Gus & Yiayia's opens for the season on Pittsburgh's North Side
The Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t the only ones celebrating an opening day on the North Side.
Gus & Yiayia’s ice ball stand opened on Tuesday for the season.
Ice balls were served from the bright orange cart under the rainbow-colored umbrella near West Park, a few blocks away from PNC Park.
As he has for seven decades, Gus Kalaris, known as the “Ice Ball Man,” is once again manning the stand.
“This is the real 412 Day,” said customer Jared Latchaw of the North Side, who stopped with his 5-year-old German shepherd, Rocky. “Gus was one of the first dudes I met when I moved to Pittsburgh” from Franklin in Venango County.
Seeing everyone again is the best part of opening day, said Kalaris, who turned 90 in January. He scraped a 50-pound block of ice to make a cherry-banana-lemon-flavored ice ball. He said these three flavors are “so good you feel like you’ve been to heaven.”
“I am happy to see everybody,” said Kalaris, noting his fingers aren’t as agile as they used to be. “Especially the little kids. There are so many memories.”
Employee Ryan Bickert of the North Side has worked for Kalaris for 10 years.
“People wait all year for opening day,” Bickert said.
Kalaris took over the business in 1951 from his father, George, who started it in 1934. “Yiayia,” the Greek word for grandmother, first referred to Gus’ mother, Pauline, and then his wife, Stella, who died in 2016. He created a scholarship to honor his late wife.
The stand is a staple in the neighborhood from noon to 7 p.m. seven days a week, through October. Not much keeps Kalaris away.
“We will be here unless it’s below 50 degrees, snowing or raining hard,” he said. “I think there will be one more snow day.”
Over the years, there have been six carts. Kalaris built four of them. His dad built two. The most recent one, an Amish cart, is made of hard rock maple.
Kalaris, who lives in Brighton Heights, wakes up early to make the flavors, a mix of simple syrup with food coloring and extract.
On the menu there are three items: flavored ice balls, peanuts and popcorn, the same products his father sold. The ice comes in blocks from DiMartino Ice Co. in Jeannette.
Kalaris said his dad charged 3 cents for an ice ball so he could compete with Isaly’s.
Kalaris had a winter job for 25 years with a boiler company. He left that 16 years ago. He survived kidney cancer in 1998 and a quadruple heart bypass in 1999. He also has had a knee replacement.
His wife, their children and their grandchildren have worked with him. The couple had two daughters and four grandchildren. The first great-grandchild was born last July.
Celebrities such as Vanna White of “Wheel of Fortune” and singers Tony Bennett and Vic Damone are among those who have stopped by over the years.
Of his age, Kalaris said, “Everything hurts, but I’m all right.” He said it takes a few days to make sure he has everything in place because he forgets where he stored some things.
For the first time in eight years, he has had to raise prices. The cost of everything has gone up, he said. A standard ice ball went from $1.75 to $2.
“It’s official: Spring is here,” said customer Dwayne Dolphin, a bass-playing jazz musician from the North Side, who enjoyed a cherry-flavored ice ball. “You can’t get this anywhere else. I love Gus. I come by just to check on him.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region’s diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of “A Daughter’s Promise.” She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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