PITTSBURGH — Inside an old brick building next to a railroad track, the aromas of dill, poppy seeds and paprika fill the air.

There aren’t many people on the sidewalks outside, and some of the nearby buildings in the old neighborhood of Hazelwood are boarded up. But Alexander Jozsa Bodnar keeps cooking the crepes, poppy seed rolls, goulash and fire bread that were staples of his childhood in Hungary, trying to make his guests feel like they’re in a friend’s living room, not a restaurant.

“From my grandmother who raised me for many years I learned how to do what I call Hungarian country-style family home cooking. No additives, no preservatives, everything from scratch, just like the way grandma used to cook,” Bodnar said as he worked on a loaf of braided peasant bread.

When Bodnar came to Pittsburgh in 1957 at age 15, the local Hungarian community was still thriving. There were four churches serving different congregations, and an Orthodox Jewish community too. Bodnar fled his native land after participating in the failed 1956 Hungarian revolution.

But the Hungarian traditions slowly faded from the neighborhood as the city’s industrial decline spurred some people to move and the older generation passed away. For decades Borda made a living in graphic arts and advertising, and then, in the late 1980s, he bought the building and opened the Jozsa Corner restaurant and cultural center. The building, which still has eight huge iron ovens in the kitchen, was built in 1886 by Transylvania Saxons, he said.

“I buy whatever is a good wise purchase,” he said, adding that he doesn’t extend credit. “In God we trust. Everybody else must pay cash.”

Bodnar usually serves a five-to-six-course meal, which could include cucumber-dill salad, soups, homemade sausages, fried bread, stuffed cabbage, chicken paprikash and fruit crepes. Not to mention the nut rolls and apricot rolls, all with jam fillings, made with a splash of rum.

Just before Christmas, four old friends shared such a lunch at the café. It’s a tradition they’ve followed for more than 20 years, Jim Monteleone said. “This is unique. I don’t know that you’ll find food like this anywhere in the region,” he said.

Bodnar has been known to sit down with his guests, talking not just of dill and sour cream, but of art, religion and fighting Soviet troops during the Hungarian Revolution.

And so even though the neighborhood has seen better days, Bodnar keeps the faith. He notes that while his restaurant may not be big or fancy, people do find it memorable, and they keep coming back.