Reviews

Khao soi chicken at Tiny Thai. To find the best Thai food in Buffalo, enter the three-story food incubator hub at 27 Chandler St., and take the elevator or stairs to the second floor. On your right is a bridge to 37 Chandler St., where Tiny Thai has its kitchen, takeout counter, and two two-person […]

“Don’t fill up on the bread” is a standard warning before sitting down to a table covered with exquisite handmade pastas. At Inizio, the Elmwood Village fresh pasta palace, hot noods in a chill space is the main attraction. But on my last two visits, my guests simply could not stop talking about that bread. […]

Housemade tortillas, moles, and juices, plus three-cheese queso fundido Ceviche at Casa Azul. Mexican favorites made better is Casa Azul’s calling card. Chicken tacos with moist and tender dark meat and crunchy chicken chicharrones on housemade tortilla. Queso fundido made from real quesos with pepitas and honey. Queso fundido at Casa Azul. Every single margarita, […]

Pastries, fried snacks, and sandwiches are all reasons to visit Sueños de Azúcar’s pastry case. (Photo: Adam Bojak) Downtown lunchers desperate for a taste of the tropics got a reason to celebrate in August, when Jamillette Gallego opened Sueños de Azúcar Bakery two blocks from Buffalo City Hall. Walk in and take a tour of […]

Bakery, breakfast, lunch, grab-and-go have blessed Kenmore residents with convenience Lentils, chopped dates, brown rice, toasted almonds, and feta joined spinach arugula under a tahini dressing in a satisfying Mojo Market meal. I don’t know what the Village of Kenmore has done to please the restaurant gods. I just know that mojo is working. World-class […]

With bubbling stews, fresh bread, and a parking lot Crave King in Lackawanna was my first taste of Yemeni cuisine. The first time I dug into a cauldron of Yemeni vegetable stew and fresh bread, I was left wondering why Yemeni restaurants weren’t bigger in Buffalo. During World War I, Yemeni citizens of Buffalo were […]

Joe Powers and crew get No. 14 in world on Neapolitan list Nduja pie at Jay’s. At Jay’s Artisan Pizza, folks waiting for tables and fresh takeout pies are normal, just part of the decor. Standing-room-only is standard for world-class pizzerias like Joe Power’s Kenmore restaurant. On Monday, in Naples, Jay’s was named 14th in […]

Another UB-born restaurant offers essentials like koobideh and ghormeh sabzdi Barberry rice with koobideh, beef-lamb kabobs, at Zereshk. Zereshk opened last month, bringing Persian cuisine to Amherst in the latest example of just how much the University at Buffalo has improved eating opportunities for the entire community. In the Maple Forest Plaza, koobideh beef-and-lamb kebabs, […]

Home of favorite chicken finger sub, Allentown spot survives by listening to customers Cafe 59 has served Allentown so long that it started as an Internet cafe. Leon Rung had just left Ingram Micro with a coffee shop on his mind. That was almost 25 years ago. Allen Street has changed so much since then, […]

After Vietnam trip, Cheektowaga spot that bakes its daily bread shines even brighter Pham’s Kitchen house special banh mi ($7.75) features housemade ingredients: this morning’s bread, four kinds of cold cuts, mayonnaise, liver pate, quick-pickled carrots and daikon. Pham’s Kitchen is the best Vietnamese restaurant in Western New York. True lovers of authentic Vietnamese cooking […]

Stand in line for barbacurry tacos, sausage-fenugreek gravy, and Texas-sized cinnamon roll Part of the breakfast taco array at Southern Junction brunch. Waiting in line for Sunday brunch was more of a Manhattan thing before Southern Junction brought its Texan-Indian sensibilities to the table, and the world noticed. Ryan Fernandez and Lydia Herr of Southern […]

In Medina, Michael Zambito and team have built a splurge-worthy destination Steak frites with sweet potato fries, Zambistro. Two centuries ago, surveyor Ebenezer Mix plotted the land along Lake Ontario. The Erie Canal was coming, and well-heeled merchants looking to invest in real estate were already making plots of their own. Mix chose to call […]

Especially pungent garlic sauce alone worth international journey to Welland Mixed shawarma plate with extra extra toum, Falafel House Two years ago Graham Regan, my partner Jen’s only child, started a punk band called Big Dog. When he told me Big Dog – named after his childhood cooking hero Matty Matheson – was opening for […]

Thursday night piano phenom, Cajun-Creole classics with something extra deserve standing ovation Smoked shrimp and Colby cheese grits, Dick & Jenny’s In 2005, Hurricane Katrina blew a piece of New Orleans all the way to Grand Island. Dick & Jenny’s landed at the corner of Baseline and Love, seducing the islanders into the ways of […]

Clockwise from top left: Jollof rice with fried chicken, plantains, peanut soup with fufu, “red-red,” blackeyed peas in palm oil with hardboiled egg. You can go to restaurants just for food. Everybody’s gotta eat. But I like choosing restaurants that can teach me something about this great big complex planet we live on today. One […]