Former Mario's, Blue Lou's, Nick's Fat City Owner Dies

PITTSBURGH, PA - Robert Pessolano, who almost single-handedly jump-started the transformation of the South Side from a rundown neighborhood with boarded-up storefronts to a hub of Pittsburgh's nightlife, died Tuesday. He was 68.

With the South Side being a derelict community in the early 1980s, Mr. Pessolano opened Mario's, and proved that a large, upscale restaurant on East Carson Street could succeed. He followed that with Blue Lou's next door. In 1992, he opened Nick's Fat City on the other side of East Carson Street, a music club where locally famous acts such as the Clarks, Affordable Floors, Donnie Iris, Brownie Mary and the Gathering Field often played.

Nick's Fat City closed in 2004 and Mario's and Blue Lou's closed in 2007, when Mr. Pessolano moved to California to start a vineyard. Mario's reopened under new ownership in 2007 and since has expanded to Shadyside and Oakland locations.

Arrangements for Mr. Pessolano are being handled by the Simons Funeral Home on Perry Highway. For information on visitation and services, click on the link.