This story has been updated.
Big Burrito is finally coming to the Golden Triangle.
Pittsburgh’s most prolific restaurant group of the last three decades, which has become a part of the fabric of the East End and Strip District and has outposts in numerous Pittsburgh suburbs, will open a second location of its Alta Via Italian concept in 2 PPG Place on the southwestern corner of Market Square in 2023.
“It's funny because we’ve looked at spaces Downtown before, but nothing really gelled,” company president Bill Fuller said. This time, it did.
“We feel like Alta Via as a brand is something that a lot of people can connect to, and so it'd be a great addition to the Downtown community, dining and entertainment, right there on Market Square. And then the back of the place opens up to the ice rink in the wintertime. It’s a pretty sweet spot.”
The space was previously home to several ambitious concepts, including Poros from the late chef Yves Carreau and his Big Y restaurant group, and, later, Molinaro, an eponymous upscale Italian restaurant from Ron Molinaro of Il Pizzaiolo fame.
Named for the path through the Italian Dolomites, Alta Via is Big Burrito’s first strictly Italian restaurant with a particular focus on house-made pasta dishes. It opened in Fox Chapel in 2019, and the company quickly sought to open a second location.
“Right before the pandemic, we were close to signing a deal for an Alta Via in McCandless,” he said.
“But there's a lot of opportunity on the other side [of the pandemic] — whether it's landlords trying to make their property more attractive to tenants, or whatever. And so we just kept our eyes open. When this one came along, the deal worked out, everybody's happy, and it's a good fit. It gives us a presence Downtown, which is new for us. I think we'll do all right Downtown.
“Plus, I’ve also never worked in a place that might get Steelers pregame traffic, so that will be fun,” he quipped.
But, needless to say, the industry’s entire landscape changed — worldwide — and that includes customers from once teeming Downtown office towers now at greatly diminished capacity. Despite that Mr. Fuller is bullish on Downtown dining.
“Even if you work five days a week in an office Downtown, you don't go out for lunch and drinks every day. You maybe do it a couple times,” he said. “So even if things stay hybrid forever, people are gonna eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or leftovers or whatever when they're at home, and on the days they’re Downtown, they're going to want to go out for a bite or for cocktails. That's gonna come as people come back to work.”
Big Burrito started in 1993. The company now has numerous outlets statewide, including 10 Mad Mex locations and six high-end boutique restaurants, with roughly 1,000 employees overall.
Their flagship, the original Mad Mex location in South Oakland, was mothballed in the fall and its staff consolidated with the Shadyside location. “We're still trying to reload our teams — hopefully soon” it will reopen, Mr. Fuller said.
Yet another restaurant, Alta Via Pizzeria, is on the cusp of opening in Bakery Square in Larimer, in the second week of March. In the meantime, they’ll be doing regular popups for interested customers to sample some of the menu.
More than two years in the making, the project was officially announced just weeks before the pandemic unfolded, and was supposed to take root on Butler Street in Lawrenceville.
“It's super imminent — it's finally happening,” he said. There’s just one downside for him. The husky chef purposefully and methodically “lost a ton of weight last year. 70 pounds. In the last month, I put 10 back on testing pizza. Once we get open, I'm gonna have to get back on my program.”
Dan Gigler: gdgigler@post-gazette.com; @gigs412 on Instagram and Twitter.
First Published: February 22, 2022, 8:44 p.m.
Updated: February 23, 2022, 2:46 p.m.
