New Prantl's Bakery location planned for Squirrel Hill

It’s been only months since Joe Cugliari brought the burnt almond torte to North Huntingdon, but the owner of Prantl’s Bakery already has his eyes set on a new venture.

Prantl’s will soon open at a new location along Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill, Cugliari confirmed to the Tribune-Review. The location, which does not yet have an opening date, is near Little’s Shoes and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill.

“These are markets that really were not being addressed by bakeries,” Cugliari said. “The risk is going into them and seeing if you’re going to be welcomed.”

So far, the Squirrel Hill community has been receptive to the bakery, said Cugliari, who purchased Prantl’s in October. By December, he announced his intention to open a location in North Huntingdon at the corner of Route 30 and Robbins Station Road.

In addition to North Huntingdon, Prantl’s has several locations across the region, including the original Shadyside bakery and a Greensburg retail shop and production facility.

The bakery was started by Henry Prantl in 1966, who operated the Walnut Street location in the German tradition of making old-fashioned fruit Danish, nut-filled coffee cakes and more. After attending a conference in California in 1970, Prantl came up with the idea for the bakery’s now famous burnt almond torte.

After changing hands, the Greensburg location opened in May 2018 by then-owner John Felice.

According to Cugliari, products will not be baked at the Squirrel Hill location; rather, they will be transported from the Greensburg facility.

“We’re trying to grow, we’re trying to make good products,” he said. “We try to make most of our products from scratch, and we do a good job so far. And, hopefully, we’ll get better at it. We want to continue the tradition of making things from scratch.”

Cugliari hinted at the prospect of new products in the coming month, as well as possible future locations. He declined to comment on where future Prantl’s locations could open.