New owner tweaks Emma’s name, but keeps its identity
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It is still a cafe/deli, it is still called Emma’s, and it still sits at the front of Pinebridge Commons. Oh, and it still serves a local favorite: chicken salad.
Yet the owner is new, the shop has been redone and the name has changed – a little.
Emma’s Market & Deli has been rechristened Emma’s Kafe & Deli. Felicia Musillo, a first-time business owner, tweaked the identity partly as a testament to Terri Emma, the previous owner, who decided to shutter her operation months ago.
“I had acquired Terri’s assets and decided to stick with the name Emma’s because she had been open for 16 years, plus I have a daughter named Emma. So it made sense.”
Taking over the location, at 1580 McLaughlin Run Road, likewise made sense for Musillo. She resides in Upper St. Clair, less than a mile from the cafe, and found the place appealing. The owner also opted for an alternative spelling of cafe – kafe, which is displayed on a decorative green sign outside, near the entrance.
Musillo had hoped to launch in mid-October, but needed to tend to a few minor delays. She elected to open Nov. 7, the day before Election Day. Although “returns” from diners and deli customers won’t be in for some time, she plans to be a winner. One personal choice for the shop would have prevailed in a landslide.
“We kept the chicken salad. It’s really popular,” she said with a smile.
The new Emma’s, with seating for 12 to 14, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes. Its early offerings include four specialty sandwiches and signature desserts.
Cases are well stocked with take-home items: deli meats, cheeses, sodas, milk, breads, ice cream and other selections in a space that is brightly lit and decorative.
Felicia said workers “changed the aesthetics” of the shop’s interior, which is brightly lit. “We opened it up. It’s more of an open-air plan.”
Her husband, Mark, ably assisted with the renovations – when he wasn’t operating his company 15 miles to the east. He owns Musillo Sales Agency, a plumbing supply store in West Homestead.
Felicia has a staff of 10, including Teri Habovick, who worked at the previous Emma’s for 13 years. “Teri can say she has survived a flood, Covid and building of the roundabout,” which was completed nearby a few months ago. Musillo said that on a day a brush fire broke out near the commons before being extinguished. There was no damage to the commons.
Felicia and Mark have lived nearby for a quarter-century, after growing up in Munhall. They have raised four children, all daughters, in Upper St. Clair: Alexandra. 23; Kaitlyn, 21; Emma, 19; and Mea, 15.
Now they’ve added a deli/cafe – make that kafe – to the family.