INGOOD TASTE
Candid conversations with the dining scene’s most engaging chefs
Art Mitchell, Owner,
Trolley Stop Inn
6247 Library Road, Bethel Park;
412.831.7300, trolleystopinn.com
M-Th, 11 a.m. to Midnight; Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.
to 1 a.m.; Sun., Noon to 11 p.m.
In June, the Trolley Stop Inn was sub-
merged under 5 feet of torrential rain.
Owner Art Mitchell reflects on the flood
that led to an outpouring of community
help.
Describe what happened
recently when the Trolley
Stop Inn was flooded.
The flooding was something
I’ll never forget. Since opening
in 1983, we had never been put out of business
because of a flood. It was a Wednesday
morning in June and our main food vendors
delivered all the food, beer and liquor like
normal. By that night our main floor had
about 5 feet of water throughout the entire
restaurant, in a matter of minutes. Bethel Park
had approximately 4 inches of rain in about
45 minutes. The rain dropped so hard and
so fast onto Route 88 that it came down into
our small creek, turning it into a monster as it
gushed into our lot. There was so much water
it floated 12 or 14 cars parked in front of the
restaurant. The water broke our main door
open and flooded the whole place. We had
20 or more customers and employees inside.
Thankfully, no one was injured. However, there
was a ton of financial loss for my customers,
the employees and myself. The toughest part
was knowing we had just remodeled the entire
place only two years ago—both the exterior
and interior—with all-new floors and walls.
Q A
How is the Trolley Stop Inn since the
flooding?
Structurally, the restaurant was still sound, but
we remodeled and replaced everything—from
the drywall, to all-new refrigeration, deep
fryers, kitchen equipment and computers. All
of our phones were completely ruined, too,
and needed to be replaced. The damage was
one thing, but the complete lack of revenue
coming in was another. It wasn’t anything I
couldn’t overcome, but it was tough. It made all
the difference in the world to have the support
of friends, family and employees there to help
with the heavy lifting those first few weeks of
restoration, including the support of my GM,
Richard Wolfe who started at the restaurant
three weeks prior.
How did the community respond?
It was unbelievable. I’m grateful for the
incredible response we received from everyone.
We had 40 to 50 volunteers come out and pitch
in with the cleanup. I had friends and neighbors
come out to help—it was a humbling
experience to learn how many friends I do
have. They were all incredible and selfless. In
addition to their help, Allegheny County was
very supportive with visits from Congressman
Conor Lamb and Allegheny County Executive,
Rich Fitzgerald and PennDOT who helped us
with the recovery of our parking lot; as well
as with their public works department who
removed all of the debris left behind from the
storm. Our customers and staff were rescued
by several local fire departments. Our cleanup
started every morning at 7 a.m. until it turned
dark outside—we worked seven days a week.
During the initial weeks of construction, many
businesses provided us with food. In addition
to owning the restaurant, I also own Mitchell
Plumbing and Heating, so I have contractors
and affiliates I work with who also came to
our rescue. I knew everything could be fixed
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