Pamela’s Diner is closing in Squirrel Hill, but its other locations will remain

After 42 years in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Pamela’s Diner is closing.

Closure of the restaurant was announced in a news release Tuesday by co-owners Gail Klingensmith and Pam Cohen who have several Pamela’s locations throughout the Pittsburgh area. All other Pamela’s locations will remain open.

The decision was largely attributed to the covid-19 pandemic, which took a toll on locally owned businesses and restaurants. The loss of several longtime employees, two of whom died, and others who retired, also played into their decision to close.

“It’s been a great 42 years, but now the Squirrel Hill location of Pittsburgh’s iconic Pamela’s Diner — their first location — will close at the end of 2021,” the news release reads.

Klingensmith and Cohen opened Pamela’s along Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill in 1980, bringing an old-school diner feel. The restaurant was successful and in subsequent years it expanded into Shadyside, Oakland, the Strip District and Mt. Lebanon. By 2011, the Squirrel Hill location expanded into a larger space on Murray Avenue.

“Squirrel Hill was our Number One; it’s my neighborhood that I grew up in,” Cohen said.

After opening, Pamela’s quickly became a staple, establishing itself through crepe-style pancakes and Lyonnaise potatoes.

In 2008, Barack Obama visited Pamela’s in the Strip District while on the presidential campaign trail. Klingensmith and Cohen were later invited to cook at the White House.

“We always ran it like family,” Klingensmith said. “We had benefits before anybody else did. We had a 401k, health insurance before it became ‘cool.’ When we made enough money, we always invested back into our employees.”

A customer appreciation day is scheduled for Jan. 8-9 where “big things are planned,” according to the release. Further details were not immediately available.

The duo also hinted in the release that they are “always on the lookout for a place to open a new, smaller location — even, possibly someday, in Squirrel Hill once again.”