Greensburg food scene grows with new ethnic, specialty options

Aug 28, 2023

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Kevin and Jeanie Bock of Hempfield like to make the rounds of their favorite Greensburg-area restaurants.

“My husband does say the thing I’m good at is making reservations, and there are so many choices now,” Jeanie Bock said.

It’s obvious the local restaurant scene has grown and diversified in recent years, said Jessica Hickey, founder of the Downtown Greensburg Project.

“The variety that’s coming in is nice,” she said. “I always say that we always need more of everything, but we’re on a good trajectory of adding more good restaurants and good options.”

The proliferation of restaurants goes “hand in glove” with the growth of arts and music around the area, said Jim Bosco, owner of Major Stokes, a downtown eatery specializing in fresh, locally grown foods.

“We have several galleries in town, in addition to The Westmoreland Museum,” he said. “The breweries are popping up, and most of them feature some kind of live music, so the downtown scene is really thriving.

“The Night Market, The Palace Theatre, SummerSounds — all these things work in concert to make Greensburg a destination location,” he said.

Rachel Flowers, who co-owns El Diablo Brewing Co. & Wood Fired Kitchen, as well as Sun Dawg Cafe, with her husband, Ray, agrees.

“The fact that we are strong in the arts, I think that draws some people who are open to different things and allows us to have restaurants that are not just the basics,” she said.

One of the best things about that, she added, is that many of those restaurants are locally owned, not chains.

Fine dining and more

The Bocks’ favorites include El Diablo, with its wood-fired oven and grill, along with the upscale Morelands at Waterworks in South Greensburg.

Fine dining also is the stock-in-trade at places like J. Corks, Vallozzi’s and The Venue, said Danielle Butcher, who co-owns J. Corks with husband Rich.

“People said fine dining would have the hardest time coming back (post-pandemic),” she said. “I wouldn’t say our growth is on the same track as it was before covid, but I would say we’re still trending up and continuing to grow.”

Fortunately, there’s still a market for what Butcher calls “the fine-dining experience in a more casual atmosphere.”

“Overall, lots of people still want to come out for a nice meal prepared by an executive chef and a sous chef, people who have gone to school for this kind of thing, who take pride in what they do,” she said.

Butcher said the J. Corks menu is modern American cuisine incorporating some ethnic features — which also could describe Morelands and The Venue. Vallozzi’s specializes in classic Italian dishes in a Mediterranean-inspired atmosphere.

For Mediterranean food, the Bocks like Sittay’s Mediterranean Kitchen in downtown Greensburg, and they also appreciate the diversity in local Asian fare.

Along with a number of traditional Chinese restaurants, the choices include two locations of Rassame’s Thai Cuisine, Robokyo Steakhouse and Sushi, and The Vietnamese Kitchen.

“I’m glad that places like Sittay’s and The Vietnamese Kitchen look at our community and say, ‘These people are not just looking for the basics that you can get on every corner in every city and town across the United States,’ ” Flowers said.

‘We didn’t have that here’

“I’m Vietnamese, I grew up eating Vietnamese food, and I always had this crazy idea that I wanted to do a Vietnamese restaurant in Greensburg because we didn’t have anything like that around here,” said owner Ten Fox, whose family moved from Vietnam to Pennsylvania when she was a child.

Open since January, the restaurant has offered specialties like pho, a beef-broth-based noodle soup served with a choice of protein; and bun, vermicelli rice noodles with fresh vegetables, choice of protein and a spring roll.

Bosco also was looking to offer something new with Major Stokes.

“When we opened five years ago, it was tapas, but we’re actually on our fourth menu right now,” he said. “I’ve had to figure Greensburg out, and I think we’re hitting the mark now.”

From serving the small plates common in Spain, Major Stokes has settled into a menu ranging from tacos to an ahi tuna poke bowl to filet mignon.

“Everything’s fresh — no freezer, no fryer, no microwave,” Bosco said. “We have our own garden out back.”

With Sun Dawg Cafe, the Flowerses wanted to serve dishes inspired by what they liked to eat on vacation — which included flavors and ingredients from Mexico and the Caribbean.

“We thought, ‘Why can’t we get that here?’ ” Flowers said. “We thought we could bring in some cool ideas, so that’s what we did.”

Filling niches

Across Main Street from the Westmoreland County Courthouse, Sun Dawg caters to the downtown breakfast and lunch trade — as does its neighbor, Yumzio Bistro.

The Bistro opened in 2018 in the North Main Street building currently occupied by Pit Take BBQ, moving to the current location less than a year later for the increased foot traffic.

Offering fast, casual lunch options, the Bistro shares a niche with nearby places like Caffe Barista, Henry’s Hoagies and Iceburgh’s Express, said owner Taylor Kalasky.

There’s room for everyone, she said.

“I think we each have our own unique collection of customers, so we’re not in direct competition with each other,” she said. “I cater specifically to people with dietary restrictions, and vegan and vegetarian options. When I started, there weren’t a lot of options in the area for vegan food.”

All of Kalasky’s baked goods are vegan. She also offers some soy-, gluten- and sugar-free options.

Kalasky said she also is excited by new sweets and specialty drink businesses, like her neighbor, Main Street Sweets, and Steep Mountain Tea Co. in the Greensburg Train Station, which serves some of her baked goods.

They join Dv8 Espresso Bar & Gallery and The White Rabbit Cafe and Patisserie, longtime favorites of local coffee drinkers.

“We just like tea, that’s our thing,” said Marcus Weakland, who co-owns Steep Mountain with his mother, Judy Weakland. “We thought other people do as well, but they didn’t have a ton of options. Tea always seems like a side option at a cafe.”

Steep Mountain opened in 2022, serving traditional teas, tea lattes, boba and bubble teas, energy refreshers and a few coffee drinks, along with baked goods and ice cream.

“I always recommend that (customers) get a cinnamon roll and a London Fog. That’s the classic combination right there,” Weakland said.

While Weakland thought a tea business would be welcomed, he underestimated the scope of the welcome.

“We had no idea we’d receive this much support from the community, especially in the first year. So we’re extremely surprised and happy,” he said.

Tacos and tikka masala

With all that’s happening in the Greensburg food scene, there are niches yet to be filled.

“Downtown is becoming more diverse, especially with a lot of (Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine) students living downtown,” Hickey said. “A lot of them are coming from other areas of the country where they’re used to finding a wider variety of options.

“A street taco place would be amazing and could do really well downtown.”

Fox said diners at The Vietnamese Kitchen have commented that the area still needs an Indian restaurant.

This summer, Invisible Man Brewing in downtown Greensburg has hosted food trucks from Divya’s House of Spice in Penn Township and Billu’s Indian Grill in Pittsburgh.

“People who enjoy Indian food do love to come down to the brewery for the food trucks,” said owner Sean McLaughlin. “They do really well for fans of the food and people who just like to be adventurous.”

He senses that local diners are “more willing to try new things lately and more open to getting out of their comfort zone.”

As organizer of the Greensburg Night Market, Hickey tries for a wide choice of food trucks. Korean beef bulgogi, tacos and empanadas have had a good reception this summer.

“They’re slammed all night long, so, obviously, people like that type of food,” she said.

Flowers said she thinks growth and diversity in the food scene can translate into other types of growth.

“We are a town of only 14,000, so you can only divide (the restaurant market) so many ways,” she said. “But I do hope people continue to look our way and see it as an area to invest in cool, little concepts in ethnic foods and new trends.

“I hope it’s not just the restaurants that follow through on that, but other business opportunities, too.”

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .

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