rom age 15, Sarvar Abdurashidov knew what he wanted to do for a living.  That’s when he started working with his mother, Shakhnoza, in their family-owned restaurant in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

“We served 500 to 600 people a day,” Abdurashidov said. “I learned how to serve, I learned hospitality and I learned about food. I loved it!”

Now, at 32, Abdurashidov has opened his second Uzbek restaurant, Piyola, 663 Washington Road.

Abdurashidov came to Pittsburgh from Tashkent in 2013. A friend owned Pizza Care, a downtown pizza shop, and Abdurashidov worked just about every job in the place: cook, delivery driver, eventually becoming the manager.

In 2017, he bought his own pizza shop, Bella Monte, in the West End. As the Uzbek population began to grow in Pittsburgh, Abdurashidov began adding Uzbek dishes to the menu.

As more and more Uzbeks began coming to the restaurant, regulars and other locals started sampling the fare.

“I wasn’t sure how they would react, because it was something new in this area, but they loved it,” Abdurashidov said. “We started selling more Uzbek food than pizza.”

So in 2023, Bella Monte became Chaykhana. “We have about 70 percent English-speaking customers.”

Piyola’s signature items include plov, Uzbekistan’s national dish.

“Anywhere you go in Uzbekistan, on any occasion, weddings, other celebrations, you will find plov,” said Abdurashidov.  “The cooking method is different from other foods. It’s fried, boiled and steamed, with lamb or beef, and onions and yellow carrots, which you cannot find in local stores. We special order from New York.”

Piyola serves plov in the traditional way, accompanied by a tomato salad and Uzbek bread. Other popular items include kebabs (made with lamb, beef, chicken or vegetables,) three kinds of samosas — beef, chicken and pumpkin — dumplings, noodles made from scratch, and beshbarmak.

“The beshbarmak comes with square noodles, and is topped with a lamb shank that’s so tender, it falls off the bone.”

All of Piyola’s recipes come from Abdurashidov’s mother.

Abdurashidov had been scouting for a second location when the former Caspian Corner came on the market.

“I was always thinking I wanted to open a restaurant near Mt. Lebanon,” he said. “When I entered this place, I loved it. I’ve always wanted an open kitchen, so customers can see how we make our food.”

Piyola’s hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday; 11 to 10, Friday and Saturday and noon to 9 on Sunday. The restaurant does not serve alcohol and does not allow BYOB.