Oakland home to University, students, bars and pizza

New students, get used to it: Oakland is where you’ll spend most of your college careers.

The… New students, get used to it: Oakland is where you’ll spend most of your college careers.

The neighborhood includes the University’s academic buildings, residence halls and off-campus housing for a large portion of Pitt’s student population. From vast botanical gardens to a notorious $5 pizza rivalry, Oakland’s diversity and intrigue never leave college students without something to do.

Oakland is separated geographically into three different sections. North Oakland encompasses the area north of campus and borders the Hill District and Shadyside. Central Oakland surrounds Fifth and Forbes avenues, which is home to the Cathedral of Learning and most academic buildings. South Oakland, the residential neighborhood that stretches all the way to Route 376, is the childhood home of Andy Warhol and NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino.

Oakland contains a mixture of chain and family-owned businesses. Chains include Chipotle, Panera and Subway, while families own Pamela’s Diner, Fuel & Fuddle and Leena’s Food.

Also tucked between the hospitals and the academic buildings are the Carnegie Museums, Phipps Conservatory and Schenley Park, which are popular destinations for college students because they can access them for free with their student IDs.

Oakland is also home to the famous $5 pizza war. Sorrento’s Pizza Roma and Antoon’s Pizza, both late-night favorites among Pitt students, are competing pizza shops in Oakland.

Established in 1974 and located on Atwood Street, Sorrento’s is Oakland’s longest-standing pizza shop. Students have voted Sorrento’s the “Best Pizza in Oakland” for the past five consecutive years in The Pitt News’ “Best Of” Edition, which runs each fall.

Sorrento’s sells $5 large pies after 8 p.m. every night and all day Saturday. Antoon’s offers large pies for $4.90 every day.

Manager Eric Majeski said that students love Sorrento’s traditional recipes and fun environment.

“There’s a real tradition here,” Majeski said. “It tastes the same as it did in 1974.”

Majeski said that college students are a large part of what makes the restaurant upbeat and thriving.

“This place is pure Oakland,” Majeski said.

Less than a block past Sorrento’s sits neighborhood rival Antoon’s Pizza, which has also accumulated a respectable number of “Best Pizza in Oakland” plaques from The Pitt News over the years.

Justin Abraham has worked at Antoon’s — which his grandparents opened in 1997 — for the past ten years.

“It’s got a great family atmosphere,” said Abraham, who spends many nights working in the small shop with his brother and uncle. “We love talking to people, and we’ve made a lot of friends.”

Abraham said the business sees “something new every week,” recalling one particular incident in which two roommates ran under the counter and around the kitchen, fighting and yelling at each other in Spanish. He said he called the police and held the two off each other with his uncle until they arrived.

Both restaurants — filled with college students on any given weekend night — said they can easily shovel out five hundred or more pizzas in a night.

Oakland’s nightlife has come under increased criticism recently. Councilman Bruce Kraus said last fall that he received an abnormally high number of complaints from South Oakland residents concerning students’ late-night conduct. The complaints prompted Kraus to set up informal meetings with concerned residents to address ways to ameliorate the student revelry situation.

So far, the problem hasn’t resulted in any formal action taken besides ensuring that students are properly educated on their expected behavior. All incoming students must recite the “Pitt Promise,” which obligates students to uphold University expectations and commits them to the advancement of learning and service to society.

Sophomore Angela DeCandia said that she appreciates the Oakland atmosphere for its activeness. Pitt’s heavy involvement in the larger Oakland community has encouraged her to take a more active role in the neighborhood by engaging in activities such as Pitt’s Project Oakland in March, in which students split up into groups and pick up trash around Oakland.

“It’s a great place to go to school,” she said. “You look down Forbes, and it feels like a city, and then you walk into an old, family-owned restaurant and get that small-town feel.”