Located at the southwest corner of Second and Hazelwood Avenues since 1988, Jozsa Corner, a traditional Hungarian and improvisational Hungarian-American restaurant has been a cornerstone of the Hazelwood business district.

Proprietor Alexander Jozsa Bodnar immigrated from Hungary in 1957 at the age of 14 after briefly fighting in the Hungarian Revolution, joining his parents on Borough Street in Pittsburgh’s Hill District. Before settling in Hazelwood, Bodnar lived in various Pittsburgh communities from the Hill to Squirrel Hill to Penn Hills.

The building, seated at 4800-4804 Second Avenue and 100-108 Hazelwood Avenue, was founded as AJB Arts Building by Bodnar in June of 1988. “The Jozsa Corner and AJB Arts Building were founded upon a basic principle, to serve an over 100 year Hungarian community as a central on-going source or possibly as a Hungarian Central European creative resource center of the arts and meeting place.” Recently three independent artists have located their studios in Bodnar’s building in anticipation of future exhibits of their ceramic works and sculpture. In addition, Jacob Pietrazak, a cell biologist from Poland specializing in stem cell regeneration, has located Cellbiot research labs in AJB Arts Building.

Currently the main attraction is Jozsa Corner catering to Hungarian tastebuds including entrees from Transylvania. It is not unusual to often see Alex on the corner of Second and Hazelwood any Monday, Wednesday or Friday, selling his crescent pockets in a variety of flavors – kolbasz, beef, hot sausage, potato and cheese –to hungry passersby stuck in rush hour traffic. However the regular hours for the restaurant are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Jozsa Corner is also open by appointment in the evenings or Saturdays and Sundays for a seating of four, minimum. The dining room is accessed by the Hazelwood Avenue door and accommodates 26 to 30 people, with the front kitchen counter seating 6 to 7 comfortably. Catering is also available.

Jozsa Corner serves a “nice mix of clientele” from University students and staff to suburbanites and locals. Throughout the years this authentic Hungarian restaurant had featured reviews in many publications from Pittsburgh Magazine, City Paper, Post-Gazette, Tribune Review, including a nice write-up in U.S. Air’s magazine, Attaché, ten years ago.

Jozsa Corner features a variety of dishes including Chicken Paprikas, Transylvanian Gulyas, Kapusta, Potato Pancakes and Stuffed Cabbage to name a few, along with Jozsa’s famous Lecso Pie – a vegetarian specialty - and Langos – a traditional Hungarian “fire” bread. Stop by and treat yourself to something out of the ordinary – “committed to serve you nonpreservative, wholesome and herbal traditional Hungarian cooking that has been well tested and known, and always will cater to special requests and suggestions.” It is always interesting to watch Chef Alex Bodnar hard at work in his kitchen at Jozsa Corner.