Chef's Restaurant

291 Seneca Street, Buffalo

If you ask five people for recommendations for Italian food in Buffalo, chances are three will say Chef's. If you make the trip downtown, you'll notice there isn't much else nearby that is open during dinner hours- or much else in general. While not far from Coca-cola field and the First Niagara center (making it a popular pre-game dinner place), it's just outside the heart of downtown. The restaurant recently expanded the front entryway, renovated the kitchen, and added a drive-thru window and did so with the re-use of marble from the old Aud (the Sabre's old arena) as the new bar top. While the front still doesn't have a lot of room to wait around to be seated (and it's needed- wait times can be over an hour on weekends), it does have much more than they formerly did. Additionally, the drive-thru window eliminated most of the people passing in and out for take out. Luckily when we went there the wait was under 10 minutes, which was good as it was a last minute decision and we were both hungry. A new room to the side was also added which would be ideal for parties or other small events, and is used as general seating when not reserved. The rest of the restaurant remains mostly unchanged and is a bit outdated at this point. Coincidentally, I've been to Chef's probably 6 times in the past 4 years and it seems that each time I end up at the same two tables.

The server quickly greeted us, brought over our drink orders (Peroni- good beer!) and bread with olive oil & seasonings. Glancing over the menu, we decided to order fried calamari. Usually I don't order fried seafood (save for fish-fry) as it tends to be over breaded and overcooked. Being an Italian restaurant, I expected genuine fried calamari, made on site and with fresh seafood, however, that is not what they served (or at least didn't taste it). Brought out with a side of their famous sauce, the calamari was exactly what I was hoping to avoid. Mostly breading and on the "rubbery" side, the calamari had the taste of something you would get out of the frozen food section of Tops. Much disappointed, we ate it more out of sheer hunger than enjoyment.

For dinner I ordered chicken parm with a side of spaghetti parmesan (the reason we came here to start). The girl ordered a big ol' plate of spaghetti parm. The chicken parmesan is alright, not exceptional. Served with their sweeter-than-usual sauce, the chicken is still a little dry and a little bland but otherwise ok. The redeeming portion of the dish really is the pasta sauce, which helps to add some flavor and moisture back to the chicken. I order the chicken parm more as a side to the spaghetti parm, which is awesome. The best way to describe spaghetti parm is cheese with cheese and spaghetti and more cheese. You'll need the knife on the table to get to the lightly sauced pasta underneath the layer of cheese but dive in. Don't underestimate the size of the dish either, what appears on the menu as small is still a good pile of pasta and cheese. I don't think I could eat the entire bowl in one sitting. It can be a bit heavy on the oil- mostly from the cheese, but they make drugs to combat high cholesterol (Lipitor for dessert anyone?) The dish is basically an excuse to eat a pile of melted mozzarella with a bit of pasta- and who doesn't like melted mozzarella?

From past experience and this visit, Chef's is alright Italian food, but certainly not the best you'll find. I think I could name about 4 others that offer better food at the same price point. The food is nothing really special and almost sub-par. If you like a sweeter red sauce, you'll probably love their sauce, and if you like lots of melted cheese on a plate of pasta, you'll be set with the spaghetti parmesan. That's the only reason I'll keep going back.

Chefs: nom nom nom (only because of the spaghetti parm)

Ebenezer Ale House

4348 Seneca Street, West Seneca


Ohh! A new place to check out!

After being recommended by two co-workers, the gf and I took a journey (around the block from her house) to the newly reopened Ebenezer Ale House. I had high hopes for this place as I was told the food was really good and it was a block away from where she lives which would make a perfect spot to visit frequently.

For a night that had a sabre's game, the parking lot had many cars but the inside had less people than expected. Inside a few people were seated at the bar, a few small groups at tables. There were two, maybe three, members of the waitstaff floating around the room.

We sat ourselves (at direction of the sign at the entrance) and were greeted by the server. She left us to look over the menu and tap list...and disappeared. A second server then came over to take drink orders about 10 minutes later. (Where'd the first one go?!) She took our selections and came back a few minutes later, with drinks, to take our dinner orders. No appetizers today, just dinner. The GF ordered the crab cake po-boy added a side of macaroni (no substitutions for the chips, $1.49 extra- so be it), while I ordered the "Flying Bison Aviator Red Battered Fish Fry." Off she goes, and like a boomerang...right back. They're out of fish fry. All good- it's still a new restaurant (only open 2 months or so?) so I'll let it slide...all places run out of everything at one point or another. Looking over the menu again, now hurried...the first waitress appears. Now there are two at the table, which creates some confusion. I reverted to my second choice (which I debated about for a few minutes initially) and selected the Ale House burger medium rare, add a side of broccoli (for $1.49..) since they wouldn't substitute.

And we wait...

and wait....

and wait...

and wait...

Eventually 40 minutes pass and food arrives. What happened between orders and food? I don't know, but it certainly wasn't busy in the restaurant to warrant that length of time. I'm not a chef, but getting a burger and a po-boy sandwich out of the kitchen is a 20 minute ordeal, especially on a "slow" night. Burger comes with the broccoli, as expected. No fries. Her first bite yields a "Is that shrimp!?!" Luckily, the waitress happened to stop back (which was good because they were otherwise not very attentive) and she apologized and took the plate back. I was a few bites into my burger (described on the menu as a 10oz burger, with stout caramelized onions, mushrooms, bacon, and cheddar), expecting copious amounts of stout-sauteed onions. With none noted, I pop the top, poke around a bit and see mushrooms with cheddar. Mushrooms? I don't have anything against mushrooms, in fact I like them on a burger. I was expecting more emphasis on the onions. If you're going to call something the "Ale House Burger" with emphasis on the stout caramelized onions, shouldn't they be there? And as another note....where's the bacon? It wasn't until I reviewed the menu online while writing this that I saw any mention of bacon. (Recall I made the decision rather quickly with two servers waiting for my selection)

In summary, what I did get: A medium well burger (not medium rare), with cheddar (as expected), mushroom (not expected, but correctly there), no onions? (they're supposed to be there, but I didn't taste any caramelized onions, no bacon (wasn't expecting it though). hmm...I feel a philosophical question arising: If bacon is missing, but wasn't expected, is it really missing then?
Yes, I argue. Bacon is important.
No chips (where'd they go!?), broccoli (as expected). Now...if you won't let me substitute, why would you take away the chips? If I could substitute, why would you charge me for the broccoli? I'm confused. Another note on the broccoli.... using frozen broccoli and then microwaving the crap out of it and throwing salt on it doesn't count as a side dish. Sorry. Either bury the freezer broccoli in cheese to mask the limpness or use fresh broccoli, steamed, with a dash of salt.

Now, I'll give the waitress credit for coming back and saying that it was her fault (not pushing blame on the kitchen, which is easy to do) and that she entered in the shrimp po-boy accidentally. The corrected sandwich came out in about 10 minutes, just as I was finishing (how was it that much faster than before?) and she had finished her mac & cheese side.

As for the food: Most everything I was served was pretty good, except for the broccoli....and if you change the "Ale House Burger" to "Mushroom Cheddar Burger." The mac and cheese was flavorful and cheesy, pasta wasn't soggy. The po-boy was nice and crispy on the outside, bread fresh, remoulade was nicely spicy. The chips with the po-boy were home made and nice and crispy- the way chipped fries should be. The burger was large and tasty, with fresh lettuce, tomato, and onion.

Besides the misstep with the food, the entire ordeal could have been redeemed quickly by the waitress. Comping the side dishes or a pint would have probably salvaged the evening. Being a newly opened place, I'm trying to cut them some room to get their feet under them. Now, as a general rule I don't ask for things to be removed (except when there in obvious error) or for free handouts. Let the chips fall where they may. She flopped- nothing removed. The mac & cheese side, initially described as $1.49, became $2.49. The [awful excuse for] broccoli was tagged at $1.49, but the chips were gone. Paying was another exercise involving more waiting...and waiting. We didn't approach 30 minutes, but they could speed things up greatly.

Overall, I tried to like this place. The restaurant business is very competitive and it's easy to see why some places fail. The service was a mess. The missteps that occurred could have been somewhat cleared up with a $4 pint. Getting orders in and out correctly is essential to the success of the restaurant. I was tempted to leave a list of everything on the back of the tab, in hopes that maybe some of it would be put to use. The potential is there but will have numerous hurtles for Ebenezer's Ale House to overcome to succeed.

Score: nom nom (get it together! and some new broccoli!)

PS: In the mass chaos of the food mistakes coming/going, I didn't get to take a picture. Just picture crappy broccoli and a decent burger. Sorry fans of the pictures...

Oops...lost some time

Yeah. All the photos I hoped to keep- Gone!
Combine work + house projects + gf on clinicals= no restaurants & no time!

I did make a few stops here and there in the past few months, but for one reason or another I never got around to either taking pics or writing about them, so I'll just chalk up those places in the loss column for now. I hope to be back on track, finally, and get this going again. Chef's and Ebenezer's Ale House are the two next write ups (landing as soon as I get the pics off the phone...) hopefully in the next day or two.

A month passed!

Yikes..I'm more behind than I thought. A month went past with a trip to NYC as well as friends coming up from Long Island and touring around the WNY area. I'm all set to get all my photos and start writing...and it broke (both screens). I'm hoping to recover it all in the next few days. I'm way behind too!

All waiting to go, just short of photos:
Earl's in Chaffee,
NYC noms,
the first post of my cooking (finally),
Coyote Cafe,
ZJ's revisit,
Mammoser's (if I took a pic)
Charlies in East Aurora,
Mississippi Mudd's,

I think that's it. Like I said, just a few...

Buffalo Brew Pub

6861 Main St, Williamsville, NY

Buffalo Brew Pub is one of my favorite spots in the WNY area for a beer and burger, or for this...a fish fry. Plus they toss in all the peanuts you can eat and popcorn ..can't go wrong with food designed to sell beer.

Brew pub has 30+ taps as well as some bottles if interested. Last I checked they didn't have Bud..a sign of a place that knows what it's doing. I went on down for lunch to grab a fish fry, which is one of the best in Buffalo in my opinion. Its a big ol' hunk of fish, beer battered and fried up nice and crispy on the outside. Some cole slaw, fries, and mac salad are thrown on the plate for good measure and a couple slices of rye (seedless...booooo. I want my caraway!).

No complaints from me, but it can be a bit pricey for a fish fry and pint. The fry was maybe 10-11 bucks, so it's not the cheapest you'll find, but worth it. A pint of good beer runs around 4-6 as well.

nom nom nom

Random Notes

So I'm getting caught up again, as the semester kicked me a couple writeups behind. I also haven't been going out much- money, time, school, work, etc have prevented it.

Spring might be starting soon...hopefully. I have a few places in the southern tier to head out to on the motorcycle. The snow/rain must stop already! I think everyone in the area has had enough of it.

Hopefully this summer will bring new places/food/beer and time to write it all up (for the non existent audience so far)

BW's Smokin' Barrels Barbecue

5007 Lake Avenue, Blasdell, NY

BW's Barrels is only a few miles from home. I've driven past them numerous times, I've eaten some samples at Taste of Buffalo each year. I finally made it inside 2+ years later. I should have went sooner. It's some seriously good 'cue.

Walking in, it has the usual bbq/western theme going on, and inside is really nothing special...except for the food. I had read the menu over before we went there for dinner and pretty much had the main course all sorted out before I even hit the door. Ordered was:

1 pint Dogfish Head ApriHop
1 cup Brunswick stew (I had no idea what it was beforehand. This was an addition)
1 Barbecue Platter- all the offerin's comin' straight outta the pit.

First, the beer. Prior to their show Brewmasters, I hadn't tried much from Dogfish Head, as I used to hate hate hate hate IPA's. That has since changed and their 60 minute is one of my favorites. Their ApriHop is also really good, with a nice apricot taste to it....get it...it's April which brings apricots and spring which brings easter and rabbits that hop with hops because its an IPA..clever marketing.


The brunswick stew...I had no idea what it was prior. The waitress described it as a "thick tomato meat stew." Well sign me up for a 55 gallon drum delivered to my house! I have no idea what animals were in the stew...but they were all good. I'll say that there was the usual 'cue animals of chicken, pork and beef in there and no extras sometimes found in good southern bbq. It was slightly tangy, very thick, pretty filling, and did I mention really good? A good bowl in the winter (or spring, since it won't stop snowing...) will keep you fed for a bit.


So after getting the cup out of the way, dinner showed up. I found myself with a big ol' pile of meat and a few sides to work through. A quarter chicken next to the beef brisket, next to the ribs, next to the pulled pork in a counter clockwise circle. Mashed sweet potatoes (with cinnamon and butter) and macaroni and cheese (a previous Taste of Buffalo offering) are centered. While again, I'm working with a crappy cell phone photo and poor lighting, the food was done as bbq should be (and not charcoaled as it looks in a way). Best thing on the plate? The ribs- they dropped right off the bone as they should and were not dry in the least. The 'cue sauce on the table was pretty good too. I wouldn't be surprised if people have swiped a squeeze bottle or two for the road.... Worst? There wasn't anything on there that I would call bad, awful or even ok. It was all tasty. Neither the brisket and pulled pork were dry, but both were helped out a bit with a good slathering of sauce.

After putting up a decent fight, I caved in a boxed half the chicken, half the brisket and a bit of pulled pork to go. I have to say that I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't manage to eat the entire plate...I was off my game I guess...as usually I could chow down and eat all that and then some. The only benefit was that I had a really good lunch the next day.

Overall if you're looking for some tasty 'cue in the southtowns area, give BW's a shot.

Nom Nom Nom