2203 Murray Ave.

The building at 2201-2203 Murray Ave., at the southeast corner of Murray Avenue and Douglas Street, was occupied by a series of Jewish-owned restaurants for nearly 90 years.

Tisherman’s Bakery had a Squirrel Hill branch at 2201 Murray Ave. in the late 1920s. As early as 1928, the Murray Sandwich Shop opened next door at 2203 Murray Ave. The proprietor was most likely Milton Rubin of 1117 Chislett St., who sold the business in 1931 to his uncle Manuel Volensky. Volensky Grill and Delicatessen operated until 1938, when Volensky sold the business to the Hebrew National Restaurant and Delicatessen Company. The Hebrew National Delicatessen was originally managed by Adolph Schwartz and, sometime before 1942, was purchased by Abe N. Polonsky. Polonsky’s Delicatessen appears to have expanded in the mid-1950s to include the neighboring 2201 Murray Ave.

Polonsky died in 1961, and his son Gilbert briefly managed the restaurant before selling to Iz Cohen in 1962. The restaruant was known as Iz Cohen of Polonsky’s until 1969, when the building was damaged in a fire. It reopened in 1970 under the management of Robert and Rhoda Shugerman and Charles “Chuck” Criswell. They used the name Iz Cohen’s Delicatessen until 1977, when it became Rhoda’s Delicatessen. The business benefitted from the opening of the Mid-Murray Parking Lot behind the restaurant in 1970. After the Shugermans retired, they passed the business to daughters Amy Shugerman-Glasser and Pamela Shugerman, nephew David Kendall, and son-in-law Jack Glasser. The family expanded the building to the rear, nearly tripling the seating capacity.

The Shugerman family sold Rhoda’s Delicatessen in 1998 to local restaurateurs Brian Bennett, Paul Krause, and Mark Riley, who changed the name to Kazansky’s Delicatessen. Kazansky’s closed in 2010, and the location became an Indian restaurant.