July's annual Taste of Buffalo is bigger and better-known, but August's Taste of Williamsville actually introduced us to several suburban restaurants that we mightn't otherwise have visited. Chief among them was Frog Hair Grille and Golf, a Transit Road establishment with a name and theme that will appeal far more to some people than others - the "golf" part may even dissuade some...
Even happily married couples know the feeling - there's always some restaurant that one person would gladly go back to, and the other's not so thrilled about. For us, Cheektowaga's Alton's Family Restaurant is the paradigm, an unquestionably homey American and Greek place with fine service, a decent menu, and aggressive prices, all of which add up to experiences that could as easily fall on one side or the other of our 2.5-star rating. Due in part to its proximity to the Walden Galleria Mall and Super Flea, we've visited...
A restaurant you've probably never heard of before, even though it's been on TV. One that you may know by association with its older, more famous sibling. And a third that you'll know for sure, but probably have never seen quite like this. In this fourth and final part of our look at interesting Chicago restaurants, we briefly share the stories of Smoque BBQ - strongly recommended to us by a friend, and coincidentally featured on the Food Network - the Grand Lux Cafe, younger sister to The Cheesecake Factory,...
Particularly in the age of phony Internet "user" reviews, relying on recommendations from savvy friends (and trustworthy web sites - wink!) is a smart way to find the world's greatest things rather than getting sucked into marketing traps. One friend of Buffalo Chow has proved so adept at Chicago restaurant picks over the years that we've come to trust his suggestions implicitly, so on this visit, we decided to follow his guidance to try two places we hadn't visited before; as a check on his wisdom, we also decided to...
Ninety-nine-cent packages of Tom Yum Cashews. Legitimately good wines - ones people swear by - for $2 to $3. Amazing sweets. And fresh, high-quality produce at amazingly low prices. If you're wondering what it would take to beat the mighty, beloved Wegmans, the answer in part is that list of items from Trader Joe's, currently the nation's #2 supermarket chain, and one that's succeeding despite or because of a completely different operating strategy. Wegmans seems to offer everything; Trader Joe's operates smaller stores that only sell really good items, often...
