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. “Last Fine Time” paints a picture as to how incredible the East Side once was. Today we know it as an area with very little hope – a place where The City has been tearing down the last of its remains (see reference post).
This past Friday, my friends and I decided to go to R&L Lounge on Buffalo’s East Side. The pub is located on Mill Street, right around the corner from the Broadway Market. The R&L Lounge was indeed a time warp back into the good ol’ days of the East Side. We were served pierogi and fish fries from two Polish ladies, one who was elderly and spoke broken English. The bar looked like it hadn’t been updated since the 1950’s and had an original old world charm to it. It was such a fun experience and the food was unlike any other that I’ve tried anywhere.
These are types of businesses that we need to support, since they add to the original historic urban fabric of our city. The owners of the R&L, Ronnie and Lottie Pikuzinski, were helpful, authentic people who have been working the same bar for the last 50 years. If you want to experience the authenticity of the old East Side, then take time to pay a visit. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone to stop in at least once, and if you like it as much as we did, then there are even more East Side gems to discover.
R & L Lounge
23 Mills Street
Buffalo NY
716-896-5982
23 Mills Street
Buffalo NY
716-896-5982
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