Big News For Braddock (Pittsburgh, Liberty: neighborhoods, to live in, restaurants)

[brdst11]

Pretty ambitious, but if anyone can pull it off, it's Kevin Sousa.


Braddock looks to new Kevin Sousa restaurant as urban renewal project - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

[brdst11]

Whoops. Missed this in the foodies thread, but it should probably be its own thread.

[BrianTH]

I agree this deserves its own thread, because I think it could have implications beyond just creating another new options for local foodies.

[globalburgh]

Related:

A Big Turn On | Bites | Cleveland Scene

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Serious question: who the hell can afford Kevin Sousa dishes in that lives in Braddock? Might as well be Fiddler's Green Tower from Land of the Dead.

[sskink]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Serious question: who the hell can afford Kevin Sousa dishes in that lives in Braddock? Might as well be Fiddler's Green Tower from Land of the Dead.

Read the article. Part of the plan is a takeout for hotdogs and BBQ at reasonable prices. But the overarching concept is to bring people to Braddock from outside the neighborhood and reduce the 'scary' factor of the place.

Will it work? Who knows. But it's nice to see someone with a known name commit to a project there. And he'll bring people through reputation alone for at least for the first few months.

[greg42]

Part of what makes Sousa interesting is that he isn't doing things at crazy prices. Even Salt of the Earth is more accessible price-wise than other restaurants with such food would be. His other projects are Union Pig and Station Street hotdogs, fairly moderate. One might argue that they are expensive for their type of food I suppose. He's also the one who set up Yo Rita on its current course, and that's not expensive either.

Of course, "expensive" is relative.

People thought he was nuts to locate Salt in Garfield too, I'm sure. Yeah that area is further along than Braddock, but you still hear even people going on about East Liberty where his other two places are.

He's going to LIVE in Braddock as well, just down the street from the restaurant. So that's a big commitment. It'll certainly get a fair amount of his direct attention since it'll be near his home.

"A lot of people tell me I'm crazy," he said last week while taking visitors on a tour of the squat corner market, which was marked for demolition until Mr. Fitzgerald stepped in with development money. "But they thought that about Salt being in Garfield, and a white kid doing BBQ and my opening a hot dog shop across the street from what used to be one of the worst projects in the city."

Make sure you read to the end of the article. It definitely explains where he's coming from and why this might be seen to work.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by sskink

Read the article. Part of the plan is a takeout for hotdogs and BBQ at reasonable prices.

Article says nothing about reasonable prices but rather "gourmet hotdogs". Yay four dollar hotdogs I guess.

I know that it's good that someone is putting some real investment into Braddock (rather than exploitation to sell jeans) but lets be honest, this is a hip Rust Belt chic cash in that has little to do with the locals.

[greg42]

Probably the most significant thing will be that it will draw people into Braddock that wouldn't otherwise go there. The foodies who want to go eat Sousa's food will not care that it's in Braddock as opposed to some other part of the Pittsburgh area. So they will come. This may or may not actually be useful for Braddock, only time will tell that I guess.

[globalburgh]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Article says nothing about reasonable prices but rather "gourmet hotdogs". Yay four dollar hotdogs I guess.

I know that it's good that someone is putting some real investment into Braddock (rather than exploitation to sell jeans) but lets be honest, this is a hip Rust Belt chic cash in that has little to do with the locals.

Potentially, it's an anchor. The restaurant can attract other business and investment. Locals could work there. Read the article, there is a strong local angle. That is, if you consider those residents as "real" locals.

I look at it as either the restaurant is there or it isn't. Anyone who thinks that the locals would be better off without the restaurant are the ones who are engaging in exploitation.

So Sousa is pulling off a Rust Belt chic cash in? Let's be honest, I doubt you know anything about his motivation. He's moving his family as a publicity stunt?