Home Care In Sharpsburg, PA

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Cafe on Main appears to be closed.

Cafe on Main is an adorable breakfast and lunch spot on the main drag in Sharpsburg. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were in a southern cafe out in the country.

The decor is charming and the menu is pretty unique – each dish seems to have a twist or two that elevates it above typical breakfast fare.

The Specials Make it Hard to Decide

We recently visited on a late Sunday morning and quickly got a table, but we have heard that this place does get quite busy at peak breakfast times.

Before sitting down we checked out the huge chalkboard in the entry area that lists daily specials. There were all kinds of tempting options like a lemon poppyseed Belgian waffle topped with a blackberry-maple sauce, and all sorts of omelet and eggs benedict specials.

We decided to order from the specials menu and got the Norwegian benedict and the havarti omelet.

The Norwegian benedict was served on sourdough bread and was topped with smoked salmon, arugula, and boursin cheese, as well as the requisite poached eggs and hollandaise. I'm not normally a fan of smoked salmon, but this salmon was just lightly smoked so that the flavor was noticeable but not overpowering. The boursin cheese and hollandaise provided a creamy sauce, while the arugula gave a fresh, bitter counterpoint.

The side options included potatoes, grits, or fresh fruit, and we chose the potatoes which were definitely a good option. These were some of the best breakfast potatoes we've had in recent memory – the skins were insanely crispy and you could smell the garlic emanating from them when the plate was set down in front of us.

The hunks of potato were a bit large, though, and they would have been even tastier had they been smaller hunks to provide more of that awesome crunchy surface area.

The havarti omelet was another excellent choice with avocado, bacon, tomato, and arugula rounding it out. The eggs were impressively fluffy and light, while the filling ingredients were rich without being overly so- the tomato and arugula helped with keeping things lighter. The ciabatta bread on the side was toasted perfectly but still delightfully pillowy in the middle.

I tried to pretend I was healthy by ordering the fresh fruit on the side, which actually ended up being a very nice way to round out the meal.

Overall, the service here was friendly and speedy, and the breakfast dishes were classics with a few delicious, fancy twists. Our meal was so enjoyable that we definitely plan on returning.

After all, we still need to try some of the sweet breakfast options as well as the soups, salads, and sandwiches on the lunch menu!

Cafe on Main was located at 914 Main Street in Sharpsburg, PA- about 10 minutes east of downtown Pittsburgh but now appears to be closed.

For more brunch options in Pittsburgh, check out Pamela's, Johnny's Diner, DiAnoia's, Lola's Eatery, or Square Cafe. Or if you time your visit right, head across the street for a beer at Dancing Gnome!

Cafe on Main does not have a parking lot but ample metered parking is available throughout Sharpsburg.

As of our last visit, Cafe on Main accepted credit cards.

The first LGBTQ-owned distillery in Pennsylvania started, in part, because of some crappy Pittsburgh weather. Katie Sirianni had started a successful business with Sips Mobile Bar Co., providing cocktails and drinks at BYOB restaurants and events throughout the city.

Yet, no matter how fruitful that idea proved to be, Mother Nature always has a way of interfering. And operating a traveling bar that primarily operates outdoors can be a logistical challenge in the dead of a Pittsburgh winter.

“I had no desire to deal with a brick-and-mortar; I just wanted to do my own thing,” Sirianni tells Pittsburgh City Paper. “Fast-forward a year and a half later, it's wintertime, it's slow for the mobile bar industry, so I started watching the [distilling] process and thought, ‘I could do this’”.

And here we are, with Love, Katie Distilling having soft-launched in Sharpsburg, an immediate addition to an area in transition, and a stamp of progress at the same time.

“I’ll be the first LGBTQ-owned distillery in Pittsburgh — and by the looks of my endless research the first LGBTQ-owned distillery in the state of PA,” Sirianni points out.

Sirianni is no stranger to staking out a bold idea and working towards achieving it. She says Sips started in part as a response to Pennsylvania’s frankly archaic liquor laws.

“We were trying to find different avenues to sell because Pennsylvania, being a Commonwealth state, makes that very difficult,” she said. “So our little loophole that we found was partnering with breweries, wineries, and distilleries, and almost being independent contractors off that.”

Sips essentially became a reverse food truck, coming to places where patrons wanted a cocktail that the establishment couldn’t provide, and meeting their consumers where they were.

As Sirianni, a native Pittsburgher, decided to carve out her own space and open a true distillery, Sharpsburg seemed like a natural home for the venture. “The businesses down here, I go in somewhere to grab breakfast and everyone right away is asking me about the business, how it’s coming. I just love the direction the area is going.”

Even amongst all of this community, the local distillery industry is a competitive one, with large, established brands like Wigle Whiskey being long-time fixtures in the area. Sirianni sees Love, Katie as a place to grab a great drink, for sure, but she believes other aspects make it stand out.

“It’s going to be a really premium product because I can’t put it on my shelf if it’s not a good product,” she explains. “But it’s even more about the atmosphere. It’s going to be speakeasy-style, so we have dark walls, dark ceilings, crystal chandeliers coming down, some really cool egg-shaped chairs, marble look on the counters and tabletops, with all ‘40s and ‘50s music.”

This atmosphere will be supplemented with a liquor menu featuring gin and vodka to start, with an expansion into whiskey and rum — both of which require more complex distillation processes — as time goes on. (Sirianni adds, “I’d love to challenge myself to distill tequila as well, as there are very few places locally that do it.”)

Being an LGBTQ-owned distillery, in a beverage industry that hasn’t exactly been the most inclusive, isn’t lost on Sirianni. It’s an accomplishment that she’s immensely proud of. But she wants Love, Katie to represent a broad spectrum of love, the kind of love that can mean a couple sharing a drink after a long day of work, or a son buying a bottle for his dad as a gift, or a love of a community like Sharpsburg that is finding itself with the help of projects like this.

Sirianni says that, ultimately, Love, Katie comes down to a space to find some joy, for whoever might be seeking it. After all, the whole project was partially born out of love and the celebration of it.

“It’s called Love, Katie Distilling because it’s really a love letter,” Sirianni says. After a relationship ended, "I put myself out there," she says, "more for friends than a relationship..." But eventually, "I met my now-girlfriend. So it’s my love letter to her, but it can be your love letter to anyone.”

Love, Katie Distilling. 816 Main St., Sharpsburg. lovekatiedistilling.com

Sara Smith’s passion for animals began at an early age, when her parents would bring home all sorts of interesting critters. The house was always full of pets.

But she discovered her love for more exotic creatures, including snakes and lizards, all on her own.

“I’ve always been a bit of an oddball,” she said. “I like the animals that maybe don’t get as much love from everyone else. I think they’re so fascinating.”

Sara’s Pets and Plants — a pet supplies shop and exotic animal rescue in Sharpsburg — will close its doors on Oct. 8 after five years. The exotic animal rescue aspect of her business (which she refers to as Feathers, Scales and Tails) will continue, she said. But not the for-profit pet store, because “functioning as a nonprofit rescue and a store is tough.”

Her path to Sara’s Pets and Plants began years ago and many neighborhoods away.

As a kid, Ms. Smith would frequent Alan’s Pets and Plants, a pet supplies shop in Squirrel Hill, further fueling her passion for animal care. In 2018, the owner decided to retire after 49 years in business, and asked Ms. Smith to take over the shop.

Ms. Smith changed the store’s name to Sara’s Pets and Plants and took on the role as owner later that year.

Sara’s Pets and Plants — a pet supplies shop and exotic animal rescue in Sharpsburg — will be closing its doors Oct. 8 after five years. (Courtesy of Sara Smith)

“I decided to renovate the store, just fix up some things and get it a little more organized,” she said. “And then I quickly decided to switch it from a normal pet store, as you would commonly see, to not only sell pet products, but also focus on exotic pets that had been rescued and need to be re-homed.”

Ms. Smith thought that having her own storefront would allow her to educate prospective pet owners on how to care for their animals, a service she believes is lacking at some other pet stores.

“I was really excited to have a platform to provide a safe space for exotic animals,” she said. “I have a good amount of experience and education in animals. I think a lot of stores don’t put proper checks in place to make sure that the new pet owners are going to take proper care of exotics. So I was really excited to provide that to the Pittsburgh area.”

The store only offers pet supplies that Ms. Smith would be comfortable using for her own pets, she said.

She decided to relocate the shop to Sharpsburg in January 2020 after finding the rent in Squirrel Hill to be cost prohibitive.

Then COVID hit.

“The pandemic was obviously tough for everyone,” she said. “I did not receive funding from the government at all, though I applied. Thankfully, I was able to get enough donations from supporters who wanted me to succeed and stay open.”

As the pandemic slowed down, so did customer support. Eventually, she made the tough decision to close the store and focus solely on her rescue efforts.

“There’s never been a time in the last five years that there’s been a huge profit,” she said. “I’ve always taken it month to month. It just depends on the amount of support and adoptions that are coming in. I don’t mind putting in the work because I believe in it and I really wanted to make it work, but I think I hit a point where I’m so unsure of the future.”

Her main goal, Ms. Smith said, was always to provide a safe space for exotics and educate people how to care for them. And that part of the journey doesn’t have to end with the store.

“The good thing is, as much as I wanted a physical location, I don’t need one in order to do that,” she said. “So I’m just going to switch over to a foster-based rescue.”

Community members sad to see Sara’s Pets and Plants go have wished her the best as she moves on.

“Everyone has been very supportive which is nice to see,” Ms. Smith said. “But I’ve had a lot of sadness. I think people are upset that they won’t be able to go to the store anymore. I wish I could do more.”

Ciara McEneany: [email protected]

First Published October 5, 2023, 2:30am

Aspinwall and Sharpsburg fire departments followed an earlier study calling for departments to merge, improving fire protection

By Michael DiVittorioThe Tribune-Review

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A fire protection study by the state Governor’s Center for Local Government Services recommends fire departments from Sharpsburg, O’Hara, Blawnox and Aspinwall merge into a regional department.

The study was prepared with input from officials in those communities. Its final report was released earlier this year.

The study finds the consolidation of fire departments would result in “major improvements in the delivery of all future fire protection” including the ability to “utilize fire service personnel more effectively by staffing and deploying firefighters based upon geography, workload, calls for service times, etc.”

Aspinwall and Sharpsburg have merged into what is now called Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services.

[RELATED: To merge or not to merge: Tough times prompt difficult discussions for volunteer departments]

Mike Daniher of Sharpsburg was elected fire chief. J.C. Teyssier of Aspinwall was elected deputy chief.

Both start their new leadership roles in January, and both said they support the study’s recommendations.

“Our organization welcomes any department that would like to join at any time,” Daniher said. “It would be wonderful if everyone would join together for one large collaboration.”

Teyssier likened a fire department to a big family and would like to see his family grow.

“Everybody’s hurting for manpower,” he said. “When you merge you gain the people that are most interested and you push further with training.”

The study was done at no cost to the participating towns.

Fox Chapel declined to be a part of the study. Its fire department officials said they have enough active members to serve the borough and cover mutual aid calls.

(c)2023 The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.)Visit The Tribune-Review (Greensburg, Pa.) at www.triblive.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SHARPSBURG (KDKA) - Dozens of former employees of Adda Coffee and Tea House rallied Wednesday outside a studio in Sharpsburg, owned by the person, after their place of business suddenly closed all of its shops shortly after telling the owner their intent to unionize.

In frigid temps, Chris Gratsch and his former colleagues came together. They're frustrated, having suddenly lost their jobs, last week when the owner shut down its four locations.

"It's more than anything just incredibly sad," Gratsch said.

There were about 30 employees.

RELATED: Pittsburgh coffee chain closes shortly after workers announce union

Gretsch was a lead barista at the Shadyside store, where he worked for nearly three years. He said they've been unionizing for more than a year, and last Wednesday at a staff meeting they decided to deliver their demand for recognition.

The next evening, they learned the news, the owner saying in a Facebook post, they've "been operating at a loss since the beginning… exacerbated by the pandemic."

Sierra Young was a lead barista at the Garfield location.

"The worst part is that he announced it to us the same time he announced it to the whole public," Young said.

On the heels of the rally, the owner shared more with KDKA, saying they "[came] to the decision to close over the holidays, assuming that there would not be any other route to saving the business." He said it "was solely and entirely based on the financial viability of the business." and added that "the timing has been unfortunate."

"If we were operating in the red for seven years, clearly, it wasn't a problem until that specific day, which I think that timing is a little bit more than unfortunate," Gratsch said.

They're demanding a livable severance, to be able to get their belongings and to make sure PTO is paid out.

"I do kind of feel personally betrayed in some ways," Young said.

In the process, they've received support from local and state leaders, including Lt. Governor Austin Davis.

"What they did is wrong, to announce a closure the day after these workers have organized to form a union is quite frankly unconscionable," Davis said.

Davis said as the days go on, they're going to evaluate what they can and can't do as an administration.