Walking down Penn Avenue in The Strip in Pittsburgh in the afternoon is a bonafide scene. Chiles are roasting next to the taco stand outside the Latin grocery, fresh char, earthy and sweet, in the air. There’s Italian confections, farmers market produce stands and every imaginable article of clothing is available in black and gold, just pick your team: baseball, hockey or football. There’s fancy Argentinian sandwiches worth standing in a line wrapped around the corner filled with tech guys, one of the shops pointing in the direction of The Strip’s future.
The Strip feels nourishing in the way institutions in cities can feed the spirit merely by the time one spends in them. Along what feels like a block party — though it’s a regular early-autumn Thursday — is Wholey, a Pittsburgh-area institution 103 years and counting. The place is cavernous in a Big-era F.A.O. Schwarz way. Robert L. Wholey started off selling fish and meat, live poultry and sausages and coffee back in 1912. Wholey is still where one gets the fish for Friday, along with about anything else gastro-aquatic imaginable. You can eat a fried oyster sando and walk the place filling your cart if that’s your thing, or you can also have the Burg’s best sushi at Andy’s.
Andy Nguyen, proprietor of Andy’s Sushi Bar, anchored just inside Wholey Market, is a boss. Andy, himself, is a bit of an institution in Steel City, having been at his practice for over 29 years. His personal style of dress isn’t attention-grabbing but is flashy in the details — and it’s also how his sushi is prepared. The space is small and the menu is long. His house made sauces sit gathered in old sriracha bottles with the screw tips snipped. Andy talks with you while he makes cuts off a large fish, he makes you little bites of magic and hands it to you to try while you wait. He makes eye contact with you as he pulls rice from the armory at his side. He knows his regulars by name, and like a good bartender, gets everyone talking so he can focus on his work.
Andy gently guides you away from ordering the wrong thing with an unflappable confidence that garners enough respect to let you know you’ll be getting the best thing, even if it’s not the thing you walked up wanting. It’s good to remember that there’s moments in life where a complete stranger can tell what you need if you let them. It’s a two-edged trust: You gotta trust yourself enough to ignore yourself. Then, you gotta trust your neighbor to take the wheel and understand that everything is going to be OK.
EVERY TYPE OF SEAFOOD YOU CAN THINK OF. TUNA , SALMON , LOBSTER , CRAB CAKES , MAHI MAHI, SOFT SHELL CRAB..IF IT LIVES IN THE WATER YOU BET YOU CAN FIND IT AT WHOLEY'S
NOT ONLY THIS A SUSHI LOVERS DREAM A TAKE OUT SUSHI BAR FOR LUNCH CUSTOMERS ON THE GO.
ON YOUR FIRST TRIP YOU WILL THINK ITS JUST A FISH MARKET ...NO.A DEEP FRIED FISH FRY SERVING FISH, CRAB CAKES HUSH PUPPIES AND EVEN JUICY FRIED CHICKEN FOR 99 CENT A POP OMG THIS A SEAFOOD LOVERS PARADISE
ENJOY YOUR FOOD ON THE SECOND LEVEL AND AROUND THE CORNER YOU HAVE A GROCERY STORE SIMILAR TO YOUR LOCAL FRESH MARKET. FRESH SCHUCKED CORN , TO HOT DOGS, TO HOMEMADE FUDGE!!! WOW. AND ON A HOT DAY BRING A COOLER TO ICE DOWN ALL YOUR FISH FOR FREE WHILE YOU SIGHT SEE.
LOBSTER ROLLS TO SUSHI, TO CALAMARI. LOBSTER MAC TO BISQUE. SPEND A SUMMER AFTERNOON AT WHOLEY'S FOR ALL YOUR SEAFOOD NEEDS. WHAT FUN FOR FAMILY AND FRIEND.
In 2005, a 23-pound lobster was discovered for sale at Wholey's.[5] He was nicknamed "Bubba."[6] Robert Wholey decided to spare the lobster and sent him to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, who had planned to transport him to a Ripley's Believe It or Not! aquarium.[5] He died the next day.[7]
