Buffalo Foodies: Phil Kneitinger (Black & Blue & Gold)

Phil

It’s been a long time since we have featured a Buffalo Foodie and I think we are long over due for a new one.  Today we are fortunate to have Phil Kneitinger contribute to the series.  Phil runs and writes for the sports blog Black & Blue & Gold.  While he mainly writes about the Buffalo Sabres and hockey in general (this is a hockey town after all), he’ll occasionally touch on our other local sports teams like the Bandits, Bisons and even our new soccer team FC Buffalo.

I have to say he was one of the quickest responses I’ve ever received from a Buffalo Foodie request and you can tell he loves this city (which is impressive considering he recently has moved back to the area) and gets excited to talk about it.

So here is what Phil had to say about his favorite places to eat and drink in Buffalo:

What restaurants do you love to eat at?

Phil: It’s all about the sushi for me. I’m in the Elmwood Village, so I love going to Wasabi on Elmwood (get the super dynamite roll – eel, white tuna, crab, asparagus, and cream cheese all lightly fried up tempura-style – so good) and Kuni’s on Lexington (the mackerel and ginger roll is really bold and the wasabi shumai dumplings have serious zing).

Beyond sushi, I just go wherever my belly dictates. Chef’s for Italian, Towne for Greek (especially for souvlaki breakfast), Sweet Tooth for dessert (get the cream soda float), Pearl St prior to going to see a Sabres or Bandits game (loaded fries and Trainwreck are tradition)…I could go on forever. One place I always seem to be for lunch is Spot Coffee. The grilled cheese has big slabs of tomato and I’m a huge fan. Their cajun turkey wraps are another favorite of mine.

I love my Buffalo-centric fast food staples, so I’m often eating a Diavlo (fried hot peppers – can’t go wrong), at Jim’s Steakout, or a Super Mighty at Mighty Taco. I love my Ted’s and my Louie’s. Gabriel’s Gate is my destination for wings, and I have a soft spot for Casa di Pizza’s plain ol’ cheese and pepperoni pie and stuffed hot peppers. My beef on weck experience is unusual in that I think I love The Carvery stand at the top of the 300LVL escalator the best. Not for the meat itself, but because of the experience of getting off the escalator, grabbing my weck, and hurrying to my seat to beat Doug Allen’s anthems.

Where do you love to get a drink?

Phil: To watch the game, I’m usually at JJ’s on Elmwood and Hodge (ask Shookie the bartender about his “Bus Bomb”), The Irish Times by the ballpark, or The Aud on Transit by French ($10 gets you 10 wings AND a pitcher of Blue on game night). I typically head down to Nietzsche’s if I want cheap covers and good live music or The Old Pink for some of the best bar DJing in town. I go to a bunch of shows and love drinking at Town Ballroom and Mohawk Place, too.

I lived in Chautauqua County for a big period of my life and there’s a bar down there called BJ’s that feels so much like Nietzsche’s. I love it. Kitschy decorations, graffiti everywhere, and such a homey feel.

My beer taste is all over the place. Some nights I like stouts (Murphy’s, usually), some nights I like IPAs (Southern Tier’s Unearthly Imperial is great), some nights I’m in the mood for an amber ale (Pearl St’s Trainwreck is great, especially out of a widowmaker), some nights I’m up for something light (Magic Hat #9, typically), and some nights I just want Molson Canadian.

If you want a unique drinking experience, go to Club Diablo on Washington and try a couple of their specially-stocked Satan-themed beers. Stone’s Arrogant Bastard will kick your a** if you’re not careful and the Lucifer Gold is surprisingly strong for being so smooth. Just…beware if you’re not into death metal. Trust me on that one.

Growing up in Buffalo what kinds of food did you eat?

Phil: Well, I hadn’t lived in Buffalo since I was five before I recently moved back. I do remember what I got every time my dad would take my brother and I to Mighty Taco when I was a teenager – two Super Mightys, a Nachos Deluxe, and a medium Aunt Rosie’s loganberry. It’s so sad seeing Aunt Rosie’s no longer in production. And before the Ted’s in the Galleria got wiped out during the mall’s expansion, I always got a chili cheese footlong when we went back-to-school shopping.

What do you wish Buffalo had more of?

Phil: I know there’s still Jamaican places in Buffalo, but I really miss Steel Drums on Main St. I loved their jerk chicken stir fry and Jamaican patties, and it was awesome to see live blues, reggae, and jazz bands there on the weekends.

But what I think Buffalo needs more of are traditional delis. There aren’t enough sandwich shops here that pile the pastrami and cappicola as high as your head. Definitely need more deli’s (Don edit: I totally agree).

Where would you take a friend from out of town to show them a good time in Buffalo?

Easy – Gabriel’s Gate for their wings and sandwiches, Flying Bison on the weekend to grab some brewed-in-Buffalo beers (the barleywine and Aviator red are wonderful) and swag, and Dolci for some gelato. Dolci’s peanut butter and chocolate gelato is especially tasty. For the nightlife, I’d drag em down to Nietzsche’s for whatever funky band is rocking out late into the night. If it isn’t apparent already, I avoid Chippewa like it’s the plague – it is 100% not my scene.

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My favorite part of these Buffalo Foodie articles are learning about new menu items (super dynamite roll and wasabi dumplings both sound amazing) or maybe realizing that I would totally love fried hot peppers on my sub.  I’m a newbie when it comes to reading Phil’s work on Black & Blue & Gold but I have definitely become a fan over the last couple of weeks.  He clearly has a passion for sports in the Buffalo area and it comes across in the quality of his writing.  I highly suggest you bookmark his blog, follow him on twitter or “like” his blog on facebook.  Odds are if you can pull off 1 of those 3 things and you will definitely appreciate doing so.

Buffalo Eats would like to thank Phil for his awesome answers and for taking time out of running his own blog to contribute to ours.  Please support Phil and all of our former foodies by clicking on their respective links on the sidebar under “Friends”.