Lara Borrasso held court behind the bar at Rugger’s Pub on the South Side for a decade. Making a distinct impression on the people she served, she twice won the Pittsburgh City Paper’s best bartender award.
Borrasso died unexpectedly on Monday, shocking her legion of friends across the city.
Many tributes to Borrasso were posted online.
“Summarizing Lara into a single post is an impossible task,” Ruggers bartender Alex Gordon stated in a Facebook post.
“She was intelligent, hilarious, tough as nails, and the fastest bartender I’ve ever seen
behind the sticks. She was a mentor, protector, and source of necessary tough love to me personally, and countless other Southside misfits. Ruggers Pub wouldn’t be around today without her, and her memory will live on in our walls forever.”
A post on the Pittsburgh Drinks Facebook page stated: “Lara was not only the quintessential bartender, but she was a friend to everyone who was lucky enough to pull up a stool to her bar. She was tough and kind, fierce and forgiving, powerful and protective… an iconic human being unlike any who came before or will ever follow after.”
Funeral arrangements for Borrasso, who recently moved to Key West, Florida with her fiancee, were unavailable Wednesday.
