Development News

For the first time in recent memory, an unused lot in Downtown Pittsburgh is being transformed into a one-night-only Night Market, giving city residents one more reason to venture to (or stay in) the Golden Triangle after work.  The Night Market, which takes places this Friday from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. will feature music by DJ Soy Sos, independent vendors of jewelry, art, and crafts, and food from a variety of local eateries.

Jeremy Waldrup, president of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, says his organization created this event in order to showcase this particular stretch of Liberty Avenue as a block filled with activity, including a variety of bars and restaurants, and the August Wilson Center. 

“By providing individuals with another reason to come to this street we hope to encourage more folks to mill around downtown and see what opportunities there are to experience,” Waldrup says. 

At Friday’s market (located at 917-919 Liberty Avenue), the restaurant Meat & Potatoes will offer a preview of food from its new concept, Pork & Beans, which is expected to open later this fall.  And Conflict Kitchen, which is set to open Downtown in the coming months, will also be serving food.

Among the 15 independent vendors will be Tugboat Printshop and Devorah Naturals.  And café tables and chairs will be set up at the Night Market to encourage guests to linger in the space.

This Friday is also the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl, which begins at 5:30 p.m. 

“It should fit very well into the [Gallery Crawl] with people exploring that area,” says Ida D’Errico, of PDP.

D'Errico says this is the only Night Market currently planned, but based on the event’s success there could be more in the future.

“Pittsburgh enjoys various markets and our outdoor plazas, and so potentially this could expand into another location at some future point in time,” she says.

The Night Market is the latest endeavor to come from the Project Pop Up Program, a partnership between Mayor Ravenstahl, the URA, City Planning, and the PDP.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Jeremy Waldrup, Ida D’Errico

A new event space is opening in  East Liberty which aims to be the missing link between nightlife and cultural institutions.  The venue is a project of the Pittsburgh-based audio-visual collective VIA, best known for their annual three-day VIA Music & New Media Festival.

"In Pittsburgh, and a lot of cities, I think there’s a clear line between nightclubs and music and art gallery," says VIA's media coordinator Tara George.  "Those scenes don't really overlap a lot of times.  So I think this will be a great opportunity to bring both of those cultures together."

Known as 6119 (the venue's address on Penn Avenue), the space will be a renovation of a 3,000 square-foot former social club, in partnership with the building's owner, East Liberty Development (ELDI).  Programming will include DJ/club nights, video screenings, experimental performances, small concerts, and pop-up programming and exhibitions

The space, which has been inactive for the past decade, will offer a large performance area, bar and lounge, and a small mezzanine for installations.  Bar nights at the venue will be presented by Lawrenceville's Round Corner Cantina. 

George says the space will also be used to host some of the events for the VIA Music & New Media Festival, which has previously been held in various venues throughout the city.

Next week's grand opening weekend (July 20-21) will feature French hip hop beatmaker Onra and Toy Selectah (Mad Decent), Mexico's "moombaton mix-master."  And in keeping with VIA's efforts to integrate visuals with music, local emerging video/new media artists Di-Ay Battad and Timothy Sherman VJ will  create audience-interactive visuals in conjunction with the main acts.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Tara George

The former Arsenal Bank building in Lawrenceville may again handle tender, this time in the form of a restaurant.  The owners of Verde Mexican Kitchen in Garfield are planning a new concept for the space on Butler Street, called Tender Kitchen & Bar.

“We get the name from the building itself, as a storied institution that exchanged legal tender for many, many decades,” says owner Jeff Catalina.   “We adopted the name Tender, and are having some fun with it.”

Catalina is calling the planned eatery a “classic American cocktail lounge,” with a menu that emphasizes regional American cuisine. 

Catalina says he and wife Erin had already planned to bring multiple restaurant concepts to Pittsburgh, but that the idea for Tender was largely influenced by the historic structure. The concept adapted itself to the space, he says.

Catalina’s vision for the restaurant is Gatsby-esque, with influences from the prohibition era, and a balance of modern construction and finishes.  The building, built in 1887, currently retains many original details, and 14-and-a-half foot ceilings. 

The restaurant will seat between 90 and 100 guests.  Moss Architects, who were also responsible for the design of Verde, will work with the Catalina’s again at Tender. 

The menu will borrow dishes from regional styles across America, such as pierogis from Pittsburgh, Cincinnati Chili, San Francisco sourdoughs, Maine lobster rolls, and a playful take on MoonPies from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

As for drinks, Catalina says he envisions Tender filling the classic cocktail void left by the closing of Embury in 2011. The bar will feature homemade soft drinks, bitters, infusions, and syrups.

Pending zoning approvals and the purchase of a liquor license, Catalina says the restaurant could be open by December.  The restaurant will be open for dinner six days a week.
 

Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Jeff Catalina

After two days of ThinkBike workshops, the City of Pittsburgh is ready to bring the highest level of bicycle infrastructure to Oakland. 

Based on the recommendations of Dutch mobility experts, the City is beginning the process of installing separated cycle tracks in the Fifth-Forbes corridor of this heavily trafficked neighborhood. 

According to the City's Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator Stephen Patchan, cycle tracks represent the most progressive piece of bicycle infrastructure currently available, and offer the highest level of safety for both cyclists and motorist.

Cycle tracks are on-street, bicycle-only paths, and often include physical barriers, such as curbs, between automobiles and cyclists.  In Homestead, a cycle track was recently installed along the Great Allegheny Passage.  The proposed track in Oakland would be the first in Pittsburgh.

Patchan says the city has no timeline for installing the cycle tracks, and will conduct extensive public outreach and engineering studies before selecting a design and location.  He says the project will necessarily impact existing conditions for automobiles.

“We're trying to figure out a way to mitigate the impacts, but also provide a piece of infrastructure that's required for getting from hundreds [of cyclists]...to several thousand cyclists biking through that corridor.”

Although the corridor is currently used by many bicycle commuters, Patchan says the street’s current design--three to four lanes of one-way traffic--doesn’t encourage new riders.

“It takes a certain personality to ride on that street,” he says.

ThinkBike is a multi-city initiative of Dutch experts and companies to increase bicycle use in the U.S. and Canada.  Since the first workshop in Toronto, ThinkBike has been held in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Miami and Los Angeles.

Patchan says ThinkBike contacted the City to host a workshop because of its rising reputation as a bicycle-friendly city, and its maturing cycling community.

But Patchan says the city intends to do more, and create cycling infrastructure on-par with the best Dutch cities.

"We're going to be a world-class bicycle city, so we're going to need the infrastructure for it," he says.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Stephen Patchan

Designer Days Boutique (DDB) has moved to a larger, more prominent location in Squirrel Hill, expanding the opportunity to combine shopping with a good cause.

The consignment shop, which opened Monday at 5873 Forbes Avenue, sells upscale designer clothing, including items by Alexander McQueen, Alice+Olivia, Armani, and Betsy Johnson, among others, as well as jewelry and designer purses.  In addition, the boutique has just begun to offer designer clothing for men.

But because the boutique operates on a non-traditional business model, purchases at DDB do more than make you look good, they benefit the community as well.

DDB is a project of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Pittsburgh Section. The boutique is one of three social enterprises run by NCJW that generates revenue to support nonsectarian community service and advocacy programs aimed at increasing the economic independence of women.  

NCJW's programs include the Suit Yourself Voucher Program, which provides free business clothing to women re-entering the workforce; Back to Work, an internship program for at-risk and low-income women; and Back to School, which allows children to shop for free at NCJW's Thriftique shop for back-to-school clothes.

At DDB, 50% of sale revenues are given back to consigners, with the other half funding NCJW's community service work.

The new space, which replaces the former Occasions dress shop, will also be used to host NCJW's Girls' Night Out event series which raises funds for local nonprofits.  

In addition to DDB, NCJW operates two other retail stores, a thrift shop, Thriftique, and a home furnishings consignment shop, Home Consignments, both located in Swissvale.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Jennifer Honig, NCJW

Thanks to a federal TIGER grant East Liberty will soon be the home of a new $34 million multi-modal transit center.  The planned infrastructure project will reconnect the busway with the neighborhood's street grid, and improve pedestrian and bicycle connections for transit riders. 

Once raised to street level, the center will connect transit users to existing destinations along Centre and Penn Avenues in a more pedestrian-friendly manner, and will further improve connections between East Liberty and Shadyside.  Design improvements will include expanded walkways and a new pedestrian bridge, as well as bicycle corrals and bicycle parking.

The East Liberty Transit Center will replace the current East Liberty Busway Station.  City officials anticipate the project will spur more transit-oriented development in an area that has already benefited from numerous redevelopment projects in recent years.

The transit center is considered the centerpiece of the privately-funded, 10 1/2 acre Eastside III and IV developments, a project of the Mosites Company.  Mosites’ earlier Eastside developments include Whole Foods, Trek of Pittsburgh, and several popular restaurants, among other businesses.

Mayor Ravenstahl’s Press Secretary Joanna Doven says spurring this type of privately-funded, transit oriented development is exactly the type of project these TIGER grants were designed to assist.

“Repurposing that bus station into a comprehensive transit center is a key factor in creating two new prime developments,” including Bakery Square 2.0 and Eastside III and IV, Doven says.

The City had applied for the $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, TIGER IV discretionary grant program, back in March, and received the grant last week.  Doven says the City hopes to break ground on the transit center in the spring of 2013.
 

Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Joanna Doven

Pay attention to vacant lots in the East End, as they might come alive overnight.  A partnership between Epic Development and the Strip District restaurant Bar Marco is transforming unused parcels of land into pop-up beer gardens throughout the summer in East Liberty, Lawrenceville, Downtown, and the Strip District.

The first pop-up event, called Tapped, was held this past Saturday in the Strip.  Epic Development founder Michael McAllister says he got the idea for these pop-up beer gardens while attending school in Washington D.C., where similar events were taking place.

“The whole idea is to take a site that's inactivated and turn it back over to the community,” McAllister says.

Epic and Bar Marco are seeking to partner with landowners who want to gain exposure for an upcoming development project, or with folks who are simply willing to activate an unused space.  McAllister says it’s an opportunity to build community and connections within a neighborhood.

Saturday’s Tapped event was held on a lot adjacent to Bar Marco’s restaurant on Penn Avenue.  Food was provided by the Franktuary food truck and Lucy’s banh mi sandwich cart, with beer from East End and Full Pint breweries.  The event lasted from 11 a.m to midnight, with DJ’s, bacci courts, and a block party atmosphere.

After moving back to Pittsburgh, McAllister says he noticed a large number of entrepreneurs taking risks with out-of-the-box businesses, especially with exciting, food-related endeavors.  He sees these pop-up parties as a way to continue building excitement for the local, small-business community.

McAllister says the events will be planned organically, and will take a grassroots approach to promoting each pop-up party.
 
The next pop-up party will take place within the next month in Lawrenceville, at a location yet to be determined.
 

Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Micahel McAllister

What comes to mind when you think of Braddock?  Probably not fine dining.
 
That will change soon with the arrival of Chef  Kevin Sousa to this once-booming part of Pittsburgh.  Sousa, known for his restaurants Union Pig and Chicken, Station Street Hot Dogs and, most notably, Salt of the Earth, is opening a new restaurant in Braddock that is sure to cause a stir.
 
Housed in a 6000 square foot building at the corner of Eighth and Braddock, the restaurant will be called Magarac, named after Joe Magarac, who is described by Sousa as a legendary folklore hero who watched over steel industry employees since the 1930’s.  The title was fitting, says Sousa, since Braddock is home to the only steel mill left in a town once almost exclusively employing steel workers.
 
Sousa is staying true to what he does with "a creative, modern American menu” and farm to table cuisine with an adjacent lot for harvesting local food. As part of that sustainable philosophy, he will obtain much of the meat used from a friend's farm outside of Pittsburgh.
 
He recognizes that this is an extremely ambitious project but is confident that it will prosper. “What we’re doing will be special enough in concept and execution that people will travel [to Braddock] for destination dining," he says. Sousa won't have far to go since he plans on moving down the street into the Ohringer Building where he will live in a loft, not yet built, with his wife and two daughters. He is receiving special funding from Heritage Community Initiatives, which owns the building for the restaurant, and will get free rent for two years.
 
That will allow him to do more, such as devote a subsection of the space on the side of building to “quick, casual takeout, filling different needs for the community," he says. Taking it a step farther, anyone with proof of borough residency will get a 50 percent discount.  (That in turn could inspire more people to move there.)
 
The basement will be converted to a cocktail lounge where entrées will also be available for up to 40 people. The ground floor will host the main dining room with seating for 60.  Private dining will also be available.

Magarac, which will also feature local art and craft brewing on the premises, will open sometime in 2013.
 
Writer: Emily Shields, Pop City intern
Source: Kevin Sousa
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has voted to approve two projects that will bring new residences and retail or office space to the Lawrenceville and Sheraden neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, including apartments in Doughboy Square and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program in Sheraden.

The Doughboy Apartments, located in the 3400 block of Butler Street, is a mixed-used development in Lawrenceville that will include 39 residential units and approximately 17,000 square feet of first-floor commercial space. 

The infill project will be located amongst a mix of old and new structures, like The Clemente Museum’s historic Engine House 25, and newly constructed townhomes on Butler Street.

“Right now, most of this property is vacant land, so it'll provide an attractive building to anchor a pretty strategic location in the corridor,” says Tom Cummings of the URA.  “It will bring additional residents to the community that will help to bolster the main street shopping district.”

The URA approved a $1.4 million Pittsburgh Development Fund loan, and a $100,000 Urban Development Fund loan for the project, as well as a request for multifamily financing bonds up to $10 million from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. The total development cost of the project is $13 million.

Developer Ralph A. Falbo, Inc. is partnering with architect Chip Desmone, whose architecture firm is headquartered in the historic Pennsylvania National Bank building in the center of the Doughboy Square.

The apartments will be one- and- two-bedroom units, with basement-level parking.  A majority of the apartments will be market rate, while 20 percent will be offered as affordable housing.  Cummings says neighborhood organizations are very supportive of the housing mix panned for the project.

And in Sheraden, seven abandoned homes will be acquired, rehabilitated, and sold to owner-occupants through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP). 

In January the URA received a $333,400 NSP III grant from the federal program, and PNC Bank has stepped forward to provide $500,000 in acquisition construction financing.

Three of the seven homes, located on Bergman Street, have been acquired, with construction to begin within the next month.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Tom Cummings, URA

A revamped Pedal Pittsburgh is just around the corner, and will include several twists to this annual bicycle event, the largest in Pennsylvania.

For the first time, Pedal Pittsburgh will include a car-free section, with roads closed to traffic from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.  The goal is to allow riders of all ages and skill levels to enjoy the streets in comfort and safety.

“Taking away that barrier of car traffic is really nice for folks because they want to be able to ride, they just don't necessarily want to do it in the middle of a bunch of cars,” says Seth Gernot, of Bike Pittsburgh.

Pedal Pittsburgh was created in 1994 as an event to celebrate biking by the Community Design Center of Pittsburgh (CDCP), and was a fundraiser for that organization.  Late last year, CDCP, now called the Design Center, transferred the event to Bike Pittsburgh.

Gernot praises the Design Center for their pioneering efforts, and building the event to a peak of 2,700 riders. He says the Design Center was happy to transition Pedal Pittsburgh to a new home that could help grow the event.

“They really saw the fit and they saw the potential  that it could have aligned with our organization,”  Gernot says.

On the day of the event, August 5th, different routes will be geared for riders of varying levels, including 7-, 30-, and 63-mile routes.

The 7-mile route will be completely car free, with portions of E. Carson Street and the entirety of the Birmingham Bridge closed to vehicular traffic.  Combined with The Rivers Heritage Trail system, the day will boast up to 20 miles of car-free space.

“We're trying to close down more and more roads every year to vehicular traffic so that bikes have a little bit more room on one Sunday a year,” Gernot says.

Pedal Pittsburgh has also moved from May--where it shared calendar space with the Pittsburgh Marathon and Great Outdoors Week--to August.  Bike Pittsburgh is hoping the warmer weather will draw an even greater number of riders to the event.

The event will also feature a Finish Line Festival, soak zone, live music, and professional BMX performances.

Each ride will begin and finish at the South Side Works.  For more information, and to register, visit the Pedal Pittsburgh page here.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Seth Gernot, Bike Pittsburgh

It might be summertime, but the historic halls of the former Fifth Avenue High School are buzzing with activity.  The building's conversion to luxury lofts is now complete, and residents are moving into their new Uptown apartment homes.

It has been 36 years since classes were held in this building, now the Fifth Avenue School Lofts.  The Romanesque/Gothic Revival structure has been converted into 65 rental units, ranging from one-bedroom lofts to two- and three-bedroom units with mezzanine levels.  The average apartment size is 1,250 square feet, with ceilings from 12 to 16 feet high.  Corner units are wrapped in windows, which include historically replicated frames, and rebuilt transoms with arched or rectangular shapes.

Of the 65 units, only 9 penthouse unites are still available.

The residences are a project of Jonathan Hill, EDGE studio, and Casey Steiner, of Impakt Development, among other partners.  Steiner's previous work includes the conversion of a South Side warehouse and the Grant School in Bellevue into loft condominiums. 

The building's 200-foot main hallways feature original tilework and wainscoting, rebuilt by the Strip District's Allied Millwork, and replicated plasterwork by Steel City Plaster.

"It looks like it did 100 years ago," Steiner says.  "We were able to save the package, which was a gorgeous package."

The school’s original iron entry gates have been moved to Fifth Avenue. A “green-screen” fence will support plantings and surround a 85-car parking garage and deck that is under construction.

In addition to the preservation of historic details, Steiner says the building has been retrofitted for energy efficiency, including the addition of foam insulation throughout the interior and attic.

Built in 1894, the former school was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and names a historic landmark by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation and the City of Pittsburgh in 1998 and 1999 respectively. 

The lofts are located at 1800 Fifth Avenue, in Uptown.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Casey Steiner

AMPD Group, the entertainment management group behind Diesel Lounge, Local Bar + Kitchen, and Delanie’s Coffee, is set to open Steel Cactus Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in Shadyside. 

The 3,400-square-foot restaurant will be the group’s sixth concept, and the fourth to open within the last year. 
Co-owner Adam Desimone is calling the concept funky, authentic Mexican, with a made-from-scratch menu featuring tacos, ceviche, burritos, and a variety of salads and entrees.  And saying true to the name, the restaurant will serve fried cactus, and a number of other accompanying cactus preparations.

The restaurant is located in the second story space above Victoria’s Secret on Walnut Street, and has been completely remodeled.  Desimone says they wanted to open the space to the street as the former restaurant space had previously been boxed in.  Now, three-quarters of the space opens with NanaWall windows and a balcony-railing system.

And on top of the restaurant, a 2,400-square-foot roof deck has been added, with layered, semi-private levels, and an island bar at the center.  Desimone says the deck space will be ideal for accommodating groups, and could be rented out in full.

The restaurant received a $150,000 Pittsburgh Business Growth Fund loan and a $5,000 storefront renovation grant from the URA, to assist with opening costs and renovations. 

Desimone expects Steel Cactus to be open by the end of July.  The restaurant will offer lunch and dinner, with a limited late-night menu.   The group has plans to add weekend brunch service in the near future.

In addition to the new restaurant in Shadyside, AMPD is opening a seventh concept called Sky Bar, which will be located above Diesel Lounge via a separate entrance on E. Carson Street.
 

Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Adam Desimone

When a city is divided by race and class, how are its residents' minds affected?  And in a nation filled with struggling cities, what has Pittsburgh done differently to address those divisions?

Next Monday, Dr. Mindy Fullilove will address those questions at a free lecture titled "The Meaning of Things: Pittsburgh's 21st Century Triumph Over 20th Century Urban Renewal." 

Fullilove, a social psychologist at Columbia University, views Pittsburgh as an anomaly among American cities.  She says Pittsburgh has maintained an unusual sense of community despite its fractured past and brutal top-down interventions in neighborhoods like the Hill District and East Liberty.

“Pittsburgh has always been a city of great neighborhoods that are very strong,” Fullilove says.  “Even through all this upheaval… people have really clung to the vision of their neighborhoods and love of their city.”

She says those types of past interventions break a bond between a city and its residents, but that Pittsburghers seem to make a distinction between the city’s politicians and decision makers, and the city as a place of beauty and fellowship, of culture and history.

But perhaps more importantly, Pittsburgh’s leaders seem to have learned from the past, and have changed the way they’re making decisions.  Rather than a top-down approach, Fullilove says there’s been a big shift to a more inclusive, shared decision making process when determining how to reanimate neighborhoods.

 “Which I think is not only really helpful for Pittsburgh, but is something that's going on in the US and around the world, and makes Pittsburgh a real thought leader for the nation,” she says.

Fullilove has studied Pittsburgh's communities for the past 15 years.  Her forthcoming book, Urban Alchemy, tries to identify the key elements of restoring cities from a state of fracture.  She proposes nine elements of restoration that appear to be working in cities in the U.S. and in France, with one case in particular being Pittsburgh.

The lecture will be held at the August Wilson Center, in Downtown (980 Liberty Avenue), at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 18, and is free and open to the public.  For more information or to RSVP, email terickson@cdcp.org or call 412-391-4144.
 

Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Mindy Fullilove

The Saxifrage School is ready to remake higher education. Enrollment has begun for its first ever, full-length course, and the school has just opened a new headquarters in Garfield.

“It's a pretty big deal for us because it's our first substantial prototype that will actually start to look something like the eventual college that we hope to found in the future,” says Saxifrage founder Tim Cook.

The school is a college redesign project that is challenging the concept of higher education.  A goal of the school is to have graduates that leave as "seasoned thinkers, skilled producers, engaged citizens, and social entrepreneurs."

The new headquarters are located within a storefront at 5452 Penn Avenue, across from the new Commonplace Coffee (formerly Voluto).  Cook says substantial renovations were done to the space, including refinished floors and walls, and soon-to-be-completed façade work and window installation.  Funds for the physical improvements were provided by the school’s Sprout Fund grant, and from private donors.

The new prototype class, titled "Web Development 101: Hacker Theory and Practice," will have a focus in both theoretical and practical content.  Students will explore hacker culture and the open-source community while learning to program computers, and establish a foundation for continued skills development.  

Tuition for the 12-week course is $300, and includes a meal during each 3-hour session.  Although the school is not yet accredited, Cook notes that this course is approximately 1/7 the cost of other institutions in the area.  That substantially lower price is a major tenet of Saxifrage’s redesign of higher ed.

On June 19th, the school will kick-off its latest run of short, one-night "courses," titled Pie and Pedagogy. Every Tuesday, various thinkers will engage to the central question, "Why school?," and discuss the future of higher education over pie and coffee.  Past speakers have included artists and farmers, and professors from both Pitt and CMU.  

And although these developments are big milestones for the project, plans are already in motion to kick-off a complete, year-long program in the fall of 2013.  Skills studies will include organic agriculture, building construction and design, and computer development.

For more information, or to enroll, visit the Saxifrage School’s website.


Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Tim Cook

Silvi's SouthSide Kitchen opened last month on East Carson Street, serving what owner Dimitri Ávilas calls a mix of Mexican and American comfort food.  The menu ranges from tacos and enchiladas, to hamburgers and fried shrimp po' boys.

"We hope you come here and feel like you're coming home to Mexican food," Ávilas says. 

The restaurant, named for Dimitri's wife and co-owner, Silvi, is located across from the Birmingham Bridge (2212 E. Carson), and is BYOB.

Silvi, who is originally from Mexico, is responsible for the homemade flour tortillas, and items like burritos and sopadillas, while a few of Dimitri’s offerings are influenced by his Texas upbringing, and include chicken-fried steak, cowboy beans, and a pork tenderloin sandwich.

On Friday and Saturday nights, Silvi's joins the party on Carson Street with its late-night Taco Time menu (tacos only; 9 p.m. to 3 a.m.) and fixings bar; tacos just $3 apiece.

Ávilas came to Pittsburgh three years ago, and had been manager of Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh in the South Side Works (and previously at Hofbräuhaus Newport) before opening Silvi's, the duo's first.

In addition to their storefront location, Ávilas hopes to bring Silvi's home-style Mexican comfort food throughout the city via a roaming food truck in the near future.

Also new to the South Side is Buddy's Brews on Carson (2112 E. Carson), a specialty beer store offering a wide selection of craft, import, and domestic beer and cider.  Buddy's occupies the first floor of a recently renovated, 4-story structure built in 1901.  The storefront space had previously been home to T&T Hardware for 74 years, before it closed in 2010. 

The second and third floors have been renovated as apartment units, with two on each level. 

The space occupied by Buddy's Brews (named after owner Jake Nickman's dog), has been completely remodeled, and includes refinished original floors.  Nickman has begun hosting beer and cider tastings on Fridays, something he hopes to continue as a regular event.

And just over the hill beyond the South Side Slopes, Cafe Retro has recently opened in the Allentown neighborhood.  The restaurant, located at 637 E. Warrington Avenue, is hard to miss for its lime-green storefront.

The cafe serves diner fare—omelets, burgers, and a variety of retro-themed sandwiches—along with smoothies, specialty coffee, and free Wi-Fi.  Owner Ray Meyers encourages patrons to bring laptops and stay awhile, or just come for the food. 

Meyers hopes Cafe Retro will can add to the reanimation of Allentown's business district, which already includes the established Italian restaurant Alla Famiglia. 

Café Retro, 412-709-6647.
 

Writer:  Andrew Moore
Source:  Dimitri Ávilas; Jake Hickman; Ray Meyers

Photo credit: Kristina Helen Schmidt