There are a lot of places to eat in WNY and sometimes deciding where to head for a meal is overwhelming. Where to Eat This Weekend is a weekly feature that I (Alli) have been thinking about for a while. I’m incredibly indecisive and while having 100′s of detailed reviews of restaurants to pick from is wonderful, sometimes having someone narrow down your choices makes your life a bit easier. A new Where to Eat This Weekend will be posted every Friday with the sole purpose of helping you decide where to eat and hopefully introduce you to a few new places that are worth checking out. The posts will have a new ‘theme’ each week. I will pick a town (i.e. East Aurora, Orchard Park), cuisine (Thai, Mexican) or street (Hertel, Kenmore Ave) and give you a list of all of the notable places to eat/drink within that theme along with links to websites and our reviews as well as a few quick descriptions (price, type of food, etc).
Past posts focused on East Aurora, Allentown, Vietnamese cuisine , “unique” Chicken Wings, Kenmore Ave and Seasonal Hot Dog Stands. This week we decided to pull some suggestions from some of our Buffalo Foodies articles over the last 3 years.Since 2009 we have posted 92 Buffalo Foodie articles and have asked Chef’s, bloggers, TV/Radio personalities, parody twitter accounts, musicians and even models about their favorite places to eat/drink/hang out in Buffalo. Here is a small selection of those recommendations.
So..where should you eat this weekend? Where our Buffalo Foodies recommend!!
Notable Restaurants
- Daniel’s (Hamburg) by Chef Ross Warhol (Athenaeum Hotel)
“It’s by far the best Rib Eye steak I ever had, amazing composed salads, and the sauces are extremely flavorful which I love to soak up with the house made rolls made by hand every morning by Daniel Johengen himself. Both the dining room and the service is fine dining quality, but does not have that up-tight feeling. You feel that you are being welcomed into Daniels home and he will take care of you.” – 8/31/11
- Bistro Europa (Buffalo) and Romeo & Juliet’s (Amherst) by Sarah Walley
“So many places! If I had to narrow it down, my husband and I are avid fans of Bistro Europa. I specifically love the lobster PLT (pancetta, lettuce & tomato), but I can’t imagine there’s anything the Gedras could make that I wouldn’t love. We also visit Romeo & Juliet’s on Sheridan Drive quite frequently. You can’t beat one of their thin crust pizzas and a glass of red wine after a long day. I love the cozy, intimate atmosphere there.” – 10/24/11
- Left Bank by Katebits (The Wilful Caboose)
“My favorite restaurant in Buffalo is Left Bank, and for years, my favorite meal in the world was their Panko Breaded Chicken. I don’t know if I just finally got sick of it, but lately Panko Breaded Chicken’s status as my Favorite Meal has been seriously challenged by the Tuna Tartare (which incidentally is a dish I never in a million years thought I could love. But I do. Go figure.) ” – 9/21/09
- 99 Fast Food (Buffalo) and Nettes Fried Chicken (Buffalo) by Chef James Roberts (Park Country Club)
“My go to for lunch on off days is 99 Fast Food on Bailey with my staff, usually coupled with a quick cheffy field trip down the block to the Asian markets to walk off the pho and to scope new ingredients. Just today I found Nette’s Fried Chicken on Main St. and it was so good! Like smack your mama good, and I would say I’m a yard-bird connoisseur. Nette hooks it up so simple and cooked just right with just a few seasonings, its really hard to beat. I will definitely be back there as many times as I can.” – 3/15/12
- Ruzzine’s Rock Bottom (East Amherst), Shango (Buffalo) and Amaretto (Williamsville) by Alan Bedenko
“Right now I think the items I crave the most are the grilled burger at Ruzzine’s Rock Bottom, and just about anything they make at Shango, but especially the brunch menu, starting off with some gumbo and then enjoying shrimp & grits or eggs benedict. I also love Amaretto, which makes excellent, homemade, genuine Italian food from a nondescript little plaza in Williamsville. These places are consistently good, have a good handle on giving the customer what they want and expect, and make at least one item that is outstanding.” – 8/6/11
- Niagara Cafe by Erin McPartlan (29 and Hungry)
“I have a lot of favorites, but at the top of the list is Niagara Cafe. At Taste of Buffalo two years ago they were there and I had a sample of the chicken and rice dish and I pretty much spent all of my Taste of Buffalo tickets getting more because the little sample of it was just not enough. I have somewhat of a rule that I am grossed out by meat when it is still on the bone (weird, I know) but Niagara Cafe’s chicken stew would be my last dinner request if I was on death row.” – 1/9/12
- Seabar by Joe and Beth Kennedy (Spar’s European Sausage Shop)
“Well, once we’ve made the grand effort to shampoo the scent of smokehouse away, we like to treat ourselves to a “dining experience”. You can go out for sustenance anytime. For that reason we find ourselves at SeaBar quite often. Joe calls their Volcano Noodles “crack” which is his delightful way of saying they are quite addictive. We’ve always loved everything on the fresh sushi menu but once the menu was extended, I became a fan of the Linguini Clams Casino. The presentation on the plate is practically winking at you, enticing you to give into your natural desire and dig in. Joe loves to have what is listed on the menu as “Bourdain’s Last Meal’, which gives him oxtail and pate and one other thing that will kill you if you eat more than enough of it! (Can’t remember what exactly it is but there’s a picture of the Grim Reaper next to it!) He has also been known to order the Chicken and Waffles for dessert. This is of course with Mike A’s complete and total encouragement. Apparently no one really blinks at SeaBar if you add one of their homemade ice creams to this entree for dessert! F***ing chicken and waffles! Who knew?”
