‘Western New York’
In a rare move since moving to Western New York for the summer, I consulted the interwebs to grab a meal at the last-minute. By this I mean that nearly every other spot I’ve hit up so far has been on recommendation from an actual human. On this occasion the interwebs sent me to Savory’s in Hamburg for brunch. We were seated immediately, but not before catching a glimpse of the specials.
After crossing the border back into the good old USA from Canada, it was time to visit a border-crossing restaurant – namely Saigon Bangkok (the borders being Vietnam and Thailand, which of course don’t even border each other). Where many Asian restaurants purport to be one thing while offering additional options, Saigon Bangkok unabashedly offers multiple options and keeps them limited to just that. While I’m a fan of both cuisines, in this case I concentrated all my efforts on Thai.
Duff’s Famous Wings may not be the original wings, but they sure do have a reputation. Nearly everyone from the area agrees that Duff’s has earned the distinction of best wings in Buffalo, and after trying out a couple other local wing spots, I felt it was my duty to make my way to Duff’s. There are a few locations around town, and I opted for the one on Orchard Park Road.
Even Buffalo has succumbed to the nation-wide food truck craze, one of these going by the name of Lloyd Taco Truck. In fact, this truck seems to be so successful that it has spawned a fleet that even reaches sunny East Aurora. With high expectations, I once again set out far away from the land of Mexico to eat some Mexican food. What I found was a big green truck and a menu that sported some good-looking food if not authentic-looking.
East Aurora definitely has its fair share of bars, after all, what else can you do in the middle of the Western New York winter aside from drinking? One of these is Riley Street Station, which is about as close as I can get to my office and drink. In two near back-to-back visits, I was given the rare chance to judge a restaurant on more than one order that I could claim solely for myself.
In the land of Western New York, a great battle is being waged over Americanized Mexican fast food. In one corner there is Taco Bell, perennial favorite around the country. In the other is Mighty Taco, a local favorite with just about as much connection to Mexico as general stability (read: none). Yet, I knew I had to try it out to see what kind of competition it is to the first love of my life.
What came first, the chicken or the egg? When it comes to chicken wings, the question is much easier because the answer is always Anchor Bar. No, not this Anchor Bar, this Anchor Bar in Buffalo, which somehow stumbled into one of the greatest culinary inventions of ever. Yet despite being the original, I haven’t met a person in Western New York that actually thinks Anchor Bar has the best wings. That distinction belongs elsewhere, but armed with this knowledge I still knew I had to get to Anchor Bar at least once in my summer of Buffalo and there was no better time than the present.
Buffalo might have a few specialty foods, but BBQ is not one of them. In fact, one of their supposed best spots isn’t even home grown, coming in from world famous BBQ hotspot Rochester. It’s called Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and despite having absolutely no actual dinosaur on the menu (what the hell?!), the little paleontologist inside of me was still eager to find out how good it was.
Throughout the Buffalo area is a place called Jim’s SteakOut, which is known for its subs and tacos, but mostly for servicing drunks in need of something greasy to fill their bellies. Fortunately, there is one in East Aurora that was just waiting for the right moment to get in touch with me. The moment came recently enough, and with a few drinks in me I felt it was time to get steaked out.
The Original Pancake House may not be a Western New York native, but it sure is a local favorite. We had it in Michigan and I always liked it, but I never exactly found it groundbreaking, aside from the smiley face pancakes they used to make. Yet, I figured it was time to revisit the old place (which, by the way, has a fish fry on Fridays) and see what it was like.