Ski Lodge pop-up bar opens in Market Square
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A collaborative effort is bringing the comforts of a ski lodge to Downtown Pittsburgh.
Ski Lodge, an outdoor cocktail pop-up, opens in Market Square this weekend.
The idea came though collaboration between Creatives Drink, Market Street Grocery and Mindful Hospitality.
Groups will be seated in Market Square at personal fire pits to stay warm.
Hot Toddies, spiked ciders and hot cocoa are among the Ski Lodge’s drink offerings. They’re also offering a full food menu, which includes more than 10 sandwiches, like the Tripletta, cheesesteaks and the fried chicken sandwich that was offered at the Lemonade Stand, a previous pop-up spearheaded by Creatives Drink.
Cocktails will also be available to go.
Creatives Drink — along with Market Street Grocery and Mindful Hospitality — operated the Lemonade Stand throughout the summer months, but needed to revamp their operations when colder weather hit, Creatives Drink founder Cody Baker said. They exchanged cool beverages for warm ones and purchased personal fire pits to keep the concept alive as temperatures plunged.
“It is a little cold, but we feel we’ve created a safe, outdoor alternative — something warm and quick where people can get a drink and some food,” Baker said. “We just wanted to provide something safe, a little bit different.”
Baker said he’ll offer guests marshmallows to roast on the fire.
The Ski Lodge is scheduled to operate through April 25.
Though Creatives Drink has been forced to nix larger gatherings, Baker said he’s hopeful that the Ski Lodge will give people the chance to connect in a safe, socially-distanced way during the covid-19 pandemic.
“The whole goal of our mission is to bring together the creative community of Pittsburgh,” he said. “When covid hit, that really struck our community pretty strong and it eliminated a ton of resources. A lot of our ways to connect were eliminated. The Ski Lodge and Lemonade Stand was my way of helping our community connect in a safe way.”
The Ski Lodge will be open Fridays from 4 p.m. till 9 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 9 p.m.
Updated hours and information will be available on the Creatives Drink Instagram page.
Pop-up bars have become popular in Pittsburgh, with bars cropping up with themes like ‘Bar of Thrones,’ ‘Nightmare on Forbes,’ retro video games, and Christmas.