Buffalo Foodies: Buffalo Beer & Food (Jake and Scott)

We aren’t the only people in Buffalo who are blogging about the local restaurants or beer and when we find others (Karine Varga, Natalie Eats Buffalo) we love to tell our readers.  We realize that blogging about food/beer shouldn’t just come from one source, with all of the restaurants in WNY there is plenty of room for everyone and since taste is fairly subjective, it’s good to get multiple viewpoints.  Today we are happy to have Jake and Scott (middle and right, respectively) from Buffalo Beer and Food Blog to tell us about their favorite places to eat and drink in Buffalo.

For the last 9 months they have been writing mostly about beer (with the occasional restaurant review and even bar review).  On their site you can read about home brewing, local beer news and use the beer reviews to help you find your new favorite bottle.  They have been especially busy lately after covering Buffalo’s Brewfest and have been on vacation drinking a lot of new beers.  Luckily they had time to answer our questions; here’s what Jake and Scott had to say….

Where are some of your favorite restaurants in Buffalo right now?

Jake:  I have absolutely been obsessed with Thai food over the past several months.  Saigon Café on Elmwood takes the cake, everything there is so fresh, the atmosphere is pleasant and inviting, and the service is fantastic.  They also have a decent selection of imported beers, all lighter lagerish types, but they pair fairly well with some of the dishes.  I’m big on curry, so I stick with the semi-generic Red Curry w/ Chicken. Fantastic every time.  Their Hot & Sour soup is also quite tasty, as is whatever sauce they’re serving with their Spring Rolls!

I’ve also enjoyed some tasty takeout from Orchid Asian Bistro (further up Elmwood in Kenmore), Jasmine on Niagara Falls Blvd. and Taste of Thai on Hertel Ave. I’ve been told that Taste of Thai has excellent Pad Thai, though I’m too addicted to the sweet heat of Red Curry to mix up my order.

Aside from that, I’m always a sucker for burgers, wings/fingers and pizza. I had some fantastic wings recently at Gecko’s on Hertel Ave. Coles, Sterling Place, Vizzi’s and the Wellington Pub all have some of my favorite burgers.

Scott:  90% of the time I order some form of pub fare, the other 10% of the time I order Italian.  I am a pretty simple man when it comes to food.  One of my favorite places in WNY to grab pub fare is JP Fitzgerald’s, located in the village of Hamburg.  They have excellent wings, and a juicy, generously sized beef on weck sandwich.  They also have “Buffalo Combos”, and I couldn’t dream of a tastier plate.  Check these out:

COMBO I – $7.79 – A mini beef on weck, 5 chicken wings and curley Q’s.
COMBO II – $9.79 – A mini beef on weck, 5 chicken wings, 3 chicken fingers and curley Q’s.
COMBO III – $9.79 – A mini beef on weck, 5 chicken wings, pizza bread and curley Q’s.

I highly recommend COMBO II! While JP’s does not have a huge craft beer selection, they do have some rotating taps.  They earn points for always keeping Flying Bison Aviator Red on tap!  Plus, they just did some major renovations and now boast a huge banquet room, huge outdoor patio, and tons of large flat screens.  They also have awesome drink specials 7 days a week to keep you coming for more! I don’t own any stock in the company, but I do love this place!

Since I wasted so much time on JP’s, I’m simply going to say that for Italian, I really enjoy Chefs and the Mulberry.

Where do you like to grab a drink on the weekends?

Jake: Truth be told, I’m a pretty lazy and anti-social individual.  In thinking about answering this question, I realized it’s been a while since I’ve really gone “out” much.  Some of my favorite places when I do go out are Coles (great beer selection, good location), Sterling Place Tavern on Hertel (great beer, great food, nice neighborhood pub vibe) and Tudor Lounge for Friday night karaoke.  If you’re lucky, you’ll catch me at just the right level of inebriation and I’ll sing a Celine Dion or Meat Loaf song.  I also like to hit up Nietzsches from time to time.  Decent beer selection, good prices, regular live entertainment and a hip-enough location to keep my more-social friends happy. Plus they have Reese’s Pieces in those 25 cent machines!

I am originally from Dunkirk/Fredonia and I’m still pretty big on heading home from time-to-time to go to Ellicottville Brewing Co for some tasty pints and then head across the street to BJ’s to make bad decisions.

Scott:  I live in Hamburg, and tend to stay fairly close to home on the weekends.  I really enjoy the sports bar atmosphere that JPs has to offer.  I’m a huge Atlanta Braves fan, and they have the MLB Extra Innings package, so I can catch a game whenever I feel the need.  I’m also from Dunkirk, and I always enjoy Ellicottville Brewing Company.  They always have something new and freshly brewed on tap.  Also, the place has a cozy atmosphere (especially in the fall and winter) that I’ve yet to find at any other bar.  Just try to avoid EBC on weekends when college is in session.

If you had a friend visiting from out of town, where would you take them for a good “Buffalo” time?

Jake:  I think I’d probably go with Coles (Elmwood), Pearl St., Vizzi’s on Kenmore, or a little place called Judy’s in Niagara Falls.

I have never had a bad meal at Coles.  The beer selection is phenomenal, the service is respectable, the place is nice, the food is tasty, and the menu features all the Buffalo staples as well as more versatile dishes for the picky foodie.  Pearl St. for similar reasons, plus the proximity to downtown and the house-brewed beer make it a can’t miss for an out-of-towner. Not to mention, both are pretty fun places to hang!

Vizzi’s and Judy’s are a little off the beaten path, but both of them are great for delicious food at ridiculously cheap prices. If you’re down with hanging out in a dive with limited beer selection to whale out on some awesome burgers or massive Beef on Weck, Vizzi’s is the place.  If you haven’t been to Judy’s for 25 cent wings on Sundays, you are truly missing out and need to make that happen ASAP. Some of the best wings I’ve ever had. Crispy, saucy, big and cheap. Can’t beat it.

Scott:  I would definitely take them to Pearl Street Brewery, especially right before or after a home Sabres game.  You can hear the game throughout the whole bar, see the game from every table and get some tasty pints.  I am not crazy about their food, I’d say it’s fairly average, but you can’t beat the atmosphere.   I also enjoy the upstairs game room, which boasts pool, darts, and bubble hockey.

If the friend were looking to get insanely stuffed for a very good price, I would head to Vizzi’s.  As Jake mentioned, the burgers and beef on weck are huge and cheap.

If the friend were more into craft beer and a huge selection of it, I would head to Buffalo Brew Pub, on Transit.  They have at least 34 brews on tap, and even more in bottle.  This is also a fun place to watch the Bills or the Sabres.

Chefs and the Mulberry are legitimate contenders if we were in the mood for Italian.

What are some food memories from you childhood?

Jake:  I remember hating eating pork chops and spaghetti because we ate them so often.  Now I love and regularly crave both of them. Tacos were probably the first meal I learned to cook and remain a staple to this day.  I also loved it when my mom would make Shepherd’s Pie.  I found a recipe recently for an Irish-Stout Shepherd’s Pie that I’m itching to cook up.

As for restaurants from my childhood, pickin’s are fairly slim in Dunkirk/Fredonia, but I always loved to get chicken fingers, hot, with fries and a vanilla milkshake from Dimitri’s On the Lake.  I could go for that right now.  One place I remember we’d go once a year is Happy Jacks in Fort Erie, just across the Peace Bridge from Buffalo.  Great Chinese food, and the servers were awesome with us kids.  They’d make these Shirley Temples, poured so that they layered orange and red, with maraschino cherries and a tiny umbrella. That was always a favorite.

Scott:  My grandma made the best roasted chicken, almost every single Sunday.  With it, she served the creamiest mashed potatoes, thick gravy, beans with breadcrumbs and moist biscuits.  I can still smell everything cooking.  There was always a warm pie for dessert with seasonal fruit and my personal favorite was her blackberry pie.  The blackberries, of course, were fresh from the garden. On the rare occasion when there was no pie (i.e. grandpa ate it all) she made strawberry jello with a can of fruit cocktail in it.  While this is extremely simple, if you’ve never tried the combo, go make some right now!

Whenever I’m in the Dunkirk/Fredonia area, I try to hit one of these three establishments: Pizza Wings N’ Things, in Fredonia, for a medium chicken finger sub, simply because there is no better chicken finger sub.  Sullivan’s Charbroil, in Dunkirk, for a Sully Burger and greasy curly fries, washed down with a 32 oz peanut butter shake.  The Upper Crust Bakery, in Fredonia, for a turkey sandwich and one of their amazing homemade soups, washed down with a fresh baked pastry.

What foods/restaurants would you like to see more of in WNY?

Jake: I would like to see more authentic Mexican food in Western New York.  The closest I’ve found is El Canelo in South Buffalo (Edit: they have since moved to Hamburg) and El Palenque on Niagara Falls Blvd.  Both have pretty good margaritas and decent eats, but I have been craving good, everything-tastes-the-same, drippin’-fresh-salsa-on-the-menu style Mexican food.

Scott: I am going to agree with Jake here. Coyote Café in Hamburg does have some tasty Mexican food and lip smackin’ margaritas, but I’m looking for a place where the food comes out in less than 10 minutes, the waiters and waitresses call me “amigo” and I hear Spanish being shouted through the kitchen doors.  I think Mexican restaurant are more often done wrong than done right.

Right now, what is your favorite brewery?

Jake:  If I had to choose, I’d say that Southern Tier is a regional brewery that absolutely kills it and deserves every ounce of recognition and success that they have, and also puts out an impressive range of beers that are huge on flavor.  Close runner ups would be Great Lakes Brewing out of Cleveland, Ellicottville Brewing Co. and Flying Bison. I’m consistently impressed with all of those breweries, and the local thing is only part of it.  I’m also big on UK-style beers and would rank Samuel Smiths up there with my favorites.

Scott: Southern Tier, hands down.  Like Jake said, it has nothing to do with the fact that they’re local.  They put out some of the best beer in the country.  “Pumking” and “Hop Sun” are two of my personal favorites.  I’m also going to give some love to the local (Rochester) Dundee Brewing Company.  Many of their beers are on the same level as Sam Adams, yet Dundee is highly under rated.  I really enjoy their Oktoberfest and Irish Red Ale offerings.

What summer beer should we get before they stop selling it/what fall beer should we look forward to?

Jake:  For a Summer Beer – If you can still find Ellicottville Brewing Co’s Mow Master on the shelves I highly recommend it.  Fall Beer – ‘Tis the season, ladies and gents! Great Lakes Oktoberfest is one of my favorite beers in any season. Southern Tier Pumking is a winner, best shared with a friend. Huge pumpkin & spice flavor.  My third suggestion would be Victory’s Storm King. It’s not a seasonal beer, but when the temperature starts to drop you can drink four of those in lieu of putting on a hoodie.

Scott: One of my favorite summer beers is Southern Tier’s Hop Sun.  If you’re not huge on hoppy flavor, I really enjoy the unique flavor of Sam Adam’s Summer Ale.  Fall is my favorite beer season!  You really need to try Southern Tier’s “Pumking”, Dog Fish Head’s “Punkin”, and Great Lakes Oktoberfest.  I am a huge fan of Octoberfest and pumpkin styles, and have tried many.  Those are definitely my top three choices.

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We’d like to thank both Jake and Scott for taking time out of their busy schedules to answer our questions, especially our bonus beer questions!! If you’d like to keep up to date with the latest posts from Buffalo Beer and Food Blog, I recommend you like their facebook page or follow them on twitter.