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For generations, polka music poured out of Little Switzerland every Sunday night as neighbors crowded the dance floor. Now, that dance floor is getting gussied up as a new set of owners prepare to open Buck’s Place in the storied site, which dates back to 1906.
The details are limited, as owners Erika and Chad Harris did not respond to calls from the Index-Tribune. But the building is undergoing renovations, which include a new coat of blue paint, required ADA upgrades and the addition of a Pizza Master 9000 pizza oven before the site reopens sometime this summer for its next chapter, according to Permit Sonoma.
The menu, posted online without any prices, has an Italian influence with items like carbonara arancini, ricotta meatballs and tiramisu, alongside a slew of pizzas, from the traditional pepperoni to the more unique, like asparagus with lemon cream, spring onions and Carmody.
The Harrises are no stranger to the local market, as the owners of Lou’s Lucheonette on Fremont Drive.
And true to its history, Buck’s Place will “have live music and fast paced vibrant atmosphere,” according to a job posting for the business.
The building was first opened in 1906 by Swiss-Italian immigrant Al Rossi, but it was the Reichmuth family who bought the space in 1945 and made it Little Switzerland. “They owned and operated a similar place in San Francisco where music and old fashioned Swiss dances are featured,” according to a 1945 Index-Tribune story.
For decades, it was the place to go for a robust meal and a night of live music and dancing. “We went over there to little Switzerland on a Sunday afternoon and it was just this crazy polka scene and I thought wow, ‘What am I getting myself into?’” Sonoma Valley musician and I-T columnist Tim Curley said. “People in their 60s… just swinging and dancing and drinking beer.”
In 2014, the dance hall at the corner of Grove Street and Riverside Drive sold to Max Young, a well-known San Francisco bar owner with a Sonoma-born wife. He aimed to honor the building’s history when he re-branded it Rossi’s 1906, but the concept never quite caught on.
Young leased the space to Kevin Kress and Jeff Spencer who reopened the business as The Reel Fish House and Grille in 2017, welcoming customers and a variety of musical acts from bluegrass to punk. It was later renamed Reel & Brand.
“For generations, even as Rossi’s and Reel & Brand, this was the go-to place as the best music and dance venue in the Valley,” Cat Petru said, a 50-year resident of El Verano.
At first, Petru was concerned about construction in the historic site, as rumors floated around the neighborhood.
“The first rumor I heard was that the bar had been ripped out. But when I was finally able to look in the window, I could see what appeared to be the base of the bar still standing,” Petru said.
Like Reel & Brand before it, the new owners added a new wooden top but have maintained the long bar that greets customers as they walk in the front door.
“Our bar serves craft cocktails and local beer with an emphasis on natural wine,” according the the job posting for a general manager position. “We strive to be a member of the local community with a focus on hospitality and inclusivity.”
Neighbors like Petru are hungry for more details on the plans for this long-loved local institution.
“The dilemma is the conflicting rights of the owner to do what they want and the rights of residents to be informed and give input for the good of the community,” Petru said. “I understand a lot of structural remodeling needed to be done.”
Contact Chase Hunter at chase.hunter@sonomanews.com and follow @Chase_HunterB on Twitter.
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