Park House Is Once Again Packing ‘Em in on the North Side
Shuttered during the pandemic in 2020, the beloved East Ohio Street institution reopened in December.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
In the dozens of times I’ve walked down East Ohio Street over the past five years, I’ve cast my gaze upon Park House, hoping to see the landmark bar teeming with patrons raising pints and swaying to live music. Instead, I saw a shuttered entryway. With a sinking heart, I trudged on.
On Dec. 5, 2025, my view of Park House stopped me in my tracks. The cozy bar was filled with people! The red-and-green neon sign was blazing! Light and laughter poured through the windows! My dream had become a reality! Standing there in the snow, I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge peering through a pub window into his joyful past. The sight humbled my bah-humbug.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
It’s fitting that the beer-slinging business launched in 1933 was reborn on Repeal Day, an annual celebration marking the date in 1933 when the 21st Amendment was ratified, ending Prohibition in the United States and legalizing the production, sale and consumption of alcohol once again.
Proprietors Gary and Michelle Lynch – who live on the North Side and own the 132-year-old building — have spent three years upgrading the cozy, landmark bar while maintaining its historic charm, ever mindful of its place in people’s hearts.
During our Dec. 23rd interview, the Park House was empty, save for the staff and a few stragglers from a private party held for the small army of contractors, friends and family who helped with the renovations. As someone who experienced many raucous, pre-pandemic bluegrass jam sessions at Park House, it was strange to see the interior so still, so quiet.
I didn’t have to muscle my way to the bar for a drink or shout over the sound of banjos (beloved parts of the Park House experience), but it was nice to walk around and see the love that’s been poured into the place, little details that throngs of revelers might miss.
The Lynchs refinished the original bar top, reupholstered the furniture, replaced the tap lines and electrical wiring, sandblasted the brick, painted the ornate ceiling, put up new wallpaper and a mirrored backbar, added antique decor and installed a prep kitchen in the basement, where Chef Isaac DeBoer is perfecting his Irish-Italian pub menu.
“We don’t feel like we own it, we’re just the caretakers,” Gary says. “People are so happy to have this back. The amount of joy that is generated by this space is remarkable. There’s a magic to it.”
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
Former operator Zamir Zahavi put the business up for sale in 2020 after 16 years. It was on the market for a whhile when the Lynchs purchased it and began a painstaking preservation process. Like The Original Oyster House in Market Square (which celebrated its 155th anniversary last October), it represents a quintessential page in Pittsburgh’s boozy backstory. You can add your own Park House memories to the annals via an online form.
Park House was issued one of the first liquor licenses in Pennsylvania when Prohibition ended and was named after the adjacent Allegheny Commons Park. Established in 1867, Pittsburgh’s oldest recreational area got its own upgrade during the pandemic.
The couple says the history of the building is a mix of fact and folklore, which adds to its enduring mystique.
PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER
It was erected in 1892 as a home for James Marshall, Allegheny County Jail’s deputy warden. Over the decades, it housed a bakery, a candy shop and, according to legend, a theater and a speakeasy. The apartments on the upper levels haven’t been occupied since the 1940s.
I’d move into one of those abandoned dwellings sight unseen if it meant I could catch the scent of Guinness stew wafting up through the floorboards each day. Other food offerings include meatball and sausage sandwiches, salads, and flatbreads.
Service industry veteran Lauren Serra serves as assistant general manager and bar manager. Order a beer or a glass of wine or ask her to whip up a classic cocktail or one of Park House’s specialities such as Crosstown Traffic. While I despise the thought of a gridlocked roadway, I enjoyed this blend of bourbon, coffee liqueur, maraschino and lemon.
On that frigid December day, it warmed my heart to connect with the Lynchs and their team, raise a toast to the ghosts of Christmas past and dream of all the boisterous, music-filled nights at Park House to come.
Park House is at 403 East Ohio St., North Side. Hours are 4 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Saturday.
