Landmark Pittsburgh Restaurant Closing Permanently

PITTSBURGH, PA —After more than four decades in two different buildings, Pamela's Diner in Squirrel Hill is closing.

Co-owners Pam Cohen and Gail Klingensmith said the pandemic and the loss of several longtime workers prompted the decision to shut down the popular eatery. "It's been a great 42 years, but now the Squirrel Hill location of Pittsburgh's iconic Pamela's Diner - their first location - will close at the end of 2021," a news release announcing the closure stated.

Pamela's other locations -in the Strip District, Oakland, Shadyside, Millvale and Mt. Lebanon - will remain open.

Pamela's opened in the neighborhood in 1980 in a small storefront on Forbes Avenue near the Squirrel Hill Carnegie Library. The breakfasts served there proved to popular that Cohen and Klingensmith moved to a larger location around the block on Murray Avenue, in 2011.

The diner gained national attention in 2009 when Cohen and Klingensmith were invited to the White House to cook for President Barack Obama, who dined at the Strip District location during a 2008 campaign stop. He raved about the strawberry pancakes.

Pamela's will hold customer appreciation days Jan. 8-9. The release indicated en"big things are planned," but did not offer specifics.

Cohen and Klingensmith teased a potential return to the neighborhood in the future, stating that they are "always on the lookout for a place to open a new, smaller location - even, possibly someday, in Squirrel Hill once again."

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