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periphescent t1_j6xfc38 wrote

Doughbar was overpriced, medicore pizza.

I feel like there's two markets for pizza: 1) old fashioned, reliable, tasty and cheap 2) gourmet, high quality, expensive. Doughbar didn't do either, and with the amount of options for pizza in PGH? There was no demand.

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OllieFromCairo t1_j6y1w8x wrote

In college, I called this the "$10 pizza theory." (Adjust as necessary for inflation.)

You should never pay $10 for a pizza. If you're buying pizza, you either want cheap, greasy crap, or you want something really good. $10 never buys you a pie that's good enough to justify buying something that costs more than a Little Caesar's Hot-N-Ready.

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NotBlaine t1_j6yeain wrote

I'll cosign that as long as the theory makes allowances for other sub $10 pizzas? I'd personally take a well-done Antoon's over Little Ceasars. Last time I checked they were roughly the same price (like $7ish).

But yeah, totally agree.

And as you get older it becomes a little less about the money and more about the calories. Like if I'm getting pizza and putting 1,500 calories in my body in a sitting... It's gonna be worth it.

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peon2 t1_j6ygopa wrote

I’ll fuck with a large 3 topping $8 pizza from dominos

Thin crust, bbq sauce, chicken, bacon, onion

Or thin crust, garlic parm sauce, chicken, mushroom, spinach

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UselessLezbian t1_j6z1uwq wrote

Yoo, domino's pan pizza is where it's at. Slight up charge, but so worth it. Bacon pineapple pan pizza is my go to.

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itsSUPREMEXIV t1_j6zyevl wrote

My man, this is what I get everytime. Me and my roommates get Dominos and I get crucified for my order every time.

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turp101 t1_j7272hc wrote

>domino's pan pizza

Usually (as in the 5 times a year I get it) I would get their thin crust but tried this last year and I was seriously surprised at the quality for it being Domino's

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jkguitar1 t1_j6z05s9 wrote

Honestly the most disappointing thing of my time as a Pitt student is that Antoons is now $11 for a large and yet pre-pandemic walking home from a party at 1am I could get a large from them for $6

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HarAR11 t1_j6zcs26 wrote

In 2002-ish, they were $4.06. Pre pandemic them only being $6, a $2 price raise over 18ish years isn’t bad at all. But $10+ is ridiculous.

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HarAR11 t1_j6zck50 wrote

I was just in Oakland a few weeks ago for an appointment at Presby. I drove past antoons and was floored…$10+ for that large pizza. When I was going to Pitt (2000-2003) an antoons pie was $4.06, including tax. An antoons pie is nowhere close to being worth $10+, unless they drastically change the quality of it.

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Yelloeisok t1_j71ubqj wrote

I know i am going to get downvoted, but a lot of stuff has gone way up in price in the last 20 years.

3

blueboot09 t1_j72t2u0 wrote

When cigarettes went up to 57¢ a pack, people said if they ever get to $1 a pack I'm quitting. Thinking they'd never go up to a buck, obviously.

3

Muff_Doctor t1_j6zku85 wrote

I was getting $5 pizzas from Antoon’s and Sorentos in college.

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Pale-Buyer-9887 t1_j701bh6 wrote

2012, we were getting three 1 topping pizzas from Sorentos for like 17 bucks. Shit was pretty good too!

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mexicocitibluez t1_j721ly4 wrote

man, that antoons $5 pizza was really something back in the day.

> In college, I called this the "$10 pizza theory." (Adjust as necessary for inflation.)

I disagree. My dad owned a pizza shop and sold 20" pies for 9.99 and they were awesome.

2

ClammyHandedFreak t1_j6zw8gr wrote

I mean nowadays, yeah. Back in college less than 6 years ago $9.99 got you a College Special at the best pizza joints in Pittsburgh. Nowadays if someone is making a Pizza for $9.99 you should question everything you're doing.

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jwormyk t1_j6yi2xz wrote

Totally this. However, things are getting weird with Pizza prices out there. Mineos is now close to thirty $30 for a large one topping pizza. Although excellent in my opinion (not inviting a debate on this) its hardly gourmet.... On the other hand, Driftwood is now about $35 dollars for a pizza and I guess it would be considered gourmet (I'm not a huge fan). Point is, Pizza prices are out of hand and we need a pizza politician to save us.... To bad Herman Caine died. RIP.

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bangarangrufiOO t1_j6yjaas wrote

Mineos is worth 30 bucks for a large pepperoni. Cannot say the same about Driftwood. Pizza Lupo on the other hand…

−3

Discoamazing t1_j7034i2 wrote

New to town and visited the Mineo's in Squirrel Hill. Got a pizza that basically tasted and looked like a Red Baron frozen pizza. Was pretty surprised after hearing all the praise for it online.

Did I go on a bad day, or is there another location that's better? Or is there pizza just not for me?

Curious to get a locals opinion on this.

5

bangarangrufiOO t1_j715g5t wrote

Red Baron frozen pizza, that has like a dusting of cheese and is a nanometer thick? Mineo’s pizza comes with like 17 pounds of cheese on top and is one of the heftiest slices I’ve seen on Earth that isn’t deep dish. Not many pizzas are so thick that pizza shops routinely hand out metal forks and knives to eat it in shop.

Was it the extreme thickness of the cheese you disliked? Still…that shouldn’t remind you of a Red Baron, if that’s the issue. Trying to think what could have possibly made that connection…

Mineo’s doesn’t have bad days. They don’t miss. It might just be not for you, unfortunately. Give Fiori’s a try and compare the 2.

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Discoamazing t1_j7386tg wrote

Thick cheese is great, it was really the crust that gave it a frozen pizza/school cafeteria vibe. That and the pepperoni wasnt melted into it at all, just sort of resting on top. I will try Fiori's and report back.

So far the best pizza I've had in town was from Aiello's.

1

karmicreditplan t1_j75m980 wrote

The pepperoni floating on top is for real in Squirrel Hill.

We live around the corner.

Don’t get slices. Order a whole pizza and they’ll put it on from the beginning. If you get a slice or few just get it as. But also don’t do that. It will have been sitting a lot longer.

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bangarangrufiOO t1_j73buz2 wrote

I thought Mineo’s put their pepperoni underneath the cheese? Or is that just the Lebo location? Anyone else can chime in…

Maybe you legit did run into a brand new guy on the job. I have been eating Mineo’s for 20 years (albeit almost exclusively from the Lebo location) and I’ve never had one bad bite.

Also, in case you aren’t aware, Aiello’s stole their original recipe from Mineo’s (which makes your opinion on both somewhat humorous, but not atypical!)

Source: http://www.offthebluff.com/a-tale-of-two-pizza-shops-aiellos-and-mineos/

I HIGHLY recommend Fiori’s. Not everybody who visits me from out of town loves Mineo’s like some of us yinzers do…but Fiori’s usually is a can’t miss, even from ahhta tahners.

Lastly, I’d go to Mineo’s in Lebo and give it a 2nd shot. You can get it by the slice, just in case.

Cheers and good luck!

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jwormyk t1_j72j69s wrote

I actually kind of like red baron frozen pizza, but Mineos shouldn't taste like that. The sauce is a tad spicy and the obnoxious amount of cheese is actually good quality cheese.

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jwormyk t1_j6yp4n9 wrote

Never had Lupo... Are you saying its not worth it?

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bangarangrufiOO t1_j6yppxl wrote

No, it is VERY worth it. Expensive, but worth it. The Lupo Luco and the Arthur Spooner are two of the best pizzas I’ve ever had in my life. I’ve had pizza in Italy, NYC, Chicago, etc. Those two are top tier.

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jwormyk t1_j72iy0q wrote

Awesome. Looking forward to trying it.

1

RIPDickcream t1_j6zzuzp wrote

No Pittsburgh pizza is worth $30. And we have some great pizza. Mineos is probably 10th on my list.

−1

gestapolita t1_j79yu68 wrote

Mineo’s doesn’t even make my list, it’s trash. Agree that no pizza anywhere is worth $30 & I love pizza.

1

ballsonthewall t1_j6xbs27 wrote

it wasn't very good for how expensive it was, I went a few times when they opened and never went back

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greentea1985 t1_j6xbtvd wrote

It’s a very difficult market right now. A lot of places are closing. Some of it is supply chain issue, another contribution is people trying to save money. A third contribution no one really talks about is a change in consumer habits. A lot of places reopened last year expecting customers to behave as they did in 2019, but most people’s habits have changed. A lot of people are more leery of eating out, which hurts restaurants that expected customers to come swarming back.

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Dismal-Bumblebee4932 OP t1_j6xc0od wrote

I also believe southside year by year is becoming less welcoming to foodies because of the danger of the region

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uglybushes t1_j6xcfno wrote

That 2am danger really affecting the 8pm dinner crowd?

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pburgh2517 t1_j6xcsho wrote

Well the problem is a lot of folks don't even realize that its perfectly fine earlier in the evening, they simply hear South Side and the clenching commences.

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mira_lee2 t1_j6xoig8 wrote

I walked through South side and downtown during the day yesterday for various errands. I was surprised with how safe it looked and felt, because I heard and read so many bad things over the past few months. What I did notice was there are less people out and about than I remembered from a few years ago.

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Galp_Nation t1_j6y42t5 wrote

I lived in the Strip all of last year and just moved to South Side flats this past week. I've been car free and walking and biking around the golden triangle regularly and consistently for over a year now and haven't felt unsafe one time. If I went by the local news and Facebook comments, I would think I was living in a dangerous warzone of criminal activity. 99.9% of the time, it's quiet other than the car traffic. I was literally walking through downtown with my dog last year when I was stopped by college students doing a survey. They asked what I thought it was like living in/around downtown. I was like "It's quiet". They were like, "Really? That's a surprising answer. Do you wanna elaborate?". I said, "Look around. It's Saturday afternoon, the weather is nice, and we're the only people on Penn Avenue in downtown right now. Is this not quiet to you?" They seemed so surprised I didn't say it was loud and dangerous or something.

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MisanthropicFriend t1_j6z48km wrote

Hooray for foot traffic! I have explored from shore to shore in this town, and I agree with you. Downtown is quiet most the day, even during the weekends.

I haven’t understood all the negative things I hear people have with exploring the city. I’ve had people tell me; don’t go to the south side, best to stay off the north shore, oh you’ll get killed downtown, you’ll get hit with a bullet on the west end, don’t get murdered in insert area here followed by absolute disgust and disbelief when I tell them that I have walked and explored a majority of this cities neighborhoods.

I was only threatened once in uptown, and tbh I was completely lost and probably looked shady.

I hear the same types of disgust when I mention that I use public transportation too. I don’t understand this mentality, what is wrong with public transportation? For a small city, it is decent and usually really clean.

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Galp_Nation t1_j6zsgn5 wrote

I've lived in the metro area my whole life, but I moved to Pittsburgh proper in early 2017. I've lived in Lower Lawrenceville, Allegheny Center/North Side, East Carnegie, the Strip District, and South Side. I've been warned about every one of those neighborhoods at some point by people claiming they were dangerous, yet I've never had any real issues at all.

Someone recently just said, "I'm surprised you didn't get shot" when I mentioned that I had owned a house in East Carnegie and sold it a year ago. I owned there for 3 years and didn't experience any violence whatsoever. If you would have told me it had a reputation for being dangerous, I wouldn't have had any idea what you were talking about. Lot of dickhead contractors, plumbers, and real estate agents trying to take advantage of me but no regular people shooting at me or anything. Point being, people need to lay off the local news channels.

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gestapolita t1_j7a0ob8 wrote

I live in the West End and it is incredibly quiet and boring over here lol. Guarantee none of those worried people ever even lived in the city at all.

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MisanthropicFriend t1_j7aiav6 wrote

Brighton heights, beechview, and where I worked in Lawrenceville is where I heard this nonsense. I say Bosh Flimshaw to them.

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TallManTallerCity t1_j6zz21h wrote

There's teenage gang idiots doing shit late night and people act like it's a warzone

2

hubb412 t1_j71eosi wrote

I stopped going to the south side when they made parking illegal between 9pm and 2am on Carson street. What a fucking decision to eliminate hundreds of parking spots in an area with very little parking.

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cjc323 t1_j6xw6se wrote

south side day and night are two different thungs, however on a friday or saturday by 9 pm i'd be looking to leave.

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Dismal-Bumblebee4932 OP t1_j6xd6pj wrote

Not everyone sees it like that I understand your point. How ever when people here more shooting happening in ss than other parts of the city they just try and avoid it overall. I’ve lived in ss for 4 years and loved it but understand peoples hesitation to visit for anything

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Wide-Concert-7820 t1_j6xlfbb wrote

Its not just to hear about the shootings. The lack of policing and complaints paint a picture that is difficult to give context to. Hmm. Lets eat out. Lawrenceville and hipsters or South Side and bullets? To many driving from 20 min or more away, they have no context it is fine at 8 PM. Lawrenceville it is.

I use Lawrenceville to give a very good foodie area in comparison. This amounts to a character assassination for South Side. One that will follow it for quite a while. Not to the 10% of regulars there. To the 90% who came there for what it used to offer.

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Itsjustataco t1_j6xqf93 wrote

Yeah, some of the Southside problems have been as early as 11pm. So, 2 hours for dinner at 8 really isn't far from the time when issues have occured.

This one was 9pm

https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/least-2-people-shot-pittsburghs-southside-one-critical-condition/ST6NAXU3SVFKDJUJCM7AK3QJGM/

You are right, most shootings are late night. Per below, only 30% of shootings are outside of 11pm-5am. Meaning, 20 of 63 shots fired in the first half of 2022 are in the times when it's "safe". I'd be interested to see shootings from evening to late night, I bet it makes up most of that 30%( how many shootings do you hear of at 9am).

http://www.duqsm.com/despite-crime-students-flock-to-south-side/

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uglybushes t1_j6xrsgz wrote

So it’s safe to go there and eat, sound good, see you fat heads

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grachi t1_j6y78pe wrote

mmmmmm not just 2am danger, sadly... Even back around 2009 I almost got mugged by two dudes down one of the side streets when I was walking alone back to my car around 8:30 after a friends birthday dinner. Luckily some random people on their porch saw what was happening, I guess the muggers didn't see them as the porch sitters were sitting completely in the dark smoking cigarettes, and one of the porch sitters shouted out to them that they had a gun. The guys ran, and it might have saved me from losing my wallet or even worse, getting stabbed or shot that night.

Similar story without a lucky intervention, a few years later my cousin was jumped by 3 guys after him and his girlfriend were leaving a restaurant around 10:00 pm. He woke up in the hospital, no recollection what happened, and the guys stole his wallet and phone. His girlfriend was screaming at the top of her lungs for help and tried to mace one of them, so they ran after knocking my cousin out and taking his stuff. Luckily they didn't do anything to her as well.

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uglybushes t1_j6yfguz wrote

That’s it, south side is closed.

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grachi t1_j6yut23 wrote

Yea I mean , i spent many nights there for years and never saw or heard stuff happening so I know it’s statistically rare but it’s also not unheard of for bad things to happen there before midnight

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war321321 t1_j6xfj7q wrote

The southside during normal business hours is completely safe…

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cthulhu_on_my_lawn t1_j6yqslx wrote

That's fortunate for all the people going out to dinner during business hours I guess.

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UnaffiliatedOpinion t1_j74nego wrote

Dinner is normal business hours for a restaurant, and it’s still perfectly safe on the south side. Where you run into issues are places that are catering to the bar crowd after midnight. “Foodies” aren’t active at 2am.

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Sheepfu t1_j6xxaog wrote

Unfortunately, this isn't really relevant when looking at historic consumer practices...and it usually down turns super fast when the major crime issues are shooting related.

People are a little more tolerant of smash and grab stuff, but outright gun fights will reflect on traffic regardless of when they're generally concentrated.

1

Ryan1006 t1_j6xdl81 wrote

I think the cost of eating out is the biggest problem now. Every restaurant has had prices increases and it makes it tough to eat out as regularly as people did before the pandemic. I don’t think being leery of eating out is that big of an issue, it might still be a little but not a lot. People are packing stadiums and arenas for concerts and sporting events, etc. All the people I know are over the fear of eating out that they had during 2020 and most of 2021. Yes there are still people that won’t and I don’t discount their concerns especially if it’s for underlying health reasons. I just don’t think that’s a main cause anymore, it’s the prices. For example if a meal was $9.99 in 2020 pre-COVID, it’s probably $3 to $4 MORE now. Add that up if you are eating out as a family of four and it’s like paying for another meal.

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hopsinabag t1_j6ynrzd wrote

This is my take on it too. Just trying to buy groceries is costing me easily 20% more than it was precovid, and generally speaking incomes haven't adjusted. Going out to eat just isn't financially an option as often as it was for a lot of people.

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Ryan1006 t1_j6yw026 wrote

We rarely go out as a family anymore. Most of the time if my wife and I want go out, we make something for the kids at home to save money. Or we drive though somewhere on our way home for them (fast food has gone up also though). And incomes definitely haven’t adjusted, my percentage raise every year is always the same.

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analmartyr t1_j6z20by wrote

Legit cost is what does it for us, we are a family of 5 and can’t get out of eat n park for less than 65 or 70 with tip now and they don’t serve alcohol. Dinner out once a week is now dinner out once a month.

Even fast food eating off the deals menus are 35 to 40.

I’m all for paying more if the money goes to the service workers and I understand the increases, but my household income hasn’t gone up enough to continue to eat out as we did even a year ago.

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Ryan1006 t1_j6z6ofg wrote

Yep. Chains like Olive Garden that is glorified fast food has become fine dining with the prices they charge. I don’t know what the answer is for this to get better. This pandemic really fucked things up bad.

4

69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_j704z8v wrote

The casual dining out culture that we grew up in has only really existed since the late 1970s. Prior to then, people went out to dinner for special occasions, mostly.
 
A lot of restaurant capacity was overbuilt in the 1990s and later to paper over a fading real economy. All that stuff couldn't stay in business forever.

 
It's probably for the best, going out three nights a week to shovel 2,800 calories into your face ain't good for you.

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analmartyr t1_j71khn1 wrote

Oh I agree, I went full remote at start of the pandemic, it sure makes it a hell of a lot easier to plan and prep meals as well as keep a clean house when removing commute time.

1

KentuckYSnow t1_j76wliz wrote

The pandemic response really fucked things up.

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Ryan1006 t1_j76zh3w wrote

Sure did. I have confidence that it won’t be handled like that ever again. I don’t think either side has the stomach for it again. I know most of the American public doesn’t. And I’ll admit I was wrong because at the time I thought it was the right thing to do.

2

newcitynewme724 t1_j6xd19z wrote

How does that explain a company like Kura coming in soon? Are they ignorant of the issue or do they know it's most likely an issue due for a solution?

3

cdelaney1982 t1_j6xifie wrote

Could just be it's the best space available within that owners budget or they could be getting incentives for setting up shop there

2

KentuckYSnow t1_j76wczq wrote

In the past few years it got impossible to find good, and still cheap food. Yeah there was real inflation, but these places started paying workers more to keep up with government subsidies, and there was also some gouging baked in that got labeled as being the fault of inflation. Point is, most people don't want to spend that much. Eventually, all that talk about higher employee wages is just talk, because people aren't going to accept those prices. My regular pizza used to be sub $10 for a plain pie, so I could get 2 for $20, but now it's pushing like $40 bucks, and I don't give a fuck what their costs or wages are, I'm not spending that much for two pizzas. Inflation was supposedly like 10% and I'm seeing a 100% price increase. Fuck that.

2

gestapolita t1_j7a0jcu wrote

My 10-year-old informed me that McDonald’s 10 piece nuggets, fries, & a milkshake is “only like” $13. Fuuuuuck that, we rarely even go to McDonald’s anymore :/

1

comesfromVT t1_j6xix3o wrote

Yeah I’ll be okay not paying $24 for a solid middle of the road pie. Sucks for the owners/staff but far from surprising.

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Piplup_parade t1_j6xu4w3 wrote

$24?? How many slices was the pie?

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comesfromVT t1_j6xuoug wrote

Maybe I was exaggerating. I just looked up the menu and the pizza we got was $21, maybe we got an extra topping or something. But it was decently sized, 8 slices. I would advise anyone to walk across the street and get a single slice at Benny’s for $5-7.

P.s. love the name piplup is a great little pokemon

35

Piplup_parade t1_j6xv1w0 wrote

Yeah if I’m spending money on pizza, I want it to be quality. I love Benny’s. I remember the first time I walked in with a friend who hadn’t told me how large the slices are, and I tried ordering two. The staff member looked at me and was like “…are you sure?”

And thank you! It’s my favorite starter.

14

WoodpeckerFar9804 t1_j6y329w wrote

Oooh I’ll have to try that! I love a big slice. There was this pizza joint I used to go to when I lived in Arizona called “big ass pizza” lol they had big ass slices.

5

Piplup_parade t1_j6y39d5 wrote

A single slice at Benny Fiero’s requires two paper plates to hold it. You can buy entire pies and the box is gigantic

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WoodpeckerFar9804 t1_j6y3tox wrote

NICE!!!!

2

stronkreptile t1_j716h49 wrote

im from charlotte NC where another bennys is located, i was mind blown when i found out they had them here, it really is like some of the best deal u can get on. a cut of pizza

2

mainelinerzzzzz t1_j6ydf5i wrote

How many inches was the pie? is the proper question. You could cut any pizza into 24 slices.

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sskink t1_j6zamik wrote

Hell, if you partook in the Pgh pizza challenges run by pghgooddeeds, you'd know you could slice any pizza into at least 36 slices.

2

KentuckYSnow t1_j6zxgaa wrote

And if you lived like that guy you'd lose your fucking mind, give away everything you owned, and vanish like a fart in the breeze.

−1

chrishent t1_j6xwnyk wrote

Can't recall the number of slices, but it was large enough for two people.

1

upintheskyyy t1_j6ye9if wrote

I used to work for him at Emporio in Wexford. We all got unexpectedly layed off two days after Christmas…

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newcitynewme724 t1_j6xcl6b wrote

This place, Stack'd, Waffles INcaffinated. This aesthetic is not appealing to me at all and should be done away with. Looks like they are in video games.

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igloojoe11 t1_j6xgn9v wrote

I have no idea how Waffle INCaffinated is still open. It's completely overpriced garbage food. $20 for one mediocre waffle? Seriously? Especially with a place like the Speckled Egg next door which is actually worth their high price. Like, the only crowd that I could see liking it are instagramers who take more pictures of their food than actually eat it.

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WholeTit t1_j6xk014 wrote

agreed. place is overhyped for no justifiable reason.

5

lutzcody t1_j6xpt3x wrote

Seriously question what makes one waffle better than another? Lol

5

igloojoe11 t1_j6xq0j4 wrote

I mean, some places practically just give you eggo waffles. Once you get to middling hotel chain waffle maker level, there isn't much higher to go.

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jimbo_kun t1_j6znqcb wrote

I don’t know, but Waffalonia in Squirrel Hill makes my favorite milk shakes in the city.

3

SnooDoubts2823 t1_j6z2iko wrote

The Stack'd I went to in Gibsonia had one really nice seating area with booths but my wife and I were sat in a lower area that had all the vibes of an East German cafeteria.

3

IClight69 t1_j6xfits wrote

It was kinda of a dumb concept, I mean sorry but yeah. Explain it away ….but to me that’s the rub.

Oooh … a pizza night club? Nah.

Edit:typo

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Snoo71538 t1_j6xshem wrote

Isn’t that basically what Spirit is anyway, but with the perk of not being in the south side.

19

IClight69 t1_j6xth6j wrote

Eh, kinda no. Spirit is first a venue/ bar/ club that’s has killer food service. Its’s not the “pizza street style free flow hip hop scattershot pizza king restaurant “ kinda deal.

Like Nicks fat city was a club, but had pizza .

There’s a difference to me anyway.

Point being for sake of argument you could take it out of the South Side and open pre pandy and I see the results being inevitably the same.

22

not28 t1_j6xvihc wrote

Spirit has a pretty nice music venue and caters well to the aged-out hipster demographic as well as their zoomer replacements.

18

jwormyk t1_j6yid7d wrote

Spirit is primarily a multi-purpose bar/venue that also sells good pizza.

12

RateChemical4705 t1_j6y5fmx wrote

I used to work for the owner of this place when he was the exec chef at Sienna Mercato. He's a dick and has no clue how to run a business.

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mistergrime t1_j70cmzs wrote

Lol at it taking as much scrolling as it did to uncover this: the most likely reason why this place closed.

7

ipmcc t1_j6xqhpm wrote

When I saw this I was immediately like, "Wait... what!? Kevin Sousa had a pizza bar?!"

31

twinkie_doodle t1_j6z8w9d wrote

I am going to be the outlier here and say that I was pretty obsessed with Doughbar pizza lol. And I don't think the prices were insane. It was luxury pizza with indulgent toppings for $20-25. Could easily feed 2-3 people, so less than $10/per person. Their pizzas were so good we literally brought all visitors there any chance we could bc we loved it, and everyone we brought loved it too. Don't even get me started on the whipped ricotta!!! And their thick crust was sooo good.

I think the bigger issue here was the size of the space, as some others have mentioned, and general economic challenges with supply chain and inflation hitting small businesses hard. Also saw 2 commenters say they worked for the owner previously and he's shitty and doesn't know how to run a business.

I just wanna defend their food bc I loved it a lot and will be sad to see this go, lol.

26

hooraproductions t1_j6zmtnl wrote

100% agreed, always brought friends and family here. The Bianco was incredible as was the Crispy Cups pepperoni. Was the pizza expensive? Of course. But it was super good. Everyone I brought there said it was some of the best pizza they've had, especially for Pittsburgh.

11

twinkie_doodle t1_j6zowxf wrote

Aahhh!! Yes! So glad to see another Doughbar stan lol I feel like I'm going crazy reading these comments!! The bianco was sooo good. Tbh I tried most of the pizzas and every one was very very good. And truthfully I don't even think it was expensive, I mean it's expensive for pizza but also you aren't getting just a plain cheese pizza there. I feel like most people bashing the prices are comparing doughbar to a normal pizza shop where you get red sauce, one cheese type and maybe a topping. Doughbar had multiple types of cheese, multiple toppings, and different base sauces. So good!

8

hooraproductions t1_j6zqdux wrote

I feel like most people bashing the pizza haven't actually had the pizza lol. Because yeah I haven't had something from there I didn't like. I think a lot of pizza in the area is suuuuper cheesy which is different from Doughbar so I guess that might be where people are coming from.

9

808pgh t1_j6zwxpw wrote

The Bianco and Sweet heat were my favorite. Rip doughbar

7

Impossible-Sea8382 t1_j6xssbf wrote

Poorly conceptualized (Who wants rotisserie chicken with their pizza?). Sit down pizza in a college neighborhood. People don’t go out to eat for pizza anymore like it’s 1995 Pizza Hut. Inflated overhead when renting $/sqft to have a non-utilized upstairs. Closed two days a week and evenings only 3 days a week. Not even an attempt at lunch, although SS lunch crowd is dismal. This place was touting itself with “veteran” management. Poor concept all around.

22

Gcheetah t1_j6y4n25 wrote

I personally don't see ss as a college neighborhood. More like where college kids move after graduation and to go there for Fri/Sat nights

11

snipechedda t1_j6xusfa wrote

Not surprised. There was hardly ever anyone it there. It was kind of a weird vibe.

18

IntensityJokester t1_j70xsn0 wrote

I felt that way too - the vibe was off. To me most Carson Street places have a similar “feel” but Doughbar didn’t seem to have it. Like it would fit in better down at Station Square, the Waterfront, or some other “chain store in the making” mall/shopping center type place. It was fine to try and some in my family liked the taste but for me if I was going out on Carson Street it wasn’t a place I’d think to go back to.

5

cowboyjosh2010 t1_j6y9dhs wrote

The dissonance of describing a chef who is too anonymous to refer to by name as "well-known". [anon's kiss]

17

Oradev t1_j6xjm77 wrote

I'm avoiding dining out as much as possible lately. It's gotten so expensive, it's not worth it anymore. Already paying a ton for groceries just to have food at home, it doesn't seem right to OVERPAY for food when you've already got expensive food at home. Learn how to cook simple, good food, its much more satisfying.

11

chrishent t1_j6xwhh8 wrote

Honestly, that place is huge, and you are going to have issues filing it up, even if you have a great concept. Also, being able to see from the street how empty it usually was probably didn't help either.

Like others mentioned, food was ok, but hardly something to cry home about. Oh well.

9

AnonPlzzzzzz t1_j6xhm07 wrote

> What happened

We've been in a full economic recession.

What do you think happens in those? Businesses close. Starting with the newest ones first.

The economy is not "strong as hell 🍦🍦🍦" for anyone. Anyone who says that is lying to you.

8

LostEnroute t1_j6xkv9i wrote

Or the food just wasn't any good so people never really showed up. 2 years is about how long a place would make a run at it before realizing it just isn't happening.

15

McGloin_the_GOAT t1_j6y2iax wrote

The economy is fine, we may not even see a decrease in GDP in 2023.

the issue is the wealth is moving up the ladder which leads to businesses targeted at the middle class struggling.

Nobody is going out to get overpriced pizza, they’re either going out for higher quality more expensive food or staying in.

Regardless, I don’t think the economy was the issue here, this place just sucked.

4

RobotNoisesBeepBoop t1_j6zhrrh wrote

By that math they opened a restaurant right smack dab in the middle of a nationwide pandemic and employment crisis. Sucky timing.

5

iwifia t1_j70n3gp wrote

Half true. There isn't an employment crisis. Shit ton of positions open but companies won't call to fill them.

0

RobotNoisesBeepBoop t1_j71mx7q wrote

The great employment migration was/is literally a once in a lifetime shift of the workforce. So it’s a thing haha.

0

Tasty_Definition_663 t1_j6yp58u wrote

Well basically, there are close to a hundred other pizza sellers in and around town. This is part if the problem with this city.

4

zipcad t1_j6zicj1 wrote

apparently he also got raided and arrested for operating without a valid liquor license lol

4

New_Acanthaceae709 t1_j6y21c5 wrote

We have more pizza joints per person than any other place on earth, it feels like.

You either gotta be cheap or be real good, or it's gonna hurt. It's hard to start a new spot.

3

tyleritis t1_j6y6erz wrote

Maybe things have changed since I took economics in high school but don’t a lot of places close in the first two years?

3

Nickzino t1_j6xnfrg wrote

What were they handing out?

2

SunshineSatan666 t1_j6xwzpf wrote

I am personally a big fan of Benny's, and with it being directly across the street and the fact that Doughbar seemed constantly packed, I never had any desire to go check it out. Pizza in this city seems like a hard market to break into. Lot of good pizza here already.

2

Awkward-Bug-8196 t1_j71f0sq wrote

I had pizza here one time. It was pretty good.

2

k2nomadic t1_j71fr7s wrote

This thread made me want pizza for breakfast…🤤

2

stonedchapo t1_j71m3p4 wrote

I was excited for this to become a new party spot in south side.

2

im-a-locksmith t1_j729k04 wrote

There's some kind of core misunderstanding the south side that seems to be a recurring issue. I can't put my finger on it, but like when the Vault opened where the beehive was, you could just tell they were doomed. I expect the same for whatever they're doing to what was Cosmo (which was also doomed). I think I will soon be vindicated in my belief that the 2019 slightly swanky revamp of Carson City has doomed it as well.

2

Low-Public-9948 t1_j6za9uz wrote

Pizza Fiesta is the spot for cheap quality pizza

1

despenser412 t1_j6zr4ux wrote

On a non-economic side note: seems like whatever goes into that corner spot has a short shelf life.

1

unclesamuel12 t1_j71hof1 wrote

Villa used to smack though… I think that was only open for 4-6 years though… had a blast going there in college

And I forget the name of the italian restaurant before villa, but I remember that being open as far back as I can remember

2

Pale-Buyer-9887 t1_j70128h wrote

I remember seeing some ad for them that was like "free vodka drinks for everybody from 10pm-12am!!!!!!" As like a weekly promotion.

That logic can't keep your doors open for that long lol

1

Mr_IntensityMD t1_j6zzich wrote

Not sure how anyone gets in Pittsburgh gets pizza other than Mineos

−1

69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_j704k35 wrote

Absolutely gutted. It's like a piece of my life has gone forever. I spent so many good years there.

−1

Ashamed-Young-6475 t1_j6ykvd7 wrote

The made the mistake of opening shop in Pittsburgh. People here don’t have the money for that kind of shit.

−5