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Peter's Pub closes Friday after 45 years serving Pitt campus

PITTSBURGH — If the walls at Peter's Pub could talk, they would have some amazing stories to tell. Some would be victorious, others slightly embarrassing, but all would be fond memories of a great time at a great hangout.

Peter's, a staple in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood since 1972, is closing its doors on Friday. It's last call for many University of Pittsburgh students, alumni, faculty and fans.

"They've respected me, I respected them, but there's a time to stay and a time to leave, and my time is up," Peter's Pub owner Peter Leventis told Channel 11.

Leventis, and his twin brother George, opened Peter's Pub in the shadows of the Pitt campus 45 years ago. They had one simple goal in mind.

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"I wanted everyone to leave with a happy attitude and say they had a good time at Peter's. I would say 99% did," Leventis boasted.

That included some famous people from Pitt, the city of Pittsburgh and others.

"Tony Dorsett, Franco Harris, Jamie Lee Curtis came in here one time and I was tongue-tied.  I couldn't talk because she was one of my favorites.  She was beautiful," Leventis said.

On the walls of Peter's you'd find signed Pitt jerseys from Dan Marino and Dorsett, a picture of Penn Hills and Pitt alum Bill Fralic, as well as a picture of some Pitt greats in front of old Pitt Stadium.

Leventis estimated over the years more than 1 million people have seen those pictures and have either a drink or a meal at his pub.  Current Pitt students ask him if he remembers their parents when they attended school there.

"Kids come in here and say what was my mother and father like. I tell them, it's like Las Vegas.  What happens here, stays here. I can't tell you kid," Leventis said.

When Peter's announced on social media in early May that it would be closing, Twitter and Facebook blew up.  Pitt alumni were sad and nostalgic, and called it the end of an era.

Since then, regulars have been stopping in for a quick drink or bite, wanting to make some of those last memories last a bit longer.

"On a Friday night, the old boys club would reminisce on the stories we told the day before," said longtime customer Jimmy Sosso. "Peter's became such a warm place.  We didn't want to miss it."

Leventis cherishes the memories, too, and the friends he has made, but said it's time to shut off the taps and give the final last call.

In his classic way, he used a classic to say it best:

"It's time to hold them, time to fold them. You got to know. You get to the point where you don't want to come to work anymore.  I hope you get that feeling when you're 76 years old. I'm finished.  It's time to leave."