Does anyone know why white castle left Pittsburgh? (Liberty, Oakland: houses, taxi)

[PeterRabbit]

Popeye's was in Homewood in the 1970s. Horrible chicken which compared to Winkys. Pittsburgh is a tough city for some chains like Burger King and Domino's. Our only Hardees is in Millvale.

[escilade18]

Originally Posted by PeterRabbit

Popeye's was in Homewood in the 1970s. Horrible chicken which compared to Winkys. Pittsburgh is a tough city for some chains like Burger King and Domino's. Our only Hardees is in Millvale.

Problem with chains in the city is that they have a hard time offering parking in neighborhoods where they would do exceptionally well, think Oakland or Downtown. I personally like BK 10000000 times better than McDonalds though (knowing a few people who worked for McDonalds and tell you how they operate will do that for you.)

[grocerson]

Originally Posted by jay5835

That's where I remember it being in '71-'72.

Krogers was across the street from Rolliers. On the other side of the street was a small store, Shadyside Market. Down the block where a womens store is now located was my father's store, Village Market, about the size of the small Krogers. We left Shadyside in the late 60's when the rent was increased by 400% and the building was expanded and rented to high end womans' clothing stores.

[DurangoJoe]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

Columbus, Ohio is a test market for the midwest i believe. Also, Columbus i pretty transient (when you have around 50,000 college students, many of which stick around after graduation you'll have that) so Columbus really doesn't have a lot of family owned restraunts like northest Ohio and western Pa. I actually despise Columbus because all i ever saw down there was chains and big box stores, yuck!

Columbus is a very restaurant "centric" town and is the HQ for several restaurant chains including Wendy's & Bravo (sister restaurants to Brio Tuscan Grill). This is part of Columbus' character as a test market for restaurants since the restaurants HQ'd there also use the area as a test market.

[myne2468]

i saw white castle bugers in the frezer at sam's club @ the pittsburg mills mall i do not know if they still have them thow dosen't hert to look!!

[miser42]

Originally Posted by escilade18

This is always a question, why did White Castle leave Pittsburgh altogether? I heard that they had quite a few locations back in the day, now the closest location is in Akron. Another chain that bypassed the city is Checkers/Rallys which is in Baltimore, DC, Philly, NYC, Charleston WV, Columbus, Cleveland but not in Pittsburgh. Does anyone have any information to why certain chains avoid Pittsburgh, any info and links would be greatly appreciated

It is always a question and it is always wrong. White Castle never had any locations in Pittsburgh. What you are referring to is "White Tower" which was essentially a ripoff of White Castle. Everybody here replying talking about White Castle in Pittsburgh is just as mistaken. It is easy to do that because they also had a similar looking castle tower on their buildings. But No, There has never been a White Castle in Pittsburgh.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by miser42

It is always a question and it is always wrong. White Castle never had any locations in Pittsburgh. What you are referring to is "White Tower" which was essentially a ripoff of White Castle. Everybody here replying talking about White Castle in Pittsburgh is just as mistaken. It is easy to do that because they also had a similar looking castle tower on their buildings. But No, There has never been a White Castle in Pittsburgh.

A friend of mine and a friend of his came to visit me one night years ago when I lived on N. Dithridge. When they left, they ate at the White Tower on N. Craig. The next day, my friend's friend killed himself. That's all I remember about White Castle.

[miser42]

Originally Posted by jay5835

A friend of mine and a friend of his came to visit me one night years ago when I lived on N. Dithridge. When they left, they ate at the White Tower on N. Craig. The next day, my friend's friend killed himself. That's all I remember about White Castle.

Yeah, there were a few White Towers. There was one downtown, one on Craig st and I believe one on the north shore.

[Benzman66]

Originally Posted by miser42

I believe one on the north shore.

Yep, right before crossing the 16th street bridge north side. You could always see Pgh Officer Pat Logan there on the motorcycle.

[Rocket88]

Originally Posted by Benzman66

Yep, right before crossing the 16th street bridge north side. You could always see Pgh Officer Pat Logan there on the motorcycle.

I always found that to be a peculiar location for a White Tower as there was nothing around there but the Heinz Plant. Where they in business to serve the factory workers? That area of the North Side could use some development. I heard Buncher has owned a much of the land in the old Swiss Hole part of North Side for years. Knowing how they operate, it is no wonder that such prime land is so highly under utilized. But this is the foodie thread and there are other threads where we can post about Buncher tying up valuable land for too long in this city.

Doing an aerial of that property I noticed this place. It is kind of out of the way, but has anybody been? cafeatthelofts.
http://www.google.com/url?q=http://c...isSszZhwghfcXg