The Mr. Barbecue and more is no more. They closed briefly to remodel, and opened again with an emphasis on pizza; then they appeared to be closed yet again and yesterday I saw a new sign, La Cucina Pizza, go up. There's supposed to be some kind of cake shop opening soon in where the card shop used to be. There's a major business apparently up for sale too. I'd like to see some coffee house type hangout open in the evening in the area, but I imagine that might be expensive to keep running.
Just what we need another pizza joint over there. Back in the day Upper Union had groceries, drug stores, busy with retail. Now empty political offices, endless bad pizza and new curbing. All retail is leaving this County chased out by the confiscatory tax rates. Highest sales taxes, highest property taxes and more idiotic spending schemes. Maybe another brick crosswalk will turn things around?
Back in the day Upper Union had groceries, drug stores, busy with retail.
'back in the day'....EVERYONE worked at Generous Electric and they were fat and happy. GE paid the lion's share of taxes. Folks had disposable cash to spend at those grocery, drug and retail stores. Coming into present time..GE's gone......taxes are high and there are no jobs!! We can't go back......be realistic.........it is what it is!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
By Anya Sostek / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette It’s a slice of warm, cheesy goodness that’s an inescapable part of childhood — from school cafeterias to birthday parties to family dinners.
But a study being published today in the journal Pediatrics warns of the overall impact that a tasty slice — or two or three — of pizza has on the health of American children.
On days that pizza is consumed, overall caloric intake is much higher than on other days — and even more so when pizza is eaten as a snack.
“Pizza is everywhere,” said William Dietz, a professor at George Washington University and co-author of the study. “On a given day, 20 percent of American children are consuming pizza.”
For adolescents, the study said, that figure rises slightly to 23 percent.
On days when they eat pizza, children consume an average of 84 more calories than on other days and adolescents consume 230 more calories. Consumption of saturated fat and sodium is also higher on pizza days than on non-pizza days.
The study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics used data from children and adolescents participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, spanning from 2003 to 2010.
Over those years, the study found that pizza consumption has dropped significantly. Although pizza consumption at lunch stayed relatively steady, it decreased by 40 percent at dinner for children 2 to 11.
The study found pizza consumption is roughly equal among all races, which was not the case in 2003, when consumption for black and white children was much higher than for Hispanics. In the meantime, consumption for blacks and whites has fallen, while consumption for Hispanics has risen.
That may be an indication that parents are becoming more aware and more concerned about childhood obesity and healthy eating, said Dr. Dietz, director of the Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University, noting that other studies have also shown a drop in fast food consumption.
Joseph Aracri, chair of Pediatrics at Allegheny Health Network, is a self-professed “pizza lover,” whether it’s a cheese-heavy pie from Fiore’s in Beechview or a refined slice from Il Pizzaiolo in Mt. Lebanon. But it is something that he counsels patients should be “a sometimes food,” rather than “an always food.”
One issue with pizza, he said, is that children usually eat it by itself without other meal accompaniments like a salad or fruit.
“I think people have to realize pizza is what it is,” he said. “I mean, do you need to put a nutritional label on chocolate cake? It’s high in fat content, high in salt, a lot depends on the toppings. If you do have pizza, make sure you have a side item like carrot sticks and make sure you have water instead of soda.”
Dr. Dietz, who previously had been director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urged that parents try to lessen the quantity of pizza consumed at each sitting and the frequency that pizza is eaten. They should also try to improve the composition of the pizza — thin crust over thick crust or peppers and mushrooms over sausage and pepperoni.
The study notes that counseling on food issues is more effective when specific foods are targeted, versus nutrients. For that reason, it urges that pizza “should become a target for counseling for the prevention and treatment of obesity in pediatric practice.”
As far as his practice in Pittsburgh, Dr. Aracri said pizza should certainly be allowed by parents — but more as a treat than a part of the everyday diet. “I love pizza in all forms,” he said. “But it goes to the overall picture with kids, which is everything in moderation.”
Anya Sostek: asostek@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1308.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Just what we need another pizza joint over there. Back in the day Upper Union had groceries, drug stores, busy with retail. Now empty political offices, endless bad pizza and new curbing. All retail is leaving this County chased out by the confiscatory tax rates. Highest sales taxes, highest property taxes and more idiotic spending schemes. Maybe another brick crosswalk will turn things around?
Maybe if you bring 50 thousand people back, bring Elvis back, and go back into your mothers womb everything would go back like it was ?
For crying out loud I cant believe there is a parking lot where my grandfathers barbershop was.
We had retail and a market on Upper Union long after the Elvis era. If everything happening today is still because GE it does not explain why places that never had GE still have a plethora of businesses. The ultra-high taxes, combined with the dumping of downstate's unwanted here, plus the lack of basic maintenance of the infrastructure, all things I've mentioned before, have a negative impact on local businesses. My neighborhood has too many vacant homes, the occupied homes are overtaxed. I don't have as much to spend at businesses supported by the neighborhood when I have to pay excessive taxes just to hang on to my home. Clifton Park doesn't have a GE. They have new businesses opening up all the time. The failure of the BBQ place isn't fully explainable by the city's problems, though. That Union Cafe appears to be doing okay. I personally wouldn't be going after a slice (ha ha) of the saturated pizza market on Upper Union. I'm told that children's clothing resale boutique does well too, but I've never noticed anybody going in there. I know someone who actually was afraid to go to the Mr. Wasabi restaurant because it was in Schenectady, he finally went, had a good time, and now he goes there all the time.
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Just what we need another pizza joint over there. Back in the day Upper Union had groceries, drug stores, busy with retail. Now empty political offices, endless bad pizza 
