Delanie’s Coffee is the new cafe operator at Pitt’s Big Idea Center, where it has opened its third Pittsburgh location at 3601 Forbes Ave. The Oakland shop replaces Saxbys and joins Delanie’s locations in the South Side and Shadyside.
From Saxbys to Delanie’s
The opening was delayed after flooding. The Pitt News reported the cafe had been scheduled to open Sept. 11 and opened Oct. 9; TribLive had earlier reported that Delanie’s announced Sept. 9 as its opening date. The Pitt News also reported that owner Lavinia Ivanica said Delanie’s had been looking for an Oakland location and wanted to serve more students before taking the Big Idea Center opportunity.
The cafe is inside Pitt’s 5,500-square-foot Big Idea Center, at Forbes and Meyran avenues. Pittwire describes the center as a university facility for student innovation and entrepreneurship, with workshops, bootcamps and competitions among its programs.
What the center reports about student entrepreneurship
According to the Big Idea Center, it launched the ChangeMaker Series in Spring 2024 as a masterclass program for Pitt students interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. The program announcement does not give annual student participation totals or report entrepreneurship outcome figures.
What the Oakland shop serves
The Oakland menu includes a cookie butter latte, and the shop uses beans from Onyx Coffee Lab in Arkansas and Partners Coffee in Brooklyn, according to TribLive. The Pitt News reported that Delanie’s obtains nearly all its food and ingredients from local suppliers, including Pennsylvania Amish farms, and works with Driftwood Oven, 350° Bakery and Ghost Coffee Collab.
Saxbys’ other Pitt cafes
Saxbys continues to operate two other Pitt cafes: Cathedral Coffee in the Cathedral of Learning and Cup and Chaucer in Hillman Library. Students manage cafe operations, including team development, community outreach and financial reporting, according to the University Times. The publication reported that Saxbys’ experiential learning program began at Drexel University in 2015 and expanded to other universities in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
