Esquire Journal Picks 2 Pittsburgh Eating places To Survive The COVID-19 Pandemic – CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Esquire Magazine named 100 restaurants America can’t afford during this pandemic, and two local restaurants are on the list.

One is better known than the other, and KDKA money editor Jon Delano spoke to the owners of both along with Esquire’s assistant editor.

We all have favorite restaurants that we wouldn’t see closed forever because of COVID. Esquire Magazine took a look around the country and made a list of a hundred to keep open, which is admittedly a very subjective list.

Tessaro’s co-owner Moira Harrington, known for her hamburgers in Bloomfield, had just heard the news.

(Photo credit: KDKA photojournalist Steve Willing)

“This morning I received a text and downloaded the link. It was a great honor to be featured in such a prestigious category,” said Harrington on Monday.

Under this heading – “Restaurants America Can’t Afford to Lose” – Tessaro wrote an article in which he states that burgers are “Yinzers”.

“Our food and beverage editor, world-renowned food writer Jeff Gordinier, has indeed named Tessaro’s his choice,” Esquire associate editor Ben Boskovich told Jon Delano, KDKA’s money editor.

Boskovich, who grew up in Pittsburgh, admits he’s never been to Tessaro’s, but picked J & J’s family restaurant on the mountain. Washington, a popular hangout when he and his friends lived nearby after college.

(Photo credit: KDKA photojournalist Steve Willing)

“It already felt at home there when we first walked in. The people at J&J are so nice and welcoming and the food is amazing. It’s as good a Pittsburgh breakfast as you can really get, ”says Boscovich.

“We’re honored,” says Nancy McClaren, whose family has owned J & J’s for generations.

“It’s nice of people to think of us at this time. It means a lot to know that we are on people’s minds. “

Can these restaurants survive COVID?

“It was terrible for us. We had to lay off 95 percent of our employees, ”says Harrington.

What is the key to survival, say both Harrington and McClaren?

“We have received tremendous support from our customers,” noted McClaren.

Esquire’s list is incomplete, says Boskovich, saying that each of us needs to do more to help our favorite restaurants this winter: “The entire industry deserves to live and thrive, but do whatever You can while you still can. “