Grapow Asian Street Food opening July 17.

Grapow Asian Street Food will be opening in Oakland on July 17. Signage first went up in early June at 411 S. Craig St. (map) in what was briefly and most recently the neighborhood's second Chick'n. It will be open 11 am to 9 pm. Grapow is the name of a Thai street food dish, and sneak peeks at the menu are available on the restaurant's Instagram.

Annual "Ihaw-Ihaw at Halo-Halo and Fundraiser" with Philippine-American Performing Arts of Greater Pittsburgh, August 11.

The Philippine-American Performing Arts of Greater Pittsburgh will hold its annual "Ihaw-Ihaw at Halo-Halo and Fundraiser" on August 11 in North Park.

Sample Filipino homemade meal for only $10 each! Come and eat with your family and friends (and grab sweet desserts from our bake sale)!

It runs 12:00 to 8:00 pm at the Rose Barn in North Park (map).

Three-day "Crash Course in Chinese Medicine," July 19-21 in Oakland.

Source Pittsburgh will hold a three-day "Crash Course in Chinese Medicine" from July 19 through 21.

Learn Chinese Medicine in three days! Spend the weekend learning the theory and practice of Chinese medicine with this interactive course. If you're a novice with no prior knowledge or a veteran who want to brush up on your knowledge, this course will expand your insights and understanding of a traditional healing art.

The Introduction session on the 19th runs from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, while Diagnosis and Treatment Strategies on the 20th and 21st, respectively, run 2:00 to 6:00 pm. Registration can be completed online. Source Pittsburgh is located at 460 Melwood Avenue, Suite 211 in Oakland (map).

Itamae Thai & Sushi Bar now open in Mt. Lebanon.

Itamae Thai & Sushi Bar has recently opened in Mt. Lebanon, holding its Grand Opening on July 5. Mt. Lebanon Magazine profiled the restaurant on May 10 when it was still in the works:

Hungry for sushi? A new restaurant called Itamae is coming soon to 193 Castle Shannon Boulevard, replacing Yum Yum Asian Cuisine, which closed in February.

Itamae is Japanese for chef, or someone who works behind a cutting board. The new concept will be Thai and sushi. The decor will be Asian/Japanese.

Indonesian-born Vick Oktavian and his wife, Katie Kaewwangworn, are self-proclaimed foodies with years of culinary experience. “We love checking out different restaurants and trying different cuisine. We are firm believers that in order to make good food, we must train our taste buds by eating good food,” said Oktavian.

It is located at 193 Castle Shannon Blvd. (map).

Oakland's KBox, the area's first Asian karaoke spot, closes permanently.

Signage has gone up on the door of KBox, the area's first Asian karoke spot, announcing its permanent closure. Ownership posted on social media on May 3 that it would close soon after plans to redevelop the S. Craig St. spot had moved forward.


KBox opened September 16, 2012 in Oakland, hoping to appeal to the Asian students and KTV enthusiasts at Pitt and Carnegie Mellon. It was the first dedicated Asian singing room business in the area, where previously the only option was to rent a private room in a restaurant. The buliding was long in disrepair, though, and not only did it always appear closed from the outside, but the developer stated during the June Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting that it had been vacant for several years; that is not quite true, but the state of the landscaping, steps, windows, and exteriors would give that impression. As PennsylvAsia detailed in a June 2024 post, the site has been the topic of redevelopment plans for nearly as long as KBox was open: first as the home of a new, larger Pink Box Bakery; then, as the site of a five-story apartment building; finally, as the future home of a two-story restaurant once demolition and reconstruction is complete.

Seven Samurai (七人の侍) w. Sake Tasting, July 14 at Row House Lawrenceville.

The 1954 Akira Kurosawa film Seven Samurai (七人の侍) plays at Row House Lawrenceville from July 12 as part of the Samurai Remix Series, and the theater will host a sake tasting to accompany it on July 14.

Taste several different rice wines from Bierport’s premium sake collection before a screening of Akira Kurosawa’s epic film in a brilliant 4k restoration. Must be 21+

Special sake samples with a screening of the new restoration of Seven Samurai.

MUST BE 21 YEARS OLD OR OLDER

Tickets for the 5:00 pm event are availabble online, as are tickets for the other screenings of the film. The single-screen theater is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map).

Japanese metal band HANABIE。returns to Pittsburgh, September 22.

Japanese metal band HANABIE。will return to Pittsburgh on September 22, opening for Ukrainian metalcore band Jinjer. Their Reddit fanpage provides an introduction:

Loud rock band HANABIE。formed at their school light music club in June 2015. Centering in Kichijōji, Tokyo, they started performing live around areas such as Shinjuku and Tachikawa.

The sound of Hanabie features the sound mixture of metalcore, hardcore, Hip-Hop, and J-POP. Their 1st album, "Girls Manifest" was released in 2020. With this album, they have established their own genre "HARAJUKUCORE"

Their live performances have a speed and power that exceeds expectations and captivates their audience. Yukina's powerful screaming/growling vocals never leave anyone without being amazed, along with this excellent melodic lines given by the clean voice of Matsuri, this is a complete basis for an amazing metalcore band but as for them it isn't enough they add different layers of voices between rap lines. If vocally they are great, in the instrumental part they're not left behind, aggressive, heavy, and dynamic. Certainly to define this band you need at least two words: dynamic and powerful.

The band played Preserving Underground in New Kensington in September 2023. Tickets for the all ages show at the Roxian Theatre in McKees Rocks (map), 7:30 pm, are available online.

Korean rock band The Volunteers (더 발룬티어스) in Pittsburgh, July 17, with a venue change.

Korean rock band The Volunteers (더 발룬티어스) will play in Pittsburgh on July 17. Tickets for the show, which has been moved to Spirit Lounge, are available online.

PennsylvAsia has teamed with the promoter for a ticket giveaway via social media; detials are available on our Instagram and Facebook.

2024 film Didi (弟弟) in Pittsburgh, from August 8.

The 2024 film Didi (弟弟) will play in Pittsburgh from August 8.

In 2008, during the last month of summer before high school begins, an impressionable 13-year-old Taiwanese American boy learns what his family can’t teach him: how to skate, how to flirt, and how to love your mom.

It is scheduled to play locally, so far, at the AMC Loews Waterfront, and tickets are available online.

1997 film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) in Pittsburgh, from July 13.

The 1997 film Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫) will play in Pittsburgh from July 13, the next installment of Ghibli Fest 2024.

From the legendary Studio Ghibli, creators of Spirited Away, and Academy Award®-winning director Hayao Miyazaki, comes an epic masterpiece that has dazzled audiences worldwide with its breathtaking imagination, exhilarating battles, and deep humanity.

Inflicted with a deadly curse, the young warrior Ashitaka heads west in search of a cure. There, he stumbles into a bitter conflict between Lady Eboshi, the proud people of Iron Town, and the enigmatic Princess Mononoke, a young girl raised by wolves, who will stop at nothing to prevent the humans from destroying her home and the forest spirits and animal gods who live there.

It plays locally at the AMC Loews Waterfront, Waterworks Cinema, GQT Pittsburgh Mills, Chartiers Valley, and the Cinemarks in McCandless, Monroeville, and Robinson. Tickets are available online; please note, some shows are dubbed in English while others are in Japanese with English subtitles.