Pierogies Plus brings a traditional taste to your table
If you're looking for the true taste of Pittsburgh, you can't get far without talking about pierogies. But if you want to get really specific, the taste of Pittsburgh pierogies is probably pretty similar to what comes out of Helen Mannarino's kitchen at Pierogies Plus in McKees Rocks.
For 17 years, Pierogies Plus has been supplying local bars, restaurants (Bigelow Grille, Union Grill and others) and family dinners with this handmade Eastern European comfort food on an industrial scale. The idea is to make them just like grandma did -- except with a crew of pierogie-making pros, mostly recent immigrants from Poland, Russia and Ukraine.
It's a business steeped in tradition, reliant on the seemingly infinite supply of nostagia for these small, crescent-shaped dumplings. For so many, they just taste like home.
"I started when I was a little girl, cooking with my mom in her kitchen, in Poland," says Mannarino. "Then, my next level was helping my aunt -- she had a small family diner in Warsaw, Poland."
Mannarino came to Pittsburgh from Poland in 1974, got married and decided to stay. But she, too, began to miss the food of her home and childhood.
"I didn't cook them right from the beginning," Mannarino says. "I was enjoying American food, Chinese, Mexican. Finally, when I got tired of that, I started to miss my own food. So I started to make them at home for myself, and was passing them along to my friends. Then I started to get orders."
In 1991, she moved the operation into a renovated gas station in McKees Rocks. She still cooks with her mother, Julia Batik -- who has been making pierogies for more than 75 years. She emigrated to Pittsburgh in 1991.
Pierogies Plus has been featured on two Food Network shows, "Food Finds" and "FoodNation with Bobby Flay."
"That's how people across the country learned about us," says Mannarino. "They know we're here, and this brings in many steady customers. That's been a blessing from heaven."
"We ship them over the whole country, including Hawaii and Alaska. Like today, I had people from California who ordered them overnight. It's extemely expensive, but the wife wants to treat the husband for Thanksgiving because he's from Pennsylvania, and is missing pierogies."
Pierogies Plus doesn't have a dining room -- most patrons pick up their pierogies to go. There are more than 30 varieties, from Spinach & Ricotta to Sauerkraut & Kielbasa (all $9.25 for a dozen cold; $9.75 hot). Making pierogies is a time-consuming process, so most need to be ordered two days in advance.
However, four Traditional Pierogies are constantly kept in stock, made daily for walk-up business -- Potato & Cheese ($4.05 for a half-dozen; $7.66 for dozen), Sauerkraut & Potato ($4.10; $7.90) , Cottage Cheese & Chives ($4.10; $7.90) and Meat ($4.35; $8.90) . All can be served hot for a few cents more.
Pierogies Plus also offers Haluski -- a noodles and cabbage dish -- Coleslaw ($3.25 per pint), Potato Salad ($3.25 per pint) Stuffed Cabbage ($2.35 cold, $2.55 hot), Rice Pudding ($1.20) and "Grandma Ann's Breads," including Pumpkin ($4.50 a loaf) and Zucchini ($5.95 a loaf).
Pierogies Plus pierogies also can be found at the McGinnis Sisters and Whole Foods grocery stores, and many area bars and restaurants.
Pierogies Plus is at 342 Island Ave., McKees Rocks. Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays. All major credit cards accepted. Details: 412-331-2224 or www.pierogiesplus.com.
Additional Information:
Pierogies Plus
Pierogies Plus is at 342 Island Ave., McKees Rocks. Hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays. All major credit cards accepted. Details: 412-331-2224 or online .
