Entry No. 45 — the Pittsburgh file — filed under: ice balls
Gus & YiaYia's
The cart was built in 1917; the Kalaris family bought it in 1934 for $175 and has been pushing it out to the same corner of Allegheny Commons ever since. It sells three things — hand-shaved ice balls with homemade syrups, popcorn, and peanuts — and the ice used to come from Brighton Road before the supply moved to Ohio. "YiaYia" is Greek for grandmother; Gus Kalaris attached it to his mother Pauline while he was in high school, and after she died in 1992 his wife Stella took the title. Gus worked the cart into his nineties and died in June 2024 at 92; his son-in-law Art Avlon said the family intends to keep it going, and in 2025 the city gave the block the honorary name Gus & Yiayia Way. It has also picked up a 1997 documentary, a City Council proclamation, and a miniature replica of itself at the Kamin Science Center.
→ Three more weird eats & drinks in Pittsburgh — never the same twice
The story
The cart is older than the business. It was built in 1917, and in 1934 Gus Kalaris's father bought it for $175, paid off at five dollars a week, and set it at the edge of Allegheny Commons on West Ohio Street. Gus started working it at eight, took over as a young man, and stayed roughly seventy years. The name arrived by accident of affection: yiayia is Greek for grandmother, and Gus had it painted on the cart while he was still in high school, meaning his mother Pauline. After Pauline died in 1992 the title passed to Gus's wife Stella, who carried it until her own death in 2016; a scholarship for local children now bears her name.
What is physically there is very small. An orange cart under a rainbow umbrella, a rank of syrup bottles, a block of ice, and a Gilchrist 78 hand scraper - a machine that stopped being sold around 1950 - shaving the block into small, medium and large cups. The syrups are made in-house, and the flavor list runs to about a dozen: cherry, orange, lemon, grape, pineapple, root beer, blueberry, banana. Popcorn and peanuts are the entire remainder of the menu. The ice originally came from a manufacturer on Brighton Road, then from Ohio.
Gus died in June 2024 at 92, a few months after the stand's ninetieth year. Michael Spanos, the longtime manager who teaches health and physical education in the off-season, has kept the scraper running, and Gus's son-in-law Art Avlon said in 2025 that the family intends to continue. The city agreed the corner mattered: in 2025 the block of West Ohio Street beside the Commons was given the honorary name Gus & Yiayia Way, joining a 1997 Rick Sebak documentary, a 2012 City Council proclamation of April 25 as Gus and Yiayia Day, and a miniature cart in the science center's Miniature Railroad & Village since 2021.
What it's like
There is no storefront and no sign, so you navigate by umbrella: look for the orange cart on the park side of West Ohio Street and the small clump of people in front of it. Ordering takes one sentence - size, then flavor - and someone scrapes your ice by hand into a paper cup and pours the syrup over it while you watch. The whole transaction is under a minute unless there are eight people ahead of you, which on a hot Saturday afternoon there will be. Bring cash and small bills. There is nowhere to sit, lean or shelter at the cart itself, so the move is to carry your cup twenty yards into Allegheny Commons and find a bench. Eat it faster than feels dignified; shaved block ice does not wait.
The move: Late afternoon on a clear day, walk up from the North Shore into Allegheny Commons, buy two ice balls in different syrups and a bag of popcorn, and take them to a bench in the park rather than eating standing at the cart. Trade halfway through so you both get both flavors. Then keep walking east through the Commons toward the Mexican War Streets and their absurd house-by-house architecture.
📍 Before you go Warm-season only and genuinely weather-dependent — this is an unroofed cart in a park, so rain or a cold snap means no cart, and there is no website or posted schedule to check first. Late August is still comfortably in season; by mid-autumn it is gone. Assume cash and assume a line on a hot afternoon. It sits on the park side of West Ohio Street, not in a storefront, so look for the cart itself rather than an address.
- 📍 Pittsburgh
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 638 W Ohio St, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Randyland — Randy Gilson's paint-saturated courtyard is a ten-minute walk east through the Commons and the Mexican War Streets, and it costs nothing, so the ice ball is the entire budget for the afternoon.
- Pittsburgh Banjo Club at Allegheny Elks Lodge #339 — If you go on a Wednesday, the Elks lodge on Cedar Avenue is a few blocks east and its banjo night starts at 8, right about when the cart is shutting - same neighborhood, opposite volume.
- Photo Antiquities Museum of Photographic History — The daguerreotype museum sits about a mile east along the same East Ohio Street corridor, and it is indoors, which makes it the obvious contingency when rain kills the cart.
More weird in Pittsburgh
Good to know
When is it actually open?
Warm season only - it has historically opened in April and runs through the summer, closing for the year once the weather turns. Evening service has ended around 9pm in recent years, down from an earlier 11pm. There is no website and no posted schedule, and it is an unroofed cart in a park, so rain or a cold snap simply means no cart that day. Late August is comfortably in season.
How do I get there, and where do I park?
638 West Ohio Street on the North Side, on the park side of the street rather than in a building - the honorary Gus & Yiayia Way signage marks the stretch. It is a walk of roughly half a mile from the Allegheny T station and an easy one from the North Shore stadiums, which is the better approach on a game day. Otherwise it is North Side street parking on the surrounding blocks.
How much does it cost?
It has always been priced as a neighborhood snack cart rather than a dessert destination. The family raised prices by a quarter on some items in 2022, the first increase in about eight years, which tells you most of what you need to know about the pricing philosophy. Bring cash and small bills; assume a line rather than a card reader.
Is it accessible?
The approach is flat paved sidewalk at the edge of a city park, with no steps and no doorway to negotiate, but there is also no indoor space, no restroom and no seating at the cart. The nearest places to sit are benches inside Allegheny Commons, a short roll or walk away.
Is it still running now that Gus is gone?
Yes. Gus Kalaris died in June 2024, and in 2025 his son-in-law Art Avlon said the family plans to keep operating it; the city named the block for the stand that same summer. It remains one seasonal cart with no website, though, so treat any given afternoon as a reasonable bet rather than a guarantee.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Wikipedia · post-gazette.com
last checked: 2026-08-26