By Bernice Radle:
Have you ever been to, or heard of, the R&L Lounge on Buffalo's East Side? Do you have any idea what the East Side of Buffalo once held, as far as small businesses, community centers, tight-knit neighborhoods? Have you read the "Last Fine Time" by Verlyn Klinkenborg?
Buffalo's East Side was once a thriving, Polish community that was filled with life, Polish culture, bowling alleys, neighborhood bars and incredible thriving churches.

Shop suggestion: Lotions and Potions
Mother-daughter team Sue and Ciara Morreale opened Lotions & Potions in Elmwood Village in 2009, showcasing an array of indulgent beauty products, clothing, and accessories for women. The luxurious boutique has a tagline that says it all: "For women and the men who love them." And truly, when you walk into the store, lush with sense-indulging displays from eye-catching jewelry, antique furniture, unique threads and other vintage-inspired pieces, you instantly know this is a store for at least one female--or more--on

Many cities have a thriving food truck culture.  Don't count Sacramento among them.  The California capitol's food truck regulations are draconian. 

In 2008, the Sacramento City Council, under pressure from brick-and-mortar restaurants, enacted an ordinance placing tight restrictions on food trucks. 

The ordinance states that food trucks may not operate after either 6 or 8 PM, depending on the month; that trucks not be stationary for longer than 30 minutes, after which they must move 400 feet, and must not be within 400 feet of each other.  More than

Crowley Webb, a full-service marketing communications agency, i announced the winner of their Twenty-Five Hour Workday contest: You and Who. In honor of their 25th anniversary - celebrated earlier this year - Crowley Webb partnered with Business First to create the contest. The prize is an ad campaign for one deserving local startup produced in one marathon, non-stop, 25-hour day.
 
Founded in September 2010, You and Who works with artists from around the country to design custom t-shirts. For each sold, the company donates matching items and

It's been a while since I've seen any major activity on the Sugar City stretch of Wadsworth. It's hard to believe that it was way back in 2008 when we first started noticing significant improvements taking place on a couple of residential properties. That was shortly after the Falcon Building was suddenly demoed. Wendes Jones, who then owned the properties was on a tear, adding a needed boost to the street in the form of incremental property

Seeing that Blue Hill Kitchen and Home (BHKH) recently opened on Hertel, I figured that I would stop by to see what owner Deanna Myers had in mind for gifts for the holidays. Apparently, this past Friday's Holiday Walk was a huge success and a lot of people happened upon BHKH, which turned out to be exactly the kind of marketing the business was looking for. Hertel is lucky to have such an appealing shop for people who are on the lookout for kitchen and home decor gifts. BHKH is one of those shops that

This holiday season, if you're looking to purchase gifts that are made right here in Greater Buffalo, then look no further than the Queen City Market. On Saturday December 10, from 11am to 6pm, at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum located at 453 Porter Avenue, you can do all of your shopping under one roof. Not only is the building architecturally pleasing, so is merchandise inside - you'll find everything from locally made ceramics to reused vintage apparel. There will even be local food vendors on-hand. The Buffalo Gay Men's Chorus will also be there to brighten up the occasion. 
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When I first told my wife that we were going to have brunch at Templeton Landing, she looked at me sideways and asked, "Really?" I told her that I had learned that the current chefs had finally figured out a few important details and it was time to try the location yet again. Over the years we had not had the best brunch experiences and were convinced that regardless of a name change (from Shanghai Reds to Templeton Landing), interior design enhancements, new docks, etc., the food formulas were always going

By Hannya Boulos - Buffalo ReformED:
With Chris Jacobs' recent resignation from the Board of Education, and imminent move to the post of Erie County Clerk, the board is charged with filling its third vacant seat in less than a year.
First, a bit of background--Chris Jacobs was an at-large member of the board, which means he was elected by the city as a whole, not by a specific district. In recent years, the board has set a bad precedent when dealing with at-large vacancies. Instead of appointing

By Kyle Gunn-Taylor:
The red-hot Detroit Red Wings (16-8-1) made it a chilling start to the month of December for the Buffalo Sabres (14-11-1) with a 4-1 trouncing, Friday.
Detroit swirled into the First Niagara Center with one of the light gusts of flurries sweeping over the city and a 6-game winning streak on the line.
Throughout the game Detroit dominated the Sabres with lightning quick puck movement and solid goaltending from Jimmy Howard, proving the Sabres have a long way to go to become a Stanley

Last week a small group of advocates worked together to halt the demolition of twenty-four city-owned properties. David Torke of fixbuffalo, Daniel Ash of Farmers and Builders, Mark Kubinec, and myself documented the existing conditions of the properties to determine if demolition really was necessary. Check out this Google

By Bernice Radle:
Are you interested in lowering your small business utility bills, adding comfort to your operations and investing in your community? Right now there is a program provided to you by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for a $1,500 energy study on your small business. The study will give your business a report that will outline all of the improvements that make financial sense to you.
If you are not looking to conduct energy improvements to your business now, it is still very important

The Broadway Market has a long, storied history in Buffalo, and you'd be hard-pressed to find someone in the area that has never heard of it. The Market first opened in 1888 as a merchant of unique foods that brought ethnic traditions, mostly from Polish and other Eastern European immigrants, to Buffalo's East Side. Anchor businesses in The Market have been handed down generation to generation, and new businesses have arrived on the scene in recent years; both groups understand the meaning of being in that

Saturday night I hopped on the 25 Delaware bus headed for downtown.  I got off at Niagara Square and took in the awesome view of our massive Art Deco City Hall.  While Occupy Buffalo was doing their "occupying," I strolled by them and started to hear the echo of their folk tunes bouncing off the facades on the square. The noticeably vacant streets of downtown started to fill up with people who all seemed to have one thing in common...BAD Holiday fashion!  The good news was that I wasn't going to be the only one fashionably late.

The Urban

San Bor Sports was established in 1972. Since that time, owner Rick Bordieri has seen the Grant-Ferry neighborhood undergo numerous transitions. Accordingly, Rick is constantly stocking items that the residents are searching for, including quality wood hockey sticks for $25, athletic socks and sneakers, athletic apparel, footballs and basketballs. Fortunately, as the Grant-Ferry neighborhood is on the upswing, so too is San Bor Sports. Rick tells me that come the first of the year he will be stocking more 'hard goods' again (helmets, balls, etc,) and depending on the different trends and the community

By Dyane Nunez:
On December 9, the Pandamonium runway show hits the Buffalo Museum of Science. The event is the brainchild of local fashion designer Steven Bales.
Up to this point, Bales Clothing has been featured in over 40 fashion shows between Western NY and NYC. The designer has participated in over a dozen different college fashion shows, fashion show events and even the High School of Fashion Industries Reunion Fashion Show 2011. 
The mission at Bales Clothing is to provide opportunity to and for those

On the occasional Saturday I  feature an obscure architectural element found in the city, to see if someone can figure out where it is. Buffalo is filled will all sorts of obscure architectural details and hidden items if interest. 
There are no clues - just a photo depicting the item. I'm sure that there are a lot of BRO readers out there who have scoured the city and have seen just about all that there is to see. Others might learn about some real treasures found in the most unlikely places. Either way, I'll keep mixing it up from week to week to keep you guessing...

Hayley Carrow and Cortney Morrison-Taylor want you to love the space you live in. They combined their passion for vintage treasure hunting with their backgrounds in interior design and painting, and voilà! reimagine opened on Elmwood at St. James Place in March 2010, and have since moved into Dolci's old space at the corner of Elmwood and Breckenridge. The store offers

Woops.  Ontario Specialty Contracting put a portion of the Agway/Cooperative Grange League Federation Elevator into the Buffalo River yesterday.  Earlier this year, City Permit and Inspections Commissioner James Comerford approved an emergency demolition request from Ontario Specialty Contracting to demolish sections 'B' and 'C' of the GLF Elevator at 327 Ganson Street.  Demolition work

'Tis the season to be giving and for the past 10 years The Iota chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity of Fredonia State College has taken this to heart and feet by raising awareness and money for the charity, YouthAIDS with its annual Tree Trot for Youth AIDS. The event only comes two days after World Aids Day, which is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died.

The fundraiser's objective is to carry a Christmas tree from Fredonia State College