Buffalo things that hold no meaning for you

[Quint]

The Buffalo News.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Quint

[skaught]

On 11/18/2023 at 12:35 PM, Broken Ankles said:

Lived in SoCal for almost 27 years and there is NOTHING close to a Sahlen. I literally have neighbors who ask me to bring a 3 lb bag back after I visit the family. We used to serve them for parties and the parents would rave about them.  Especially served with webers mustard and Teds hot sauce.  But with my kids in high school and the shear volume of kids over for a party, coupled with the inflationary cost of a 3 lb bag,  N.F.W.  they are getting their hands on my f-ing Sahlen hot dog 🌭 .  

I grew up in SoCal, my dad would fly to Buffalo every year with an extra empty suitcase and come back with a suitcase full of hotdogs. 

[Doohickie]

15 hours ago, Mango said:

And their gas is always more expensive. 

In my experience it seems that they tend to be in the more rural areas and gas is more expensive in rural areas.  Not sure if that's just a coincidence or not.

My wife's family lives in the Albany area and my sense is that Stewart's is just a steady, calming presence.  It's where you can get something quick when you need it, it's where you can get a cup of coffee and shoot the breeze with your mates.  It's like if comfort food was a convenience store.

[DHawerchuk10]

When did Paula’s donuts rise to fame?  I’ve never heard of them.  I only remember dickies or various other mom and pop donut shops (like Jett donuts, etc.)

[DHawerchuk10]

On 11/18/2023 at 7:45 PM, Doohickie said:

That's why it wasn't a thing:  It was automatically blue cheese.

Once a year if I'm lucky.  But with my mom's advanced years, I spend most of the time with her and not that much time out and about.

Very true, but the whole blue cheese vs ranch is dumb quite frankly.

[Brawndo]

16 minutes ago, DHawerchuk10 said:

When did Paula’s donuts rise to fame?  I’ve never heard of them.  I only remember dickies or various other mom and pop donut shops (like Jett donuts, etc.)

Ironically one of the Paula’s Doughnuts Locations is in the same plaza that Jets Doughnuts was on Sheridan Drive 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I miss Anderson’s, Ted’s, Chef’s and Bocce Pizza. I miss the Clarkson House Restaurant in Lewiston (sadly closed). Is Old Man River still around? Vin-Chet’s Bakery. 

I miss going to Canada and seeing the Falls.  I miss going to Fort Erie for Chinese Food. 

Things that are gone from my childhood like Mr Donut, Pat’s hot dog stand, and Dealings amusement park. 

Buffalo and WNY was a great place to grow up.  Hard to know what changes I have missed because I’ve been gone so long.  Last I was there it felt much the same.  I still don’t miss the weather.  

Edited November 20, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, DHawerchuk10 said:

Very true, but the whole blue cheese vs ranch is dumb quite frankly.

All Buffalo stuff is tribalism at its root, and tribalism, in the extreme, is dumb. 

Edited November 20, 2023 by Doohickie

[GoPuckYourself]

Anchor Bar- Any of them, the food at least to me is vastly overrated and over priced (Like everything now a days but still).

Buffalo Wild Wings- Shouldn't it just be Wild wings here? Also a place that not only I felt the food was meh but it got me sick twice and i havent gone back to it since 1997.

The Goo Goo Dolls- I was never a fan of the music, I never got what the hype was about but it was always "hey they're from Buffalo, Ny". 

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Anchor Bar- Any of them, the food at least to me is vastly overrated and over priced (Like everything now a days but still).

Buffalo Wild Wings- Shouldn't it just be Wild wings here? Also a place that not only I felt the food was meh but it got me sick twice and i havent gone back to it since 1997.

The Goo Goo Dolls- I was never a fan of the music, I never got what the hype was about but it was always "hey they're from Buffalo, Ny". 

Buffalo Wild Wings is actually out of Minnesota and is just slightly closer to REAL wings than KFC is.  (It's not QUITE that bad, but it is a huge step down from Bar-Bill, Duff's, Elmo's, the Gate, Union Pub, ...)  If you spend enough on advertising, people will buy anything.

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, DHawerchuk10 said:

When did Paula’s donuts rise to fame?  I’ve never heard of them.  I only remember dickies or various other mom and pop donut shops (like Jett donuts, etc.)

That's kind of the point of this thread (in my mind when I started it)... when people talk about "Buffalo things", what are the things you never got involved with because it happened after you left?

[MattPie]

On 11/17/2023 at 5:57 PM, Doohickie said:

Chef's is another thing that was around when I lived in Buffalo but we never went.  There were too many good Italian restaurants in Cheektowaga.  Roma's (mentioned upthread) was one- everything there was homemade (I know, because when I worked there, I made it).  A lot of people liked Baraci's/Baracini's on Union Road.  And there were others.  My mom's family is from Lackawanna and I still have family there; we've been to Ilio DiPaolo's (or however it's spelled) and I remember that being pretty good too.

I went to Chef's *once* when my dept head at the big G took us out a "safety lunch" ("listen up, everyone be safe"). I don't remember it being good or bad, but it was 25+ years ago. It was free however.

On 11/18/2023 at 4:30 PM, Brawndo said:

Question for the Buffalo Expats, how often do you come back to visit? 

Every few months; it's a 3-hour drive now and both my and MsPie's parents are there.

7 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Anchor Bar- Any of them, the food at least to me is vastly overrated and over priced (Like everything now a days but still).

Buffalo Wild Wings- Shouldn't it just be Wild wings here? Also a place that not only I felt the food was meh but it got me sick twice and i havent gone back to it since 1997.

The Goo Goo Dolls- I was never a fan of the music, I never got what the hype was about but it was always "hey they're from Buffalo, Ny". 

I thought I was going to get through the thread and be the first to mention how irrelevant the Goos are to me.

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Buffalo Wild Wings is actually out of Minnesota and is just slightly closer to REAL wings than KFC is.  (It's not QUITE that bad, but it is a huge step down from Bar-Bill, Duff's, Elmo's, the Gate, Union Pub, ...)  If you spend enough on advertising, people will buy anything.

I thought the story is it was Buffalo expats, and originally it was Buffalo Wild Wings and Weck. ... Well, I was half-right: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Wild_Wings

Quote

They decided to open their own restaurant, selecting a location near the Ohio State University in Columbus. The "Weck" in the original title refers to beef on weck, a sandwich originally served at the restaurant.[5]

 

[That Aud Smell]

On 11/17/2023 at 12:20 PM, shrader said:

I cringe every time I hear the name bills mafia. 

This is a litmus/Rorschach test of sorts. Do you hear "Bills Mafia" and think of the worst aspects of it? (E.g., Gary from West Seneca getting puke blotto and stumbling up the stairs of the 300s before taking a swing at someone because he thought he heard the guy say something bad about Bruce Smith), or do you hear "Bills Mafia" and think of the best aspects of it (some are detailed upthread).

I am firmly in the camp of the latter. Like Ms. Hanesworth said in her poem "Still Here": "They call us Bills Mafia because we are a family." Buffalo Forever. (I don't think the NFL will allow me to embed the video here.)

 

[Doohickie]

37 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Anchor Bar- Any of them, the food at least to me is vastly overrated and over priced (Like everything now a days but still).

Buffalo Wild Wings- Shouldn't it just be Wild wings here? Also a place that not only I felt the food was meh but it got me sick twice and i havent gone back to it since 1997.

The Goo Goo Dolls- I was never a fan of the music, I never got what the hype was about but it was always "hey they're from Buffalo, Ny". 

I never went to Anchor Bar when I lived in Buffalo, went for the first time just a few years ago.  I mean if you're from Buffalo, why to out of your way?  Just go to the neighborhood wing joint.  It's more of a tourist site than a real place to eat now, is the sense I got.

Buffalo Wild Wings is like Texas Roadhouse:  Neither of them has any roots in the place that is in their name.  BWW came out of Ohio and is now owned by the same company that owns Arby's.... that should be all you need to know about that abomination.  (Texas Roadhouse started in Inidana, by the way.)

Same.  Generic emo grunge to me.

30 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Buffalo Wild Wings is actually out of Ohio originally, headquartered in Atlanta now

fify

Edited November 20, 2023 by Doohickie

[Doohickie]

7 minutes ago, MattPie said:

"safety lunch"

Corporate cracked down on us for having "Safety Meetings" during happy hour  😛

[Doohickie]

9 minutes ago, MattPie said:

I thought I was going to get through the thread and be the first to mention how irrelevant the Goos are to me.

Yeah, if I think of famous music acts out of Buffalo, Rick James and Spyro Gyra are the two that come to mind.  And unless you're into jazz fusion you probably haven't heard of Spyro Gyra.

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I never went to Anchor Bar when I lived in Buffalo, went for the first time just a few years ago.  I mean if you're from Buffalo, why to out of your way?  Just go to the neighborhood wing joint.  It's more of a tourist site than a real place to eat now, is the sense I got.

Buffalo Wild Wings is like Texas Roadhouse:  Neither of them has any roots in the place that is in their name.  BWW came out of Ohio and is now owned by the same company that owns Arby's.... that should be all you need to know about that abomination.  (Texas Roadhouse started in Inidana, by the way.)

Same.  Generic emo grunge to me.

fify

No, they did not come out of Indiana.  So, no you did NOT fix that.  They claim to come out of Columbus OH.  (Had thought they were from Minneapolis.  At least had them coming from a place that's heard of hockey.  Unlike Indiana.)

[Taro T]

And reading further, realize why it seemed to be a Minnesota company.  Because THAT's where their headquarters were located when they 1st came to WNY.

[Doohickie]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

No, they did not come out of Indiana.  So, no you did NOT fix that.  They claim to come out of Columbus OH.  (Had thought they were from Minneapolis.  At least had them coming from a place that's heard of hockey.  Unlike Indiana.)

Whoops, I shouldn't  have dragged Texas Roadhouse into it.  They were the Indiana guys.

Edited November 20, 2023 by Doohickie

[Taro T]

Just now, Doohickie said:

Whoops, I shouldn't  have dragged Texas Roadhouse into it.

Nor should you have started in at all.  As stated above, their HQ WAS in Minnesota when they opened up locations in WNY.  

But, thanks for playing.  Certainly there are some wonderful parting gifts waiting for you backstage.

[inkman]

2 hours ago, DHawerchuk10 said:

Very true, but the whole blue cheese vs ranch is dumb quite frankly.

It is dumb as good wings don’t need some dairy accoutrement.  Ranch = for obeasts all over America.  Blue Cheese = for faties in WNY 

Edited November 20, 2023 by inkman

[Doohickie]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Nor should you have started in at all.  As stated above, their HQ WAS in Minnesota when they opened up locations in WNY.  

But, thanks for playing.  Certainly there are some wonderful parting gifts waiting for you backstage.

The point is... first of all, I should apologize for the mansplaining-like correction of your post, and secondly, that main point BWW as a business is not a Buffalo thing.

[Taro T]

Just now, Doohickie said:

The point is... first of all, I should apologize for the mansplaining-like correction of your post, and secondly, that main point BWW as a business is not a Buffalo thing.

Pretty sure THAT was said in the 1st post you decided to jump all over.

[Doohickie]

Just now, Taro T said:

Pretty sure THAT was said in the 1st post you decided to jump all over.

Okay okay!  I said I was sorry!

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

Okay okay!  I said I was sorry!

Don't worry, you'll have PA jumping to your aid any second now.  

 

PS - it's all fine.