Restaurateur entertained city's famous
Years before sports bars became the rage, Pittsburgh had Goldstein's Restaurant on Fifth Avenue, Uptown.
Dubbed by many as the "melting pot of sports," Goldstein's was a home away from home for sports figures, entertainers, city, county and state officials.
Harry A. Goldstein, of Squirrel Hill, whose father and uncles started the restaurant in 1932, died of a heart attack on Monday, March 15, 2004, at home. He was 69.
On any given day, recalled his brother, Shelly Goldstein, you could run into the Steelers' Art Rooney, Duquesne University basketball figures Chick Davies, Dudey Moore and John "Red" Manning, or boxers Billy Conn and Fritzie Zivic, who trained at the nearby Pittsburgh Lyceum.
And when they were in town, you could rub elbows with boxers Jack Dempsey, Rocky Marciano, Ezra Charles and trainer Jake Mintz.
"Almost every boxer of note trained at the Lyceum," Shelly Goldstein said, "especially Billy Conn and Fritzie Zivic, who were like members of our family."
Known for its corned beef sandwiches and matzo ball soup, Goldstein's was the luncheon place for many of the Jewish businessmen and merchants in Uptown, including Ralph Schugar (Schugar Chapel Inc.), who was a regular. "Ralph was well-liked, had a great sense of humor and fit in," Shelly Goldstein said.
He recalled how on Saturday evenings the family didn't have to provide a comedian to entertain the overflow crowd because "almost everyone there would go behind the counter and entertain."
Born in Oakland and raised in Squirrel Hill, Mr. Goldstein was one of three sons in the family of Murray and Hilda Caplan Goldstein.
His father, prior to establishing the restaurant with his brothers, Sam and Alfred, and moving his family to Squirrel Hill, worked on the Bluff. Using a horse and wagon, he made fruit deliveries throughout the city's West End.
Shelly Goldstein said his brother, Harry, upon graduating from Taylor Allderdice High School in Squirrel Hill in 1955, began his career as a cashier in the family business. He remained there until the restaurant closed in 1972.
In 1970, while on vacation, Mr. Goldstein met and married Rosalind, a resident of Philadelphia. Mrs. Goldstein died in 2002.
"Harry was well suited for the job," his brother said. "He liked the customers and they liked him. It was often standing room only after a hockey game at the Civic Arena or a Civic Light Opera production. And then there were the customers who attended the jazz sessions at the Crawford Grill or the Hurricane and dropped in later in the evening.
"When Davey Lawrence was mayor, he was a regular. And even after he became the governor of Pennsylvania he would stop in when he came to Pittsburgh."
Mr. Goldstein is survived by his brothers, Sheldon Goldstein, of Mt. Lebanon, and Robert Goldstein, of Squirrel Hill. He was the uncle of Michael, Beth and Araan.
Services and interment will be held in Florida. A memorial service will be held later. Arrangements by Ralph Schugar Chapel Inc., Shadyside.
