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Popular Troy Hill eatery Pear and the Pickle has announced its permanent closure. The owners made the announcement on social media on Feb. 18, following a November 2021 post that they were closing indefinitely to “determine our path forward.”
“It is bittersweet for us to share that we are closing Pear and the Pickle, permanently,” reads a Feb. 18 Facebook post. “The romance we once had with cooking and owning a small business has faded away. Mentally, we are much healthier and happier. And, that right there is why we have made this decision. Life is too short to continue doing something that doesn’t bring joy. To put it simply — it’s not you, it’s us.”
Pear and the Pickle was first opened in 2016 by wife-and-husband duo Alexis Tragos and Bobby Stockard and quickly grew to a neighborhood favorite. The owners have twin boys who were born a week before they opened the restaurant.
Located in a former antique shop (they took advantage of this by using some of its former stock to use as decorations), Pear and the Pickle served as a coffee shop, eatery, and a community gathering place, as well as a spot for hosting Saturday Suppers and occasional pop-up dinners, where it brought people from all over the region to Troy Hill.
“We wanted to do something for the neighborhood,” Tragos told Pittsburgh City Paper in 2016. “We wanted to bring it back to what corner markets used to be.”
Customers and other local businesses have posted an outpouring of support on social media since Pear and Pickle announced its closure, including folks lamenting the end of the “best breakfast sandwiches” they’ve ever had and expressing gratitude for the contributions the business made to the community.
“We will miss you all but know that the work that you did, the space that you created, and the community that grew up around you will always exist,” reads a comment from Bloomfield restaurant Baby Loves Tacos on Pear and Pickle’s Instagram post.
When Pear and the Pickle closed indefinitely in November, the owners posted that two years of industry changes during the pandemic had taken an emotional toll.
“We’ve been operating under very challenging (and completely abnormal) circumstances for nearly two years. And to be honest, we just don’t feel like our customers are getting the best version of PnP right now,” reads the Nov. 19, 2021 Facebook post. “Pivoting our business model again and again, food cost fluctuations, labor strains, rising costs, safety guidelines, and on and on…we’re exhausted. Physically, emotionally, mentally.”
In June 2021, the owners made the announcement that they were eliminating the “traditional tipping model” in their restaurant after reflecting on the challenges of the pandemic and “the antiquated practice of tipping and its troubling, classist and racist history.” They instead moved to a service-based model, including a 20% service charge on every check to give more to their full-time employees, writing, “They’re worth it and they deserve it.”
However, a vague message on the Feb. 18 post suggests that the Pear and the Pickle space won’t stay vacant for long.
“Thank you for your love, friendship and for the endless support,” it reads. “The evolution of 1800 Rialto is in the works and we are hopeful that it will continue to nourish and enrich the Troy Hill community.”
City Paper reached out to Pear and the Pickle for more information but did not hear back by press time. Local soupmaker Brothmonger left a comment on Pear and the Pickle’s Instagram post, “Let me in er,” leading some to speculate that it would be taking over the location, but owner Sarah McAlee tells City Paper that while it would be “awesome” if she were the business to take over the space, she was not the one Pear and the Pickle was referring to in their post.
This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2022.
