The new Big Burrito Group restaurant coming to Lower Lawrenceville will be a sister to the group’s Italian restaurant concept, Alta Via, with a focus on pizza.

The details of the restaurant, tentatively named Alta Via Pizza, were announced by Big Burrito’s president and chef, Bill Fuller, at a Lawrenceville community meeting this week. A transcript of the meeting, orchestrated by Lawrenceville United and Lawrenceville Corporation, was released on Lawrenceville United’s website.

“We wanted to do Italian, but healthier and fresh and more modern,” Fuller said of the restaurant that will inhabit A-1 Realty’s 3529 Butler St. by October of this year. “The one thing we realized is that, like in our own eating habits, people want to be healthier, have vegetables and salads. If they have pasta, they don’t want hubcap size.”

Fuller went on to describe more about the tentative restaurant concept: fresh pasta made in-house, sandwiches, 14-inch rounds and square, Detroit-style pizzas and the use of a wood-fired grill oven. He also detailed a few current Alta Via menu items that will be found at the sister restaurant: antipasto appetizers, roasted mushrooms, grilled and smoked mozzarella and double-patty hamburgers.

Community meetings in Lawrenceville sometimes serve as a vetting process to avoid the addition of nuisance bars.

On Monday night, parking issues related to the new restaurant were raised.

Not only was Big Burrito seeking a parking variance — needing five parking spaces when they had only secured two — but members of the community voiced concerns over an already-strained parking situation.

“Parking is a huge issue here,” Bernadette Elisco said, according to the Lawrenceville United transcript. “I live on 38th, and literally last week, somebody was parallel parked in front of the entrance to my driveway. It’s just going to keep getting worse.”

The parking concerns were addressed and resolved in several ways before the public Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting held Thursday.

According to Dave Breingan, executive director of Lawrenceville United and participant at the community and Zoning Board meetings, the Big Burrito Group team resolved the parking variance by securing five spaces from the landlord, leaving only a special exception for the restaurant on the Zoning Board’s agenda. The Board’s decision will come in 45 days.

Both Lawrenceville United and Lawrenceville Corporation extended their conditional support for the Big Burrito project at the Zoning Board meeting based on a list of agreements to minimize impact on the community and address the parking concerns voiced at the community meeting.

The agreements include many transportation demand management strategies such as employee bike parking, encouraging employees to bike, walk or bus to work, incentives for patrons who don’t arrive by single-occupancy vehicles, a real-time arrival transit screen, the exploration of shared parking solutions with nearby property owners and participation in a job perks program with the Pittsburgh Port Authority to simplify and discount the use of public transportation for employees.

Other agreements include local hiring and grievance control, such as limiting noise from outdoor patio seating and closing the kitchen no later than midnight.

“I think that people were supportive of it,” said Breingan. “It’s family-friendly; it’s bike accessible. They appear to want to be a part of the community and a part of the business district and engaged, which is always great.”

According to the paperwork submitted as a part of the Lawrenceville community meeting, the restaurant will span over 3,300 square feet with 25 tables inside, six-to-eight tables outside and 15 bars seats. The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner service with take-out and delivery options.

“Currently, Big Burrito does not have a presence in Lawrenceville,” said Fuller. “We look forward to becoming a vital member and contributor in a strong residential neighborhood, which includes a thriving mix of eclectic shops, restaurants and varied businesses.”

Big Burrito operates the Mad Mex restaurant chain, Alta Via in O’Hara and several restaurants in the city: Casbah, Soba, Umi, Kaya and Eleven.

Abby Mackey is a freelance writer. You can contact Abby at abbyrose.mackey@gmail.com or via Twitter @AnthroAbbyRN.

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