The Pittsburgh Dish

087 Grandpa Joe’s Candy Shop

• Doug Heilman • Season 3 • Episode 87

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We sit down with Christopher Beers, the founder of Grandpa Joe’s, to learn the journey from one 900-square-foot Strip District shop to 21 locations across five states. Chris pulls back the curtain on how that magic gets made. From sourcing regional candies that never went national, Japanese Kit Kats and UK Cadbury, the network Grandpa Joes has built is just as astounding. 

We dig into craft soda culture and why pinpoint carbonation from Natrona's Red Ribbon feels different, then explore the wild-but-drinkable Grandpa Joe’s soda line—ketchup, pickle, sarsaparilla, even “hot dog water”—engineered to be drinkable and enjoyed, not just photographed.

Each store runs local socials to stay neighborly, and cleaver marketing keeps the focus on fun. Whether it's thousands of tiny ducks lining Canonsburg streets or handing out 35,000 bananas at a parade— these stunts keep folks coming back to Grandpa Joe's for more. 

We also zoom out to the Pittsburgh food scene with Ana from Ana Eats Pittsburgh, who points wing lovers to Wiggy’s for crispy wings with a pitch-perfect honey habanero sauce and standout onion rings. To warm the week, we revisit Dak Bokkeum Tang, a Korean spicy chicken stew that marries tender chicken, potatoes, and gochujang heat.

If you love stories about small makers, and the careful art of preserving candy history, you’ll feel right at home here. Subscribe, share with a friend who hoards vintage sweets, and leave us a review with the one candy you wish would make a comeback.

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Doug:

Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish. I'm your host, Doug Heilman. What does intensive research have to do with a candy shop? We learn what it takes to create the experience of nostalgia and whimsy at Grandpa Joe's. Like your wings a little bit more on the crispy side? Ana Anthony of Ana Eats Pittsburgh shares her preferences and a favorite spot. And if a chicken and potato stew with a little spice sounds good right about now, Dak Bokkeum Tang might just be the answer. All that ahead, stay tuned. The Pittsburgh dish is supported by Chef Alekka. From knife skills to pastry to private in-home events, Alekka is serving up something for everyone. Visit her website at chefalekka.com for upcoming classes and more. Now, on to the show. Well, thank you so much for coming over and for being on the show. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. Would you introduce yourself to our listeners and what you have going on in the world of food?

Chris:

So my name is Christopher Beers, and I am the founder and owner of Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop. Everybody knows our store in the Strip District. That's where we started in 2012. And the story is a lot bigger than just that candy store in the strip. So we have four Pittsburgh locations with Mount Lebanon, Cannonsburg, Downtown Beaver, and then of course the strip district. Yes. But in addition to that, the world may not know that we actually have 21 retail locations in five different states. Goodness. Yes.

Doug:

Yes. I had no idea. You and I met a few weeks back, and it was days before you were opening the York store. Is that right? Yeah, in York, Pennsylvania. And is that number 21? That's number 21. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Yeah, I just I knew your store in the strip, and I had a notion that you had a couple other stores locally. So when you said that to me, I was blown away. And I also realized we've never had a candy shop on the podcast yet. So welcome to the show. Honored to be the first. So I know that you said that, you know, everyone probably knows that strip district store. But if we do have a listener or two that hasn't visited Grandpa Joe's, what's the experience like initially? You walk in there, what's going on?

Chris:

Uh we know that you're a first-timer from the second you walk in the door because we see it on your eyes, your mouth drops a little bit, and you're like taken back and in shock of like, holy moly, look at how much candy is in this place. So much stuff. And a lot more than candy. Definitely. So nostalgic candy is our number one category. So we're talking like Neko wafers, coconut slice bars, maple nut goodies. We're talking like the old school stuff that you just really don't find in anybody else's candy collection, right? It's such a differentiator, yeah. 100%. And so it's a trip down membrane lane. So you're just really just remembering like, oh, those little candies with the wrapper that look like a strawberry that your grandmother always had in her purse. Like, I know those. We have them, yeah, of course. And so that's the biggest overwhelming thing. And then the next is that we have a 24-foot wall dedicated to craft glass bottled soda. Yes, much like craft beer, there's little bottling facilities all over the country, just like Natrona bottling, right? That's our red ribbon, that's our baby, that's our Pittsburgh Pride. But we've got Eastern Pennsylvania's pride, and we've got Akron, Ohio's brand, and we've got all of these brands from all over the United States. And you try different root beers. Some are flavored with molasses, and some are flavored with honey. And so you try all these different root beers, and you're just like, it's a whole world of like craft soda. We've got them all.

Doug:

That's amazing. And let's keep going, too. There's a few other things that you guys are known for beyond the soda and these uh nostalgic candies. What else do we find?

Chris:

International is the next big category. And so Japanese Kit Kats, like Kit Kat flavors that you've never seen in the United States. And so matcha flavor and strawberry flavor, and sometimes they have like weird ones like creme ballet and really unique flavors. And so all of that international stuff is here and all the good Cadbury from the UK.

Doug:

Oh, yeah.

Chris:

Uh, the German Kinder and all of that stuff. So it's really fun to explore the confectioner side from across the pond. Yes. Right here at Grandpa Joe's.

Doug:

Oh my gosh. I have to say, as I'm talking, Chris's eyes light up when he said about the Cadbury things. Maybe a personal favorite. I was going to ask, do you have like a top, you know, two or three confections that you love?

Chris:

Oh man.

Doug:

So Happy Hippo is a really good one for me.

Chris:

It's like a biscuit, if you will, like a like a cookie type biscuit with cream inside, like a hazelnut cocoa cream inside. Ugh. And it's shaped like a little hippo. That's absolutely delicious. Adorable. Um the marathon bar is like one of the most requested items we ever have in our store from day one till present. I mean, still number one. And you can't get a marathon bar anymore. But in the UK, they make an item called the curly whirly. And it's braided chocolate and caramel. Wow. It's identical to the marathon bar that we had growing up. And we have it at Grandpa Joe's. And again, it's one of my probably top top five.

Doug:

Wow. You're naming things that I have never heard of. So I this is the other thing why people need to go and just wander through and explore. Take your time.

Chris:

Uh-huh. That's the take your time is the most important part. Like just relax, forget the rest of the world for a minute, and just come into Grandpa Joe's and just discover stuff that brings back memories, discover stuff you never even knew existed. And then the biggest and most fun part for me is the toys, games, and the unique gifts that we have. And so now you're stuck at our gum wall and you're seeing all of these funny, hysterical packs of little packs of gum that we have. And you're like, oh my gosh. And you're standing there for 10 minutes just laughing at all the different types of gum and and the oven mitts and the socks and just all of the just the uniqueness that we have. I think that really sets us apart from anybody else out there.

Doug:

And it's it's also just so family friendly. I mean, I can't imagine being a kid right now walking into your store. I mean, as an adult, I'm already wild. Kids are probably blown away.

Chris:

Definitely. And it's, you know, what's really kind of hit me in the last couple of years is that I've interviewed people. And I'm like, so when did you hear about Grandpa Joe's? Like, what do you know about us? And they're like, I interviewed a uh a kid the other day, and they said, What do you mean? It it's always been a thing. Like, since I've been a kid, I've been going there. And it it at that point, it kind of like hit me like a oh my gosh, we're 13 years old. And this has always been part of this person's like childhood and life. And so, like, man, what an accomplishment that is. Like, it's just it was very, very rewarding for me to hear that. But at the same time, it was like a I feel like this just started yesterday, too.

Doug:

Yes. Well, congratulations. And you're you're leading into uh somewhere I wanted to go. So you just mentioned 13 years. So let's talk a little bit more about how the business got started. 2012. 2012.

Chris:

And the first store in the strip district. Okay, one 900 square foot retail store had an idea. I was actually working at the spaghetti warehouse. Oh, yes. Right there in the strip. The bygone spaghetti warehouse. Yes. Yes. Wow. Wow. Culinary masterpiece. Right. I mean, no, I've been there. So had worked for that company for many years, uh, managing restaurants all over the United States. They moved me to Pittsburgh, and I do it for like five years here in Pittsburgh, and it's just time for me to get out of the restaurant business. And I felt like Pittsburgh was had a void. Okay. I had always heard stories about candy rama, but I never got to experience candy rama myself. And so Pittsburgh didn't have a candy rama. And people would come into the spaghetti warehouse and they would always ask, where's the candy rama warehouse? Because it used to be down in the strip towards the end. I would hear people constantly ask for this. And now Fort Pitt candy was in the strip, right next to McDonald's, and Hermanowski's was across the street. And so they had candy there, but it wasn't the experience that I felt like the Willy Wonka would want.

Doug:

Yes.

Chris:

This is your this is your inner Willy Wonka. Yeah. Yes. And so when the kids get to the factory, they have no idea what's going to be inside. And then Wonka opens the doors and they see the chocolate river and they see the edible plants and this everything. And they're just their eyes are just whoa. And that's really what we try super hard. That when you open the door of Grandpa Joe's, you're getting that same overwhelming excitement and just unbelievable. Like, I can't believe all of this is right here. And so that was my inspiration behind where we are today. Rewarding. So rewarding.

Doug:

Uh, you know, you have me thinking too the network that you've had to build to get these candies is probably, you know, sort of crazy. You're going out, and I always like to think about a small business perspective. And when you mentioned the sodas, you got my mind clicking about how many other small mom and pops have this idea or this story or this thing they're still trying to do. And now you've collected so many of those and brought them into your location. Over these years, how have you found and collected all of these other small businesses, whether it's a candy maker or a bottler?

Chris:

What's that like? So first and foremost, we listen to our customer. And so the customer says, I grew up with or I used to remember. And so then we try to like dig into well, where are you from? Because candy used to be regional before the world opened up, and it made it easy to get Abazaba bars or Rocky Road bars from Annabelle Candy Company in California. You couldn't get those in Pennsylvania. Right. So they grew up on Abazabba's. But out here, like never heard of it. If it wasn't for Half Baked, we probably wouldn't even know that Abazaba, you my only friend, you know? So we know our Clark Bar. We know our Clark Bar, right. And that's had one heck of a history of sure does going all over and now finally back to pretty close to Pittsburgh. Yeah, not too far. Yeah. So um that's just been a passion for figuring out, listening to the customer, and then doing our homework, going home and just on the internet, making phone calls, reading Reddit threads, like how do I find this product? And then convincing someone that I need to buy a boatload of it because I've got all of these locations, and sometimes they only make a product once a year. Yes. And so if you missed the boat and you don't have your order in on time, then you're not going to have it on your shelves. And so it is a lot of work to figure out. And right now we can't ship soda across the country unless we want to pay for thermal costs on it. So our soda buying has to be done before the the winter months. And so all of this logistics and everything, it's just the success is really just out of the passion of wanting to be the best and wanting to offer an experience that's unmatched. And my team is with me with that same level of passion. And we're just constantly looking for new products, looking for old products that have just come back. And it's just, it's just a constant. You would think, oh, he just opened a candy store. Like this is gonna be easy.

Doug:

Yes, so much so much work. How about these brands that you have gotten from across the pond or overseas? Do you have to sometimes go over and do the research?

Chris:

We have, yeah. Um, we're building those connections, and now that we're able to buy even more inventory, it makes things easier, yes, but also harder. You know, there's a there's a Cadbury product right now out of Australia that is trending so hard. It's called clinkers. You bite into it and it's got a different color inside each one, and that that's what makes it go viral. Yeah because are you gonna get a blue one? Are you gonna get a red one? And so it's this candy that nobody's ever heard of.

Doug:

It sounds like a Willy Wonka candy, by the way.

Chris:

It does, it's a great name, really great name. So five, 10 years ago, I could have called my contact in Australia and said, Hey, send me five cases, and I would have been able to sell them in a couple of, you know, two stores, three stores. Well, now I need like half a truckload of these things. And so getting half a truckload of clinkers to the United States, like this isn't an easy process. Right. We'll have them in our store in March. It's one of the hottest trending things right now. Nobody really has any distribution on it in the United States, yeah. And uh it's wild. Yeah, we're crazy.

Doug:

We're figuring it out, we're getting it. Trailblazer for some of these things. Yes. Coming back closer to home, too. Are there any small businesses, uh, partners that you're just really proud to be partnering with? I know I I mentioned the Clark Bar and it's in Altoona right now, right? Boyer, yeah. Boyer. The folks that make the Mallow Cups. Mallow cups. So they're a partner for sure.

Chris:

Correct. They called me. Um, I was in Universal with my family before COVID, and they called me on February 8th or 9th and said, hey, on the 14th, we're gonna launch the Clark Bar. And I was like, Oh my gosh, well, thank you for calling me. Like, I totally want to help here. And so we got a bunch of cases. We helped them get it to the History Museum, and we helped them get it to Giant Eagle, and we helped them get it to a bunch of different places so that they had some distribution here in Pittsburgh. And then we gave them away for free in our store because it was a big deal. It's a big deal, and uh the excitement of the Clark Bar still hasn't gone away. I don't know that Boyer has quite figured out how to mass produce the Clark Bar. I think they know how to make cups really well because of mallow cups and they make a Clark cup if you go visit.

Doug:

I've bought them there.

Chris:

Not quite the same as the bar. Everybody wants the bar.

Doug:

It's a texture thing. There's more crunchy inside. Yes, yeah. Yes, yes.

Chris:

So uh that's a good one. Um, Neutrona bottling. How about red ribbon? Yes.

Doug:

Um if folks don't know, we're talking about this small company just up Route 28 in Netrona, uh Netrona Heights area. People are probably familiar. And I mean, they've been going for a while. The brand is Red Ribbon. How many flavors are you getting from them?

Chris:

Do you have any idea? So we carry like nine to ten flavors of their product. I think we carry their whole line. Um, and then in fact, they actually bottle some of my glass bottled soda for me. They make a pickle soda for me, they make a ketchup soda, and they make our sarsaparilla. And so three really good. But what makes Red Ribbon unique is the carbonation is just different than most of the other sodas that we sell. So it's a pinpoint carbonation. Yes. Um, you taste the bubbles, you feel the bubbles, if that makes sense. It is, it's a different sensation.

Doug:

Yes. Uh, you reminded me, haven't you had some? Well, you said ketchup already, but but there's some other wacky flavors.

Chris:

Yes. So two years ago, I bought a soda bottling company in Minnesota. Actually, how crazy is that is crazy. I get a phone call. This guy's like, hey, you should buy my business. And I was like, I don't know. Like, and then he's like, I got a soda bottling company, I have three retail locations, and so I ended up buying this company, buying a soda operation, and so now Grandpa Joe's offers about 15 different Grandpa Joe's branded, unique flavored sodas. Wow, everything from bacon to marshmallow to hot dog water. That is the one that I have heard about. And to be honest, I haven't tried it. Um, we just did one that was cabbage water. Wow. Because Grandpa Joe maybe inspired by the movie, yes, and the lazy guy that laid in bed and always had tobacco, but his family had to have cabbage water, and so that kind of inspired this whole thing because there's an internet trend out there where they hate Grandpa Joe because of how lazy he was. Yes, and uh so we were just poking fun at that, having some fun, but the unique bot glass bottled soda for for my brand, for Grandpa Joe's, we take the flavor creation seriously. Yeah, we want you to be able to drink the whole bottle or you know, Wiggle Whiskey could use our pickle soda as a mixer, and so amazing. That's the concept behind our soda creation. There's other brands out there that do gross and they're gross.

Doug:

You mean undrinkable? It's like a gag. You really don't expect the person to finish that bottle, and what a waste. Yes, you're actually making sodas that are really obscure or unique, but you still want them to be drinkable to the very end.

Chris:

When Vito and I worked together, Vito's the owner of Red Ribbon, when we worked together to build ketchup soda, it was the the passion here was not just ketchup. It was the photo that drink the whole bottle and go, you know, that was actually pretty good. Kind of refreshing. Yeah, yeah. So ketchup. Interesting, amazing. Hi, I'm Christopher Beers, the founder and owner of Grandpa Joe's candy shop. And you're listening to the Pittsburgh Dish.

Doug:

I want to go behind the scenes. You need to like write a book or do another documentary on just that process of creating the flavors and what it takes and how people respond. Yes. How crazy. I love that idea. I also think you could probably do a short history of all of this research on all of these other small businesses. You know, I'm a little bit more aware of like chocolate makers in our area, but not these smaller candy makers. And especially how you said the ones that maybe only do it seasonally. I'm gonna throw my plug-in because I saw it on the website. You you invite people to ask for those nostalgic candies of the past. I I'm gonna tell you about the hard-to-find candy that I love. And as we're talking here, I'm I'm gonna bring up a picture here. I I always described it as satin candy and it's these all different colors, but it's also all kinds of fruit flavors. So I'm gonna have them take a look. What do you know about this candy?

Chris:

It looks just like what my grandmother would have at her house for the holidays. Right, in a dish in the holidays. And I think the name of the company is Washburns, which changed ownership, I think, in the last 36 months, but they are the creators of ribbon candy. Okay. They're the creators of that hard, I think it's hard tech candy, I think is what you've got there. And they're all different colors. Sometimes you can get the hard tech candy filled too, that it'll have a center, like a different center, not just hard candy in it. I haven't found that.

Doug:

Yes. Yeah, this stuff is like different fruit flavors in the bag, and of course they're all mixed together, so you're like, Are these different? But they are. Um, and yeah, I wasn't able to find it.

Chris:

And maybe that transition of the company, yeah, maybe had an impact on it for some period of time. Right. But definitely back in stock, Grandpa Joe's. Okay. Um, seasonal. It's a seasonal item, so it won't be available all year round. But that's fair. Still making it.

Doug:

I'm excited. Yeah. And see, that's just it. You're almost like, in some way, a conservator, a preserver of this like candy history. And I think nostalgia, it's just so important to people.

Chris:

Yes.

Doug:

I would like to pivot a little bit too. So you mentioned you have kids and uh some of these things that you grew up with, but you moved here for the spaghetti warehouse. Where did you grow up? I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania, like the bottom of the Pocono Mountains. Oh, all right. So usually I like to say, what was your food life like as a kid? But what was candy life like as a kid? Were you allowed to have candy? Were were you restricted? Did you have a favorite as a youngster?

Chris:

I don't really remember having candy as a kid. Oh I think it was the movie in the book. Yeah. I think it was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that just had this creative, imaginative world for me. Yes. And I don't really remember candy, believe it or not. We had a little farm market that we would go to every once in a while, and they had a very small candy counter. And you could get, you know, a dozen Swedish fish or whatever for 50 cents. They'd count them by the piece. Yes. But I don't really remember having candy that much as a kid. I don't know why.

Doug:

Maybe it's just your parents didn't, you know, offer it up. Maybe secretly this is like the behind the scenes psyche of like, we've got to have this. Tasty cakes.

Chris:

I remember tasting cakes growing up. But and then my dad loved to be like he was he was in the real estate business, but he should have been a chef. And so every food plate was garnished, you know. Like, what are we doing here? You know what I mean? It's just family night dinner. And it's like, why are we doing garnishes on the plates? But that was just his passion. And so I was kind of restaurant business up until making the switch over to the candy business. But it really was just my infatuation with Willy Wonk and the Chocolate Factory, Mr. McGorium's Magic Emporium. Yeah. Those types of creative movies and shows and books that has me just inspired to just create this experience that's different than every other retail store out there.

Doug:

It's far beyond just eating a piece of candy. Yes. Yeah. Well, I love what you're doing. Just to remind folks, too, we've mentioned 21 stores. Do you have any idea your total employee count now?

Chris:

250 team members. Amazing. Five different states. Yeah. Yeah.

Doug:

Unbelievable. And do you have any idea how many different partners now you're working with?

Chris:

I'll bet you we're working with over a thousand vendors and oh my gosh. I mean. And worldwide. Yeah, there's people that just make one candy, right? The only thing we buy from this guy is an Idaho spud. The only thing we buy from Chase is the cherry mash. Like that's one product.

Doug:

Listen, I need a catalog, by the way. I want to go out and try one of these things. And if they're not at your local stores, then this is like the adventure. I've got to go visit where, like Minnesota or Florida to get this candy that you have in these other stores.

Chris:

We try to have everything the same in all of the stores, but my team is telling the story of why do we carry a candy bar from St. Louis or why do we carry a candy bar from California? And so I think there's these food folks out there that are always looking for something different. Right. You know, the guy that comes in and buys a Hershey bar from our store, like, my staff is gonna make fun of you. Like, what are you doing? Like, of course, we have to sell Hershey bars, but like, why? Why are you being so basic here? Like, go get your Hershey bar somewhere else.

Doug:

That is incredible. Well, let's do this too. I know you just recently opened the York store. Are there any other upcoming events or fun things happening for the business in the coming year? Oh, so many.

Chris:

So many. So, you know, think back just three months ago, and maybe you heard about the ducks that took over Cannonsburg. Uh so in the middle of the night, three o'clock in the morning, my team, we loaded up a car with these tiny one-inch ducks, and we put thousands of them for four blocks from one end of Cannonsburg to the other. And we meticulously put them all facing forward, three inches apart, all the way down the whole street on both sides. And then we just went about our day.

Doug:

And you made the news. Yes.

Chris:

And then three days later, in the middle of the night, we did it again. Three days later, did it again. And the whole town is like, what's going on? Who's ducking this town? And then the grand finale was 10 14-foot ducks on the rooftops of 10 different businesses done in the darkness of the night. And it made national news. It's just really fun. So, my marketing and my creative side of all of those types of things, oh, expect more of those stunts. I love that. Uh, because that's just keeps it fun and keeps us newsworthy and just really adds value to the communities that we're in. We have three stores currently under construction right now.

Doug:

Wow.

Chris:

Um, I can announce Flower Mound, Texas, our very first store in Texas. Yep, our most southern, our most western store happening. Super excited about that one. Wow. Um, and then I've got two more which I can't make the announcement on yet. Okay. And then I can promise you that you'll see some additional Pittsburgh opportunities coming here very, very soon because I think we just really want to come back home and make sure that we hit the communities that we could help serve here. Right. This is home base.

Doug:

Yes. I love it all. When you mentioned Canonsburg, haven't you also sponsored it's something hot dog related in Canonsburg? Is that right? Yeah.

Chris:

We do a hot dog festival on the the day before the giant parade. Okay. It's really important for me to be part of the communities that I'm in. And so how do people not know that Grandpa Joe's has 21 locations in five different states? Well, we've kind of purposely laid low because we want to be part of that community. We don't want to be a national chain that shows up and isn't part of the community. Right. You want to be local where you are. Yes. So we opened Canonsburg, which is where I'm raising the family, and that's that's our home.

Speaker 4:

Right.

Chris:

And downtown Cannonsburg didn't have anything going on on Pike Street, right? There was a brewery that had opened. There might have been one or two other small things. And now you go to Cannonsburg. Every storefront is full. There's a brand new midtown market with duck pin bowling and a soda shop and like it's hot dog shop. It's just all this excitement happening in Cannonsburg. And I'm honored to say that I was part of that redevelopment and excitement that made Canonsburg what it is today. And so one of the big things is the Fourth of July parade. And everybody throws out candy at a parade. Well, Grandpa Joe shows up and I bring 35,000 bananas with me, and I hand out bananas at the parade instead of candy. And every my wife thought that was the dumbest idea in the whole world. She says, Christopher, they're going to throw these back at us. And I said, Just trust me, just trust me. And we go around the first corner, and people were so excited that we had bananas. And just who in the right mind hands out a banana at a parade? And so that's the that's the Grandpa Joe's marketing and the uniqueness about it.

Speaker 4:

Whimsy, yeah.

Chris:

But the day before that gigantic parade that they have there, we started a hot dog festival. And so there's a there's a real hot dog eating contest with the Coney Island uh hot dog folks, and then there's a gummy hot dog eating contest because just like on TV, right? For the Nathan's famous hot dog eating contest, I wanted to be, and I think I was three or four years in a row the gummy hot dog eating champion. And I I'm really disappointed, and I hate to admit to this, but I have been beat the last two years, and so maybe I'm going into retirement. I'm not sure here, but I gotta figure out a way to win this thing again. But uh, it's a hot dog festival, and uh, we're adding soda to it this year. You're gonna be able to do soda tastings at all the different businesses. They're all gonna have their own soda, so it's gonna be a really, really fun event.

Doug:

So fun. So that's in again around 4th of July in the summer. Yes. I imagine leading up to that, you'll hit Easter first. That's probably a big candy time for you.

Chris:

Oh man, what a great thing! Like whoever introduced candy to Valentine's Day and to on um St. Patrick's Day, do you know they leave gold coins for the kids because the leprechaun comes and he steals the little chocolate gold coins? Oh, so then Easter, of course, everybody's got jelly beans and peeps. So debate here. Do you like your peeps fresh or do you like your peeps stale?

Doug:

I am I'm a fresh peep person. There it is. Uh yeah, it's out. I also have been known to take a stale peep though and do that microwave thing. Yes, where they get ridiculous. Yes. That kind of freshens them up though.

Chris:

I love it. I love it. So yeah, Easter's a big, big holiday for us. I mean, I really enjoy listening to customers, and they have three of every item. And I'm like, oh, doing Easter baskets. And they're like, Yeah, my kids are in their 20s.

Doug:

Oh, I love that. Yeah. I once talked with a, I think it was a chocolatier, and they said that it really doesn't matter what time of year, candy's always in season. Yes. So you're in the right business.

Chris:

My mom said, Christopher, how are you gonna feed your family on a penny candy store? And I said, Mom, I have absolutely no idea, but let me just try. Yes. And now today, I mean, what what a what an incredible story. Yeah, it's been awesome.

Doug:

So happy for you. Thank you. Let's remind folks of your website. And I was gonna say the social handle, but to your earlier point, don't you keep a lot of different social handles to keep them local? Is that right?

Chris:

Yeah. So if you want to find out what's happening in the one closest to you, you want to follow Grandpa Joe's Mount Lebanon or Beaver. And so each store has its own Facebook page, but our main Facebook page is just Grandpa Joe's website, grandpajoes.com. Uh everything is Grandpa Joe's. So you find us on Instagram, you'll find us on TikTok, you'll find us everywhere at Grandpa Joe's.

Doug:

All right, Chris, I'm finally gonna turn us a little bit away from candy with my final question to you. The name of the show is the Pittsburgh Dish. What was the best dish you've had to eat this past week? Long pause. This shows you what's going on in a business owner's head, not what he's eaten all week long.

Chris:

I I don't eat. No, I'm guilty. I I do you eat candy? No, because I I I'm guilty. I just don't eat all day long. It's coffee in the morning.

Speaker 4:

Yeah.

Chris:

Um, it's coffee in the afternoon, trail mix. My goodness. And then I get home and at eight, nine o'clock at night, and I ask my wife, hey, did you cook? Religiously. She always has something ready for me, and there's food in the in the fridge, and I microwave it, and we watch a show together, and I'll either stay up and work or go to bed so I can get up early and back at the grind. I mean, unfortunately, that's kind of the life of what the business I've built. And it's so I'm gonna go shout outs to my wife Jennifer for always having a a plate of food for me at home.

Doug:

And um does she let's just do this. Does she have a dish that she's made that you're like, honey, this is like the best thing?

Chris:

Uh she's got a cheesy broccoli casserole thing going on. That's that's definitely really, really good. Um she cooks salmon better than anybody I've ever met.

Doug:

So these might be the the plates that we're reheating at night. Yes. So a little piece of salmon and a good broccoli cheese casserole, yeah, that would hit. That's it, that's it. All right. Crispiers, thank you so much for everything you're doing in the world of candy and these small makers. Thanks for sharing your story today. And thanks for being on the Pittsburgh dish. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. It's absolutely honored to be here. Up next, if you like your chicken wings with a little bit of crisp, Anna of Anna Eats Pittsburgh dishes up one of her favorite spots. Hey everybody, we're joined today with Anna Anthony of Anna Eats Pittsburgh.

Ana:

Hi.

Doug:

Anna, welcome back.

Ana:

Thank you for having me again, Doug.

Doug:

It's been a little bit, so it's been a while. Yeah, it has.

Ana:

Yes.

Doug:

I'm sorry.

Ana:

That's okay. No hard feelings.

Doug:

Well, I'm so glad we could make time to meet up again and get a restaurant recommendation.

Ana:

Oh, yeah. I'm ready.

Doug:

I've seen your feed. It's been pretty solid. So thank you for everything you do.

Ana:

Of course.

Doug:

I was wondering, why don't we start off with something easy? How about some wings? Do you have a good wing place that you're going to?

Ana:

Doug, I just posted about it last night. Oh, really? Yes. My favorite, all-time favorite. It's I consider it Crafton. It's on Noblestown Road. It's also probably technically Oakwood. Um, it's called Wiggies.

Speaker 4:

Wiggies.

Ana:

Wiggies. I've never heard of it. I can't believe that you live so close by and you have never heard of Wiggies or been there.

Doug:

Oh well, I need to get out more, I guess.

Ana:

You do. So what makes them special to me is that they're super crispy. Some would say maybe overdone for their liking, but that's kind of how I like my wings.

Doug:

I love that crispy. I need crispy. Yes.

Ana:

I don't like my wings to be like super tender and like I need there to be a nice tooth. Yeah. Yeah. And that's what they do. And so my favorite sauce there is the honey habanero. It's perfect. It's not too thick. Some of their sauces can be on the thicker side, and that's really not my vibe, I guess. But the honey habanero is the perfect consistency for a wing sauce.

Doug:

So I'm guessing it has some sweet to it.

Ana:

And a nice bit of heat.

Doug:

Yeah. Like kind of a medium level, it's a little high.

Ana:

For me, it's perfect. Yeah. I eat Thai food a lot, as you may know. You like spice. I love spice. But recently I haven't been going above a three. Okay. So a three out of ten. So I don't know. Maybe my spice tolerance is coming down, or my stomach is just like, please stop.

Doug:

But I think what we're saying is if you go to Wiggy's and you get the honey habanero. Honey habanero. Yes. This is going to be a good level for you.

Ana:

Perfect. I think if you enjoy spice, it's the perfect sauce. And if you're not a fan, just go for buffalo.

Doug:

Are there any other uh flavors or any other items that you've had at Wiggy's that you've really appreciated?

Ana:

I love their onion rings. They're very simple. When I go to a wing spot, I don't often order fries anymore. I don't know. I'm just not feeling them anymore. Onion rings are the superior side, in my opinion. And I think theirs dipped in their homemade ranch. Oh perfect.

Doug:

Well, I can get behind that. I can get behind that.

Ana:

I had someone criticize me using ranch for my wings, which I think is a polarizing topic. I know people from Buffalo think blue cheese is the only answer.

Doug:

Yeah.

Ana:

I don't know. I'm from Pittsburgh, though, and I like a little homemade ranch on my wings.

Doug:

I think ranch is I I'm all for ranch.

Ana:

Heck yeah. Yeah.

Doug:

Why not? All right. So we're talking about Wiggies. It's on Noblestown.

Ana:

Noblestown Road.

Doug:

And it's in technically technically Crafton.

Ana:

You get off the green tree exit to get there. And I would say Crafton Oakwood, however you want to describe it. It's in that area.

Doug:

We're going to find it. Yes. Anna, thank you so much for this recommendation.

Ana:

Thanks, Doug.

Doug:

Thanks for coming back over to The Pittsburgh Dish.

Ana:

Thank you for having me. Aw.

Doug:

You can follow Anna on Instagram at Ana EatsPGH. Now, if the midwinter months have warm, hearty stews on your mind, Dak Bokkeum Tang might just be the answer. We learned about this Korean dish last year when KT of Bamboooyah and her husband Matt stopped by on the show. Let's listen in.

Matt:

So what's the best dish that Katie makes? Um I'm probably butchering the pronunciation, but uh I'm glad you are and not me. I'll give it my best shot. Dak Bokkeum Tang? Yeah. How do I do? Um and if somebody doesn't know what that is. Yeah, for the for in layman's term, that's just spicy chicken stew, essentially, with big pieces of chicken thigh, big chunks of potato in kind of the red, the red pepper, the gochujang sauce of sorts. Um over rice, of course. Don't forget the steamed short grain rice. And I could eat, I could eat every day of the week and then leftovers for lunch for me.

Doug:

Thank you, Matt. Yeah. That dish sounds so good. And we'll leave a recipe for Dak Bokkeum Tang on the blog. If you enjoyed the show, consider buying us a coffee for this episode or supporting the show monthly. You can find links to those options at the bottom of our show description. And if you want to follow my own food adventures, you can find me on social media at Doug Cooking. That's our show for this week. Thanks again to all of our guests and contributors, and to Kevin Solecki of Carnegie Accordion Company for providing the music to our show. We'll be back again next week with another fresh episode. Stay tuned.

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Douglas Heilman

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