The photo that ran with TribLive's story on McCandless Restaurant Week shows Doug Teaderman, general manager of Large Plain Pizza and Pints on Duncan Avenue, holding up the event poster. That week ran October 12 through 16. On paper it's over. The passport that participating businesses handed out during the week stays good through November 30, 2026, which gives anyone holding one about a month to use it.

McCandless has no single downtown block to stroll. Its restaurants, coffee counters and ice cream stands are spread along Duncan Avenue, Providence Boulevard, Perry Highway, Blazier Drive, Pine Creek Road, Babcock Boulevard and the edge of North Park. The 18 businesses that signed on to the first Restaurant Week make up a working map of where McCandless eats. The passport gives people a reason to keep working through that map well after October 16.

Eighteen Stops Spread Across the Town

The Town of McCandless paid for the week with a $25,000 grant from Allegheny County's Main Streets program. Any eligible business in town could join, with no cap on numbers. The town put out a public call in early July and also delivered letters to businesses in person and by mail, according to TribLive.

Grouped by road, the 18 participants look like this.

Providence Boulevard has the densest cluster. The rest of the list is spread out enough that the people who walk into Bruster's on Perry Highway on a given night may never cross paths with the ones grabbing coffee on Covenant Avenue. A town-run Restaurant Week is one of the few things that puts those stops on a single list.

Two entries on that list mix categories in a way most restaurant weeks don't. Adzema Pharmacy is a Perry Highway pharmacy, and Shooters Golf is a golf venue on Pine Creek Road that offered specialty burgers. Including them reflects how the town defined the program. It was open to McCandless businesses that serve food, not only to sit-down restaurants.

Why the Town Picked October

The timing was deliberate. TribLive reported that the goal was to bring in new customers "during what can be a slower time of the year." Patch's announcement framed it the same way. The week was meant to bring customers in during a slower stretch for restaurants and to give people a reason to try something new.

A mid-October week catches one round of dinners. A passport that's good through November 30 runs through the rest of fall and up to the start of December. Patch described the passport as a way of "encouraging customers to continue visiting local establishments after Restaurant Week."

Lizz Venanzi, community engagement manager for McCandless, told TribLive that "having great food, services and experiences close to home makes things more convenient for residents while helping support the businesses that serve our community."

What the Passport Covers

The rules were simple during the week itself. Each business created its own "TOM Special," short for Town of McCandless. Specials ranged from discounts and free items to new or limited-time menu items. Diners got them by mentioning McCandless Restaurant Week when they ordered, with no sign-up required.

The passport sits on top of that. Participating businesses had copies during October 12 through 16, and its additional offers can be redeemed through November 30. The offers printed in the passport weren't spelled out in the coverage, so the passport itself is the guide. If you didn't pick one up, ask at any of the 18 participants or check with the Town of McCandless.

A few of the October specials that Diane Romanek, the town's executive assistant who helped coordinate the event, highlighted to TribLive give a sense of each stop's personality:

• A new pizza from Large Plain Pizza and Pints on Duncan Avenue
• The chicken parm sandwich at OTB North Park on Pearce Mill Road
• A salted caramel apple latte at Lucky Bug Coffee on West Ingomar Road
• A roasted chicken thigh rice plate at Little Viet Kitchen on Blazier Drive
• Specialty burgers at Shooters Golf on Pine Creek Road

Those five are on five different roads, and that's the point of the map.

The Newer Names on the List

Some participants are recent arrivals. Pittsburgh Magazine's summer 2026 roundup of new restaurants listed Shabu Shabu Hotpot and Grill as open at 900 Providence Blvd. in McCandless Crossing. It serves all-you-can-eat hotpot, Korean barbecue and sushi.

Commonplace Coffee is another. It's the cafe inside Northland Public Library, which WPXI reported in January had finished a $4.1 million renovation at 300 Cumberland Road. That project included a renewed entrance and patio, a new circulation area and a new cafe. A library cafe sitting on the same promotional list as Texas Roadhouse shows how broadly the town drew its food scene.

Today at McCandless Crossing

The Providence Boulevard cluster gets busier this morning. PennLive reported that Sierra opens at McCandless Crossing, 830 Providence Boulevard, on Thursday, October 29, at 8 a.m. That puts a new retail draw within a short walk of four passport stops: Convive Coffee, Hello Bistro, Shabu-Shabu and DiBella's. For anyone with a passport and an errand at the Crossing, the two trips now line up.

The Same Grant Program Is Paying for a Landmark

Restaurant Week was one of two Main Streets grants McCandless received this cycle. The second, also $25,000, will pay for a mural marking the town's 175th anniversary. It will go on the historic Harmony Short Line trolley abutment along Pine Creek Road. Abby Lucostic, the town's parks and recreation director, told TribLive the project "aims to transform a deteriorating structure into a meaningful piece of public art that connects residents and visitors to the community's shared history." The target for finishing it is 2027.

Allegheny County's Main Streets program sent $1.4 million to projects in 22 municipalities this round, all aimed at local business districts. McCandless spent its share on two things a town without a single main street needs: a reason to visit several commercial roads, and a shared landmark on one of them.

North Park's Tower Is on the Same Timeline

The stops at the park end of the map, OTB at the North Park Boathouse and Mark's North Park Lounge, are close to the biggest project in the area. WESA reported that restoration of North Park's 102-foot Observation Tower began August 31. The project costs more than $3 million. The tower dates to 1937, when it was built as a water storage tank serving McCandless and nearby areas. It has been closed to the public for many years.

The work includes structural repairs, sandblasting and repainting in the tower's original silver-grey, and restoring the viewing platform at the top of its 154 steps along with the historic terrazzo floor. Officials are aiming to finish by summer 2027, when North Park marks its 100th anniversary. When it reopens, the tower will start out on weekdays from dawn to dusk and be closed on most weekends while the county studies how busy it gets.

The trolley abutment mural and the reopened tower are both aimed at 2027. The restaurant passport is the piece of this civic push you can use now, and its deadline is November 30.

A Few Dates Before the Passport Expires

1. Today, October 29, 8 a.m.: Sierra opens at 830 Providence Boulevard.
2. October 31, 6 to 8 p.m.: Trick or Treat hours, according to the town calendar.
3. November 19, 7 to 8:30 p.m.: HCC 3rd Thursday Lecture, from the McCandless/Northern Allegheny Heritage and Cultural Center, listed on the town's November calendar.
4. November 30: Last day to redeem McCandless Restaurant Week Passport offers.

Venanzi told TribLive the town plans to build on this first year by starting outreach earlier and bringing in more McCandless businesses. If next October's list runs past 18, the map will cover even more of the town.

We've been helping families in the North Hills find their next home for over 30 years, and we keep our own running list of the McCandless spots worth a detour. If you're thinking about a move around North Allegheny, or you'd just like to compare notes on a favorite stop between Duncan Avenue and Pearce Mill Road, get in touch with The Beth Danchek Group. Ready to make your next move? Contact us today.