Heyl: Bloomfield Bridge Tavern Prepares For Its Final Polish Platter

PITTSBURGH, PA - When the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern opened in 1985, its prospects for long-term survival were questionable. Bloomfield is Pittsburgh’s Little Italy, a neighborhood where lasagna and meatballs are revered, and the no-frills tavern specialized Polish platters featuring pierogi, kielbasa and haluski.

Buckling long odds, for the next three decades the bar at the busy intersection of the Bloomfield Bridge and Liberty Avenue successfully billed itself as the home of Pittsburgh’s largest Polish house party. That’s a long time for a soiree and as Prince once sang, parties aren’t meant to last.

This one won’t last much longer. Just shy of 32 years, the bash at this Pittsburgh landmark is nearing its end. The last pierogi will be served there on Oct. 21, after which the tavern will join the ranks of places such as Chiodo’s and the Decade as one of Pittsburgh’s legendary late bars.

Owner Steve Frankowski, 57, is closing the place after legal and electrical misfortune over the past several years. Two patrons filed lawsuits after claiming they were injured during events at the bar, and a costly power surge fried the bar’s electrical system.

“When you take three hits in a four-year period, it’s tough to get insurance,” he said. “Last year, I went to five insurance companies. Four said no thanks, and the other one, I’m pretty much working for the insurance company these days.”

Is it a difficult decision to close the bar?

“A difficult decision? I have no decision,” Frankowski said. “I’m sure that up there in heaven, my dad’s pretty (ticked).”

His father, Stanley Frankowski, was a packer at the old Armour Meat Co. until the plant closed in the early 1980s.The quintessential Pittsburgh character bought the nondescript bar and transformed it into a monument to his Polish heritage, complete with the crests of various Polish cities painted on the small wall of the bar’s parking lot.

What will Frankowski miss most about the place?

“I’m going to say 99 percent of it would be the customers,” he said. “We served people with white collars, blue collars and no collars but we didn’t let in any jerks. We wanted this place to be a sanctuary - a clean, comfortable, safe place for people to eat, drink, listen to music and have fun.”

Frankowski said he’s been trying to sell the building but hasn’t received an offer he can accept. “PNC Bank and I have a pretty big relationship. I need to pay back five or six loans to them,” he said.

As to what the future holds when the bar closes, Frankowski said only half-jokingly, “I’ll probably end up working at the Home Depot in East Liberty. They hire old fat guys.”

The Bloomfield Bridge Tavern has been the rare no-frills neighborhood bar that attracts people from many other neighborhoods. Perhaps in a more transient town, its impending closure would be no big deal.

But despite the welcome influx of Google and Uber employees from other locales, Pittsburgh is still a city where most of the population has its roots. That’s why the loss of this local institution will be felt far beyond Little Italy.

Those Polish platters will be sorely missed.

Eric Heyl is Patch’s Pittsburgh field editor. Reach him at 412-334-4033 or Eric.Heyl @Patch.com. Photos by Heyl.