Nite_Boat t1_j6l0bi2 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:51 AM

NOOOOOO. Pittsburgh vegan scene is lagging behind the rest of the country pretty hard. This would be a big blow

entrepenoori t1_j6lym9o wrote on January 31, 2023 at 6:59 AM

If Apteka ever closes this New Yorker will come down and protest. One of my favorite restaurants of all time

enemy_of_your_enema t1_j6n108h wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:22 PM

I worry that Apteka is also on their way out, as they are only open 3 nights a week.

entrepenoori t1_j6n6rb9 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 3:03 PM

They seem to do what so many small businesses start doing. Make their money sure, but eventually it slows down the earnings potential and leads to a spiral that leads to just downing tools. I hope they don’t because they seem passionate about what it is they do (they are extremely unique I’ve spoken to vegan Poles in Europe who were blown away this exists)

InTheZayn t1_j6nj95c wrote on January 31, 2023 at 4:23 PM

idk if this is exactly what you're referring to, but it seems like a lot of new restaurants open up with "normal" hours and then drastically cut them back once they've established themselves as a success, presumably thinking they make so much money with their original hours that they can cut back but still be sustainable. And in the short term that's true, but the problem is that they've then made themselves harder and harder to patronize, and they lose much more business than they expect. Apteka is my favorite restaurant in the city and I haven't been there since the pandemic started because their hours are so limited. My brother was visiting awhile ago and I tried to take him there, saw they were only open three fucking days a week, and just gave up.

Pittsburgh has way, way too many local restaurants (and other businesses) that make themselves needlessly difficult to patronize.

segfaultxr7 t1_j6oe33m wrote on January 31, 2023 at 7:32 PM

> Pittsburgh has way, way too many local restaurants (and other businesses) that make themselves needlessly difficult to patronize.

It's like the "only in the mood for Chick-Fil-A on Sunday" problem, but for half the week! I'll try to eat somewhere and find that they won't be open for 3 more days, or they are open, but only for dinner and I need lunch. Or vice versa. Eventually I lose all interest and quit trying.

And then there are the times where all the stars align, I call in an order, and they act like I'm crazy for trying to buy something that doesn't exist. Because their menu on their website is 6 years out of date, and I'm supposed to just magically know that.

InTheZayn t1_j6ogfk3 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 7:46 PM

I hesitate to even reference them specifically because I know I'm going to get overwhelmed by folks raving about them, but there's that donut place in the West End that's supposed to be the absolute best donuts in the city, and they sell out by like 9am every day. Why in the world would I ever go there? In literally every other city I've ever lived in or visited frequently, if you ask what the "best" of something is, you are reliably told about a place that operates like a normal business that you can just...go to. When you ask that question in Pittsburgh, though, the answer is always some place in a neighborhood you've never heard of, somehow it's never anywhere near you (no matter where you live), they're only open for 30 minutes one Thursday per month, and they accept every currency except the US dollar.

esushi t1_j6ocrp2 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 7:24 PM

I overheard the owner saying they make more profit on their "wine-bar-only" nights than dinner nights for, like, 1% of the work. Eek!