Business Spotlight: Failed gas station transformed into pierogi mecca

Posted 12:06PM on Monday 18th February 2002 ( 22 years ago )

MCKEES ROCKS, Pa. - Customers who once pulled up to Helen Mannarino's business to fill their cars with petroleum now stop to fill their bellies with pierogies. In the span of about a decade, Mannarino has transformed a failed gas station into one of the Pittsburgh area's hottest pierogi joints, and that's saying a lot in a region where the dumplings reign as the supreme comfort food. A line of cars under an overhang that once sheltered gas pumps is the norm at Pierogies Plus, especially during Lent, when those of Eastern European descent turn to the traditional dish. "If you want pierogi during Lent, you have to call because we are selling out," she said. "We can't make enough to meet demand." The kitchen staff at Pierogies Plus peels 300 to 400 pounds of potatoes and runs through 200 pounds of flour each day during the six-week duration of Lent, Mannarino said. About half the size of a hockey puck, pierogies are typically filled with potato, cabbage, cheese, meat or fruit before being boiled. They are often then fried and slathered with butter and covered with onions. Pierogies arrived in southwestern Pennsylvania along with Eastern European immigrants who settled near Pittsburgh in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in the steel mills and factories. Pierogies are so popular in Pittsburgh the mayor wagers locally made dumplings with other mayors before sporting events. People in pierogi costumes race around the bases during breaks in Pirates games and festivals are held in honor of the Slavic treat. But even in this area, Mannarino's pierogi stand -- which is housed in what still looks like a gas station just west of downtown Pittsburgh -- is unique. There is no dining room. Customers drive up, get their pierogies and hit the road. Mannarino has infused Old World charm with on-the-go dining to make the novelty shop a landmark of Polish cuisine. Her regular staff of 12, mostly immigrants from Poland, Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, has more than 254 years of combined experience making pierogies. Mannarino immigrated to the United States in 1974 from Poland. She bought a gas station with her former husband but by the mid-1980s, the station had failed because of high costs. She had worked in the family restaurant business in Poland and decided it was what she knew how to do best. Mannarino received training from the Urban League on how to write a formal business plan and how to obtain a loan. She said a demographic study of the region completed for her business plan revealed a large percentage of residents have Eastern European roots. "Pierogies are like comfort food for us and everybody who tries them, likes them. It's tradition," she said. She cleaned up the former gas station, which had been dormant for about five years, and opened shop in 1991. Word of Mannarino's pierogies has been spreading ever since. Most authentic pierogies in the region are made by parishioners in Eastern Orthodox churches. Pierogi sales are often announced in the newspapers. And the church is where Mannarino recruited all of her staff, with the exception of her mother, Julia Balik, who has been making pierogies for more than 70 years. Merle Addams, president of the Central Council of Polish Organizations, said pierogies are a major fund-raiser in Eastern Orthodox churches. "There is no religious meaning, besides being popular during Lent," he said. "But most are made either in churches or in the home." Addams said Mannarino's pierogi are certifiably Polish. "The pierogi there are stringently made to the Old Country recipe," he said. Business is so good at Pierogies Plus, Mannarino is now shipping pierogies to other states and even to Japan. Orders can be placed on her Web site. "We had a lot of outgoing orders to Boston in January," she said. "I guess a lot of people had bets on the Steelers-Patriots game."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/2/198638