — with the exception of Dancing Gnome — will offer beers brewed in collaboration with Black organizations for Barrel & Flow, a local Black arts and brewing festival that culminates this Saturday, August 10.
“We have about 50 collaborations in addition to the 40 black breweries that are here – that’s about 80 breweries,” says Barrel & Flow organizer Day Bracey. “Part of this festival is finding as many touchpoints as possible when people come to town.”
“If you want to have a beer on the way in or out, you can do that and at the same time support the festival and get these exclusively brewed beers.”
In an interview after Beercode’s grand opening event, Bracey said the airport reached out too late to connect them with nationally known black-owned breweries this year. But even though there won’t be any black beers on tap, Bracey is excited for the local recognition this collaboration may garner.
“There will be at least four black-owned businesses that can tell their friends, ‘Hey, my beer is on tap at the airport,'” Bracey says. “That’s huge.”
The Open Road has … closed a storefront for its new bar.
The Allentown-based soft drink retailer is literally raising the bar at a future location in Garfield. Owner Mel Babitz first posted the move on Instagram on July 13.
In an email to NEXTpittsburgh, Babitz writes that the opening will happen in two phases. Open Road’s retail store is scheduled to move from its current Allentown location to Garfield in late September. The on-site non-alcoholic bar, which will operate in the same location, is scheduled to open later this year — “hopefully in time for Dry January.”
After Jeremy Miller retired and closed Homestead’s Blue Dust bar in September 2023, the building did not remain empty for long.
Ten months of renovations later, the food truck and catering service Rogue BBQ is now based here. Here you can find the usual suspects – smoked pulled pork, chicken halves, brisket and ribs – as well as a whole range of appetizers and main courses.
Plus, Wednesday night is wing night: smoked wings for $1.25 and fried wings for 60 cents from 4 p.m. until supplies sell out.
Rogue BBQ is open Monday through Wednesday from 11 a.m. to midnight and Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
If a food truck converted into a real restaurant wasn’t enough for you this month, here’s a second helping: Tasty Taquitos now has its own brick-and-mortar location in Millvale.
Over the years, Taquitos has evolved from food truck to food cart and is now a permanent fixture at the Evergreen Cafe in Point Breeze. The Millvale location, which opened on July 24, is located in the old Millvale Diner.
There’s not much to say about the menu, as the place evolved from a Mexican food truck. Tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and more are offered, with plenty of interchangeable meat options from chicken and steak to al pastor and tinga. Taquitos’ chipotle cheese sauce is smooth with a slightly spicy kick, and the many different salsas can completely change the flavor of any dish. Plus, the tres leches are outstanding.
Taquitos Millvale is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
After seven years of testing, Alberta’s pizza truck is on the rise at a new location on Pittsburgh’s North Side.
Owner and pizzaiolo Beau Mitall began planning the location following the success of his food truck and brewery pop-ups in 2023, the pizzeria’s website says.
From small plates and salads to Italian desserts and pizzas made fresh daily, even pickier eaters than my sister will find something they like.
Alberta’s is open Thursdays and Fridays from 4:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
