‘Something to learn, an adventure’: 3 Irwin brothers, business owners add coffee shop to repertoire

Brothers Chris, Nick and Mike Juricich have spent their entire lives in the restaurant business and have no intention of changing it.

The brothers, who reside in Irwin, co-own Ginny’s Neighborhood Pizza Joint in Murrysville, Parkside Creamery ice cream shop in Trafford and Mr. Squeegy window cleaners in North Huntingdon. In October, Parkside Perk coffee shop joined the mix.

The coffee shop, which is attached to the creamery, is located on Forbes Road in Trafford near the Westmoreland Heritage Trail and B-Y Park. The brothers aim to open a brewery, Wye Beer Co., in the same plaza in December.

When the owner of the Kick Stand Grille moved out of the current coffee shop space about six months ago, the brothers initially planned to lease it, Chris said.

“We just loved this location so much. We love the bike trail. We love being on the corner,” Chris said. “We felt like we could do something really cool in this space. We have the drive-thru window, and we’ve always been passionate about coffee, so it was kind of a no-brainer.”

The Juricich’s grandmother owned Nigro’s restaurant in North Versailles for about 50 years, Mike said, and their father ran Mr. Mike’s in North Huntingdon for nearly 11 years before selling it in 2008.

Despite the hard work and long hours that go into owning multiple small businesses, there is an “energy about it that you keep going back for,” Mike said.

“(Our dad) tried talking us out of it,” Mike joked. “He spent his whole life in the restaurant business. … It’s a crazy life. He was like ‘No, don’t do that.’ But, meanwhile, he secretly loves it, because he’s down there all the time with us.”

Chris, Nick and Mike, and their wives, Mindy, Nina and Michelle, all pitch in to make sure each business is running properly. Their father serves as a “handyman” and “advice guru” with his years of restaurant experience, Mike said.

“Chris is definitely our brains of the operation. Smartest kid in the universe,” Mike said. “My brother Nick and I basically get anything done, figure anything out — more day-to-day checking in with Chris, what he needs done.”

The brothers had experience crafting lattes, cappuccinos and espresso drinks at Ginny’s and felt they would be able to smoothly transition into operating Parkside Perk. The coffee shop will specialize in espresso drinks, sourcing roasted espresso beans from Mechanic Coffee Co. in Verona, Chris said.

The shop will also serve refreshers and cold brew drinks to reach the younger crowd, he said.

“We kind of do a unique blend where we do the traditional Italian cafe … but then we also bleed over into the modern-day cafe scene,” Chris said. “We kind of try to straddle the fence there and do two different markets.”

The shop will also sell made-to-order breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast and acai bowls, Chris said. The brothers wanted to keep everything on the menu light and fresh to serve visitors from the nearby trail, where they expect to get a lot of their business.

But money is not the driving factor in opening the coffee shop, Mike said.

“If we make a few bucks, great,” he said. “It’s just something to learn, an adventure.”