Shopping for Easter and Passover in Squirrel Hill

Photo provided by Gaby et Jules

By Katie Hatcher and Rosemary Bernth

Although it hasn’t felt like it much lately, spring has technically sprung in Pittsburgh, and nothing brings in the spring season like preparing for the Passover and Easter holidays. Squirrel Hill’s local businesses and organizations are getting into the springtime spirit and getting ready for the holidays in lots of fun ways!

Ten Thousand Villages is getting their customers in on the fun this week with an egg hunt in their store on Forbes. Find an egg (one per customer) and crack it open for a coupon, free gift, or a gift card for up to $20! Check out their event on Facebook for more details.

Ever prepared for upcoming holidays, Gaby et Jules is painting their pastries pastel with Easter-themed macarons. The adorable and delicious ganache-filled almond cookies are in the shape of bunnies, chicks, and Easter-eggs—you’ll be glad you don’t have to hunt for these yummy treats! Need candy for your Easter basket? Hop on over to The Chocolate Moose for a variety of chocolates and gummies, as well as jelly beans! Great Harvest Bread Company in East Liberty is also cooking up some cute baked goods with their Honey Bunny bread. You’ll want a couple of those precious loaves for your Easter table.

You can get just about everything you’ll need for your Passover Seder at several locations. Murray Avenue Kosher has the largest amount of kosher foods in Pittsburgh, with Passover meat, canned goods, baked goods, soups, matzo, cheeses and dairy products. Giant Eagle on Murray Avenue has a setup on Aisle 11 that has your Passover needs in one place. For wine, there’s no place like Pinsker’s Judaica. They have a wide variety of kosher wines, as well as Passover books, and Seder plates. Fine Wine and Good Spirits also sells kosher wines. If you’ve left it a bit last-minute to pick up your matzo, herbs, and fixings for Passover Seder, be sure and make a stop at those stores before Friday rolls around.

Milky Way offers delicious Kosher pizzeria foods in a family-friendly atmosphere and be open until Thursday, March 29th. Stop in to try one of their unique vegetarian pizza pies or calzones! Café Eighteen (next to Pinsker’s) will be open til Wednesday, March 28^th, selling a variety of soups, sandwiches, and fish dishes. The café will reopen April 11^th for lunch, offering sushi as an option.

The Bagel Factory is catering to both religions next week with sweet and savory kosher-style offerings. For those celebrating Passover, they’ll be serving the famous Matzo Brei (sort of like a Matzo french toast), Matzo Crunch (that’s chocolate-covered matzo—yum!), and Matzo Rolls for the whole week of Passover. If you’ll be celebrating Easter this weekend, you can stop in Sunday morning before or after the service (they’ll be open!) for all the cookies, cakes, and mini bagels you’ll need to accompany Easter brunch. Dunkin’ Donuts in Squirrel Hill is the first national chain to offer a kosher menu, from donuts to breakfast sandwiches.

You don’t have to go far to get ready for the springtime holidays—everything you’ll need is right in the neighborhood. And it’s a good thing, because Easter and Passover are just around the corner! Chag Kasher v’Sameach and Happy Easter!