New England Chow: Buffalo's Lessons From Portland + Boston

New England was our first destination after pausing Buffalo Chow last year, and thanks to the magic of Facebook photo galleries, readers were able to follow some of our culinary adventures in Boston, Massachusetts back then. This week, we rekindled...

Posted on April 7, 2011

Toronto Lalibela Ethiopian + BeaverTails: What WNY Needs #2

It's not that Western New York specifically needs Toronto's Lalibela Restaurant or Canada's BeaverTails chain of pastry shops - you probably haven't heard of either of them before, and might never do so again. But this area would really benefit...

Posted on March 22, 2011

Starbucks' New Cake Pops: Cloying, Cute Cupcake Lollipops

They're small. Cute. Only $1.50 each (or two for $2.50) at a place known for $4 drinks and snacks. But should you waste your cash trying Starbucks' new Cake Pops, the chain's new cupcake-on-a-stick concept? We'll make it easy for...

Posted on March 17, 2011

New Orleans Chow: Sandwiches, Sweets + Disappointments

Though virtually every New Orleans dining experience would be easy for a decent to good chef to replicate in Western New York, some of the biggest no-brainers are the city's famous sandwiches and desserts: though there are sometimes substantial variations...

Posted on March 10, 2010

A Brief Look At Macarons: The Next Cupcake, Or Just A Fad?

Sweet? Definitely. Addictive? Absolutely. But is the Macaron really about to become the next cupcake? Maybe, maybe not. Dating back a century, the macaron is an almond-based French confection that inspired a high-profile Parisian culinary rivalry back in 2002, began...

Posted on February 18, 2010

SoCal Chow: California Pizza Kitchen And Claim Jumper

As we mentioned in the first of our unexpected SoCal Chow articles from this weekend, our trip back from San Francisco to test Apple's new iPad was stalled by a mid-week snowstorm in Buffalo, so we shuffled off to Southern...

Posted on January 31, 2010

WNY Classics: Otto's Restaurant and Bar in Cheektowaga

Curiosity is one of the driving forces behind the many hundreds of reviews we've written for Buffalo Chow - a willingness to give up weekly visits to old favorites in order to sample new restaurants and actually visit ones we've...

Posted on January 24, 2010

Japan's Awesome Snack Foods: A Little Ahead Of Our Time

As we write these words, we're in your future: Japan is 14 hours ahead on the clock, such that its today is your tomorrow, so when we leave here, we will actually arrive back home two hours before we departed...

Posted on November 25, 2009

Osaka Chow: Japanese Chicken Wings + More at Tori No Mai

Picture this: Buffalo, New York as the literal world capital of chicken wings. Easy to imagine, right? It would be a huge draw for tourists, and a natural fit given our history. But wouldn't it be boring if every restaurant...

Posted on November 13, 2009

Elmwood Additions: Zillycakes + Captain Jack's Fish N Chips

When friends and readers ask us about recently-opened local restaurants, we're torn: on one hand, we want to offer immediate impressions as soon as they've opened - if they're selling to the public, the public deserves to know - but...

Posted on August 30, 2009

Taste of Lockport: A Triangle Of WNY Wineries & Foods

Lockport's Ida Fritz Park isn't easy to find with Google Maps - it's at the corner of Transit and Lockport's West Main - but for several hours on one summer day, it hosts what now may well be Western New...

Posted on August 16, 2009

Taste of Williamsville 2009: A French Debut & Elvis, Too

How often does a Western New York food festival include the debut of an as-yet-unopened restaurant? Where else do items such as fancy french fries and a Kobe Beef Hot Dog compete with fancy gazpachos and high-end seafood dishes to...

Posted on August 4, 2009

Restaurant Bathroom Report: The Beauty & Chaos Of Butterwood

Back in May of 2008, we visited Williamsville's Butterwood - a dessert restaurant that we felt was a study in contrasts, combining beautiful decor and impressive plating with individual items that were highly disappointing. What we remembered most positively about...

Posted on July 31, 2009

Burger King, Or, Who Has Buffalo's Best Fast Food Burger?

One of us is originally from Buffalo. The other grew up in Southern California. We may have different opinions on which drive-through chain is best - she says In-N-Out Burger, he says Carl's Jr. or Chick-fil-A - but let there...

Posted on July 31, 2009

Samples: Steelhead Irish Pub, Coulter Farms & Pizza Plant

With temperatures in the low 70's and two full days of possible adventures ahead of us, we decided this weekend to do a little driving: on a tip from a reader, we took a drive out to Lockport's Coulter Farms...

Posted on July 19, 2009

Taste of Buffalo 2009 Guide, Pt. 3: Desserts & Drinks

As much as we love the appetizer and entree choices at every year's Taste of Buffalo, we always - always - save room for desserts, and try our best to sample some of the drink options from local cafes and...

Posted on July 12, 2009

Chicago Chow: Smoque, Grand Lux & McDonald's Bistro

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...

Posted on July 1, 2009

Chicago Chow: Trader Joe's, Or, Wegmans' #1 Competitor

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,...

Posted on June 29, 2009

Chicago Chow: Intelligentsia Coffee & Frango Chocolates

Why would we walk 10 blocks past the Starbucks in our Chicago hotel's lobby for a cup of coffee? Or bypass the hotel's first-floor restaurant to explore the city's culinary scene? The answer is obvious: the taste. We could easily...

Posted on June 28, 2009

Taste of Chicago: The World's Largest Food Festival, Part 4

Our real Chicago Chow coverage is coming - we promise! But after a second stop at Taste of Chicago, we decided that we wanted to publish one last article worth of coverage regarding this event, filling in a few blanks...

Posted on June 28, 2009

Taste of Chicago: The World's Largest Food Festival, Part 3

If there's one thing we love about Buffalo's festivals - even the Allentown Art Festival, for that matter - it's the availability of outrageous Italian desserts, ranging from freshly assembled cannolis and pastries to lemon ice. Not surprisingly, the Taste...

Posted on June 26, 2009

Vintage WNY: Old Man River & King Condrell's Ice Cream

As years pass, restaurants disappear - it's just part of life. But some places are so locally beloved that they carry on for decades, even as their original owners tire of the grind. Tonawanda's Old Man River is one of...

Posted on June 23, 2009

Allentown Art Festival Food: What & Where to Eat & Drink

As long-time fans of Buffalo's Allentown Art Festival, we make our annual trip in mid-June for the art, not the food, but there's always an initial question: what will we be eating and drinking there? The official Art Festival website...

Posted on June 14, 2009

Credited to California, Frozen Bananas Could Thrill Buffalo

Hot summers call for cold treats, and some of the best such things are found in places where summer-like weather lasts almost all year along - like Southern California. The concept of a frozen banana stand in California's perpetually 65...

Posted on June 12, 2009

Eat & Fly: Dining at Buffalo Niagara International Airport

Planning a visit to Western New York, or a trip outside the area? You might want to know what you can eat at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, and we're here to help. Once very sparsely populated with dining establishments,...

Posted on June 5, 2009

Suburban Sugar, Part 2: Di Camillo Bakery & Anderson's

When friends from outside Western New York mention places here that they know by name, we pay attention: which local companies are capable of making such an impression? Add Niagara Falls' and Williamsville's Di Camillo Bakery locations to that list:...

Posted on June 2, 2009

Suburban Sugar, Part 1: Ohlson's Bakery and Sweet Jenny's

Old-fashioned charm is in short supply at restaurants these days, too often replaced by crisp service in high-end establishments and either polite or impolite indifference at low-end ones. Ohlson's Home Bakery in Clarence is old-fashioned. It's also charming, once you...

Posted on June 1, 2009

Tantalus & Taste, or, Sometimes One Bad Visit Is Enough

As long-time readers of Buffalo Chow know, we generally prefer to visit a restaurant twice before rating it, but on occasion, we'll feel so lukewarm or disappointed after a first visit that we don't really want to return. This leaves...

Posted on May 30, 2009

Sugar Artistry at Muscoreil's, A Novelty at Village Desserts

Once in a while, we're thrilled to come across a truly "national-class" local restaurant - a place that stands out from the pack thanks to superb food quality and presentation. Muscoreil's Fine Desserts in North Tonawanda is amongst these Western...

Posted on May 18, 2009

Hot or Frozen, Spot's Coffee Soothes In Flavor & Freshness

Published statistics suggest that Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, an average of 1.3 cups per person that accounts for 75% of all caffeine consumed in this country. Of course, not every cup is the same: some...

Posted on May 1, 2009

Novel Gelatos & Good Cookies Elevate Elmwood's Dolci

How often can a person visit two similar but sharply contrasting businesses on the same street just by walking a couple of blocks? Start at the center of Elmwood Avenue - say, around the Globe Market - and locate Delish,...

Posted on April 30, 2009

Having Caught The Eye, Delish Mightn't Sate The Tongue

Of all the dessert shops we've visited in Western New York, Delish on Elmwood may well be the most compelling from the outside: it was in fact so interesting from a distance that we found ourselves peeking into the nearby...

Posted on April 30, 2009

Elmwood, II: Sweet Tooth, Beer Merchant & Globe Market

In the first part of our two-part visit to food and drink destinations on Buffalo's Elmwood Avenue, we started at the Burchfield Penney Art Center's Orion Cafe and made our way down to the Towne Restaurant. This part looks briefly...

Posted on April 21, 2009

Elmwood, I: From Burchfield Penney to Towne Restaurant

Three and a half miles separate the Burchfield Penney Art Center and the end of Elmwood Avenue. We know this because what started as a Saturday morning mission to dine at the Center's Orion Cafe unexpectedly became our weekend quest...

Posted on April 19, 2009

NYC Chow: Manhattan's Humble But Phenomenal Desserts

New York's indigenous foods are fine, and its ethnic fare's good, but the depth, breadth, and quality of its dessert options are quite possibly the best we've had anywhere in the United States. It doesn't matter whether you're looking for...

Posted on March 15, 2009

Fondue, or Don't? Expensive, Unique Meals at Melting Pot

If you think you understand fondue, Switzerland's centuries-old molten cheese dip, think again: it may have peaked in American popularity a few decades ago, but a chain called The Melting Pot - recently opened in Cheektowaga's Walden Galleria Mall -...

Posted on March 7, 2009

The Glorious, Dangerous Macadamia Nuts We Love & Why

With an annual physical scheduled in the near future, now might not be the best time to contemplate the glories of macadamia nuts, one of our long-time snack favorites that most Buffalonians only know in two forms: dry roasted and...

Posted on February 22, 2009

San Fran Chow: Sweets From Beard Papa's, Melt & CeFiore

As we looked back recently at our archive of photographs from the past year, we found old pictures of two out-of-town restaurants we had wanted to tell you about earlier: the semi-famous Japanese pastry shop Beard Papa's, and the less...

Posted on January 11, 2009

Blood, Bugs, and Good Cannoli at Famed Broadway Market

The Broadway Market ain't what it used to be. After 120 years of occupying the same city block on Broadway in Buffalo - a parcel which has seen both major demographic and surrounding infrastructure changes since then - this 90,000-square...

Posted on December 28, 2008

Quick Bites: Chow Chocolat, A Candy Shop and Coffee Bar

For a moment, as you walk in the door of a new place you've only heard a little about, it's hard to know what to expect - the menu, the seating, the ambience are momentarily all in the air. That's...

Posted on December 16, 2008

Kauai Chow: On This Hawaiian Island, Food is No Paradise

Writing about bad meals is, at least for us, a joyless affair. Some critics revel in splashing red ink all over the fur coats of sub-standard restaurants, but we hesitate to recall sad dining experiences, doing so only out of...

Posted on December 10, 2008

Seattle Chow, Part 4: Ethiopian, Yogurt + Izakaya Days

For foodies, there is perhaps no greater sin than to waste meals in a different city eating the same things found conveniently at home. Thus, rather than focusing on the superb crab and steak meal our family enjoyed at Chandler's...

Posted on December 7, 2008

Seattle Chow, Part 3: The Inconsistent Treats of Starbucks

"You paid $4 for that," she said. "$5," I corrected her, grimacing at the watery, less than completely full cup with an icey mint green substance inside. "So you deserve to have it made right," she said, approaching the barista...

Posted on December 6, 2008

Redemption, Thy Name is Chocolate Bar (Or, "Betterwood")

If there is any name a restaurant could take to instantly entice potential diners, that name would be "The Chocolate Bar," a phrase that clearly evokes both desserts and drinks without explicitly identifying the trouble your wallet's about to be...

Posted on September 24, 2008

Pautler's: A Clarence Ice Cream Depot, Quietly Idling

As we understand it, Pautler's Drive-In on Transit Road has been to Clarence what Anderson's is to other suburbs surrounding Buffalo: a beloved ice cream and custard shop with a hot dog and burger grilling station on the side. We...

Posted on September 24, 2008

A Wake Up Call: Does Caffe Espresso Serve WNY's Worst Desserts?

We'll keep this entry short and sweet, both words that we wish we could use to describe our meals at Caffe Espresso, a small Italian restaurant located in the Clarence Mall Plaza portion of Transit Road's Eastern Hills Mall. While...

Posted on September 17, 2008

Ithaca Chow in Three Acts, Part 3 of 3: Desserts

In the years we spent living in Ithaca, New York, we enjoyed many memorably great desserts - typically, several times each. Between the limited duration of our weekend visit and our ever-expanding waistlines, we didn't have the ability to visit...

Posted on August 18, 2008

Love at First Sight for Romeo & Juliet's Sugary Desserts

As you might guess from the continued flow of dessert reviews on Buffalo Chow, we've been on a real sweets kick over the past few weeks, thanks in part to a quest to find the area's best cannolis. Last month,...

Posted on August 13, 2008

Will Cold Stone Survive a Major Chill in Franchises?

When Jenny's Ice Cream in Williamsville started to offer the "smoosh-in," a physical mix of hard-serve ice cream with whatever candy, brownies, or other items you preferred, lines began to form outside of the small shop next to the village's...

Posted on August 12, 2008

White Sponge Candy, and Other Secrets at Palace of Sweets

Until recently, we had no idea that white sponge candy existed. We - and other Western New Yorkers - have been eating the milk and dark chocolate versions for decades, and people who have enjoyed this honeycomb-filled chocolate treat for...

Posted on August 11, 2008