2 Pittsburgh restaurants close for good, but 2 new ones open

In the past few weeks, we had a few closure announcements from both big and small names, two new spots bringing flavors from different continents and a tear-jerker of an approval from the Pittsburgh Planning Commission for yinz who spent your 20-somethings Downtown.

Here’s your main course:

Closings

Station has left the station.

On Tuesday, Feb. 6, chef and owner Curtis Gamble announced that he’d be moving to Tennessee, and the 9-year-old Bloomfield staple would close.

“We’ve been through a lot in this space,” Gamble says in a press release. “The irony of this is that we’re doing great, all things considered. Our fantastic team and strong collaborative partnerships have been the fuel behind a lot of our recent successes. I’m going to miss that part of Station and of Pittsburgh.”

Station’s last day was Friday, Feb. 16, but Gamble will host a few pop-up events featuring popular dishes and cocktails through the spring. Keep an eye on Station’s Facebook or Instagram for announcements.

Bull River announced the closure of its Whitehall and Squirrel Hill locations, as well as its taco food trucks, on Tuesday, Feb. 27. Its White Oak location — address listed above — will remain open.

On Facebook, the Bull River account commented that inflation and the rising cost of goods led to the closure.

Four days earlier, Bull River’s Facebook promoted booking the taco trucks for private events and its Instagram advertised franchising opportunities. Kevin Griffin, the White Oak franchise’s owner who is unaffiliated with the other locations, said the trucks were the property of the two closed locations and are no longer available.

Questions about franchising, he says, are better left to Bull River’s corporate team, which has no contact information save a contact form on its website.

Griffin’s location in White Oak is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays; noon to 8 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 7 p.m. Sundays.

Youngstown-based Yosteria’s Sharpsburg location curiously closed up shop on Tuesday, Nov. 28. The closure caused no waves, save a single Reddit thread. The poster tells a tale of dining in that Saturday and then seeing the spot disappear from the restaurant’s site three days later. A handful of comments grieve the loss.

“Been meaning to take my wife,” one comment posted a month after the original thread reads, “we have never been before and today was the day … O well.”

The Brinery from Bridge City Brinery is soon to open in the space.

Yosteria owner Alex Zordich, who spoke to NEXT ahead of the location’s August opening, did not respond to a request for comment.

Openings

The Strip District has a new food hall hosting seven new Asian restaurants.

That’s enough said, but here are more details anyway. The hall opened on Friday, March 1, in the Terminal near the 20th Street breezeway with the following restaurants: Lolo’s Kusina, a Filipino street food spot; sushi and rice bowl specialist Mola; Vietnamese Bistro Tan Lac Vien; Kung Fu Chicken; Korean Garden 2; Teachana, a new concept serving boba tea and ramen; and Korean bakery Sumi’s Cakery.

Novo’s central bar serves, in addition to the usual suspects, cocktails with unique Asian spirits.

Novo is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

A little over a month ago, what was previously Ross Cafe had a glow-up. Deniz Mediterranean Cuisine remains in the Ross Cafe storefront. Its American, Turkish and Mediterranean menu is mostly the same as well, with a few additions.

Take your picky friends or kids — they can get pizza or eggs and French toast (Deniz serves breakfast all day) while you flex your superior palette and scarf down a kebab, Turkish manti dumplings or a Sultan Delight — creamy eggplant, onion and tomato topped with lamb or beef.

Deniz Mediterranean is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

News bites

Market Square McDonalds

Pittsburgh college students of the last five decades: The last bastion of your youth has sizzled out like an overcooked patty. The old Market Square McDonald’s is well on its way through the renovation process that will turn it into a Huntington Bank — thematically, nothing could be more fitting.

The Pittsburgh Planning Commission approved the bank’s redevelopment proposal, and renovations are underway. 

Long story short, you can still drop off your spare bills here, but it’s a lot less rewarding after a night on the town.

Fish Frys

Lent is about halfway over, which — for secular crowds — continues to mean only one thing: fish.

If you’re looking for a fish fry, check out NEXT staff favorites around town or the winners of our Best Fish Fry contest. Need more options? Here’s the impressive and extensive 2024 Pittsburgh Fish Fry Map, courtesy of Hollen Barmer.