Did You Eat At These Long-Lost Restaurants As A Kid?

PITTSBURGH, PA - Pittsburgh is nationally renowned for its fine dining, but some of you clearly are nostalgic for eateries that long ago served their last meals.

Patch asked readers to name a restaurant from their childhood that isn’t around anymore and reaction was overwhelming. What follows are some of the responses; have some fun and see how many you patronized.

• Winky’s: Best known for the slogan “Winky’s Makes You Happy To Be Hungry,” the fast-food restaurant chain was founded in 1962 by a pair of Beaver County brothers. The chain had more than 40 eateries at its peak in the paste 1970s, but a sour economy forced it into bankruptcy in 1982.

• Poli: The restaurant opened in 1921 and became a Squirrel Hill landmark. A legal dispute among Poli family members resulted in the restaurant closing in 2005, and the building it occupied was destroyed in a 2015 fire.

• Bobby Rubino’s: Known for its ribs and chicken, this chain restaurant occupied space in Station Square across from where Buckhead Saloon now is located. Two Bobby Rubino’s remain in Florida.

• Burger Chef: The Indiana-based fast food restaurant known for the Big Shef and Super Shef burgers had more than 1,000 locations at its peak during the early 1970s. But owner General Foods Corporation began gradually selling the restaurants to Hardee’s and the chain vanished for good in 1996.

• Tambellini’s: Known for its Italian dishes and seafood, the restaurant was a staple on Mt. Washington for decades until moving to more spacious accommodations down the hill on Saw Mill Run Boulevard in 1981. The eatery lasted more than a quarter of a century before closing in 2007.

• Gullifty’s: Best known for its delicious desserts, this two-level eatery in Squirrel Hill that opened in 1982 also was known for its live jazz performances. Among its regulars was the late Fred Rogers. The restaurant closed in 2013, but the owners still operate Gullifty’s in Philadelphia and Camp Hill.

• The Ground Round: Founded in 1969 by Howard Johnson’s, the casual dining chain had several Pittsburgh locations including one in Monroeville. There currently are about two dozen Ground Rounds left nationwide, with the closest to Pittsburgh near Philadelphia.

• George Aiken: This chain evolved out of a Chick-N-Trim store in Braddock that Aiken opened with his brother, Carl, in the 1950s. The first George Aiken's Shoppes opened in Oakland in 1962. At its peak in the late 70s, there were about 10 Aiken’s - including four Downtown and the more upscale Georgetowne Inn on Mt. Washington. The last location, on Forbes Avenue near Market Square, closed in 2012.

• Chi-Chi’s: Surprisingly, some people still recall this Mexican chain fondly, even though it folded in America after a 2003 Pittsburgh-based Hepatitis A outbreak traced to its green onions left four people dead and more than 660 sickened. The chain still exists overseas.

Has this post rekindled memories of other long-lost restaurants? Let us know. If there’s enough response, Patch will revisit this nostalgic topic again.

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