Groceria Merante — Local services in Pittsburgh

First and foremost, I like this place. They have a nice variety of Italian products and they have been very nice to me in the past. Today however (3/02/2017), something weird happened. They close at 5pm, I was there at 4:30pm because I wanted to buy some sweets and some of the curated meats they have. The deli guy said he had already closed the deli. He said they close the deli at 4:30pm. He said he had sanitized his hands and cleaned the slicer machine for the day and he would not sell any curated meat to me for this reason. I think this is pretty ridiculous. It was a full 30 minutes before closing and I had left my work early specifically to go and buy from Merante but even though I got there in time he wouldn't sell to me. I think this is bad customer service. 4:30 pm is not late, especially if people want to make business. And sanitized hands shouldn't be a problem if you want to sell your products to a customer, nor should be a slicer machine. If anything, after selling to me he would have still had an entire 25 minutes to sanitize or clean the machine. I plan to come back to Merante. I live at walking distance. But I hope they improve their customer service, specifically at the deli station. They missed my money this afternoon. I hope they realize they can lose a lot more business if they don't try to accommodate...

This is going to be a bit of an emotional review. My husband and I are new to Pittsburgh. We moved from being in NY our whole lives to Pittsburgh and the one thing he misses the most is Sunday dinner with Nonni and Grandpa. I try my best to make sauce but it's hard as a law student. We tried jarred from our favorite place back home, we tried Raos, but nothing truly beats Nonni's sauce (duh). Well, this past week, my husband lost his grandfather and it's been really hard on him. He needed a pick-me up and the one thing he was craving was sauce and capicola. He was calling my father-in-law begging to send some because he needed it. Well, I found Groceria Merante, saw "capicola" on the sign and told him we need to go. He was smiling ear to ear, got super excited seeing the selection of fresh sauce, pasta, olive oil, and cannolis made with love. We got fresh basil, pasta, cheese, and anything that felt like a dose of Nonni's house. We could not be happier because other than the delicious sauce, cookie ice cream sandwich, cannoli as well as the deli meat selection, the service was amazing and LOVE you can feel was impeccable. We will definitely be coming back. Him especially for the capicola and prosciutto.

Thank you for being our little home away from home! Thank you for...

Stopped in to grab a quick bite before a tattoo appointment and stumbled upon the cutest little deli—and I’m so glad I did. I was warmly greeted by Nick at the counter, who immediately made me feel welcome and walked me through their fresh sandwich options. He had several ready to go but also offered to make something on the spot, which I really appreciated.

I went with the turkey bacon club on flatbread and it was absolutely phenomenal—fresh, flavorful, and made with care. The shop also has a great selection of pasta salads, snacks, and dinner essentials, making it a perfect neighborhood spot for a quick bite or to stock up.

10/10 recommend stopping in and seeing Nick. You can tell he genuinely enjoys what he does, and it makes the whole experience even better. A...