Prantl’s Bakery takes over Priory premises on Pittsburgh’s North Aspect | Meals | Pittsburgh

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CP Photo: Ryan Deto

The bakery shop front on East Ohio Street with a Prantl sign on the door and a Priory sign in the window

It had been in the works for a few months, and now it’s official: Prantl’s Bakery is coming to East Ohio Street on the North Side, taking over what was once the Priory Fine Pastries division.

The Priory Hotel has been running the bakery as an offshoot of the nearby hotel for 15 years, and owner John Graf says the transition from Prantl’s acquisition of Priory’s Fine Pastries began in August. Last week the Priory Fine Pastries website started redirecting to the Prantl website.

Graf said the decision to phase out Priory Fine Pastries was due to the need to focus energy on the hotel and event space and that closing the pandemic had been a lot of work for Priory.

“COVID hit and influenced pretty much everything we were involved in, and so I thought we should just focus on the hotel and events side,” says Graf. “[The bakery] was kind of an offshoot and a nice complementary business, but it took energy and focus. ”

He notes that running a bakery takes about 20 hours a day and that was really hard to balance, especially since the hotel had a lot of trouble reopening.

“There were a lot of balls to juggle,” says Graf. “We did a really big renovation and the supply chain made it difficult to source furniture. And it was difficult to find workers. ”

There has been some confusion about who will run the bakery at 528 E. Ohio St. on the North Side. The main signage is still for Priory Fine Pastries, but when Pittsburgh City Paper was visiting on December 10, a paper sign in the window drew attention to the location of Prantl.

Prantl’s spokeswoman Susan McCarthy confirmed to City Paper that Prantl’s will operate in the North Side location. The North Side location is also currently listed on Prantl’s website.

“America’s best cake comes to the northside of Pittsburgh,” McCarthy wrote in an email. “Customers can expect all the delicacies of the unmistakable Prantl products, such as the original Burnt Almond cake, thumbprints, cake bars, gems, pepperoni rolls and more! … Whether breakfast, lunch or a break, Prantl’s has exactly the right range of specialties for that special touch. ”

Graf adds that while it was “bittersweet” that Priory quit the bakery, and he knows it was “something the neighborhood appreciated,” he’s glad to have another locally run business like Prantl’s on his Has taken place. He said Prantl’s was an excellent brand.

“It’s nice that it’s run locally. And we wanted to keep the bakery area open for the North Side. It’s kind of a win-win, ”says Graf.

He says Prantl’s is allowed to use the Priory Fine Pastries brand for about a year. McCarthy says customers at the North Side location “can expect some of Priory’s favorites in addition to Prantl’s offerings.”

Prantl’s Bakery North Side: 528 E. Ohio St. prantlsbakery.com/locations/northside