Legendary Benkovitz Seafoods Vanishes Without Notice

I am not one who cares for fish or seafood, yet I am saddened by the sudden closing of Strip District legend Benkovitz Seafoods. 

Carlton Restaurant owner Kevin Joyce said it best in commenting on the end of an era, that Benkovitz was “part of the fabric of the city of Pittsburgh.”

It is always sad to lose an institution which has delighted patrons for as long as Benkovitz did, having operated since 1910.  It joins the long list of wonderful, defunct local dining establishments:  The Park Schenley, Poli, Louis Tambellini’s, the former Pittsburgh Hyatt Hotel’s Hugo’s Rotisserie, and soon, Shadyside legend Minutello’s, to name a few. I wonder if anyone remembers the Snyder family's  late, great Sir Loin Inn on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill, which often served hundreds of happy diners per day, offering a complete $1.95 lunch in the mid and late 1970's.

Benkovitz Seafoods is irreplaceable.  I join those that mourn its abrupt burial.