Pittsburgh has made many contributions to America and the world. (You’re welcome.) In this series we explore some of those things that PGH Made first and PGH Made famous.
PGH Made: Mancini’s Bread
Bread! Glorious bread! And not just any bread, Mancini’s bread – a Pittsburgh original straight outta McKees Rocks.
This company, hard at work loafing around since 1926, bakes 10,000+ loaves each day to satisfy our bread-loving appetites. Knead to place a special order? They always rise to the occasion.
This family of “Ital-Yinz” (their amazing term) was started by James Mancini who baked 100 loaves nightly in a one-room bakery then went out in the morning and hand-delivered them to his customers. Later his brother Ernie joined him and the business grew. Then Ernie’s son Frankie took over until his untimely death in the 1970s. After that Ernie’s daughter Mary took the helm.
The nights of making just 100 loaves are the days of yeast-erday. These days the company has flour-ed into a 24/7 two-location bread empire with locations in McKees Rocks and the Strip District. Mary still runs the McKees Rocks location and her son Nick runs the one in the Strip.
Mancini’s bread is special primarily due to its “old world techniques” (like taking 4 hours to bake a loaf!) and a secret recipe “twist”. Frankly, they can keep their secrets as long as they keep making the bread! The bread technically has a short shelf-life because it is made without any preservatives; however, we don’t think anyone has ever left a loaf uneaten long enough to find that out first-hand.
The original loaf is their Italian Twist, but be sure to also try their wheat, marble rye, multi-grain, famous raisin, cranberry walnut, and paska. Or how about a dinner roll? Or their well-loved specialty pepperoni rolls and hoagie sticks? They even offer fresh dough which you can then take and bake at home. So many yummy options, so little time.
Pick up a loaf or three at many local grocery stores – like Giant Eagle, Kuhn’s, and Shop ‘n Save. Or be served one at many area restaurants. In Pittsburgh, when it crumbs to bread dough not accept any substitutes; only accept Mancini’s.
This content was provided by a local, independent contributor to Made in PGH, a lifestyle blog.