Pittsburgh's Original Oyster House to hand out quarantine Easter Baskets, toilet paper

Pittsburgh’s Original Oyster House will offer “distinctly Pittsburgh” Easter baskets to accompany every $25 to-go order, the restaurant announced Wednesday.

The baskets will be handed out on Good Friday, on a first-come, first-served basis. Each basket will contain some holiday classics (Peeps, other Easter candy), some “Oyster House swag” (hot sauce, vinegar and an Original Oyster House T-shirt).

The baskets will also include a roll of toilet paper — a nod to the way panic buying over covid-19 quarantines have created a shortage and high demand for the product.

Located in Downtown’s Market Square, the Original Oyster House is believed to be Pittsburgh’s oldest operating bar and restaurant. The establishment celebrated its 150th anniversary last week, amid mandatory restaurant closures.

Its owner, Jen Grippo, pointed out that the restaurant has has operated through two world wars, floods, the Spanish flu pandemic, the Great Depression and the collapse of the steel industry. “If we can survive all that, I would hope that we can survive this as well,” she said.