Tag Archives: Swissvale

A Message To You, Rudy’s

Posted on by Standard Reply

OK, this isn’t about the Specials’ song. This is about a local sub chain. Or maybe it’s not a chain. I have no idea. My world is upside down. Well, OK, not really. But my interest is piqued. (It’s like the Vincent’s Pizza saga.)

I grew up frequenting two Rudy’s locations… the one in Monroeville, and the one in Holiday Park. Two of my aunts worked at the one in Holiday Park. I took taekwondo lessons a few doors down in the 80s. We’d frequent the one in Monroeville if we were out by where my dad worked. I had always assumed the one in Monroeville was the original, and the others just came later.

Rudy's Subs Collage
Rudy’s Subs Collage

There were ones in Penn Hills & McMuarry for a bit that I dined at, too. They all seemed very similar. Threads taught me today that there was one in Braddock Hills that I never knew about. Are there any others that I’m missing?

Rudy’s Subs in Monroeville seems to have the best website, as rudyssubsmonroeville.com redirects to https://rudyssubsmonroeville.getbento.com/. It does not mention any other locations. It seems like the Holiday Park one is open & has a Facebook Page… but no website of its own.

Then, I also just learned about the Rudy’s in Swissvale. Bruh seems adamant that he is the original Rudy making subs around here. Is it connected to all the other similarly logo-ed Rudy’s? The name is listed differently on a few sites, but it looks like it may officially be Rudy Martino’s Original House of Submarines. Again, no real website, but they are on Google.

When I think of subs in Swissvale, I think of the Triangle. My dad used to bring home a Battleship for supper occasionally. Also, Uncle Sam’s & Peppi’s top the list for a great sandwich… And Carhop’s. They had a few locations and are back to one, too. I’m getting sidetracked here, though.

Does anyone know the Rudy’s story? Is there animosity between the Holiday Park & Monroeville locations? What happened to all the other ones? Is either connected to the Rudy’s in Swissvale.

Am I going to have to write some emails and Facebook messages to do some sleuthing? I did ask Gemini, Perplexity, & ChatGPT… but their answers are dubious.

So, spill it if you know what’s up! Drop your favorite Rudy’s locations & orders (or other favorite sub shops) in the comments! I always liked the Rudy’s cheeseburger sub, cheesesteak, and the Italian. I’d get breaded mushrooms from the one in Holiday Park a lot, too.

Pittsburgh to me; “Slow down.”

Posted on by Standard 3

So this morning when trying to get to church, we had an adventure.  We cross the city to go there, because it feels like home when we do make it, and it is where I grew up going.  Generally, it’s not a bad drive on a Sunday morning.

This morning, we left a little later than we like to because… we have two small children.

I knew that there was some sort of work in the Fort Pitt Tunnel this weekend, so I decided to take the Liberty Tubes instead.  Why?  No respectful yinzer takes the posted detour, and it was going west when I wanted to go east.

No work in the tubes, or even on the Liberty Bridge… except when we got to the ramp for the Blvd. of the Allies and we couldn’t go towards Monroeville.

Up Bigelow Blvd. to Craig St. through Oakland to try to get to Forbes Ave. and get on the Parkway in Squirrel Hill, and we ran into this along the way:

Lady Pittsburgh

Lady Pittsburgh

I have no idea what this was.  She was oblivious to the world around her, happily rolling down the middle of the street on her scooter with absolutely no regard for safety or traffic laws.  She eventually got on to the sidewalk, but she was rolling along at about a ½ mile per hour when I pulled up behind her.  All I could do was start a “What the…” phrase that I couldn’t finish with children in the car and laugh.  We laughed for the rest of the ride to church, and we weren’t done with the obstacles.

Apparently, Forbes was closed off right after the CMU campus for a race today.  Out & around to the Edgewood/Swissvale on-ramp to the parkway it was.

Seriously though, I know I’m not a resident of Pittsburgh proper, but I am a resident of Allegheny County.  Can we pass some sort of local ordinance that you can’t work on or around two major through-ways to the city at the same damn time?

We got there, and were only a little bit late.  The universe was testing my patience today.  I hope I passed.