Ken Houston Jr. inherited uncle Lee Smith’s renowned sauce, and clientele that remembers the Fillmore original
The restaurant business has a notoriously high failure rate, but when Ken Houston Jr. opened his first place in Riverside last year, he already had a couple of things going for him most operators could only wish for.
The day Houston opened Nephew’s BBQ on Tonawanda Street across from Riverside Park, it already had a built-in audience. Houston inherited their hunger from Lee Smith, his uncle.
Lee’s Bar-b-que on Fillmore was the most prominent rib spot for decades on Buffalo’s East Side. Smith quit a truck-driving job to bet his fortune on selling spare ribs.
Through years of work and a distinctive sauce, Lee’s Bar-b-que was popular enough for Smith to open a bar, then a car wash. Houston worked in the kitchen as a high school student.
Now running his own business, Houston’s second advantage is that sauce. Less sweet, more pungent than most grilled rib sauces, an amalgam of diverse spices in its murky depths add savory dimensions. There are two choices for rib sauce: medium, and hot.
A slab of ribs, hot ($38.95) was my first choice for the table. (A half slab is $19.50, rib sandwich $14.50). The bone-in pork – grilled, chopped, and sauced – arrives accompanied by white bread, and a large cold side like cole slaw.
After my second rib, I began to count my blessings. Thank the almighty for the sweet crunch of the slaw, and the blandness of the white bread, not just for flavor, but their fire suppression characteristics. What began as a robust glow grew into an insistent blowtorch that faded after sweat started trickling down my scalp.
I enjoy that. You might not.
Medium presents a playful slap of capsaicin, nothing a medium wing eater hasn’t braved before.
These ribs aren’t dry-rubbed then smoked long and slow, with meat that slips from clean bones. These ribs are made for gnawing, chopped into segments for ease of handling. Your knife and fork are no use here, in hand-to-hand combat. Wash your hands later. It’s carnivore time.
Pork shoulder sandwiches – boneless – come in 8 or 12-ounce ($14.50, $19.50), with a side.
The swine is fine, but there’s more to love at Nephew’s. Chicken wings ($16/$29) can arrive in flavors including the usual Buffalo rainbow, and both house barbecue sauces.
A barbecued half chicken ($15.50) also gets a side. Besides cole slaw, choices include mac and cheese, green beans, potato salad, and french fries.
Seafood dinners, fried in a golden crunch, can be haddock ($18.75), catfish ($19.75), or shrimp ($20.50), with three sides. For another $6, the fish dinners become shrimp combo plates. Fish sandwiches are also on offer, in catfish ($10.50) and haddock ($11.50).
A full bar offers 16-ounce Big Ditch Hayburner drafts ($6.50) among seven taps, bottled beer, and cocktails common and bespoke. The wine list includes a prosecco ($9).
Desserts include a 6-inch sweet potato pie ($6), suitable for two, banana pudding ($7), and lemon cake. That’s plenty.
On Sundays, the special is collard greens, stewed with vinegar, chile, and more, and cornbread, $4.50 for an 8-ounce portion, $9 the pound.
Riverside – or any neighborhood, really – could use more clean, quiet family restaurants like Nephew’s. Where a mother can sit at a table with a sleeping baby. Where the server whips up a strawberry margarita and leaves the shaker with another dram. Where customers walk in already knowing what they want to eat, and have for years.
If it feels like a family restaurant, maybe there’s a reason.
1125 Tonawanda St., see menu here, 716-322-1800
Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday, Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday.
Prices: fried seafood $10-$25.75, ribs $14.50-$38.75, dinners $15.50-$25.75
Parking: street
Wheelchair accessible: yes
Gluten-free: no
Vegan: no
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