Maryland
A Taste of Squirrel Hill in the Washington Area
I grew up eating Mineo’s pizza in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh. About once a week my father brought home a fresh pie—a real treat, and a legend at Taylor Allderdice.
The story behind it is pure Pittsburgh. Giovanni Mineo arrived from Sicily in 1954, the year before I was born, where he’d worked as a baker. Riding a streetcar down Murray Avenue one day, he spotted an empty storefront at 2130 Murray and claimed it. On September 13, 1958, he opened Mineo’s Pizza House in what was then a mostly Jewish neighborhood—and earned its loyalty, closing every year for the major Jewish holidays. These days, when I want a taste of home, I drive to Giuseppi’s Pizza Plus in Rockville. Walk in and the Steelers memorabilia covering the walls tells you everything.
Sue Feldman opened Giuseppi’s in 1990 with her sons Scott and Eric—all Pittsburgh natives. Scott grew up in Squirrel Hill too, and went to Allderdice like me. But here’s the twist: the recipe isn’t Mineo’s. It comes from Mineo’s old rival, Aiello’s.
Scott worked at Aiello’s as a teenager—a pizzeria Joe Aiello opened in 1978 after leaving Mineo’s himself. When Scott and his mother started Giuseppi’s, the Aiello family mentored them and passed along that same rich, herb-laced, slightly sweet sauce. It’s still what’s in the pies today.
Julia Butterfly (Dryas iulia) — Butterfly Experience, Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, Maryland
A Julia Butterfly (Dryas iulia) feeds on a Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) at the Butterfly Experience, Brookside Gardens' South Conservatory, Wheaton, Maryland. One of the faster-flying butterflies in the exhibit, the Julia is common throughout Central and South America and is a frequent presence in butterfly house collections worldwide.
The End of an Era: Demolition Begins at the Former GEICO Headquarters – Chevy Chase, MD
The beginning of the end for a Friendship Heights landmark.
After 67 years in Friendship Heights, the former GEICO corporate headquarters is being prepared for demolition and redevelopment. Designed by architect Vincent Kling and completed in 1959, the 26-acre International Style campus served for decades as a familiar landmark at the border of Montgomery County and Washington, D.C.
With GEICO’s relocation to downtown Bethesda now complete, activity on the site accelerated today as heavy equipment, staging flatbeds, and a Bay Crane arrived on-site. The transformation of one of Friendship Heights’ most recognizable corporate campuses is now visibly underway.
For more history about this property check out the Streets of Washington Substack.
