Prantl's hit with health citations for opening Squirrel Hill bakery without permit

May 5—The Allegheny County Health Department has shut down and cited Prantl's Bakery for opening a new location in Squirrel Hill without a health permit, department records show.

The bakery's new location on Forbes Avenue was shut down by health inspectors April 28 for operating with a health permit, failing to request a pre-operational inspection and doing construction prior to plan approval.

Inspectors also noted other health violations: improper cold holding of food, not having a food probe thermometer, failing to sanitize surfaces that come into contact with food, not having hot water throughout the whole building and not having hand-washing sinks in the food-handling areas.

The location must remain closed until the issues are corrected.

Prantl's management announced the new location in early April, and owner Joe Cugliari told the Tribune-Review at the time he did not yet have an opening date. He said products would not be baked at the Squirrel Hill location, but rather be brought in from the Greensburg bakers.

Bakery management could not immediately be reached for comment.

The bakery has several locations in Pittsburgh and Westmoreland County. Henry Prantl opened the original Shadyside location on Walnut Street in 1966. The bakery made old-fashioned fruit Danish, coffee cakes and more, and the idea for the now-famous burnt almond torte came after Prantl attended a conference in California in 1970.

In addition to Shadyside and Greensburg, the bakery opened a location in North Huntingdon in recent months. The bakery announced in February the Market Square location would be closed indefinitely.

Megan Guza is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Megan at 412-380-8519, mguza@triblive.com or via Twitter .