Pittsburgh Icon Primanti Bros. Receives Warm Weirton Welcome
Craig Howell Trending
Weirton-area residents no longer have to drive very far to get a taste of a Pittsburgh icon.
After months of waiting, Primanti Bros. Restaurant and Bar officially opened its newest location Thursday, with a crowd lined up throughout the night to be among the first customers to get their hands on the restaurant's "almost famous" sandwiches, pizza, wings and more.
As part of the festivities, Primanti Bros. invited residents to begin lining up at 5 a.m. Thursday, in an effort to be among the first 100 to enter the restaurant, also earning free sandwiches for a year. Some, though, arrived Wednesday evening, setting up camp in the parking lot shortly after a special VIP pre-opening celebration.
During Wednesday's event, Ryan Wilkinson, vice president of marketing, relayed the history of Primanti Bros., which traces its roots to 1933 when Joe Primanti operated a sandwich cart, and later a storefront, in Pittsburgh's Strip District.
They became known for putting the traditional side of fries, along with coleslaw and slices of tomato on every sandwich, to help out the shift workers and delivery drivers who otherwise had difficulties stopping to eat their meals with both hands.
Wilkinson noted, when looking to place a new restaurant, Primanti Bros. often looks for communities with similar backgrounds.
"We are looking at cities with hard-working people," he said. "Weirton is the perfect place."
The new Weirton restaurant was first announced in January by local developer and property owner Jesse Krieg, who said discussions with the company began in 2021. It is the Northern Panhandle's second Primanti Bros. location, joining the one at The Highlands in Ohio County that opened in 2014.
"The amount of excitement has been staggering," said Ryan Blair, "head coach" for the Weirton location, noting the restaurant received 550 applications from area residents, hiring 93 to become part of the Primanti team. "We're really excited to be here."
City Manager Mike Adams noted Weirton has been seeing a great deal of development in recent years, including the ongoing construction of Form Energy's planned battery manufacturing facility in the city's north end.
"We had more calls about Primanti coming to Weirton," Adams said.