Businesses and Visitors Alike Find Welcoming Vibe in Verona

Verona, PA, is a community in the true sense of the word; not only do longtime residents display a strong sense of neighborliness and local pride, but they also welcome newcomers to the area by supporting burgeoning businesses and working together to help the area flourish.

Established in 1871, Verona was named after the Verner and Iona railroad stops that helped it become an industrial hub. As the borough transitioned into a more suburban oasis, it managed to preserve its nostalgic feel, highlighted by historic homes, tree-lined streets and scenic views of the Allegheny River.

It is this setting that is attracting new residents to the area as well as a wealth of new businesses. Riverbank Distillery, for example, opened on April 1, 2026, moving from its original location in Lawrenceville to a restored historic bank building in Verona on Railroad Avenue.

“This area is really up-and-coming, and when we saw that the old bank building was up for sale, we fell in love with it,” said Joe DeGroot, who opened Lawrenceville Distilling Co. in 2018 with his brother, Jeremy DeGroot.

“While it was originally intended to be a second location, when the lease came due on our spot in Lawrenceville, we decided to focus on making the bank building what we wanted it to be and let our first location go.”

Riverbank Distillery now operates a tasting room out of the bank, serving cocktails and Pennsylvania-made products. While the company is well-known for its Parking Chair Vodka, they are also an absinthe, gin and bourbon distillery.

“Since absinthe was legalized in 2007, the revival of that spirit has been our main focus,” said DeGroot, who notes that they distill Absinthe Traditionelle, Absinthe Rouge and 1129 Ridge Ave. Absinthe Blanc in small batches. The company also crafts several types of award-winning gin, including its Jaggerbush Gin, which won the Best in Country Award from the American Craft Spirits Association.

According to DeGroot, not only do visitors to Verona flock to the distillery, but so do old friends.

“A lot of our customers from Lawrenceville come see us regularly, and a significant amount of our clientele that used to live by our old distillery have since moved to Verona and Oakmont. We were neighbors five or six years ago, and now we’re neighbors again.”

That neighborly feel is one of the biggest attractions in the area and thrives among the businesses that work there. “Our business neighbors have been great; they are so fun to work with, and they have a lot of creativity and excitement,” DeGroot said. “As the only distillery in town, they have shown a lot of positivity about the cocktail program we run.”

Inner Groove Brewing, also located on Railroad Avenue, is now celebrating its seventh anniversary in Verona. Couples Jen and Kevin Walzer and Tim and Kelly Melle looked for a location for their brewery for a year before discovering Verona.

“We just hadn’t thought about it because none of us lived in the area,” said Jen Walzer. “But when we saw our building, we knew it was the perfect space to turn into a brewery. Verona is a small, quaint, walkable town with a real sense of community. And we wanted to be a part of that community.”

While there were a number of open storefronts when Inner Groove first opened, Walzer said that they could easily see the area’s potential. Mechanic Coffee Co. had opened a few years before, and in the following years, the community welcomed two breweries, a distillery, a barbecue restaurant and more.

Inner Groove’s taproom, which can fit about 100 people, has become a community space for locals as well as clientele from the city, Penn Hills, Plum, Oakmont and more.

“It’s great to build a community and watch it grow,” said Walzer, noting that customers are attracted to the brewery for its events, which include Trivia Thursday, bingo, Christmas in July, Pumpkinfest and more. Inner Groove also works with The Puzzle Room in Verona (an escape room company) and Primal Pigment (a painting studio and splatter paint room) on other events.

“On St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween, we work with the other two breweries in town to get a trolley to take customers between all of our locations,” said Walzer. “We also release a new beer every Friday so that we have something for everyone, whether they want an IPA, red ale, wheat beer, lager or sour. Our menu rotates constantly.”

Walzer noted that while it’s easy to find good beer, Inner Groove’s vibe and taproom set them apart. They play vinyl music in the taproom and have just launched an app called The Stack that enables guests to make vinyl music requests. All of the brewery’s beer names and labels reference music as well.

Verona’s main street is filled with an eclectic mix of local businesses.

As the current president of Verona’s Chamber of Commerce, Walzer said she appreciates that all of the local businesses work together on special events as well as frequent each other’s locations. The community support that the brewery received during the pandemic also solidified her opinion that opening in Verona was the right choice.

“We were only open six months before it happened, and it was really scary for a new business not to open its doors,” she said. “But people could still order beer online and drive up to get it, and I still get goosebumps thinking of the cars lining up and down the street to support us.

“It was a crazy experience but rewarding to see people coming out to make sure we were still there at the end of this,” she added.

Both DeGroot and Walzer have their own favorite stops in Verona, including Off the Rails BBQ and Drafthouse, Hula Bar, Acclamation Brewing and more.

“I’m excited about the variety of businesses starting to show up here,” said DeGroot, “especially Garbarino’s Italian Market, which just opened a few months ago. I love their restaurant, Garbarino Brothers, but the market is such a unique thing.”

“From Primal Pigment to an Italian market to a new record store, the fact that all of these businesses are opening up on the same block is exciting,” he added. “It’s great when neighborhoods have that type of variety.”

Editor’s note: A number of businesses in Verona are closed Monday and Tuesday, so be sure to check hours before visiting.