[PRCo] Re: Interesting PATransit PCC Photos

[Fred Schneider]

Blue Highways was a good read if you were brought up to believe in wandering the blue highways.   I was.   I figure I have somewhere around 1.25 million miles on three continents by now.  

If you believe only in expressways, you probably would appreciate it.

John Swindler had a great line that parallels this.   It goes, "For those who understand, no explanation is needed.   For those who do not, no explanation is possible."


On Feb 29, 2012, at 12:14 AM, Dwight Long wrote:

> 
> Fred
> 
> It was my understanding, back in the day when I lived near and worked in da 
> Burgh, that the various Tambellini bars and restaurants were all run by 
> cousins, nephews, uncles, etc.  In other words, in the family but not the 
> immediate family.  There was one right around the corner on Carson from P&LE 
> terminal, as well.  Never ate in any of them except the one on Southern, 
> later on Saw Mill Run Blvd.
> 
> I concur;  William Least Heat Moon's book is a good read!
> 
> Dwight
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 8:20 PM
> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Interesting PATransit PCC Photos
> 
> 
>> Are all the Tambillini restaurants run by the same family?   I see an F 
>> Tambillini on 7th St. dawntawn.  I think I may have eaten in the one in 
>> Bridgeville.   Joe runs one in the Highland / Morningside area (Bryant St. 
>> between Negley and Craig).
>> One of the things I concluded working in labor statistics for a lifetime 
>> is that the life of typical business is one generation.   The second 
>> generation either doesn't understand the sacrifices that were required to 
>> make it work or do not recognize how trends change.  Restaurants seldom 
>> last more than a year or two.   Those that have been in business for 50 
>> years or more can be counted on one hand in most small cities.
>> 
>> Some of you may have read a book titled "Blue Highways" written by a man 
>> with the nom-de-plume William Least Heat Moon.  It was all about driving 
>> and enjoying the secondary roads, i.e. those blue roads back when road 
>> maps were printed in two colors, red and blue.   (Remember road maps? 
>> That was before we had those inane female GPS voices screeching, "turn 
>> around, you missed your turn.")   Well, one of Moon's methods for finding 
>> a good restaurant was, "it will have five consecutive years worth of 
>> calendars hanging in the kitchen."   In other words, it's a good place to 
>> eat if it has managed to stay in business for five years.   (McDonalds and 
>> their ilk excepted.)
>> 
>> And how often do we find the restaurant that mom and dad ran for 30 or 40 
>> years and now the kids have it and they don't quite understand the formula 
>> that made it so special.   The Stock Yards Inn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania 
>> has been around under the same family since the early 1940s but it isn't 
>> the same today .... the kids redecorated, added credit cards (mom and dad 
>> understood cash), got themselves deeply in debt, cut the menu deeply to 
>> save money ... it's still there but the food isn't as good and there are 
>> no waiting lines today and many nights 3 out of 4 tables are empty.   Down 
>> in Washington, Pennsylvania, there used to be great Italian restaurant 
>> named Angelos.   Rather cramped but tremendous food.   The kids decided to 
>> expand ... probably three times the size ... and in a shopping center 
>> instead of the old economical digs on West Chestnut Street.  I don't go 
>> nearly as often because it needs a accoustical treatment ... the ceiling 
>> is dome shaped ... I guess they were t!
>> rying for their own version of a Renaissance structure ... you know, like 
>> Flippo Brunelleschi's dome on the cathedral in Florence.   Well, it's like 
>> eating inside a base drum.  All the noises are amplified and aimed at the 
>> center of the restaurant!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Feb 28, 2012, at 5:28 PM, Bob Iannucci wrote:
>> 
>>> Tom,
>>> Thank you so much for the pictures and the memories.   I especially
>>> appreciated "Southern Avenue at Tambellini's Restaurant" - that was my
>>> father's favorite restaurant and as kids we got to go there on special
>>> occasions.  To compare then-and-now, I've added a more recent photo 
>>> (thanks
>>> to Google) as an inset.  The restaurant has moved on from Southern Ave.
>>> 
>>> For the few on this list who don't know, the Tambellini name was and is
>>> very well known in Pittsburgh and beyond, being associated with many
>>> restaurants in and around Pittsburgh (operated by various members of the
>>> family) in addition to a frozen-food business some time ago.  This
>>> particular restaurant was established by Louis Tambellini in 1946.  It
>>> moved to a much larger space on Route 51 in 1981.  Louis passed away in
>>> 1996.
>>> 
>>> Bob
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
>>> -- Type: image/jpeg
>>> -- Size: 404k (413842 bytes)
>>> -- URL : 
>>> http://lists.dementix.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/1795%20Tambellinis%20Then%20and%20Now.jpg
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
>