Buffalo food suggestions? (I know, I know...people have strong opinions)

[The Dean]

2 hours ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Bailo's too.  

 

Since the menu says so and that's how they serve it:

 

https://www.schwabls.com/menu/

 

They serve turkey w/gravy too:

 

"Hand Carved Roast Beef

robust 1/2lb. serving of our in-house roasted beef, hand-carved to your liking. served on your choice of kümmelweck, bread with gravy or without.

 

Hand Carved Roasted Turkey

robust 1/2lb. serving of our in-house roasted turkey breast, hand-carved to your liking. served on your choice of kümmelweck, bread with gravy or without."

 

Bailo's and Schwabl's invented, perfected that sammich...

 

 

Oh, they give you a choice. I've never had gravy on a beef on weck there. Only the meat and bun dipped in au jus. Been years since I've been there. IMO a place  doesn't serve their beef on the rarer side (some pink) then gravy is OK. But a properly made BoW is on the rarer side and has no gravy. Again, IMO of course. Now some gravy for the fries and you're talking!

[ExiledInIllinois]

29 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

 

Oh, they give you a choice. I've never had gravy on a beef on weck there. Only the meat and bun dipped in au jus. Been years since I've been there. IMO a place  doesn't serve their beef on the rarer side (some pink) then gravy is OK. But a properly made BoW is on the rarer side and has no gravy. Again, IMO of course. Now some gravy for the fries and you're talking!

So so.  Cooked rarer and finished in the gravy!

 

I used to work for Dubel's in deli/kitchen. They defined served gravy on in pint/quart containers with the sliced top round.

The bakery department over is where you picked up the kimmelweck.

Edited June 17, 2022 by ExiledInIllinois

[Another Fan]

imo can't go wrong with Anderson's.  Always give a solid meal and dessert too for that matter 

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

And the menu only gives you a choice on the chix finger sammich.  I suppose you can ask for drippings (au jus) on regular sammiches... gasp!

Just now, Another Fan said:

imo can't go wrong with Anderson's.  Always give a solid meal and dessert too for that matter 

Kinda like Culver's in Midwest, South.  Custard joints rock!

 

[Buffalo716]

6 hours ago, Logic said:

Planning to come up for the Titans game and spend a couple days in Buffalo beforehand. Grew up in Rochester, though I have lived on the west coast for about 17 years now. Have never spent a ton of time in Buffalo, usually only in Orchard Park for Bills games.

So, I know this question elicits strong opinions, but I'm just curious as to everyone's favorite spots for:

Wings:
Pizza:
Subs/Deli:

For wings, I always seem to hear the same contenders: Bar Bill, Elmo's, 9-11, Gabriels's Gate.

For Pizza, I always seem to hear Bocce's, Imperial, La Nova, Macy's.

Problem is, I'll only be in Buffalo for a day or two. Can't eat 'em all. What are your favorites?

Any help would be much appreciated!

For pizza it depends what kind of pizza you want

 

Most pizzerias in Buffalo have a sweeter house sauce...Ala la novas

 

Bocces is a more traditional sauce 

 

Also are you just looking for cheese? Cheese pep? Or a specialty pie

[The Dean]

35 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

So so.  Cooked rarer and finished in the gravy!

 

I used to work for Dubel's in deli/kitchen. They defined served gravy on in pint/quart containers with the sliced top round.

The bakery department over is where you picked up the kimmelweck.

 

 

Every time I've had a Schwabl's beef it was rare and finished in au jus. As God intended. 

BTW if you find yourself near Main St. In Williamsville,  I HIGHLY recommend the Glen Park Tavern. Excellent at beef on weck, wings,  fish fry, etc. All around terrific stuff.

 

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

11 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

 

Every time I've had a Schwabl's beef it was rare and finished in au jus. As God intended. 

BTW if you find yourself near Main St. In Williamsville,  I HIGHLY recommend the Glen Park Tavern. Excellent at beef on weck, wings,  fish fry, etc. All around terrific stuff.

 

 

You sure it was Schwabl's... We were just there.  They serve gravy. It's the way it was invented.

 

[T&C]

6 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

You sure it was Schwabl's... We were just there.  They serve gravy. It's the way it was invented.

 

Not sure what it is with you and gravy but, with plenty of cred this afternoon... I hereby certify you as the gravymaster.

[The Dean]

10 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

You sure it was Schwabl's... We were just there.  They serve gravy. It's the way it was invented.

 

 

Absolutely.  But I believe it changed hands since I've been there. Perhaps they turned literally to the dark side.

[Teddy KGB]

Bar Bill East Aurora is a lock 

 

 

Big Meh to La Nova.   Nothing special 

[ExiledInIllinois]

39 minutes ago, The Dean said:

 

Absolutely.  But I believe it changed hands since I've been there. Perhaps they turned literally to the dark side.

But it's not the dark side... Bailo's was an originalist... They made it that way.  So did others.  We agree to disagree.  A beef on week isn't a French dip with a salted roll.   Horseradish also plays a part in it's uniqueness.  

[The Dean]

18 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

But it's not the dark side... Bailo's was an originalist... They made it that way.  So did others.  We agree to disagree.  A beef on week isn't a French dip with a salted roll.   Horseradish also plays a part in it's uniqueness.  

 

I meant "dark" as in color. Beef gravy tends to be thicker/darker than au jus, which is more translucent. Also joints that serve their BoW with gravy tend to serve their meat on the darker side, in my experience.  But not all of them.

 

I don't hate them with gravy, but to me the classic is the Charlie the Butcher, Creekside,  Annacone's, etc. back in the day.  But I've had good gravy based examples as well. Bailo's at the end was not an example,  IMO. Doesn't Andersons use gravy? McPartland's? Those are pretty good 

[ExiledInIllinois]

1 minute ago, The Dean said:

 

I meant "dark" as in color. Beef gravy tends to be thicker/darker than au jus, which is more translucent. Also joints that serve their BoW with gravy tend to serve their meat on the darker side, in my experience.  But not all of them.

 

I don't hate them with gravy, but to me the classic is the Charlie the Butcher, Creekside,  Annacone's, etc. back in the day.  But I've had good gravy based examples as well. Bailo's at the end was not an example,  IMO. Doesn't Andersons use gravy? McPartland's? Those are pretty good 

Oh, I see...

 

I worked Dubel's slicing it and you'd get free gravy (depending on how much beef) on side.  It was a lighter brown than the darker au jus...

Corn starch/flour lightens the color...

[The Dean]

5 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said:

Oh, I see...

 

I worked Dubel's slicing it and you'd get free gravy (depending on how much beef) on side.  It was a lighter brown than the darker au jus...

Corn starch/flour lightens the color...

 

 

Yes I meant to mention I tend to like the lighter gravy more than the darker/heavier gravy. 

[ExiledInIllinois]

 

Original Dubel's was in West Seneca... Across from Ford dealer on Union... First two locations....Right where Picasso's is today... 

 

They probably supplied the beef to Schwabl's... If anything got the recipe knocked off from them...

 

We'd cook a big piece of top round at around just around 400°... But rarer so it can be sliced.  Made gravy there and bakery made the rolls.

 

A big piece of suet from the butchers would go on top of the round when cooked.   You don't wanna know what they seasoned it with (Accent... LoL)... Then you got a free pint of gravy per 1/2-1 pound in paper lidded deli soup cup. 

3 minutes ago, The Dean said:

Yes I meant to mention I tend to like the lighter gravy more than the darker/heavier gravy. 

Yeah... Slapped some rarer beef between two pieces of Wonder bread soaked in that ***** was heaven! 😆 

[Augie]

1 hour ago, The Dean said:

 

 

Every time I've had a Schwabl's beef it was rare and finished in au jus. As God intended. 

BTW if you find yourself near Main St. In Williamsville,  I HIGHLY recommend the Glen Park Tavern. Excellent at beef on weck, wings,  fish fry, etc. All around terrific stuff.

 

 

That was my territory as a kid. I left for college when I was 17, so we only had a couple years with friends who could drive. The Creekview/Creekside (whatever it is under these owners) was a regular stop with my parents. That’s a nice little stretch of Main Street and I usually stay at the Hampton Inn which is easy walking to any of it. 

 

The Glen Park Tavern must have come after my years, but when I met my only childhood friend still living in Buffalo (Williamsville, actually) that’s where he took me. I really enjoyed it. A guy who has lived within 5 miles of those options for most of his 60+ years chose the Glen Park Tavern.  That says something. 

[The Dean]

3 minutes ago, Augie said:

That was my territory as a kid. I left for college when I was 17, so we only had a couple years with friends who could drive. The Creekview/Creekside (whatever it is under these owners) was a regular stop with my parents. That’s a nice little stretch of Main Street and I usually stay at the Hampton Inn which is easy walking to any of it. 

 

The Glen Park Tavern must have come after my years, but when I met my only childhood friend still living in Buffalo (Williamsville, actually) that’s where he took me. I really enjoyed it. A guy who has lived within 5 miles of those options for most of his 60+ years chose the Glen Park Tavern.  That says something. 

 

I worked at the Creekview during graduate school. My buddy worked at the Creekside when it was there, where they still cut the beef behind the bar.  I had a beef there a year or so ago (gets confusing with age and pandemic) and it was very decent. 

 

One quick Creekview story: I started on a Friday night and worked Sunday as well. My next shift was Wednesday and the manager came up to me and said something to this effect:

 

"I hear really good things about you so far. Everyone says you are fast, personable and have fun.  The customers love you and the waitress actually seem to have fun when you work. Well, we don't go for that s#it here."   He went on to explain, "You can obviously handle that. But the girls get distracted so don't joke around with them."  Honest, he said something very close to that. Not surprising since on my first night, as he walked out the door, his last words were "Don't fu#k up!"  I actually liked the guy.

[Logic]

4 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

For pizza it depends what kind of pizza you want

 

Most pizzerias in Buffalo have a sweeter house sauce...Ala la novas

 

Bocces is a more traditional sauce 

 

Also are you just looking for cheese? Cheese pep? Or a specialty pie

Ideally I’d like one pepperoni pie (cup n char isn’t even a thing in the west coast) and one specialty pie, but perhaps it might be tough to get the best versions of those two things from the same place.
 

The point about the sauce is helpful. I tend to like a little more savory/herbaceous red sauce. A little bit of sweetness is okay, but I don’t want a sugar pie. Maybe, for that reason, Bocce’s is the way to go. But then, it seems they don’t have much in the specialty pie realm.

 

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Buffalo716]

36 minutes ago, Logic said:

Ideally I’d like one pepperoni pie (cup n char isn’t even a thing in the west coast) and one specialty pie, but perhaps it might be tough to get the best versions of those two things from the same place.
 

The point about the sauce is helpful. I tend to like a little more savory/herbaceous red sauce. A little bit of sweetness is okay, but I don’t want a sugar pie. Maybe, for that reason, Bocce’s is the way to go. But then, it seems they don’t have much in the specialty pie realm.

 

Decisions, decisions.

 

Some pizzerias have both options 

 

Wally's pizzeria and cafe on Broadway has a sweet and traditional sauce offering 

 

And a bunch of speciality pies 

 

Macy's I haven't had in a while (besides wings) (Amazing) so I can't recall how sweet the sauce is 

 

But they are known for the specialty pies 

 

Artones in South Buffalo also has great pies 

 

Abott pizzeria 

 

Johnny's pizzeria 

 

33 speakeasy (down street from Macy's ) has amazing chicken wings ... 33 style extra crispy charpit some of the best wings in the City

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Buffalo716

[BADOLBILZ]

4 hours ago, The Dean said:

 

 

Every time I've had a Schwabl's beef it was rare and finished in au jus. As God intended. 

BTW if you find yourself near Main St. In Williamsville,  I HIGHLY recommend the Glen Park Tavern. Excellent at beef on weck, wings,  fish fry, etc. All around terrific stuff.

 

 

 

 

Yeah I've never had BoW with gravy.   It's generally believed to have been brought over from German immigrants and I grew up in predominantly German WNY town where most of the grandparents didn't speak much english and BoW was had at a lot of gatherings and I've never seen this gravy thing being done. 

 

In my experience most places around Buffalo that serve BoW are pretty good.   Even had a couple good sandwiches at the Charlie the Butcher that's inside the convenient store in East Aurora.    I like going to Swiston's though.   Just BoW and chili.   That's all they make and both are excellent.