2008 killing may have led to Paparazzi eatery's demise
Less than a year after a deadly stabbing at South Side's Paparazzi Italian Ristorante, the familiar sounds of live music have been silenced and long lines for late-night pizza there are a memory.
Plastic and tape cover broken glass on the locked front door; the chairs and tables are gone. It's unclear whether the once-popular restaurant is closed for good, but it hasn't been open for months.
Patrons and South Side residents aren't sure what caused the restaurant's demise, but nearly everyone agreed the Dec. 6 slaying of John Piso, 33, during a fight inside hurt business.
Brian Schaub, 26, of Carrick is scheduled to go on trial today in Common Pleas Court on a charge of killing Piso. Police said he stabbed Piso, of the South Side Slopes, in the chest during a fight on the stairs between the restaurant's second and third floors.
Fellow business owners such as Penny Folino said a killing can be hard to overcome. Folino should know: she owns Tom's Diner in Dormont, where a regular customer was beaten to death in the bathroom on Christmas Eve 2002.
"(Paparazzi's owners) just had a bad situation. That causes business to go down. They never really recovered," said Folino, who also owns Tom's Diner and Folino's on the South Side. "I recovered, but it was rough. We experienced a huge drop in business. When things like that happen, you pray a lot."
New owners took over Paparazzi in the summer of 2008 from Jay and Greg Jancosko, who started the business in 1994 with their late brother, Rick, at the corner of 21st and East Carson streets.
"I think South Side changed. It went from middle-aged to a young, bar-hopping crowd," said Greg Jancosko, who owns Paparazzi Pizzeria in Robinson. "It's sad, but time goes on. I don't think (the killing) had as much to do with it. I went down the day after to offer advice, and they had one of their busiest nights (after the killing)."
Paparazzi's owners could not be reached for comment.
Restaurateur Angelo Lamatrice, whose family owns several eateries, owned the Damon's at The Waterfront in West Homestead when worker Brian Lee, 19, of West Mifflin was gunned down in July 2008 as he and another worker were closing the restaurant.
"Business stayed about the same there," said Lamatrice, who sold the restaurant back to Damon's. It remains open.
Nancy Eshelman, president of the South Side Chamber of Commerce, said she didn't think people were scared off by the stabbing.
"I think it was a decline in food and an issue of poor management," said Eshelman, who owns Morning Glory Inn, a bed and breakfast a few blocks away. "South Side is a pretty good neighborhood. I've never felt uncomfortable here. If there's more than one incident, then people don't want to go there anymore."
