Gus & Yiayia's Storied Ice Ball Cart Reopening Soon

PITTSBURGH, PA — If anyone feared Gus and Yiayia's famed ice ball cart would return this year following Gus Kalaris' death last year, those concerns can now be erased.

Weather permitting the stand will open April 12 in its familiar location on West Ohio Street on the North Side, according to Mike Spanos, who now manages the iconic bright orange cart's operations and oversees its Facebook page.

Kalaris died in June at the age of 92.

His father began the business in 1934 with Kalaris's mother, Pauline, the original "Yiayia" - the Greek term for grandmother. Gus Kalaris took over the cart's operation in the early 1950s.

After the original Yiayia died in 1992, Gus Kalaris' wife, Stella, inherited the title, which she held until her 2016 death.

Kalaris and his workers staffed the handmade carts seven days a week, April through October. The menu never changed; customers chose from the shaved ice balls, popcorn or peanuts.

So revered was Gus and Yiayia's cart that in 2021, a much smaller version of it became part of the Carnegie Science Center's holiday Miniature Railroad & Village exhibit.

After Kalaris' death, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey announced that a portion of a street in Allegheny Commons Park would bear his name. Gainey made the announcement at Gus and Yiayia's cart, where city officials and members of the public gathered to honor Kalaris' memory.