Sammy’s Famous Corned Beef to close Downtown Pittsburgh bar after 35 years
After 35 years serving Downtown Pittsburgh customers corned beef sandwiches and frosted mugs of beer, Sammy’s Famous Corned Beef is closing at the end of March.
Sammy Firman has operated the Sammy’s location on Liberty Avenue since its inception, and he said the bar and restaurant “had a good run.” At one point, there were five Sammy’s locations throughout the region, including multiple spots Downtown and one in Bloomfield.
“I feel very fortunate, and we had a lot of good customers over the years,” said Firman, who is from Penn Hills.
The Liberty Avenue location, which used to be a Sheetz convenience store before Firman turned it into a bar, is a well-known watering hole and lunch spot in Downtown Pittsburgh. Sammy’s serves corned beef sandwiches stacked with meat, and the rectangle bar is a throwback to the time that Pittsburgh was mostly a shot-and-a-beer town. Thanks to its close proximity to the Benedum Center, Sammy’s has attracted its fair share of celebrities over the decades — with many of their signed photographs displayed in the bar.
Firman said the lease is up at the Downtown location, and rather than seek out a long-term renewal, he wants to retire. The Downtown Sammy’s reopened in November 2020 after covid closures. While he acknowledged that covid took its toll on many Downtown businesses, he said the pandemic wasn’t a major factor in his decision to close.
“Everything just came into place,” said Firman. “I appreciate all the customers through the years. I made a lot of friends.”
Firman said Sammy’s always tried to keep things simple and prices reasonable. He said Sammy’s is one of the last neighborhood bars in Downtown. Since the bar has many regulars, Firman wanted to give people advance notice of the closure so they can visit one last time. Sammy’s last day will be March 25.
He said he has no plans after Sammy’s closes. When asked where he might find corned beef sandwiches now that Sammy’s run is coming to an end, Firman laughed and replied, “I don’t know, I was thinking that myself.”
Sammy’s is located at 901 Liberty Ave. and will be open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday until its last day.
Ryan Deto is a TribLive reporter covering politics, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County news. A native of California’s Bay Area, he joined the Trib in 2022 after spending more than six years covering Pittsburgh at the Pittsburgh City Paper, including serving as managing editor. He can be reached at rdeto@triblive.com.
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