Bubba's Sulky Lounge

History

Robert “Bubba” Larkin, a former Marine, opened his first bar on Lancaster Street in 1959, when he was 21, and moved it in 1961 to Portland Street. He added “Sulky Lounge” in the 1970s because he loved harness racing; a sulky is the cart pulled behind the horse, and Larkin kept racehorses. He rebuilt the place after a 1979 fire, and it grew from a neighborhood bar and restaurant into a dance club known for a light-up floor, antiques, and ’70s and ’80s dance nights.