When I am in Buffalo, I should eat......

[septocaine_queen]

We are flying into Buffalo next Wed around 10 am and driving to Toronto. What should we eat for lunch that is uniquely Buffalo?

So far the options are:

Buffalo wings (duh) but where?

Beef on a wreck- what is it and where should I get it?

If Buffalo cuisine is suppose to be all about the comfort food, I am ready to be comforted.

[davidr1234]

Great stuff so far on this list, but I would find a a way to find Buffalo Pizza a la Bocce club (or a spinoff like Milano's on Englewood). there is a bocce on bailey near eggert that is not far off the line on the google map posted. there is much debate about buffalo pizza. This version is a sweetish sauce thick dough, square pies, no crust and a pleasent mix of scattered cheeses.

Other "Buffalo Food" contenders: Louies is a viable alternative to Ted's . I am old old school, --- enjoyed Pat's until they closed in 1983, but Ted's is still great. A forgotten Buffalo speciality is Fish Fry, not unique per se, but a key part of the culture. There are tons of local places that feature all of the these. i LIke the Buffalo Tap Room..

[bevoray]

LOL @ Beef on a wreck- it is beef on weck! I like Anderson's for that. Ted's is good and don't forget to stop at Wegmans.

[chaz]

The great Pancake House-MainST.-Williamsville

[septocaine_queen]

any relation to Original Pancake House?

[houdini]

Sounds suspiciously like you know your way around town! OPH has three locations: [a] 5479 Main St., Williamsville. 634-5515; 2075 Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst. 691-8219and 3019 Union Rd., Orchard Park. 674-3344.
Skip the pretenders and go for the real thing at BarBills - you won't be disappointed!

[chaz]

ok. ok. original pancake house

[septocaine_queen]

I wish I did, I have never been to Buffalo, but OPH is a good chain that we have here. I love the dutch baby with lots of powdered sugar and lemon.

If you had your choice between beef on weck or wings, what would it be?

[houdini]

Tough pick. Beef of Weck.

[kbrod7]

I went to U Buffalo in the late eighties but I believe these places still exist. All are lowbrow yet I crave them every day. Mike's Big Mouth on Hertel Ave. has steak tacos to die for. Sloppy but good fast food is Mighty Taco beef and cheese burrito. Anderson's Custard for roast beef and cheese on a weck roll. Not traditional beef on a weck but delicious in it's own way. And you have to go to Duff's (Sheridan Drive in Amherst) for wings no matter what anyone says on this board.

[squid kun]

More beef on weck tips ... http://www.chow.com/digest/3324

[septocaine_queen]

Thanks. I will print that out and map it for our trip.

[zainab13]

This website is great: http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/restaurant.... You can search by "cuisine" on the left-hand side and it has both "Beef on Weck" and "Chicken Wings". I can't give an opinion on beef on weck (though of the places mentioned, Bar Bill gets the best reviews.) For wings, Duff's is good, but I like Brennan's best. It is quite close to the airport and has wonderful, juicy wings (4401 Transit Rd, Williamsville - inside the plaza with Barnes & Noble). That's definitely my recommendation!! Brennan's has pretty solid pub fare as well.

[jerryc123]

You COULD do a "best of Buffalo" food tour in a relatively straight line between the airport and the bridge to Canada, if you were so inclined. :.)

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF...

[houdini]

So how does a tour of the northtowns and Niagara County get called the best of Buffalo? The last food stop is in Tonawanda!

[markabauman]

I believe 'weck is short for Kimmelweck, which refers to the caraway seeds. I second the opinion of Duff's over Anchor.

[jerryc123]

Sorry, I should not have said "best of Buffalo," rather, "better-places-to-get-a-taste-of-Buffalo-in-an-almost-straight-line-from-the-airport-to-Toronto."
Whew! Sorry.

[septocaine_queen]

It has Charlie the butcher for beef on weck and Elmo's for wings. What is exactly beef on weck? I am eating it, no doubt, but want to know more about it.

[sbp]

A hot roast beef sandwich served no a Kimmelweck roll. A Kimmelweck roll is a Kaiser roll where the top crust has very coarse kosher salt and caraway seeds on it. Which generally brings a lot of "so what's the big deal" from non-Buffalonians, but like with chicken wings, it is a "Eureka" combination of flavors. The roast beef should be freshly carved, not soaking in jus like a French Dip or Italian Beef sandwich. And you should order it with horseradish (my go to order is ketchup and horseradish).

[septocaine_queen]

So a weck is a roll?

[jeanmarieok]

It's a kaiser roll with coarse salt and caraway seeds.

[houdini]

I presume you are renting a car at the airport. I would think that you will drive over the Peace Bridge. With a slight detour, you can sample a great Beef on Weck at Schwabls (789 Center Rd. (on Rt. 16, near Union Rd.), W. Seneca.716 674-9821. At least they use good Weck rolls - Sorry Charlie!! (They don't use the real thing).
If you don't mind a quick trip down the 4000 to East Aurora, you can get the best of all worlds by going to BarBill (185 Main St., E. Aurora.716 652-7959 - the best wings AND Beef on Weck (IMHO) in the area.
Anchor Bar is a tourist trap. Yeah, they know how to do wings but don't very often.

[jeanmarieok]

I think even Duffs is better than the Anchor Bar.

[jnk]

I was at Duff's this past summer. Wings were tasty but dry.

[jnk]

Roast beef on weck--Charlie the Butcher's Kitchen www.charliethebutcher.com

Red hots--Ted's www.tedsonline.com

Wings Anchor Bar www.anchorbar.com

Both with the red hots and wings, you will have differing opinions as to whose is the best. You can't go wrong going to one of these places. Was Anchor bar better years ago, yes, but so were many other things and they're still up there. Have a good trip. By the way, there used to be a tavern called Bar One that had a great sandwich "the bar one", don't know if it still exists, but worth it to look it up.