Pittsburgh's famous Prantl's Bakery to open Greensburg location
The famous burnt almond torte from Prantl's Bakery will be baked in Greensburg starting next week, though it will be a while before locals can walk in and order one.
The Pittsburgh bakery will open a new location at 612 Grove St. in the former home of Anderson's Market, a historic neighborhood grocery that operated for a century, from 1906-2005.
“Here we're repurposing an iconic building with an iconic bakery,” said Prantl's owner, developer John Felice of Hempfield.
Founders Henry and Jane Prantl retired in 2007.
The bakery is a Pittsburgh fixture, with locations in Shadyside and on Market Street, Downtown. But the business has run out of capacity to meet rising demand, Felice said.
A new location was essential to stepping up production and sales. That's where Greensburg comes in.
The newly renovated 11,000-square-foot building won't have a retail space at first. Instead, it will produce baked goods, mostly tortes, to ship to the Pittsburgh stores and customers nationwide . A storefront will follow once production is up and running, with all the same products as the Pittsburgh locations, Felice said.
“We have an ideal situation here. We have the baking capacity we need, and we have the retail storefront,” Felice said.
The retail space will feature a custom cake-decorating center.
It's important to fire up the ovens soon, Felice said. The holidays are coming, and scores of people from across the country are eager to buy Prantl's tortes.
The Greensburg location is expected to turn out more than 500 cakes a week, Felice said.
Prantl's burnt almond torte is the stuff of legend. In 2014, the Huffington Post called it the “ greatest cake America ever made .” The bakery's social media pages are plastered with dozens of rhapsodic reviews, including one written by Forest Hills resident Deirdra Harris Glover.
“The burnt almond torte is iconic. I've never had anything like that before,” she said. “It's decadent and yet it's accessible. I love it, I can't say enough about it.”
An eight-serving torte costs $22.99 in store, or $49.95 shipped.
Prantl's received its health license from Greensburg last week, according to city Planning Director Barbara Ciampini.
“I'm excited that we're having such a well-known bakery opening in the city of Greensburg,” she said.
The Greensburg location will have nine employees to start, Felice said.
He said he's looking forward to bringing Prantl's to his hometown.
“Since I'm a local businessman here, I thought I should bring this asset to Greensburg. It's a great opportunity for Greensburg,” he said.
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.
