Pennsylvania’s restaurant scene has been taking some hard hits lately.
In recent weeks, several familiar restaurants across the state have closed or changed hands, adding to a broader stretch in which familiar restaurant chains have been vanishing from Pennsylvania.
From a 25-year Philadelphia BYOB to a popular North Hills dim sum spot and a downtown Pittsburgh steak-and-seafood restaurant, these closings show how varied the losses can be.
Some were independent neighborhood favorites. Others were chain restaurants that still became part of a local dining routine.
Figs in Philadelphia
Figs in Philadelphia’s Fairmount neighborhood closed after 25 years in business.
Originally opened by Chef Mustapha Rouissiya around 2000–2001, the Moroccan-inspired BYOB at 2501 Meredith Street had passed through several hands before becoming closely identified with chef Salvatore De Cristofaro, known to many regulars as Chef Sal. He sold the restaurant in May 2026, with a new Italian BYOB called Valentina Italian Ristorante by first-time restaurateur Landi Prendi planned for the space.
De Cristofaro’s career stretched back nearly six decades. He arrived in the United States from Apulia, Italy, in 1967 as a teenager with, as he put it, “a ticket, $14, and a big dream.” Over the years he opened or operated more than 20 restaurants throughout the Philadelphia region, cooked White House dinners for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and served as executive chef at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. “This is like show business,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer on his way out. “You’ve got to leave when you’re on top.”
Figs was the kind of restaurant that helped define a neighborhood dining scene. It was small, personal and built around chefs whose stories shaped its identity.
For Fairmount diners, the closing was not just about losing a menu. It was about losing a familiar room, a longtime host and a restaurant that had been part of local life for 25 years.
Wei Lai Dim Sum near Pittsburgh
Wei Lai Dim Sum in Ross Township, in the North Hills area north of Pittsburgh, closed in late May 2026.
The restaurant was located at 3200 McIntyre Square Drive in McIntyre Square shopping center, off McKnight Road, and had built a following for Cantonese dim sum, Taiwanese noodles and bubble tea. Its final day was May 25, 2026. In its goodbye message, the restaurant thanked customers for supporting it during more than two years in business.
That may not sound like a long run compared with restaurants that last decades, but some places quickly become part of a community’s routine. Cantonese dim sum is notoriously hard to find in the Pittsburgh area, and Wei Lai had drawn regulars from across the North Hills.
For those diners, Wei Lai Dim Sum offered something specific and memorable. When a restaurant like that closes, regulars lose more than a meal. They lose a go-to option that helped make the local dining scene feel more interesting.
McCormick & Schmick’s in downtown Pittsburgh
Downtown Pittsburgh also lost its McCormick & Schmick’s location in late May 2026.
The Fifth Avenue restaurant, located at Piatt Place, had been a familiar spot for business lunches, dinners, celebrations and visitors staying near the city’s core. It opened in 2008, three years after the chain first came to Pittsburgh at the SouthSide Works location, which closed in 2021.
“After many years serving the downtown Pittsburgh community, McCormick & Schmick’s on Fifth Avenue has made the difficult decision to close its doors,” Shah Ghani, chief operating officer for parent company Landry’s, said in a statement.
The downtown Pittsburgh closure is part of a much larger contraction. McCormick & Schmick’s once had more than 100 U.S. locations at its peak. As of spring 2026, the chain was down to roughly 13 to 15 restaurants nationwide. The Chicago Loop location closed in early 2026 after a lease expiration, following a years-long pattern of slow attrition under Landry’s, which purchased the chain in 2012.
Chain restaurants can still become local fixtures, especially when they occupy prominent downtown spaces for years. For many diners, the name becomes attached to a routine: a work lunch, a holiday dinner or a reliable place to meet before an event.
The closure leaves another gap in downtown Pittsburgh’s dining scene at a time when many city centers are still working through changing traffic patterns, office habits and restaurant economics.
Pennsylvania is losing familiar places
These three closures are very different.
Figs was a 25-year independent BYOB in Philadelphia. Wei Lai Dim Sum was a newer but popular North Hills restaurant. McCormick & Schmick’s was a downtown Pittsburgh chain location caught up in the steady contraction of a once-100-strong national chain.
Together, they show that restaurant losses do not all look the same.
Some are retirements. Some are business decisions. Some reflect the pressure facing downtowns and small operators. But for customers, the result is similar: one more familiar place is gone.
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