University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections
The Temple Restaurant was located on the ground floor of the Loyal Order of Moose Lodge No. 46 temple at 632 Penn Ave, in the theater district of downtown Pittsburgh.
The Temple Restaurant opened as early as 1916 under proprietor Rose Cohen. She sold the business the following year to Joseph and Hannah Klein, who had sold their Fifth Avenue restaurant to brothers-in-law Alex Schulberg and Louis Bart. The Kleins left Penn Avenue in the early 1920s and sold the Temple Restaurant to Schulberg and Bart. In the mid-1930s, Schulberg and Bart split, with Schulberg relocating to Squirrel Hill and Bart remaining downtown. For years, Louis Bart ran the front of house, his wife Rebecca Bart ran the kitchen, and their children assisted with jobs around the restaurant. The Barts sold the business sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s to Nick Nichols. Nichols remained downtown until 1957, when he moved the restaurant to Saw Mill Run Blvd.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the Temple Restaurant marketed itself as “the leading Jewish restaurant in Pittsburgh.” It was popular with Jewish businessmen in the downtown area, including jewelers in the Clark Building and downtown dentists. The restaurant was also popular with stage personalities who performed at the Stanley and Penn theaters.
Bibliography
University of Pittsburgh Archives & Special Collections
- Helen Spirer oral history, 1986, from NCJW-Pittsburgh Records [ais196440.450] (online—Historic Pittsburgh).
- “Roosevelt Hotel” photograph, Aug. 17, 1947, Pittsburgh City Photographer Collection, [715.4776963.CP] (online—Historic Pittsburgh).
Newspapers.com
- Temple Restaurant advertisement, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 25, 1957 (online—Newspapers.com).
Exhibit History
- Author: Eric Lidji
- Created: May 28, 2023
- Current: May 28, 2023