The Steak Pit is making a comeback, and midtown residents can’t contain their excitement.

Yes, you read that right: in just a few short weeks, you’ll be able to order a filet mignon with the Steak Pit’s signature Mexican rib sauce while dining on cloth-covered tables in a nostalgia-filled room.

The famous steak house, which closed in 2016 after 70 years at 1666 Avenue Rd., is being brought back to life at Bistro on Avenue, a family rib and wing joint just down the road from where the Steak Pit used to stand.

“I take my walks up and down Avenue Road and kept walking by Steak Pit, which has been closed for eight years now,” says Cindy Stern, co-owner of Bistro on Avenue. “I thought about how popular it was, and between the Bistro being around almost 40 years and the Steak Pit that was around 70 years, I just thought about what it would be like to have two iconic institutions under one roof.”

With that vision in mind of bringing Steak Pit’s menu to Bistro on Avenue, Stern installed a char-grill in the kitchen and reached out to a former manager at Steak Pit, who has been mentoring her on everything from the signature rib sauce to the classic house salad dressings.

With a mid-September opening on the horizon, Stern has been revamping the dining room at Bistro on Avenue. She’s stripped away the old memorabilia, repainted the space and kept only a few hanging photos and the iconic mounted fish that once greeted guests at the original steak house.

When the new Steak Pit addition at Bistro on Avenue opens, it won’t spell the end for the Bistro. Both the Bistro and Stern’s Deli will keep running from the bar side of the restaurant.

On the Steak Pit menu will be familiar favourites, including, of course, rib eyes, steak loins, salmon and the garlic bread and celery tray appetizers.

Although Stern hoped the news would attract business to the Bistro on Avenue building, she admits the response has been beyond her expectations. The buzz has been “unbelievable” and “overwhelming.”

“It just feels like everywhere I go, everybody is talking about the Steak Pit,” she says.

The feedback makes it clear just how beloved the Steak Pit is in midtown, making it all the more important for Stern to create an homage to it in Bistro on Avenue. 

“It was such an affordable place,” she says. “You just felt comfortable in it, and you got good food and good value for your money. That’s what I’m trying to recreate.”

Steak Pit’s grand opening inside Bistro on Avenue at 1980 Avenue Rd., is set for September 18. Follow the restaurant’s Instagram for all the latest updates.