The first level of East Liberty’s Twisted Frenchman building is rebranding again: On April 12, it will become Garbarino’s, an Italian-American restaurant that’s offering 30 percent off food, cocktails and wines by the glass through the end of the month.
The name is an homage to Mr. Garbarino’s great-grandaunt Louisa, matriarch of the Southern Italian restaurant, Garbarino’s, that opened in Lynbrook, Long Island, N.Y., in 1945; it closed in 1996. An immigrant from Genoa, she passed the restaurant down through the family for more than 50 years.
“Between my family and the training I got from Ron [Molinaro] at Il Pizzaiolo [in Mt. Lebanon], I’m super excited to be going in this direction,” says chef-owner Drew Garbarino. This kind of food “speaks to my heart and you’ll be able to find me on a daily basis cooking up some pasta.”
East Liberty’s new wine bar/trattoria at 5925 Baum Blvd. will feature a menu of family recipes including pastas made in-house, veal chop Parm and chicken piccata. The wine list will skew Italian and French. And happy hours from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday through Friday will showcase dishes like beer-battered artichoke hearts served with a bucket of Peroni beers.
The ground-level restaurant first opened as Bar Frenchman in August 2017, a sibling to the fine-dining tasting menu spot on the building’s second floor that will continue as is. In June, it transitioned to La Riviera Bistro, with a Mediterranean menu of dishes from Spain, France and Portugal.
The 120-year-old building had been the Royal York Auction Gallery, and in the 1920s, a Hudson car dealership before Mr. Garbarino and partners bought the building.
For opening day on April 12, Campari USA and Aperol will sponsor the happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. Starting April 1, reservations can be made on OpenTable.
Melissa McCart: mmccart@post-gazette.com
First Published: March 27, 2019, 4:31 p.m.