Another longstanding Pittsburgh restaurant has closed its doors.
Alexander’s Italian Bistro, which has been a staple along Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield for more than 60 years, shut down March 12 in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
But it won’t be reopening.
Owner Kimberly Colaizzi Ifft posted a heartfelt goodbye on the restaurant’s website and Facebook page.
“It’s with a heavy heart, that we, the Alexander’s family, will be closing our doors, and saying goodbye to ‘Alexander’s Italian Bistro,’ ” she wrote.
“As the chapter closes on Alexander’s, we take with us the most full heart, a heart full of memories, and laughter, and now tears. We are blessed to call every one of our customers our friends, and we thank you for keeping us at the heart of Bloomfield for all these years.”
The site at 5104 Liberty Ave. has been known under different names over the years — always owned by the Colaizzi family. It began as Alto’s in 1958, then became Bobby C’s in 1968 and finally was named Alexander’s in 1977.
“We didn’t just make great food; we created relationships,” Colaizzi Ifft wrote. “Our customers shared their lives with us, and over the years, the bonds that ‘we’ made with so many are the reason Alexander’s was the best restaurant around.”
The post on Alexander’s Facebook page was inundated with replies from former employees and customers sharing their sadness at the closure.
