PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Original Oyster House in Market Square, Pittsburgh’s oldest bar and restaurant, first opened its doors on Oct. 12, 1870. The restaurant is celebrating 150 years of service, the last 50 of which have been under the ownership of the Grippo family.
Market Square has been central to the story of Pittsburgh’s urban development, and the Original Oyster House has been a vital fixture of the square for most of that history. The square itself dates back to the original street plan of Pittsburgh laid out by surveyors from Philadelphia in 1784. Often referred to as the “Diamond” by Scotch-Irish immigrants, the square was home to the first permanent courthouse, public market house and City Hall, which remained there until 1872, when it moved a few blocks away to Smithfield Street and Oliver Ave.
Following the Great Fire of 1845, the original brick Diamond Market Houses were built, replacing their wooden predecessors and covering the entirety of the square. The entire area became a thriving market district. As goods arrived in Pittsburgh, usually by steamboats offloaded at the Mon Wharf, they then were brought to the square to be sold.
All the activity in and around the square brought a need for food and drinks, with numerous taverns sprouting up to eagerly serve the growing number of customers. One of them was the Bear Tavern, which dates back to 1827. It was located on the current site of the Original Oyster House.
Many cities at that time had oyster houses, so Pittsburgh was not unique in that regard. Oysters were plentiful and cheap in the latter half of the 19th century thanks to new harvesting methods, packaging techniques and faster transportation that made them a staple food of the working class, even as far inland as the Midwest. As a result, America went into a full-fledged oyster craze, with oysters added to every conceivable recipe and used to bulk up more expensive meats like beef, which was double the price per pound. The average American ate 600 oysters a year in the 1800s, while today we average just three. With oysters cheap and accepted as an essential ingredient at every meal, taverns, saloons and other establishments popped up everywhere. They were basically served as commonly as burgers and fries are today.
After starting on the corner of Fifth Avenue in 1870, Pittsburgh’s Oyster House moved to its current location by October 1870 under the ownership of Hugh Lynn. When it opened, oysters were being sold for a penny each and beers were just 10 cents a glass.
The New Diamond Market, a massive H-shaped building that spanned the four quadrants of the square and allowed traffic to flow beneath it, was built in the mid-1910s and brought even more commerce and chaos into the already bustling square. The Diamond Market was the commercial hub of the city, crammed with people, ringed by restaurants and stores, and perforated by traffic and trolleys. It was a great place to sell the fast food of the era, and the Oyster House acquired a new owner that would give the restaurant its unique personality.
Louis “Silver Dollar Louie” Americus purchased the Oyster House in 1916 and became its fourth owner. It was during his proprietorship that the Oyster House became famous for fish sandwiches so enormous that they required a special bun. His wife Mary, who didn’t like oysters, developed a signature breaded coating for the fish and oysters and then tossed them in a deep-fryer. The recipe has been with the restaurant ever since, and is unique to Pittsburgh.
Americus shepherded the restaurant through the end of World War I, the 1918 flu pandemic, the Great Depression, Prohibition and World War II. During Prohibition, which hit the bar particularly hard, sales were sustained by soda pop, buttermilk (which is still on the menu) and perhaps some bootleg alcohol.
The popularity of oysters also plummeted in 1924, after contaminated oysters in Chicago led to typhoid outbreaks. Demand fell between 50% and 80% nationwide, forcing many businesses that relied on oysters to close. Through it all, Americus kept the Oyster House going.
Meanwhile, the restaurant’s fifth owner, Louis J. Grippo Sr., was born in the Strip District in 1931 and would come to the Oyster House as a teenager. He would appear in the doorway of the Oyster House with his friends and they developed a reputation for leaving without paying, prompting Americus to threaten them with arrest and ban the group. Grippo’s daughter and current owner of the Original Oyster House, Jennifer Grippo, tells the family legend like this: “My dad and some of the boys from the neighborhood would get money from the pastor of their church. My dad, being the oldest, would be in charge of buying the boys fish (from the Oyster House) and pop before they would go over to the YMCA to utilize the swimming pool. My dad would pass back the fish and pop and, one by one, the boys would sneak out the side entrance (McMasters Way) and leave without paying. Mr. Americus would always say that he would have the boys arrested if they ever did it again. At the tender age of 12, my dad was standing the doorway after pushing the rest of the boys out into the alley and said, ‘You know what mister, someday I’m going to come back, buy this place and fire you!’”
Meanwhile, the Diamond Market was razed in 1961 and Market Square became an open plaza. It became popular with the lunchtime crowd as more restaurants ringed it, and the Oyster House flourished.
Making good on his promise to someday own the Oyster House, Louis Grippo purchased the restaurant on its 100th birthday, Oct. 12, 1970, from Americus’s widow. A veteran Marine fighter pilot, Duquesne University Law School graduate and a trial lawyer, Grippo dove into the restaurant industry and eventually expanded the Original Oyster House to nine locations in the Pittsburgh area.
The early days of Grippo’s ownership were challenged by a fire that damaged the original wooden bar. Most of the original bar remains underneath the marble and stainless steel visible today. Undaunted, Grippo refurbished the restaurant inside and out shortly afterward. He acquired two adjoining buildings in 1972, expanding the business substantially and capitalizing on large public and sporting events that flooded the square with customers and fans.
Much of the restaurant’s interior décor still dates back to Americus' time. He started hanging pictures of Miss America Pageant contestants from his yearly trips to Atlantic City, NJ, where he gained some notoriety (and his nickname) for flipping silver dollars at his choice of winners. Customers were initially apprehensive that the timeless appeal of the restaurant might be changed with the new ownership, but Grippo carefully maintained the photo walls that Americus first started and added photographs of celebrity customers to the mix, many of whom were in the restaurant for work. Over 25 movies have been filmed there, including scenes for the Pittsburgh cult classic “Night of the Living Dead.”
Tradition has been a key to the success of the restaurant and Grippo wisely held on to it, recognizing that his customers expected the place to stay the same. He also kept the restaurant’s cast-iron radiators, tile floor and tin ceiling as well as many of Mary Americus' recipes, which are still on the menu.
One addition, a yellowed poster of undefeated heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano, has become its own landmark and hangs in a place of honor behind the long bar that stretches nearly the entire length of the restaurant. “My dad was friends with Rocky’s brother and his brother gave him the poster to hang in the bar," said Jennifer Grippo. "Rocky would frequent the bar with his brother and other friends! My dad absolutely loved boxing.”
Market Square became the city’s first historic district in 1972, following the designation of the Oyster House as a city landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation in 1971.
The square declined sharply as the steel industry collapsed, and became known for its crime; it was frequently labeled as a “beleaguered” problem area in the city. Despite the problems around him, Grippo’s enthusiasm for the business kept it viable, and he made a commitment to the downtown location in particular, eventually deciding to close the other locations and focus on Market Square.
In the early 1980s, the PPG Place complex embraced one of the square’s quadrants. The new gleaming glass neighbors brightened up the neighborhood and eventually led to more pedestrian-minded redevelopments that brought tourists and customers back to the square.
In 2009, the center of the square was closed to traffic, creating a larger area for holiday markets, concerts, public events and gatherings.
In 2014, a mural immortalizing Grippo was unveiled just inside the restaurant’s side entrance on McMasters Way. It depicts a famous picture of an Oyster House bartender in 1933, but includes Grippo surrounded by his longtime friends and one of his sons, Lou Grippo Jr.
After her father passed in 2017, Jennifer Grippo took over the restaurant. Ironically, when the Original Oyster House first opened, women weren’t even allowed inside, and now a woman owns it.
Jennifer says, “Every day I walk through the front doors I feel my dad’s presence. He has guided me on quite the journey over the years. When my dad passed away, I didn’t think I would have the strength to carry on so quickly, but I knew he would be with me with every fish we breaded, every customer we served. He would always be there.”
A time traveler from an earlier decade — or even century — would still find a menu they recognize. While there are some newer items, like clam chowder the elder Grippo introduced, the original jumbo fish sandwich, crab cakes and breaded oysters aren’t a nostalgic throwback. They are a tribute to the loyalty of the Original Oyster House’s customers, which in some cases extend back through multiple generations.
In its 150th year, the restaurant is again finding itself facing a challenging economy, but this isn’t the first pandemic the Original Oyster House has weathered, and Jennifer Grippo says their customers have always understood something that it took her years to learn.
“I was attending Duquesne University and was under the impression that once I graduated, I would work in corporate America,” said Grippo. “I had picked up a serving shift at the Oyster House one day, and a woman and her family walked in. The woman instantly burst into tears. I approached the family asking if everything was all right. The woman grabbed my arm and said, ‘Thank you. My father just recently passed away and I heard that you were still open. My father would bring my siblings and I down here when we were younger, and I hadn’t been back in years. I didn’t believe my family when they said nothing has changed. They were right. Thank you. Please, keep it going.’ It was that moment I knew that we were not just running ‘some bar,’ we were carrying on a memory for our family, for other families and for the city of Pittsburgh.”
The restaurant will start a year of celebrations on Oct. 12, 2020, with the hopes that circumstances will allow for a bigger party next year.
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News release from The Original Oyster House:
Pittsburgh’s oldest restaurant, The Original Oyster House, is gearing up for a celebration of their 150th Birthday on Monday, October 12, 2020. They are inviting the entire city to celebrate with them.
On Monday, The Original Oyster House will fill with birthday cheer, including free Bethel Bakery cupcakes (with purchase), live music from Brad Wagner (1:00 – 5:00 p.m. on the patio), and all-day giveaways of swag from Iron City Brewing and The Original Oyster House. The restaurant will open at 11:00 a.m. and stay open until at least 7:00 p.m. Additional surprises and visitors will be announced throughout the week. Full details are located on the Facebook event page here.
Owner Jen Grippo said, “we can’t wait to celebrate with our lifelong customers and friends on Monday. This was not the celebration we had imagined, but we are planning a great day and are so happy to have this excitement to look forward to!”
Fans and friends of The Original Oyster House are invited to make a quick video to wish them a Happy Birthday! Click here to make a short, easy video wish for the Original Oyster House. It takes less than 3 minutes, and the full video compilation will be released on the Anniversary for everyone to enjoy!
“The restaurant’s Birthday was always an important day for my dad, Lou. He really loved it. We see October 12 as the kick-off of to a yearlong celebration of our 150th Birthday. We sincerely hope that next October, we can throw the big bash that our customers, friends, and family are used to.”
Over the years, The Original Oyster House has been a favorite of many Pittsburghers, it’s launched political campaigns and served as a set for several movies. The restaurant has served musicians, actors, athletes, and politicians, not to mention hundreds of thousands of Pittsburghers. It’s become a go-to spot before any sporting event, the hub of activity during years of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, and recently home to Christmas and Zombie-themed pop-up bars.
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