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People who grew up on government cheese didn’t experience what you might call fully fledged restaurants until adulthood. The first time a server put a relish tray of radish roses, pickle spears, and California olives in the middle of my white tablecloth, I panicked.“I didn’t order that,” I blurted, thinking of the bill.“That’s OK, sweetheart,” […]
Most Buffalo diners don’t know how good they have it. Manhattanites are jealous of our menu prices, and few cities this size boast such a diverse lineup of world cuisines. If you try to do your ABCs with nations whose delicacies are offered here, you’ll come up short only for X, Q, Z, and O. […]
Chicken fried steak with country gravy, green chile cheese grits, and fried okra at Southern Belle Diner. Southern Belle Diner has become an oasis of relief and respite for those of us who love chicken fried steak but cannot abide by the Cracker Barrel version. Cody Hix, a former Special Forces operator who grew up […]
Rodney Wilkinson spent his firefighting career finding ways into burning buildings. Getting into the restaurant business seemed like a logical next step. In the worst climate for independent restaurants since the Great Depression, the retired Buffalo Fire Department lieutenant opened The Fire Spot, his soul food and breakfast spot in Tonawanda. Over two years, Wilkinson […]
Brick-oven pies are at the core of Larkin Square menu, but Thursdays are for Mai Tai mavens Funghi hazelnut pizza, a special at Hydraulic Hearth The sit-down pizza parlor once roamed in great herds across America before being driven to the brink of extinction by the expansion of delivery systems and takeout spots. At Hydraulic […]
After cooking on two continents, Hla Thu get to feed people his favorites Thai beef salad at Bamboo Ridge Buffalo is a city made by immigrants. In the heart of Allentown, Hla Thu is staking his claim to his own American dream at Bamboo Ridge. Born on Ramree Island in Burma, Thu immigrated to the […]
Wondering if Buffalo can have nice things? This crew has answers, starting at $4 Waxlight gives me hope for the future, as in: I hope these chicken nuggets with ’nduja return to Waxlight in my lifetime. In the days since another promising Buffalo Bills season ended in disappointment, I’ve been hearing the traditional folksong of […]
Price hikes and more threats to family restaurants mean it’s time to champion one Better-than-grandma’s-meatloaf lives up to its name at Hilltop Restaurant. The Hilltop Restaurant & Bar is the rare locally-owned family restaurant these days: It has a full house many nights of the week. The Lockport restaurant, opened a decade ago by Anthony […]
Search for sushi satisfiers besides Kuni’s leads to Amherst plaza Assortment for two ought to be enough for a normal couple at Wasabi Amherst. The first sushi arrived on Buffalo’s restaurant shores in 1971, when Yoko Katz began offering Japanese dinners in sukiyaki, tempura, and sushi at 938 Kenmore Ave., later to become Sinatra’s. By […]
Avoid steak clip joints for square deal on a square meal in City of Tonawanda’s finest spot 16-ounce Delmonico steak at Prescott’s Provisions In classic parlance, “clip joints” means two types of nightspots where customers are tricked into overpaying. There’s the exclusive clubs where the bill really should arrive on a crash cart, for the […]
For 33 years, housemade chicken cutlets, precision assembly, and boffo stromboli has fed Clarence and environs The Royal at Louie’s Deli Ever walked into an old-school Italian-American deli and stood in line for a sandwich, greedily inhaling the atmosphere? Fresh bread’s yeasty breath, funk from cured meats and aged cheese, the acetic cologne of pickles […]
Chimichurri potato salad, Korean brussels sprouts helps broaden appeal after covering basics Chicken francese at The Dog & Pony Saloon People don’t go out as much as they did before the pandemic. That’s the consensus among restaurant customers and restaurant owners I’ve interviewed. How big the drop was depends on who’s guessing, but it’s universal, […]
Mild-mannered-looking Tonawanda spot has chef who’s a multi-cuisine threat Hong Kong Typhoon Shelter style shrimp at Mahar Moe Asian Cuisine Mahar Moe Asian Cuisine blended in with other pan-Asian restaurants that I drove by in the Northtowns, until a reader dimed them out to me. Remember, folks: here at Four Bites, tipsters get fed. If […]
Excellent cooking and snazzy surroundings at new Virginia St. Puerto Rican spot Puerto Ricans are by far Buffalo’s largest Latino community, which has made boricua cuisine like pastelillos, pernil, and plantains an essential part of our collective menu. As long as we don’t mind eating the actual food someplace besides the restaurant, that is. Despite […]
Happier cooks redefine standards at Hamburg’s farm-to-table destination Prawns in pepperoni butter at Grange Community Kitchen. Even on the mornings when my coffee doesn’t taste quite right because it lacks an old-fashioned color comics section to pore over, digital media still beats dead trees and ink six ways from Sunday. In the paper era, impact […]