‘Melting pot’: Oakland restaurant scene evolves in recent years

Looking down Forbes Avenue, the vast variety of dining options might overwhelm Pitt students. But with an estimated $72 million in dining sales annually, it’s no surprise that these restaurants would want to take a bite for themselves.

Roots, Piada and Mt. Everest Sushi offer quick bites for students, while Fuel & Fuddle, The Porch at Schenley and Stack’d provide a longer, sit-down eating experience. Oakland’s options haven’t always been so extensive — the neighborhood has largely transitioned from primarily small businesses to a blend of large corporate chains and smaller, family-owned eateries.

Throughout the years, many establishments opened and closed their doors on and around Forbes Avenue. Essie’s Original Hot Dog Shop, an Oakland staple better known as The O, closed its doors about two years ago, with two new restaurants set to replace it. Other places, such as Uncle Sam’s Subs and Peter’s Pub, have also closed in recent years. But some classic establishments, like Dave & Andy’s Homemade Ice Cream, are still neighborhood staples.

The Atwood Street shop offers a rotating assortment of homemade ice cream flavors and freshly made waffle cones. According to Andy Hardie, president and co-founder of Dave & Andy’s, he opened the parlor in 1983 after graduating from college in Boston.

“I had an idea that I wanted to do ice cream, and when I got here I realized that Pittsburgh had nothing like in Boston — there was only Baskin-Robbins or Dairy Queen,” Hardie said.

Hardie said Oakland looked a lot different in 1983, and it wasn’t always a buzzing neighborhood filled with blocks of eateries and restaurants like it is now.

“It was all single-story buildings,” Hardie said. “There was a hardware store, a variety store, a bakery — it was very small town-like, because there was no McDonald’s or Burger King, nothing like that.”

Much has changed since 1983. Georgia Petropoulos, the executive director of Oakland Business Improvement District, said Oakland’s significant student, employee and residential population has created a huge market for restaurants in the neighborhood.

“Oakland is a vibrant global center, home to a very large customer base,” Petropoulos said, “including over 20,000 residents, 48,000 employees, 44,000 undergraduate, graduate and medical students from over 100 countries and over 1.8 million visitors a year.”

The large number of students and employees hugely impacts businesses like Hardie’s — who said Oakland’s student community is a big benefit.

“You get football games and stuff, and then you get a lot of different groups of people and students, like big groups of freshmen walking around,” Hardie said.

Hardie said he opened his ice cream shop in Oakland because of the history of business success in college towns. Janelle Sakr, owner of Divvy’s Coffee & Buns, was motivated to open in Oakland because of the diversity of its residents.

“When I first moved to the U.S., Pittsburgh was not as diverse as it is now,” Sakr said. “I feel like starting in Oakland is like starting in a melting pot where you see people from different backgrounds, different nationalities and people who come from everywhere to study.”

While Oakland has a plethora of coffee shops and cafes to satisfy a community of caffeine-addicted college students, Divvy’s stands out for its globally inspired dishes, according to Sakr.

“Every item on the menu is named after a city that we traveled to, a city we want to travel to or a city we know people from,” Sakr said. 

Inspired by her love of traveling, the shop offers coffee-infused brioche buns topped with sweet toppings, like the “Sweet Paris” bun drizzled with Nutella, or savory additions, like the “Habibi Lebanon” bun, filled with fresh mint and tomato.”

Divvy’s opened its doors just over a month ago, and Sakr said she wanted to create a space where Pitt students felt at home, especially compared to other coffee places.

“You go a lot to a lot of coffee shops, and they’re either too small to hang out or they’re too commercial where you don’t feel a unique vibe to them,” Sakr said. “So I wanted to create a vibe for everybody to come in and just relax, study and have a cup of coffee.”

Divvy’s isn’t the only new restaurant to open its doors in the past few weeks. Baby Loves Tacos, which got its start in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, just opened its second storefront on Meyran Avenue less than a week ago.

Gary Musisko, a Bloomfield resident and the owner of the new Oakland location, said he opened in the neighborhood due to significant business success in the area and because he wanted to bring his restaurant’s food to Oakland, regardless of other Mexican establishments.

“Just because Chipotle is somewhere doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place for us as well,” Musisko said. “I think what we’re doing is just way different, and anyone in their right mind in Pittsburgh would want to have a place in Oakland.”

Musisko said while business is booming in Oakland, he believes the neighborhood lost some of the charm and culture that it used to have 20 years ago.

“In the past 20 years, Oakland has closed off,” Musisko said. “It has been made really safe, which is great, but just like in New York City, gentrification ends up taking away certain art forms and different cultural forms.”

Musisko said he wants to see more creative spaces in the area, and that artistic forms such as poetry performances significantly decreased in the past 20 years.

“The idea that someone would be reading poetry somewhere was not crazy, or doing tons of spoken word or slam poetry,” Musisko said. “The owners of businesses were invested in the culture because they’re part of the culture, as opposed to exploiting the culture for money.”

Along with bringing his restaurant’s spin on tacos and burritos to the area, Musisko said he also plans to bring artistic events, such as hosting plays on Sundays and live bands.

“People will come in and see like one or two plays, and we’re also gonna have live bands,” Musisko said. “If you talk to any slick corporate person, their response will be to say that bands don’t make you money. OK, so they don’t — but I like these people and people like music.”

According to Musisko, he believes his restaurant distinguishes itself from others due to his friendly personality, as well as that of his employees.

“What makes stuff magic is because of personalities and people,” Musisko said. “You start to lose that magic the minute you start to change something into a strictly transactional arrangement.”

Both new restaurants like Musisko’s and older establishments like Dave & Andy’s offer their own charms to Oakland, supported by the community of students, professionals and residents. For Sakr, Oakland’s appeal to aspiring business owners like herself is obvious.

“Oakland is just like that kind of melting pot where a lot is happening, and I think everybody is seeing the evolution of how many new businesses are coming here,” Sakr said. “Oakland has a special place in my heart.”