A decade after the hype, the city’s food scene has become more introspective than anticipated
BY: AAKANKSHA AGARWAL
AAKANKSHA AGARWAL
A decade after the hype, the city’s food scene has become more introspective than anticipated
BY: AAKANKSHA AGARWAL // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
In early 2025, Pittsburgh landed three James Beard semifinalist nods: Fet-Fisk for Best New Restaurant, along with Kate Lasky and Tomasz Skowronski of Apteka and Wei Zhu of Chengdu Gourmet for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. Fet-Fisk, already named one of the country’s best new restaurants by The New York Times and Eater, has since advanced to the finalist round. Winners will be announced in June, but whatever the outcome, the message is clear: for a city long called “up-and-coming,” some may have missed the significance of what actually arrived.
The restaurants could hardly be more different from each other. A Nordic dreamscape. A vegan dinner party wrapped in post-Industrial cool. A Sichuan spice temple that challenges every bland notion of authenticity.
But together, these three restaurants reflect a food renaissance that has quietly been building here for the last decade. The hype around dining in 2015 looked outward, mirroring national trends and basking in outsider approval. But in 2025, restaurants look inward. They embrace hyper-local agriculture, heritage-driven menus, and nontraditional paths to excellence.
For years, Pittsburgh’s food scene has flirted with the idea of greatness. There were whispers, designations, and glowing national nods. In 2015, Zagat named it the top food city in America. Soon, Anthony Bourdain rolled into town, drank Iron City beer, and made gnocchi with Kevin Sousa on Parts Unknown . The New York Times came calling. Trendy “best of” restaurant
lists buzzed with Pittsburgh names. Suddenly, Pittsburgh was “next.”
Forsberg remembers the “feeling of 2015,” he tells Pittsburgh City Paper He had just moved to Pittsburgh from Asheville, N. C. Morcilla had opened, The Vandal was plating minimalist brunches in Lawrenceville, and Apteka was quietly testing vegan Polish dishes in borrowed kitchens. There was energy in the air, what he calls a “vitalization.”
Chef Csilla Thackray was living it. She had started at Bar Marco and later cooked at The Vandal, Legume, and Fet-Fisk. “That period between Bar Marco and The Vandal felt like the heady days,” she tells City Paper “It was wild — Bourdain was here, Joey [of The Vandal] and I were in The New York Times . Everyone was talking about Eater lists. But if you really knew Pittsburgh, you also knew the bubble couldn’t last forever.”
At the time, she was still green, caught up in the rush. “I threw myself into this world I barely knew, and, in a way, that mirrored what was happening across the scene. A generation with more disposable income, internet culture, glossy food shows — it all created this sudden appetite for what was happening in kitchens. But I realized I still lacked real skill and depth.”
had all these building blocks in place,” he recalls. “And then COVID hit,” says Forsberg.
Restaurants shuttered. Projects collapsed. Careers paused. Thackray found space to heal and reassess at Churchview Farm. Pop-ups became survival tools. From the wreckage, something quieter and more intentional began to grow.
That shift was felt across the industry.
“THIS ISN’T NEW YORK. THIS ISN’T CHICAGO. YOU’VE GOT TO DREAM BIG — BUT THE CITY WILL CHEW YOU UP AND SPIT YOU OUT IF YOU DON’T HONOR ITS SPIRIT. ”
That realization took her to Legume, where trendiness gave way to technique. “It was the kind of place where you couldn’t coast on the hype. No ephemera. Just classical cooking. That’s where I really became a chef.” Pittsburgh had the bones: a low cost of living, stunning produce from surrounding farms, a tight-knit community of chefs willing to share gear, space, and purveyors. “There were younger, more progressivethinking farmers starting projects. We
Bill Fuller, the co-founder of big Burrito Restaurant Group, which opened genredefining spots like Kaya , Mad Mex , and Soba , sees the arc clearly. “Back in the ’90s, there wasn’t a consumer middle class dining out. It was either country clubs or diners,” he tells CP.
“Pittsburgh is still healing,” Thackray says. “But there’s a drive coming back to restaurants, to diners, to the whole scene. The people who’ve stayed are thinking harder about what’s sustainable, what the city will support, and what kind of stories they want to tell through food.”
But things started to change in the early 2000s as institutions like UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh , and Carnegie Mellon University grew and brought in a steady flow of professionals: engineers, doctors, researchers, and administrators. Many were transplants, used to eating out
Thackray offers a warning to anyone chasing the next wave: “This isn’t New York. This isn’t Chicago. You’ve got to dream big — but the city will chew you up and spit you out if you don’t honor its spirit.”
Now, she’s channeling that spirit into her own project — Titusz, a Hungarian-Austrian
“MAYBE THIS IS THE YEAR FOR THE JAMES BEARD WIN. BUT WHAT MATTERS MORE IS HOW THESE RESTAURANTS REFLECT WHO WE ARE NOW.”
and open to trying something new.
“You had more people with money to spend who wanted more than the oldschool options,” Fuller says. “And when the demand changed with the emerging middle class, the restaurant scene responded.”
That middle — diverse, curious, and hungry — has supported everything from vegan pierogi to foraged fish roe.
restaurant and one of Pittsburgh’s most anticipated openings of 2025. It is a tribute to her grandmother. “Her spirit was remarkable,” Thackray says. “This is an homage to her life as a Hungarian refugee during World War II. A local Hungarian church sponsored her and her family to come to Pittsburgh. That’s how they got here.”
Fet-Fisk, the Scandinavian-leaning pop-up-turned- restaurant, launched last year. Chef Nik Forsberg has built something that feels both stripped-back and cinematic: teal-rimmed glassware, soft golden lights, a menu that reads like a love letter to smoked fish and root vegetables.
There’s no hard line between kitchen and dining room, just Forsberg and his team plating a whole grilled branzino or laying down scallop crudo with pickled apple. And then, of course, the roasted half chicken: crisp-skinned and impossibly tender, a dish that channels both the Swedish farm table and a Sunday dinner.
“We weren’t chasing anything,” Forsberg says. “We were going home.”
Forsberg grew the idea out of stagnation. In the early days of the pandemic, he found himself without a restaurant, rent, or payroll. So Forsberg turned to a city lot and began farming. “We didn’t have a brick-and-mortar yet,” he says. “No rent, no loans. We could just pause.”
He began hosting pop-ups, and, later, launched a prepared food venture out of a commercial kitchen in Shaler called Fet-Fisk: Royal Market. The dishes were Nordic, seasonal, and nostalgic. “They became a memory project,” he says, “built on the way my dad cooked, the way my grandma hosted in Sweden.”
While Forsberg was planting seeds, both literal and figurative, Lasky and Skowronski were already growing Apteka. It, too, was a venture shaped by heritage that became the city’s most improbable success story: a vegan, Central European-inspired restaurant with no signage, no tips, no reservations, and a menu that changes when the cooks feel like it.
In the heart of Bloomfield, Apteka has a space that feels spare but full of character; and the food is surprisingly maximalist: vegan fried pierogi stuffed with all kinds of vegetables and horseradish. Golabki (stuffed cabbage rolls) bathed in a tomato broth. Celeriac Schnitzel that challenges every assumption about what vegetables can do.
“It’s not about romanticizing heritage,” Lasky tells CP “It’s about rethinking it with care.”
The couple draws from Tomasz’s summers in Poland and Lasky’s multigenerational Pittsburgh-Slovak roots. “You don’t have to be Slovak or Polish to love pierogies here,” she adds. “They’re part of the city’s identity.”
“We didn’t need a million-dollar buildout,” Lasky says. “We had a community. It’s still possible to build something small and meaningful in Pittsburgh. You just need a true story to tell.”
Drive north to a McKnight Road shopping plaza and you’ll find Chengdu Gourm et, a sister restaurant to the Squirrel Hill staple that explodes with color and spice. Its original location has long drawn accolades for bold, regionally faithful Sichuan cuisine. But here, Chef Wei Zhu doubles down, offering deep-cuts from the Sichuan canon that rarely make it onto American menus.
The setting is festive — red lanterns, massive round tables with lazy Susans — but the food is serious: dan dan noodles slicked with sesame and chili oil, green peppercorn fish fillet, shredded beef with hot pepper. The spice builds, complex and tingling, until your whole palate is alive.
Behind it all is Zhu, a seven-time James Beard nominee.
Zhu, who doesn’t speak English and prefers to let his food do the talking, remembers his grandmother’s boiled beef as his emotional origin point.
“The rich, spicy, and tender taste has influenced my cooking style to this day,” he tells CP through a translator.
He launched the first Chef Wei Zhu Chengdu Gourm et in 2014 in Squirrel Hill. “In 2014, authentic Sichuan cuisine was niche,” Zhu says. “But people came in, trusted us. I may adjust the spice to suit different palates, but the soul of the food never changed.”
That ethos is echoed in the rise of diaspora chefs like Rafael Vencio, whose upcoming Filipino restaurant, Amboy, will add another layer to Pittsburgh’s slow-burning culinary renaissance. Like Zhu, Vencio sees authenticity not as a fixed set of ingredients, but as a relationship between culture, chef, and community.
“Cuisines should be celebrated for their power to shape a city’s food identity,” Vencio tells CP. “The person offering that experience should honor it with truthfulness. Innovation is just as essential, it’s skill and integrity that resonate. And that audience is growing.”
“Pittsburgh now, compared to 10 years ago, has become a more tight-knit industry,” he adds. “Chefs are working together through collaborative experiences to bring something new.”
That spirit of collaboration is held together by mutual respect. “We’re all vying for similar resources within a relatively small population,” Thackray says. “But the collaboration doesn’t have to feel intentional; it’s a web of connectivity.”
For Vencio, that web has allowed him to go from cooking other chefs’ food to owning his Filipino heritage. “Cooking from your culture isn’t a gimmick here,” he says. “It’s the reason people care. It’s how you tell them who you are.”
Pittsburgh’s current culinary moment, Fuller concurs, is much more about its denizens expressing themselves and less about outside accolades. “Maybe this is the year for the James Beard win,” Fuller says. “But what matters more is how these restaurants reflect who we are now.” •
Speakers at one gathering urged Pittsburghers to reach out to neighbors to stop an unfolding “disaster” in America, while the public called for action at another
BY: COLIN WILLIAMS // CWILLIAMS@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
With U.S. President Donald Trump deporting legal U.S. residents to El Salvador and ICE actively detaining immigrants and asylum seekers in Greater Pittsburgh, current and former elected leaders used town hall events
Wed., April 16 to urge the community to rally together as neighbors.
of community organizers, media, and SEIU Local BJ32 members at the union’s headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh. Lee later described a need for a “guerrilla warfare” approach combining legislation, community organizing, and grassroots advocacy.
“WE NEED A TYPE OF UNITY WHERE WE’VE GOT EACH OTHER’S BACK, AND IT STARTS RIGHT ON YOUR BLOCK.”
“Our country is facing the biggest crisis that we’ve ever had, a constitutional crisis, a democracy crisis, a crisis that is actually getting to the heart of whether or not or how this nation will exist into the future,” U.S. Rep. Summer Lee told a crowd
“The reason why [Trump] has come after labor unions, the reason why he’s come after education, all of these institutions, is because that is the greatest check on someone who is moving to authoritarianism,” Lee said.
Joining Lee was Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. He said his administration had been in close contact with local
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groups such as Casa San José, whose community defense organizer Jaime Martinez gave remarks and distributed a petition; and Trans YOUniting, whose founder and executive director Dena Stanley addressed the worsening situation for trans and queer Americans. SEIU members emceed and spoke, and audience members asked several questions during the hour-and-a-half-long event.
“If we don’t stand up [against
SEIU’s bargaining process with the University of Pittsburgh. Martinez, meanwhile, spoke of the direct impact of ICE detentions on local families.
“When somebody is detained, they end up at the ICE office on the South Side,” Martinez said. “Then they will transport them to a place called Moshannon Valley Processing Center … And, if you do a quick Google search, you’ll figure out that
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“WE THE PEOPLE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE PROTECT OUR COUNTRY, AND HOW WE’RE GOING TO DO THAT IS BY UNIFYING.”
Trump], it’s not about what they’ll do … It’s about what we will allow them to do,” Gainey said, blasting Elon Musk as an “appointed president from South Africa.” Gainey, Lee, and SEIU members each highlighted the way Musk’s putative Department of Government Efficiency had negative impacts locally by freezing research budgets and upending the
this place has documented human rights violations.”
Stanley said staff members at Trans YOUniting had been harassed and assaulted in recent weeks, and she decried UPMC’s recent denial of young people’s gender-affirming care. “We the People want to make sure that we protect our country, and how we’re going to do that is by
unifying,” Stanley said. “They may be starting with us, right? But understand [that], while they are telling you it’s for a trans person, behind that, it’s for Black people, immigrants, women, and everybody in between.”
Martinez and Gainey both invoked the spirit of Fred Rogers, calling for people to better know their neighbors, and Martinez urged audience members to “hold yourself accountable to the people around you, because that’s how you build power.”
Gainey said the City of Pittsburgh had taken steps to ensure resiliency and push back on Trump’s agenda and reiterated his stance against working with ICE. In a release, the Mayor’s Office highlighted the Gainey administration’s formation of the Office of Equal Protection; the signing of several amicus briefs, including a Washington state lawsuit against Trump; and the City’s work, independently and with the county, on immigrant supports and housing equity, such as a citywide order aimed at ensuring landlord and developer compliance with local non-discrimination laws.
Gainey and Lee urged audience members to reach out to their neighbors. “In times like this, we need unprecedented unity,” Gainey said.
“We need a type of unity where we’ve got each other’s back, and it starts right on your block.”
Later, Indivisible and Mondays without McCormick Pittsburgh held an empty chair town hall in Swissvale with former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb and Pa. Rep. Lindsay Powell. Lamb, who has been issuing broadsides against his former primary opponent and incumbent U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, fielded questions with Powell from a church hall full of angry Fetterman and McCormick constituents. Both town hall events were representative of growing anger as alarm mounts about Trump’s defiance of courts and economic whipsawing.
Lee said she was doing everything in her power, including leveraging her committee appointments and talking with Trump appointees, to meet constituents’ needs. But she said mutual aid, demonstrations, and community organizing were also essential to prevent the permanent undermining of democracy.
“The real check and balance in our system is not going to be the House … It’s not going to be the Senate. It ain’t going to be the White House; it ain’t going to be the courts,” Lee said. “It’s going to be the people, as it has always been.” •
Though the county controller has created daylight between himself and the incumbent mayor he wants to replace, Corey O’Connor says he’s “always been” progressive
BY: RACHEL WILKINSON // RWILKINSON@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
With Pittsburgh’s highly contested mayoral primary a month away, Democratic challenger and Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor is staying on message.
“Our city is managing a decline instead of talking about growth,” he reiterates to Pittsburgh City Paper at the campaign’s East Liberty office, which O’Connor describes as a classic Pittsburgh building. Underlining tensions reflected in the election, the former Holland Specialty Shop — once a T-shirt store and still enclosed by a tin ceiling — was part of a controversial redevelopment proposal by McKnight Realty Partners in 2022.
O’Connor’s challenge to incumbent Mayor Ed Gainey was spurred by what the Controller describes as a difference in “core values” regarding the city’s future — encompassing broad long-term planning issues from creating affordable housing and increasing public safety (including hiring a permanent police chief ) to improving day-to-day operations and budgeting. Speaking to the latter, O’Connor has variously mentioned the city’s shortage of snow plows and emergency medical services, alleged misuse of the parks tax, potholes, and “not being able to turn water fountains on all summer” as visible indicators to run, citing his experience on Pittsburgh City Council and as County Controller.
“WE’RE
FOREFRONT.”
“Day one, we can start turning this around,” he says. “You’re voting for change in Pittsburgh, because we know we have to change this city. It’s not going in the right direction.”
It’s a message that’s apparently resonated, with O’Connor leading by 15 points among likely Democratic voters according to a recent poll conducted on the campaign’s behalf, and 18 points if undecided voters are factored in.
O’Connor’s win could signify a pendulum swing, representing a split among self-described progressive Democrats who have surged in the region in recent years. In addition, Pittsburgh’s mayoral primary has garnered national media attention, most notably amid Gainey calling out O’Connor for accepting fossil fuel and GOP campaign donations, including at a private equity-backed event at the Duquesne Club; and receiving significant contributions from local developers. Some national outlets are watching to gauge if Pittsburgh’s
mayoral race could be a test case for unseating Democratic mayors and realigning cities with conservative interests nationwide.
But O’Connor insists he remains a progressive Democrat, and at stake this election cycle are local breadand-butter issues.
“I’ve always been [a progressive]. Look at my record,” O’Connor tells City Paper. “I passed the affordablehousing trust fund, early childhood education, took paid sick leave all the way to the state and fought it at the Supreme Court. I wrote that bill … Even as County Controller, auditing the jail, looking at criminal justice reform, auditing the Clean Air Fund. Those are things that are very progressive, [and] they actually impact residents in this region.”
“We’re going to have a growth mentality in Pittsburgh, but ensure that progressivism is at the forefront of it,” he adds.
CP spoke with O’Connor about some of the campaign’s key issues and the state of Pittsburgh’s mayoral race.
Addressing perhaps the race’s most conten tious issue, O’Connor contends that, despite his opponent’s assertion to the contrary, he wants to see affordable housing in every Pittsburgh neighborhood — a question Gainey put to him directly during the April 17 televised mayoral debate . Both O’Connor and Gainey have emphasized the need to create affordable housing in Pittsburgh and support zoning code reform that would allow more accessory dwelling units and remove parking restrictions.
While Gainey has proposed inclusionary zoning — which would mandate new or renovated developments of 20 units or more include 10% as affordable housing — O’Connor contends “every market is different,” preferring a neighborhood-byneighborhood approach with possible tax abatements and subsidies (and drawing criticism about being influenced by developers).
“You have [the Local Economic Tax Assistance Act], you have [Tax Increment Financing], you have state tax abatements that we can use,” O’Connor says, also citing what he says are 11,000 city-owned parcels, including vacant lots, that could be rehabilitated and used for new development and housing initiatives.
“This mayor doesn’t actually want to do the work and meet with community organizations and meet with council members to have a constructive bill that works for everyone,” he says. “[Imagine] we could empower communities to do development themselves. Imagine if you had shovel-ready sites all across Pittsburgh to do affordable housing units … We have great community organizations that want to impact their neighborhoods. That’s who we should empower, not a flat zoning ordinance.”
The city’s decades-long effort to get contributions from its largest tax-exempt organizations — most notably, “the Big Four,” the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University, UPMC and Highmark Health — has re-emerged as it approaches a budget shortfall.
“I fought them all the way through, and I’ve always said that they need to pay their fair share,” O’Connor says.
O’Connor criticizes his opponent for backing out of the OnePGH initiative , reached by former Mayor Bill Peduto in 2021, which he says would’ve secured $115 million over a five-year period.
“Why did you not accept hundreds of millions of dollars?” O’Connor asks. (Gainey recently told CP he thought he had reached a tentative Payment in Lieu of Taxes [PILOT] agreement with UPMC last year.)
O’Connor aims to reach an agreement by coming to organizations “with a specific ask” that appeals “to their mission, [that’s] going to benefit everybody in the city of Pittsburgh.” He envisions negotiating with nonprofit hospital systems to purchase
“I'VE ALWAYS BEEN [A PROGRESSIVE]. LOOK AT MY RECORD.”
region’s public transit. Pittsburgh Regional Transit faces a budget shortfall that would result in historic service cuts to nearly half its bus lines.
“The transit line cuts that they’re talking about are going to hurt every city resident,” O’Connor says. “And if
Alderwoman Cara Spencer defeated incumbent Mayor Tishaura Jones in a landslide, in part by criticizing the quality of city services such as snow removal and trash pick-up. The race also included personal attacks about Spencer’s high-dollar campaign donations from developers and other
Pittsburghers coming together to talk about issues that impact them on a daily basis. And Pittsburghers right now want to see it. [They’re] looking for a different vision, because we don’t have it right now, and that’s got to be the focus of this election.” •
WYEP expands its live music reach throughout the greater Pittsburgh region with its first-ever Neighborhood Concert Series
BY: AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
WYEP spent 2024 celebrating 50 years of bringing emerging artists, local talent, and iconic acts to listeners. Included among the retrospectives, countdowns, and other anniversary festivities were, according to WYEP program director Liz Felix, discussions about “big things” the independent, nonprofit radio station could be doing.
“One of the ideas we came up with was to start a live music fund,” she tells Pittsburgh City Paper . The resulting WYEP Live Music Fund will soon satisfy its mission to “produce, promote, and support live music performances in the region while nurturing local artists.”
WYEP recently announced its first-ever Neighborhood Concert Series, an initiative to bring free live music to venues throughout the Pittsburgh region. Launching on Thurs., April 24, the series includes eight concerts described in a press release as featuring “Pittsburghbased bands, as well as up-andcoming national artists.”
Felix says the Neighborhood Concert Series, described as striving to “enlighten, entertain, and connect music fans where they live,” extends beyond events like the existing WYEP Summer Music Festival, a free annual
show that attracts crowds to Oakland.
The series kicks off in the South Hills with two local acts, Merce Lemon and Animal Scream, at the Crafthouse Stage and Grill, followed by Snacktime, Kashus Culpepper, and Clover County at Cadence Clubhouse in Allison Park. The series unfolds from there with concerts at The Oaks Theater in Oakmont, Clearview Commons in Mt. Lebanon, and Tall Trees Amphitheater in Monroeville.
WYEP has also partnered with Allegheny County Parks to present shows at South Park, Settlers Cabin Park, and Hartwood Acres.
Merce Lemon, an emerging indie musician who cut her teeth in the local punk scene , made a splash last year with her album Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild , described in a City Paper review as inhabiting “the nexus between the spellbinding folk-rock of Big Thief and the riproaring country-rock of Crazy Horse.”
Animal Scream, a project by longtime Pittsburgh rockers Josh Sickels and Chad Monticue, debuted in 2020 with its distinct brand of weird pop.
Felix points out that Merce Lemon and Animal Scream have a history with WYEP, with the former appear ing during a studio session at the station last year, and the latter playing a previous Summer Music Festival. Both acts have also been named WYEP Pittsburgh Artist of the Year.
Avid WYEP listeners will recognize the national acts playing live at future shows. Besides Snacktime, a funky, brassy outfit from Philadelphia, and Clover County, a project of Athens, Ga.-based musician A.G. Schiano, Felix highlights Kashus Culpepper, a country-blues singer-songwriter from Alabama.
“This is introducing some newer artists to a Pittsburgh audience for the first time,” says Felix, adding that
“THIS IS INTRODUCING SOME NEWER ARTISTS TO A PITTSBURGH AUDIENCE FOR THE FIRST TIME.”
all the Neighborhood Concert Series artists announced so far have gotten airtime on the station. “So it’s all over the map, trying to cover all the bases of what we do on WYEP.”
Details on some future Neighborhood Concert Series are, for now, under wraps, with Felix teasing a “folk-leaning” event at Settlers Cabin Park in September.
“A lot of it is just not confirmed yet, so we’re trying to shore that up so we can get the info out,” she says.
As the Neighborhood Concert Series prepares to roll out, the station has set out to generate an additional $200,000 for the WYEP Live Music Fund by Weds., April 30. As stated by WYEP, the “restricted fund will elevate live music as a regional asset essential to the cultural and economic vitality of the Pittsburgh region.” Those interested in contributing will find a link to a donation form on the WYEP Live Music Fund web page.
Felix believes she and her colleagues are working to ensure that WYEP can, as its slogan goes, be “the station where the music comes first,” especially as they move forward from the 50-year milestone.
“Everything evolves, and 50 years is a very long time for a radio station to survive, especially a station like this one,” she says. “That’s really special, I think. We don’t take it for granted that people depend on us to find out about new music, and to be able to see these artists live when, in some cases, they might not be able to come to the city otherwise — that’s huge.” •
Showtimes vary. Thu., April 24-Fri., Sept. 19. Multiple locations. Free. All ages. wyep.org
BY CP STAFF
Absence as Architecture: Rituals for Future Deaths with Azza El Siddique. 6-8 p.m. Mattress Factory. 509 Jacksonia St., North Side. $10. Registration required. mattress.org
ASCEND. A Transcendent Experience: Journey 7 pm. Continues through May 18. Pittsburgh Playhouse. 350 Forbes Ave., Downtown. $40. playhouse.pointpark.edu
DANCE
Dragonfly Dawn by Joanna Abel. 8 p.m. Continues through Fri., April 25. New Hazlett Theater. Six Allegheny Square East, North Side. $20-34. newhazletttheater.org
Book Talk: Dr. Edda Fields-Black on Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River 7-8 p.m. Frick Art Museum. 7227 Reynolds St., Point Breeze. $15-25, free for members. Registration required. thefrickpittsburgh.org
Spring Dance Concert with Ronald K. Brown and Evidence, A Dance Company 9:30 a.m.-12 p.m. August Wilson African American Cultural Center. 980 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $25-55. 5678hdat.org
Underground ball culture meets environmentalism during the Pittsburgh Is Burning Mini Kiki Ball at Blaxk Box Theater. The clothing swap and community event features performers creatively addressing the wastefulness of fast fashion and single-use plastics. There will also be on-site STI testing by Allies Pittsburgh and a voter registration drive by 1Hood Media. Attendees are encouraged to bring clothing to donate to the QMNTY Center’s new QMNTY Closet. 5-9 p.m. 460 Melwood Ave., Oakland. Free. Reservations required. instagram.com/1hoodmedia
April Ghouls Drive-In Monster-Rama. Gates open at 7 p.m. Continues through Sat., April 26. Riverside Drive-In Theatre. 1114 Lees Lake Ln., Vandergrift. $15 per person, free for kids 12 and under with paying adult. riversidedrivein.com
Save your appetite for beer, bites, and wrestling when TacoMania: Brawl at the Brew House takes over the Pittsburgh Brewing Company facility. The big event promises tasty tacos by local restaurants, matches by Enjoy Wrestling, and live music by Big Blitz and Missing Link. Wash everything down with libations provided by Pittsburgh Brewing and Iron City Distilling. 2-8 p.m. 150 Ferry St., Creighton. $15-49. 21 and over. pittsburghbrewing.com/events
Art All Night 4 p.m. Continues through Sun., April 27. 929 Beaver Ave., North Side. Free. All ages. artallnight.org
Sad Karaoke Vol 4: Sad Strikes Back 7 p.m. Golden Age Beer. 337 E. Eighth Ave., Homestead. Free. facebook.com/ mattlovesjohnford/events
Yallternative Prom with Bonnie and the Mere Mortals. 7 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Spirit. 242 51st St., Lawrenceville. $12 in advance, $15 at the door. 21 and over. spiritpgh.com
HEX: Weeping Glass Goth Night 10 p.m. Bottlerocket Social Hall. 1226 Arlington Ave., Allentown. $5. 21 and over. bottlerocketpgh.com
RACE • ALLISON PARK
Dyngus Dash 5K. 9 a.m. North Park Boat House. 10301 Pearce Mill Rd., Allison Park. Free to attend. Registration required for racers. dyngusdash.com
MARKET • POINT BREEZE
Thriftburgh Vintage Mart 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Construction Junction. 214 Lexington Ave., Point Breeze. Free. All ages. cjreuse.org
MARKET • MILLVALE
Millvale's Market Days 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Multiple locations, Millvale. Free. All ages. millvalecdc.org/millvales-market-days
Steel City Duck Derby. 11 a.m. Derby at 1 p.m. Allegheny Commons Park. 810 Arch St., North Side. Free. All ages. Proceeds benefit Partners For Quality. duckrace.com/pittsburgh
MUSIC • WARRENDALE
Everclear with Silver Screen and the Sages 8 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. 103 Slade Ln., Warrendale. $55-250. jergels.com/events
MUSIC • MILLVALE
Lady Beast Album Release Show with Sanhedrin and Olathia. 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. The Funhouse at Mr. Smalls. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $15 in advance, $18 at the door. mrsmalls.com
MARKET • NORTH SIDE
Mini Misfit Market Pop-Up 1-4 p.m. Allegheny City Brewing. 507 E. Foreland St., North Side. Free. alleghenycitybrewing.com
MARKET • OAKLAND
Bad Bitch Bazaar. 2-7 p.m. S. Craig St., Oakland. Free. instagram.com/badbitchbazaarpgh
MUSIC • LAWRENCEVILLE
Electronicore with the Browning, Swarm, and the Defect. 7 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. Thunderbird Music Hall. 4053 Butler St., Lawrenceville. $25. thunderbirdmusichall.com
LIT • OAKMONT
The Vanished Kingdom Book Launch with Jonathan Auxier 7 p.m. Oakmont Carnegie Library. 700 Allegheny River Blvd., Oakmont. Free. Registration required. mysterylovers.com
DRAG • STRIP DISTRICT
Coco Peru 7:30 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. City Winery. 1627 Smallman St., Strip District. $35-50. citywinery.com/pittsburgh
MUSIC • NORTH SHORE
Trivium, Bullet for My Valentine, August Burns Red, and Bleed from Within 5:30 p.m. Stage AE. 400 North Shore Dr., North Shore. $49.50-99. promowestlive.com
MUSIC • WHITEHALL
Michigan Rattlers 7:30 p.m. Doors at 6:30 p.m. Crafthouse Stage and Grill. 5024 Curry Rd., Whitehall. $20-25. crafthousepgh.com
MUSIC • MILLVALE
Bob Mould with J. Robbins 8 p.m. Doors at 7 p.m. Mr. Smalls Theatre. 400 Lincoln Ave., Millvale. $27 in advance, $30 at the door. mrsmalls.com
In 1978, two punk bands played for patients at the Napa State psychiatric hospital in California. The Cramps and the Mutants: The Napa State Tapes captures this moment with what’s described by Grasshopper Film as one of the “most legendary music documents in history and a cult classic tape.” See the documentary at Harris Theater, where director Mike Plante will introduce the film and stick around for a Q&A. 8 p.m. 809 Liberty Ave., Downtown. $9-11. trustarts.org
6 weeks for $32
6 months for $150
1 year for $250
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 141 N Braddock Ave, Pittsburgh PA, 15208 on May 7th, 2025 at 11:00 AM. 1202A Carol Bauerle, 1210A Charles Gilchrist, 2022 Robert McEnheimer, 2154A Xingyu Wang, 3050 Keisha Fisher, 3078 Jodi Birch, 3129A Erica Dean, 3163A Ashley Taylor, 3221A Daniel Watkins, 4023 Roland Rutherford, 5023 Nicole Hawthorne, 6097 Juan Harris, M023 Houston Goins. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com.
Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction.
Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
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Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 1005 E Entry Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15216 on 5/7/2025 at 11:30 AM. Justin Bush 5103. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction.
Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its affiliates life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a Public Auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extras Space’s lien at the location indicated: 902 Brinton Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15221 on Wednesday May 7, 2025, at 11:30am, Trayla Sloan 1034, Julian Nutter 1034, Jaylynn Tarpley 2230, Davina Young 2086, Breanne Genetin 2204, Latoya Kenion 3302, Claudy Pierre 3215, Tawana Hamilton 3062. The auction will be listed and advertised on www. storagetreasures.com purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the property.
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 880 Saw Mill Run Blvd Pittsburgh, PA 15226, May 7, 2025, at 1:15 PM. Jerome Ward 2097, Rebecca Schreckengost 2166, Angela Winton 2199, Wayne Copeland 3206, Bryan Mikulan 3208. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction.
Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s Lien at the location indicated: 3200 Park Manor Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15205 on May 7, 2025 at 1:00pm. 1124 Terry Holeva; 3205 Carrie Scheller; 3297 Endia Lane; 7011 Nicole Verner. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage, on behalf of itself or its affiliates, Life Storage or Storage Express, will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 700 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA 15203. May 7, 2025 at 12:15 PM. 1015 Sean Saputo. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction.
Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 1212 Madison Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15212. May 7th, 2025 at 1:30 pm. 2106 Talayia Lawrence, 4023 Mark DeVinney, 6087 Brennan Thompson. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures. com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF BOYLE, DOROTHY, J, A/K/A, IF NECESSARY, DOROTHY J. HEGEDUS
DECEASED OF SPRINGDALE, PA No. 022501624 of 2025
Adrienne Virostek Extr. 621 Glengary Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15215
Extra Space Storage will hold a public auction to sell the contents of leased spaces to satisfy Extra Space’s lien at the location indicated: 111 Hickory Grade Road, Bridgeville, PA 15017 on May 7, 2025 at 12:30pm. Andrew Henry 1033, Lucas Horew 2012, Anna Loftus 2140, Heather Davidson 3220, Gopinadh Dantala 3351. The auction will be listed and advertised on www.storagetreasures.com. Purchases must be made with cash only and paid at the above referenced facility in order to complete the transaction. Extra Space Storage may refuse any bid and may rescind any purchase up until the winning bidder takes possession of the personal property.
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF YOCHUM III, HARRY, E , DECEASED OF PITTSBURGH, PA No. 022502142 of 2025. Jo Yochum Adm. 4700 Jewel Drive Pittsburgh, PA 15236
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF GRAHAM, MITCHEL, L, A/K/A, IF NECESSARY, DECEASED OF PITTSBURGH, PA No. 022406634 of 2024.
Matthew Graham Extr.
Matthew Graham Adm. 1002 Wible Run Rd, Pittsburgh, PA, 15209
57. Objectivist writer Rand
58. Despite, briefly
59. Villains of some fairy tales
62. Dogs who are in heaven?
67. No. to enter when the company voicemail begins
68. Licoricelike seed
69. “___, bar the door!”
70. Place to get a wrap
71. Cord fiber (TILES anag.)
21. NFL star Ndamukong
25. Cannabis resin
26. Like the best of the best
27. Skip past
28. Sport whose champion is called yokozuna
29. Pulls hard
30. “Tell it like it is!”
34. Kings org.
35. Manfred’s predecessor as Commissioner
37. Run Time?
43. Quickly burn
48. Inflict upon 50. Hanging implements
51. Warm embrace
52. Religion whose prophets include Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna, and Buddha
53. French city on the Rhone River
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: NO. GD-25-004839, In re petition of Stephen Bruce Taylor for change of name to Stephen John Kagle. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the Wednesday, May 14th, 2025, at 9:30 a.m, as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: NO. GD-25-002745, In re petition of Ryan Carlton Williams, Sr. for change of name to Ryan Carlton Brown, Sr. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 21st day of May, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: NO. GD-25-002746, In re petition of Ryan Carlton Williams, Sr., parent (s) and legal guardian(s) of Ryan Carlton Williams, Jr. for change of name to Ryan Carlton Brown, Jr. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 21st, May, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for
IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: NO. GD-25-002749, In re petition of Ryan Carlton Williams, Sr., parent (s) and legal guardian(s) of Ry’on Charles Williams for change of name to Ry’on Charles Brown To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 21st, May, 2025, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for
Promoter of all things Istanbul?
29. North Carolina athlete
31. Australian bird
32. Actress Thurman
33. Top spot in a Köln countdown
36. Outing a nnouncement
40. “Quit fooling around with Moe!”?
44. Fishing line attachment 45. Fashion magazine
46. 101 teachers, often: Abbr.
47. Lear, to Regan
49. Actor who played old Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit
52. Folks who meet up and drink Belgianstyle witbiers?
72. Keg party rentals
73. Burst into tears
1. Make a wake
2. Typesetter’s unit
3. Stymie
4. Landed
5. Letter run
6. Catch-22 character who got concussed by a sex worker
7. Like many house pets
8. “Editorially,” in brief
9. The 2000 Year Old Man comedian Brooks
10. Bring home from the shelter
11. Lamp figure
12. Excited
15. “Don’t go there,” initially 19. Hautboy’s more-common name
38. “___ in Calico” (Manhattan Transfer number)
39. Backwoods assent
41. ___ English 800 (malt liquor)
42. Drum fill
54. Not turned on 55. “Well, then” 56. Rather lean 60. Event when new demos are shown 61. Grab with tines
63. Letters on a handbag
64. Teensy
65. Guess made while cruising: Abbr. 66. Tear up
This role requires a sales and marketing-minded individual who desires an exciting opportunity to earn uncapped commissions and focus on connecting the local Pittsburgh business owners and organizations with marketing strategies including print, digital, events, sponsorships and social media advertising. This person desires to work with a supportive team base and the passion to build the brand within the community. This position includes a current client base to manage, foster and grow while also focusing on acquisition of new clients to hit monthly goals set forth by the company.
This position needs an individual with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the local market and understands the competitive landscapes that many SMBs face today. The ideal candidate is motivated and focused on revenue growth across all platforms with the intention of meeting and exceeding revenue goals.
