Elizabeth Licata: Buffalo, a city in the grip of nostalgia

“We will be closed until further notice. Thank you for understanding.” 

These words or something like them have become a standard epitaph for business disruption, and they were omnipresent during the years of Covid-19. A few days ago, I saw them posted on social media, copied and pasted from the Bye’s Popcorn website.

My reaction was immediate, visceral. No! Bye’s can’t close! Bye’s is a well-beloved Olcott roadside stand that has been selling nothing but popcorn since 1923. Yes, it just turned 100. The small wooden shack on Route 78 would open in March and close in November. In high summer, long and tedious lines could absolutely be counted on for plain kettle and secret-recipe caramel corn, renowned throughout the region for being well worth any wait. You could even freeze it if you had to.

Reading this testimonial for Bye’s, you might think I’m mourning the possible loss of a place I frequent regularly. Not in the least. I haven’t gotten popcorn there in more than 10 years. 

That’s the power of nostalgia. Bye’s became part of a picture I needed to stay the same, to always be there, in its frame, when and if I ever chose to visit it. It would take an effort – Bye’s is a good 50-minute drive from Allentown. 

Then there’s the Towne restaurant, its location at Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue a five-minute walk from where I live. During my college and post-college apartment-dwelling years, this place was a standard late-night or weekend morning choice – along with others. 

There is a minor place in my nostalgic picture gallery for the Towne, and judging from the fervent eulogies for the Towne that have been reported in The News as well as in endless comment threads on Facebook, this restaurant has retained its nostalgic power for many people. Interestingly, there were few paeans to the food; by far the majority of the remembrances had to do with gathering there as a place to make…