OT: Is it time for a new pizza thread?

[Mr. Allen]

Funny.  I’m having a birthday party for my son back home in Buffalo this weekend and no clue where to get the pizza from.  My brother likes Franco’s but I’m not a huge fan.  Is Bocces still any good? Been living out of town for a couple years and no clue who is good. 

[Buffalonill]

7 minutes ago, Mr. Allen said:

Funny.  I’m having a birthday party for my son back home in Buffalo this weekend and no clue where to get the pizza from.  My brother likes Franco’s but I’m not a huge fan.  Is Bocces still any good? Been living out of town for a couple years and no clue who is good. 

love that place had it about 10 years ago though 😆 

[Quint]

I live in Massachusetts now and haven't been to Buffalo since 2004. I miss my favorite pizza on the planet, Leonardi's in Amherst, NY on Grover Cleveland.  The place closed several years ago. I think they say that Bailey Avenue Pizza North is the same, and if I ever come back, I'll try it. But nothing hit the spot like Leonardi's. 

https://www.facebook.com/news4buffalo/videos/bruce-s-warrick-is-completely-heartbroken-that-leonardis-pizzeria-in-amherst-has/1231664850377288/

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by Quint

[tom webster]

50 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Buffalo Bros in Fort Worth was opened by a local restaurateur at the suggestion of one of his chefs who is from Kenmore.  The restaurateur has several restaurants under different names and themes, but he has two locations of Buffalo Bros.  The chef, Ed, is now part owner and partner.  They've talked about expanding to Dallas but haven't gotten there yet. 

Maybe someday Florida, who knows?  I think part of the issue would be scalability; right now they do runs to Buffalo for Salen's, loganberry syrup, Bison Brand French Onion Dip, etc.  You can do that for a couple restaurants but if you get too many you really need commercial supply (especially if the restaurants are not geographically close).  For other things he sources them locally, like he gets the kimmelweck buns baked locally to his spec.

Everybody is always talking about someone can make a killing elsewhere but it’s not typically as easy as bringing recipes to another part of the country. Weather and water, for example, play an enormous part in dough quality which obviously affects pizza and beef on weck. There are ways around it but they aren’t cheap. Also, people like what they like and what one part of country thinks is to die for, the other part has to be convinced. A lot of other factors involved as well but just my two cents.

[Taro T]

9 minutes ago, tom webster said:

Everybody is always talking about someone can make a killing elsewhere but it’s not typically as easy as bringing recipes to another part of the country. Weather and water, for example, play an enormous part in dough quality which obviously affects pizza and beef on weck. There are ways around it but they aren’t cheap. Also, people like what they like and what one part of country thinks is to die for, the other part has to be convinced. A lot of other factors involved as well but just my two cents.

Elevation too.  Changes in air pressure from sea level to mile high effect how stuff rises/bakes & boils too.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Taro T

[tom webster]

3 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Elevation too.  Changes in air pressure from sea level to mile high effect how stuff rises/bakes & boils too.

Yep. Even in this area you can tell which pizzerias adjust for humidity depending on the time of year. Like I said, a multitude of factors 

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Mr. Allen said:

Funny.  I’m having a birthday party for my son back home in Buffalo this weekend and no clue where to get the pizza from.  My brother likes Franco’s but I’m not a huge fan.  Is Bocces still any good? Been living out of town for a couple years and no clue who is good. 

Franco's pizza is solid (but no more than that). It's also consistent and widely available.

36 minutes ago, Quint said:

I live in Massachusetts now and haven't been to Buffalo since 2004. I miss my favorite pizza on the planet, Leonardi's in Amherst, NY on Grover Cleveland.  The place closed several years ago. I think they say that Bailey Avenue Pizza North is the same, and if I ever come back, I'll try it. But nothing hit the spot like Leonardi's. 

Sigh. Yeah. Leonardi's was quietly, consistently elite Buffalo pizza. I miss them.

Edited July 14, 2023 by That Aud Smell

[steveoath]

Anyone have a pizza oven at home? Seems to be a “thing” over here. My in laws are obsessed. Tbf the MIL makes a great dough. 

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

Everybody is always talking about someone can make a killing elsewhere but it’s not typically as easy as bringing recipes to another part of the country. Weather and water, for example, play an enormous part in dough quality which obviously affects pizza and beef on weck. There are ways around it but they aren’t cheap. Also, people like what they like and what one part of country thinks is to die for, the other part has to be convinced. A lot of other factors involved as well but just my two cents.

Buffalo Bros works, I think, because it has a full bar menu but has "Buffalo Favorites" for those from, or partial to, Buffalo, and Ed is a trained chef who knows how to recreate the Buffalo recipes here.  It seems like there is an increasing appetite for "Buffalo chic", the blue-collar aesthetic.  But it's also a sports bar so if you could care less about Buffalo you could still enjoy the place.  The location near TCU caters to the college crowd, for instance they have meet & greets with TCU athletes that pack the place.  But on Bills game days it feels like you're in a bar in Buffalo.

Buffalo Bros is not the only Buffalo bar here; there is also Nickel City which has a pretty stripped down food menu but the wings are quite good.  That is also part of a small "chain"; apparently there is another NIckel City in Austin; the owner is from the Southern Tier of WNY.  The primary cook at the Ft Worth Nickel City is the owner's cousin who's also from WNY.  The Buffalo angle is more about the ambiance; the place looks like some "old men's" bar on Bailey Avenue.

The Buffalo diaspora reminds me of the New Orleans diaspora.  People have left their home city but still have a love for what makes it unique, especially the food.  There are a lot of Cajun restaurants around here.  There was always a Lousiana population here; LSU puts out good engineers who have been hired locally here.  But things really ramped up in the aftermath of Katrina.  Not as many people came here as went to Houston, but a lot did; the Will Rogers Center (think Hamburg Fairgrounds) was an emergency shelter for several weeks and a lot of the folks never left.

The Buffalo diaspora is not as big as New Orleans, but I can see similarities between the two.

Edited July 14, 2023 by Doohickie

[matter2003]

After eating pizza in other places I totally understand why people who move away from WNY literally pay money for places here to ship them pizza. Most places are terrible...

The best pizza in a random place I ever had was actually really good tho...stopped in this little Nebraska town just over the border from Kansas that looked like the town that time forgot...saw there was a pizza place so I stopped in and tried it...some of the best pizza I ever have eaten...crust was perfection, toppings were great...got to talking to the person working there and she said the owner moved there from NYC...

[matter2003]

5 minutes ago, steveoath said:

Anyone have a pizza oven at home? Seems to be a “thing” over here. My in laws are obsessed. Tbf the MIL makes a great dough. 

Don't have a pizza oven but we make pizza at home quite a bit...

Got some real wheat flour(Einkorn wheat, the type that has been grown for 12000 years not the GMO Frankenwheat that you find in stores) and it was the best crust I have ever had anywhere...amazing...soft, with just enough crunch on the outside and chewy in the middle...highly recommend trying it.

[Doohickie]

7 minutes ago, steveoath said:

Anyone have a pizza oven at home? Seems to be a “thing” over here. My in laws are obsessed. Tbf the MIL makes a great dough. 

Yeah I see them a lot around here too, but no I don't have one.  I used to make my own pizza, but I just used the regular oven.

[Kr632]

6 hours ago, Scottysabres said:

I'm guessing you lived in the Krueger neighborhood in between Ward and Ruie Rd?

Yes it is, NT

Yep

[Buffalonill]

3 hours ago, Doohickie said:

It says 1/2 off on Mondays on the box.  That one was about $13 I think (on Monday).

Holy crap 9$ for a Salens hotdog ? That seems overpriced lol.

 

[Kr632]

6 hours ago, SwampD said:

Isn’t Good Guys is in Niagara county?

Yes. I'm not a fan of their food. 

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

Holy crap 9$ for a Salens hotdog ? That seems overpriced lol.

Imported, so to speak. 

When the Bills came down to play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving in 2019, Buffalo Bros set up three of those grills made out of 66 gallon drums and cooked Sahlens all through the tailgate and gave them away for free.

[Doohickie]

Oh yeah, I reminded today myself that Buffalo Bros has a good Friday fish fry too

Edited July 14, 2023 by Doohickie

[Taro T]

21 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Imported, so to speak. 

When the Bills came down to play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving in 2019, Buffalo Bros set up three of those grills made out of 66 gallon drums and cooked Sahlens all through the tailgate and gave them away for free.

Dayum, guess everything really IS bigger in Texas.

[Buffalonill]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Oh yeah, I reminded today myself that Buffalo Bros has a good Friday fish fry too

Got the pizza was very very good Got some wingstop ranch perfect night

[Goldseatsaud]

16 hours ago, Night Train said:

I live in the Tonawanda NY area. Wheelers is a bar known for their outstanding pub food and has won local awards for their pizza and wings. I love both. 2nd to none IMO. 

Worked over at the former Spaulding fiber plant. Involved with the remediation efforts. Ate at wheelers a lot 

[Doohickie]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

Dayum, guess everything really IS bigger in Texas.

Are they 55 gallon?  I knew 66 didn't look right... but you get the idea.

[JustOneParade]

On 7/13/2023 at 8:56 PM, JoeSchmoe said:

Coming from Canada, we like to hit the pizza joints of Niagara Falls, NY (as it's closer than Buffalo proper). Most are hole in the wall type places that all serve good pizza and wings (esp compared to Canada). It seems everyone has their favourite.

I may have mentioned before that WAY back in the day, nothing could touch Sammy's on Hyde Park Blvd. Then maybe 15 years ago the quality went down. 

Last weekend we tried Joey's in the LaSalle neighborhood. It was good enough to go back... But still no old school Sammy's.

Any others hit the NF pizza joints?

Any new faces on the scene in the Buffalo area?

 

@JoeSchmoe In the Falls give Buzzy’s a try. It’s shortly after Pine avenue turns into NF Boulevard. Also try Gagsters in the Market area on Pine Avenue. 
One caveat though. Both used to ALWAYS be really good but on a couple visits in recent years each has ‘laid an egg’ one time. That never used to happen.

[JoeSchmoe]

1 hour ago, JustOneParade said:

@JoeSchmoe In the Falls give Buzzy’s a try. It’s shortly after Pine avenue turns into NF Boulevard. Also try Gagsters in the Market area on Pine Avenue. 
One caveat though. Both used to ALWAYS be really good but on a couple visits in recent years each has ‘laid an egg’ one time. That never used to happen.

Tried Gangster's back in the Sammy's days and liked it... Just not as much as Sammy's. It might be time for another visit.

Never tried Buzzy's though. That might be the next place to go.

[PASabreFan]

It's possible I've never had good pizza. At least not this fantasy pizza yall are speaking of. There's a local place here that I think has top notch garlic pizza. Other than that I survive on the chains. I'm high on Domino's pan pizza right now. I've recounted several times that I had La Nova pizza in Buffalo a few years ago and it was a sickly mess. I don't hear that name bandied about much tho. I do fantasize about how good some of this zza must be.

[Huckleberry]

On 7/14/2023 at 9:01 AM, Doohickie said:

If you can get over to Fort Worth, check out Buffalo Bros.  There is a location in downtown Fort Worth and one near TCU.   The guy who runs them is from Kenmore.  If you're in town Monday that would be a good day because Buffalo Bros. has half off all their pizzas including whole pies and slices (excludes only pizza-wing combos).  If you do decide to go Monday for dinner let me know; maybe I can meet up with you.

The Duff's in Southlake is... okay, but it's set in a strip mall and just doesn't have a Buffalo vibe.  The wings are okay though.

PIzza from Buffalo Bros.

Never been a fan of the thick crust style.   But not a lot of good pizza places around here either.   

Pizza hut / Boston pizza / Kebab and pizza places /  We got one and those they sell from a vending machine nearby beats all of those.