Growing up in Orchard Park for the first 24 years of my life, I’ve had my fair share of BW’s at various catered events. Somehow, I never actually ate that their restaurant and since I moved to the city almost 3 years ago, it looked like the odds of visiting were slim. But when my dad was in town visiting the other weekend I thought it we’d head back to Orchard Park for some nostalgia and BBQ.
In my past BW’s experiences, I’ve always enjoyed the food we ate but never considered it very memorable and would often confuse it for Chiavettas. As excited as I was to try some BBQ and finally cross off one of Buffalo’s well known BBQ restaurants, my Dad was even more excited once he realized this was an old watering hole from his early drinking days.
Quick Info:
- Restaurant Type: Casual
- Cuisine: BBQ/Southern
- Location: Orchard Park
- Prices: Lunches $6-8, Dinner $10-20, Appetizers under $10
The restaurant definitely feels like a Texas inspired barbeque restaurant, there is a lot of wood paneling and large booths with red checkered table clothes and walls covered with neon beer signs and mirrors. We arrived to the restaurant with 5 minutes left for their cheaper “lunch” menu, but our server let us order from the menu regardless. The meal started with some potato skins (pictured below). We’ve had potato skins from every restaurant that you can think of , these weren’t exactly mindblowing (really no potato skin is) but with a crispy crunch on the outside, plenty of cheese and decent bacon bites it was worth the price. The only complaint from the table was there was too much “potato” but I thought they were just fine.
Alli and my brother ordered the same lunch combo, 1/4 of a Chicken and small order of Ribs ($8, pictured below) served with their choice of sides (they both picked french fries). The 2 bone ribs were clearly the star of the meals, both Alli and my brother were talking about how tender they were and about the strong smoked flavor. The thick sweet BBQ sauce that they were coated in was equally delicious. The grilled quarter chicken was good and juicy but didn’t stand out like the ribs. My Dad ordered a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (pictured in gallery) because he swears outside of Buffalo/WNY he can’t find good chicken fingers or a decent hot sauce. The sandwich looked good but was pretty much what you would expect, a fried chicken patty with some hot sauce and blue cheese.
I was in the mood for some brisket and I ordered their Smoked Beef Brisket Dinner ($13, pictured above) that came with two sides, I chose their sweet potato fries (not homemade) along with some BBQ baked beans. The brisket was a little dry but still tender and had a subtle smoked flavor. I decided to do some taste testing with their sauces and settled on their Memphis sauce that had a slight sour vinegar kick but still a thicker texture/tomato flavor. The sweet potato fries weren’t that good but baked beans had large pieces of pork inside, which is always a plus.
Overall, it was nice catching up with my dad and luckily the food was fairly enjoyable. The total bill for the four of us came out to be less then $45 (a big plus in my Dad’s opinion). We didn’t sample a large selection of their menu but considering we had the two most important selections (brisket and ribs) I’d consider heading back to BW’s again in the future. That said, I’d still recommend either Suzy Q’s or Kentucky Gregs as better options.
Photo Gallery:
