Pamela's Diner is a prominent chain of

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

s in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, USA. Its specialties are crêpe-style pancakes, omelets and Lyonnaise potatoes. It is "treasured" and is considered to be in the " pantheon of pancake purveyors". In 2013, Pamela's Diner was featured by the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' in a "What to Do in Pittsburgh"

feature story A feature story is a piece of non-fiction writing about news covering a single topic in detail. A feature story is a type of soft news, primarily focused on entertainment rather than a higher level of professionalism. The main subtypes are ...

. Pamela's Diner is owned by Gail Klingensmith and Pam Cohen. Both educated as teachers, the business partners handle different tasks, Klingensmith with the more business end and Cohen as "the culinary artist". The first Pamela's Diner location, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, opened in 1979. Subsequent locations have opened in Shadyside, the Strip District, Millvale, Oakland and Mt. Lebanon. During the

2008 United States presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John Mc ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

visited Pamela's Diner for a campaign visit. Once elected, President Obama invited Klingensmith and Cohen to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for a Memorial Day breakfast with the Obama family and 80 veterans. Later that year, during the 2009 G-20 Pittsburgh summit, President Obama expressed dismay that he was unable to return to Pamela's Diner during that trip, but First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

did visit. Incidentally, the Oakland storefront received damage during the protests that accompanied the G-20 summit. Pamela's Diner announced in December 2021 that their Squirrel Hill neighborhood location will be closing largely due to COVID-19. With the loss of several long-time employees, the location decided to shut its doors. Opened on Forbes Avenues, before relocating to the Murray Avenue in 2011, it operated in Squirrel Hill around 42 years. The other diner locations will stay open, however. The owners hinted that they are open to another, smaller Squirrel Hill location in the future.

References

{{coord, 40.45201, -79.98365, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Diners in Pennsylvania Restaurants in Pittsburgh Restaurants established in 1979 1979 establishments in Pennsylvania