Ryan’s Pub Celebrates 41 Years

One of the charms of Regent Square is that nobody knows exactly where it is. Oh, if you’re standing in front of and looking down toward , you know you’re there. A few feet away, the “Regent Square Theater” sign is a pretty good clue, too.

But like Point Breeze and Park Place, Regent Square is a place name—not a municipality—and it’s long been exploited by real estate interests trying to make some properties seem more attractive than they really are. Sort of like Donald Rumsfeld’s “lipstick on a pig” notion.

One thing’s for certain, as two generations of patrons will tell you—Regent Square begins at .

You know you’ve made it as a business when people call your place by a simple name and everybody knows exactly what you mean—Dunning’s, Murphy’s, D’s. In the East End, people have been saying “Ryan’s” for more than 40 years. And in proper Pittsburgh fashion, they don’t even pronounce it correctly; the word we use is something like “rines.”

For many folks who are not into original art works, antiques, BYOB or $50 meals, Ryan’s is Regent Square—though maybe not the groovy heart of the district. To get down there, you need to head south on Braddock Avenue past Glenn Greene’s glass studio at Guthrie, then almost a half-mile to the front door of Concept Art Gallery.

Ryan’s Pub & Grille has been a pillar of the community since 1971. Among Regent Square’s eating and drinking establishments, Ryan’s is the most durable, soon to celebrate its forty-first anniversary. And yet, other than burning down in the early 1970s and going through a change of ownership 21 years ago, not much has changed since it got started.

Located at the northern edge of Regent Square on South Braddock near Forbes at one of the city’s prime locations, Ryan’s has a workaday charm because it is rock-solid—exactly what it appears to be. Open seven days, usually 3 p.m. to 2 a.m., it features a kitchen that serves a remarkable variety of hearty meals for eating-in or take-out until as late as 1 a.m.

“Comfort food” is the term used by owner Greg Sestok to describe a menu that offers burgers, reubens, wings, pizza, hoagies, pasta, fish meals, salads, appetizers, and imaginative daily specials. Others might call it “American food” or “bar food.” The portions at Ryan’s are generous. When Chef Scott Hunter is on his game, the servings might be gargantuan. Prices are reasonable.

Ryan’s does a brisk business in take-out beers, with a healthy selection of imports at favorable prices. There’s also a good choice of drafts beers (pitchers available), and happy hour affords a decent break on prices.

What’s unusual about Ryan’s—and what makes it a favorite for walk-ins from the East End-Savannah-Mifflin corridor—are the events. Karaoke on Sunday nights gets an enthusiastic crowd. A cadre of shifty people flocks to Ryan’s to play poker one or two nights a week. Trivia Night on Thursdays fills the dining room booths and banquet tables.

Ryan’s has a limited smoking option on the glass enclosed “deck” at the front of the building. The establishment is a sports bar, of sorts, doing a rowdy business during Steelers season. There are eight TVs throughout the bar and dining room, and the bartenders will try to help you out if you want to see hockey, basketball, NASCAR, women’s collegiate softball or curling.

Until recently, the TVs at Ryan’s were unanimously considered the worst in the entire East End. The installation of four new flat screens in late 2011 improved things immensely.

A quirk of Ryan’s is that there’s no “Ryan.” Dating to the 1940s, the location had been the venerable Park Tavern. It was remodeled and re-done, largely with Rockwell family money, in 1971. It soon burned to the ground and was rebuilt within the first two years.

“Ryan” was Tommy Ryan, an impish, rascal barman and part-owner who ran the place for the big-money, hands-off backers. Tommy’s ability to pack them in was legendary during the 1970s and 80s, before he moved on to start his own place on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill. He named that place “O’Rourke’s,” though it’s not clear why.

Greg Sestok, a career auto mechanic, assumed ownership of Ryan’s on September 30, 1990, kept the name, many of the staff and most of the customers, and added the front deck in 1997.

You wouldn’t know Greg Sestok unless you already knew him. Unlike Tommy Ryan, he’s nobody’s idea of an impressario or maitre d’. He’s this thin, pale, middle-aged guy who shows up in jeans and a sweatshirt and whizzes around the place cleaning, doing repairs, receiving orders, stocking, hassling with vendors, doing the books and schedules and all the dozens of other unglamorous things it takes to run a neighborhood saloon. 

If you’re thinking of Humphrey Bogart’s “Rick Blaine” in “Casablanca,” you’re on the wrong track. Greg Sestok is nothing if not a local guy who employs his friends and befriends his employees. He’s guided Ryan’s in staying on-track as a neighborhood landmark through the storms of drink taxes and anti-smoking regulations.

Saloons come and go in Regent Square. But during the lifetimes of most of its patrons, Ryan’s has always been there.