New Pittsburgh restaurant openings & what’s going on with Adda?

Happy New Year, Pittsburgh! Since our last roundup in early December, Pittsburgh’s restaurant scene has grown rapidly, but the month’s biggest news is a recent closing.

On the morning of Thursday, Jan. 11, Adda Coffee and Tea House’s Facebook page advertised its merch and eats ahead of the weekend. Eleven hours later, another post announced the closure of all locations, waxing lyrical about the community and connections the four Pittsburgh cafés had created during the company’s eight-year run, adding that Adda had been struggling to regain its footing financially since the Covid-19 pandemic.

That post did not note that Adda employees had announced unionization efforts the same day.

Former Adda baristas held a press event on Wednesday, Jan. 17, to demand access to stores — owner Sukanta Nag had locks changed the same day as the announcement of the closure — to retrieve personal belongings, paid-time-off payouts and severance pay.

The event had a broad draw, attracting local and state politicians. Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Lieutenant Gov. Austin Davis both spoke at the event, with state Rep. Lindsay Powell, and state Sens. Jim Brewster and Lindsey Williams also in attendance.

“I want to express to you all as clearly as I can: This is not a story of failure for us,” Chris Gratsch, formerly a lead barista, said at the event. “Our union is still strong — more united than ever — and we will not stop until justice is served.”

The unionization effort and subsequent closure overshadowed another story about eats in the Steel City: Pittsburgh City Council voted to ban the sale of foie gras — “fat liver” in French — at its regular meeting on Dec. 18, 2023.

“I have concerns about potential costs with litigating this down the road, but that’s not to say there are other things this body has voted on that are important because we care about them,” Councilwoman Barb Warwick said at the meeting. “I know that there are some businesses that have concerns and this notion of telling people what they can and can’t eat. This is not about telling people what they can and can’t eat, this is about animal cruelty.”

A violation of the new legislation results in a $500 fine, though sellers can gain an exemption with proof that no force-feeding of the goose or duck occurred.

Strap in — those were just hors d’oeuvres. From openings at the end of last year to warm winter eats, here’s a nice chunk of Pittsburgh food news for you to chew on.

Closing

After four years of business, all-American breakfast and sandwich restaurant Blue Line Grille shut off its burners on Dec. 31, 2023. In a Facebook post, the owners wrote that the closing was “not a goodbye, but just a see you later.”

The post noted that the Facebook page would be the first place updated should Blue Line return or another restaurant venture start up.

Openings

Kura Revolving Sushi Bar is set to receive competition in SouthSide Works’ interactive Asian restaurant market. Later this year, TOP POT will bring both Chinese hot pot and Korean barbecue to the area.

Hot pot and Korean barbecue are similar dining concepts. When you sit down for either, your party orders raw vegetables and proteins that they cook for themselves at the table. The primary distinction comes in the mode of cooking: A simmering pot of stock rests at the center of your table for hot pot, while Korean barbecue leaves an open grill in the center of the table.

SouthSide Works offered no opening date or timeline in the late-December 2023 press release, so be sure to keep an eye on our food and drink news as the year progresses.

You know how some things generate so much news that you think they’ve been open forever? Cue Burgh’ers Highline.

The Zelienople-based brewery’s 700-square-foot South Side location has been making NEXTpittsburgh lists of upcoming restaurants since 2021, but it finally opened its doors on Dec. 29, 2023.

I haven’t made it to the Highline location yet, but my trip to Burgh’ers Zelienople location taught me two things: Burgh’ers’ fried chicken is just as good as its burgers, and the full-sized sandwiches are only for the brave of heart and large of stomach. Do not trifle, or you shall be sent away with the to-go box of shame. 

The only thing bigger than the sandwiches is the upcoming fourth, 13,000-square-foot location in Millvale. Breweries in Pennsylvania reports that the site will be tapped in mid-2024.

My opinion? Smash, don’t pass.

Burgh’ers Highline opens at 11 a.m. daily and closes at 3 p.m. Sundays, 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, and 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Last October, Curbside on the Run finished its climb up Powers Run Road and officially moved out of its Freeport Road in Blawnox location after 15 years.

Even after the move, Curbside has kept its tight community and immense love of breakfast sandwiches. 

One sleety January morning — the kind where you expect three-quarters of the county to still be in bed for a two-hour delay or working from home — I stopped by to see the new space and found myself in a line four patrons deep. In front of me, a woman ordered coffee and some pastries and then gave a copy of a children’s book she had just published to the Curbside crew. The regular behind me gave a flurry of hellos as he picked out four pints of different soups. His wife sent him for it specifically, he told the room as he picked over pre-wrapped breakfast bread slices and bulging Oreo-stuffed cookies.

My breakfast burrito was similarly packed but with tomato, avocado and sauteed greens. The fillings spared no space for bunched-up tortilla on either end. By the time I was that far in my breakfast, it was too late to notice the breakfast goop stains I’d be sporting in the office that day. Some battles are meant to be lost.

Curbside is open 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

National chain Barcelona Wine Bar quietly opened shop in Pittsburgh last week, bringing international eats and wines.

The Pittsburgh location is manned by Executive Chef David Lee, who was previously executive chef at The Porch at Schenley. Barcelona’s menu primarily consists of tapas — a Spanish appetizer, à la bar food — with a selection of salads, larger plates and desserts for those looking to stay a while. Most menu items come from Lee’s experience with Spanish and Mediterranean flavors, and all are subject to change as Lee experiments and market availability changes.

Barcelona opens daily at 4 p.m., closing at 11 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and midnight Thursdays through Saturdays.

If Curbside will send you running further from town than you ought to be on a weekday morning, fret not! As of Dec. 22, 2023, Wise County Biscuits is serving breakfast from its new Wise County Café on the North Side.

Wise County has biscuit sandwiches, cinnamon sugar biscuit bites and breakfast plates (lunch specials are available after 11 a.m.) Stop by over the weekend for the all-breakfast menu: Johnny Cakes, Chicken Fried Steak and everything else you can’t keep yourself from ordering.

Whatever you do, make sure you’re typing the street address in your Maps app and not your Phone. I don’t think the 911 operators can help you with a bacon, egg and cheese.

Wise County is open Wednesdays through Mondays, 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

This new — as of Dec. 11, 2023 — aptly named restaurant is serving the cure to January chills: bowls of warm, dense stew.

Stew’s menu spans continents and culinary styles; South American-inspired yuca bites (think a potato’s cousin) sit on the same page as a smoked baby back rib sandwich. A traditional beef stew is right above a pork and chorizo stew — an invention of Stew and The Colombian Spot’s owners Karen Perdomo and John Ortiz. Feeling more Eastern European? Most appetizers and stews come with Balkan bread.

Stew is open from 11 a.m. to midnight daily.

AHHHHHHHHH!

Sorry, I was screaming for Leona’s Ice Cream, landing in Lawrenceville’s Lawrence Hall this spring.

Leona’s has been selling pints and sandwiches at restaurants and grocery stores throughout Western Pennsylvania since 2013. (Catch a Yinzer Backstage Pass tour of their factory with Boaz Frankel.)

When the scoop shop — and Lawrence Hall — opens later this year, Leona’s will offer six flavors, sundaes and seasonal treats.

AHHHHHHHHH!

Lawrenceville isn’t the only neighborhood boasting upcoming ice cream. The Waterfront in Homestead announced on Dec. 20, 2023, that it had signed this new tenant.

The chain milkshake bar offering extravagantly topped shakes, ice cream-drowned waffles and cookie ice cream sandwiches has locations all along the southern East Coast. Until the Pittsburgh spot opens, the northernmost shop is in Baltimore.

The Waterfront did not indicate when Crazy Mason’s will open but noted that updates will be posted to its website.