Squirrel Hill restaurant ordered to close its doors
Diners expecting to have lunch on Tuesday at Poli's in Squirrel Hill were surprised to find a sign in the front door, telling them the well-known seafood restaurant will be closed until further notice.
"It was always a special place. I'm disappointed," said Michele Brisker, of Wilkinsburg.
The 84-year-old business is the subject of a longstanding legal battle between brothers Lawrence Poli Jr. and Joseph Poli, who each owned part of the Murray Avenue restaurant. Common Pleas Judge Lee J. Mazur ordered on Friday that Poli's close immediately, unless Lawrence Poli could show proof that the family's properties were covered by insurance.
The two-story Poli's restaurant and a small parking lot across the street are for sale, with real estate broker CB Richard Ellis listing a price of $1.3 million. Another nearby lot used for parking is for sale for $850,000.
Poli's dates to 1921 at its location on Murray Avenue, near the Forward Avenue intersection and overlooking the Parkway East's Squirrel Hill interchange.
Italian immigrant Joseph Poli opened a luncheonette there for workers laying streetcar tracks to Kennywood Park. Later, the restaurant became a destination for Pittsburghers who enjoyed seafood, northern Italian cuisine and fine dining.
"People loved to go there," said Audrey Reichblum, a former member of the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition. "It was near to the Squirrel Hill Theater. You were never there on a Friday or Saturday night that it wasn't crowded.
"I think they really went out of their way to please individual tastes, and everybody in Squirrel Hill has one."
Attempts to reach Poli family members yesterday were unsuccessful. The restaurant's answering machine told callers that, "Due to an emergency, we will be closed today," and the voice mailbox was full.
The closing put about 50 employees out of work, WTAE-TV reported yesterday.
Attorney Robert B. Sommer, who represents Joseph Poli, called the restaurant closing the culmination of a "long-running business dispute" between the two brothers dating to shortly after the April 2001 death of their mother, Dolores M. Poli. Lawrence and Joseph Poli disagreed over Lawrence's management of the restaurant, unpaid taxes and other issues.
Dolores Poli's unresolved estate eventually will divide ownership of the business between Lawrence and Joseph Poli, with a daughter, Lisa Firman, receiving other assets, he said. Lawrence Poli's attorney, Bernard Schneider, couldn't be reached for comment.
Sommer acknowledged the restaurant had been losing money and said that while Lawrence Poli wanted to keep it going, Joseph decided the best course was to sell the business and properties.
Sommer said when his client learned the restaurant was operating without insurance, he moved last week to press Lawrence Poli for proof of insurance, or to close the restaurant.
