New Entertainment Venue Coming To Old Civic Arena Site

PITTSBURGH, PA - A new dining and entertainment venue is the first announced tenant for the former Civic Arena site across the street from PPG Paints Arena.

Punch Bowl Social, which features an entertainment mashup of bowling, shuffleboard, video games, craft beers, gastropub dining and karaoke rooms, will lease space in a Centre Avenue office building, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

The Punch Bowl Social announcment comes a week after the Penguins announced a massive new proposal for the 28-acre site. The project will feature a mix of residential, commercial and office space, entertainment and food venues, retail and parks and green space. Construction is set to kick off this fall with 250 units of rental housing.

That will be followed next winter by groundbreaking on a 200,000 square-foot mixed use building with 50,000 square feet of retail space. Punch Bowl Social is expected to locate there.

“We don’t believe in uncomfortable chairs, bland walls, and fluorescent lights,” a post on the chain’s website states. “We believe in brunch turning into a bowling party and bowling parties turning into all-you-can-sing karaoke. We believe in exploring evenings filled with shuffleboard and made-from-scratch chicken and waffles.”

Punch Bowl Social has 14 locations nationwide, including Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Atlanta and Denver. The chain is in an ambitious expansion phase; in addition to Pittsburgh, locations are planned for cities such as Dallas, Washington, D.C. Phoenix, Miami and St. Louis.

The Post-Gazette reported that Punch Bowl Social has signed a letter of intent to occupy the building. CEO Robert Thompson told the newspaper he hopes to open the venue by mid-2021.

Subscribe to Pittsburgh Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.