Esquire features 2 Pittsburgh restaurants that we 'can't afford to lose'

The pandemic has hit the restaurant industry hard. Some are gone, others hanging on. And some, according to one magazine, are too important to fail during the covid pandemic.

Last week, Esquire Magazine named the “100 Restaurants America Can’t Afford to Lose.” Two Pittsburgh favorites made the list: Tessaro’s in Bloomfield and J&J’s Family Restaurant on Mt. Washington.

Nancy McClaren, whose family has owned J&J’s for three generations, said she and her family were “pretty excited and humbled” to be recognized by Esquire.

“We thought it was really nice that we were thought of like that,” she said. “We had a lot of new customers because of it. We have had old customers commenting about it.”

As the Esquire story notes, family-owned restaurants and small local diners are in jeopardy across the country.

“We also hope you’ll raise a toast to these spots around the country — old and new, scruffy and spiffy — that we consider restaurants that America can’t afford to lose,” wrote Jeff Gordinier, Esquire’s food and drinks editor. “Because if we lose them, we lose who we are.”

Tessaro’s — known for burgers described by Esquire as “big as a flattened softball” — is reopening for dine-in and takeout on Thursday, according to a Facebook post. They’ll be serving up beef and pork ribs.

“We appreciate the national love,” the restaurant wrote on Facebook in response to the Esquire piece.

“We were very honored and privileged to be considered in that esteemed group of 100 restaurants throughout the country,” owner Moira Harrington said.

J&J’s Family Restaurant is open. Their menu boasts everything from breakfast to burgers, plus a catering menu.

Esquire’s deputy editor, Ben Boskovich, lived on Mt. Washington with a few friends after college. They would walk to J&J’s for breakfast on the weekends.

“We fell in love with the people who worked there, and the food, so J&J’s has a special place in my heart,” he said.

Esquire’s list, he said, is “an incomplete list by nature.” It features restaurants that Esquire editors have a personal connection with and cherish, he said.

“Every restaurant in the country deserves to stay alive and thrive,” Boskovich said. “If we were to do the complete list, it would be every restaurant in America.”

While McClaren said she’s grateful for the nod from Esquire, she’s also thankful for the community that has rallied behind her restaurant throughout the pandemic.

“We’re pretty blessed here. We have a lot of support from the community,” she said. “We have good days and bad days, like all businesses do, but we just try to stay strong during the struggle. We’re doing the best we can and we have a lot of help from the community.”

Throughout the pandemic, McClaren and her family faced “scary thoughts” as they realized they were losing control of their own business, with mandated restaurant closures leaving them struggling to keep afloat a business that has been a family legacy for generations. Now, McClaren said, she hopes the publicity from the Esquire article reminds people to support local businesses through these unprecedented challenges.

“Support local. Shop local. We’re just one of many who need your support,” she said. “We’ll all get through this together if we support everybody. Our message is to tell people in the community just to support your local place, like our local community supported us.”

Harrington, too, emphasized that small businesses couldn’t survive without community support. She urged people to patronize local restaurants if they feel comfortable doing so. If not, she urged them to get takeout or buy gift cards to use once they’re ready to enjoy dining in again.

“The main thing is to support whatever your local business is — be it a hair salon or a small boutique or a restaurant,” Harrington said. “The bottom line is we cannot do it without our customers.”