Buffalo things that hold no meaning for you

[Mango]

11 hours ago, Doohickie said:

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.

 

I agree about the steady hand. 

But in regards to gas, and other stuff there are a ton of Stewarts around my house with another gas station either right across the street or just down the street, and in each spot the "other guy" is 5-10 cents cheaper. 

 

[LabattBlue]

From a life long WNYer…

Sponge Candy, Weber’s Mustard, Darwin Martin House, AKG Art Gallery, Anchor Bar & Chef’s can all disappear from the face of the earth and I wouldn’t shed a tear. 

[Marvin]

I can't think of anything.  When I lived out of town, people used to denigrate me because I refused to debase myself as an apology for being from the Buffalo area, so I have found ways to appreciate things dear to other local yokels that this yokel does not care much for.

[Doohicksie]

I have no idea what you just said.

[JoeSchmoe]

On 11/18/2023 at 4:51 PM, centralparkhockey said:

I’m a WNY transplant also in the Capital Region of NY and I can’t make sense of the veneration for Stewart’s. It’s a gas station. Outside of their own ice cream, there’s nothing special about a Stewart’s.  You can’t even get a sandwich there that isn’t a day old and wrapped in plastic. 

My family go to the Adirondacks quite a bit and Stewart's is our go to.

They make fresh subs at a fair price that are pretty good eaten on the back of a tailgate after a long hike... especially washed down with a Stewart's Chocolate milk. My 14yo daughter loves the chicken bacon ranch pizza... It's okay... For ready made gas station pizza anyways.

The ice cream is pretty good especially for the price... This summer I think we were paying $4 for giant banana splits on Ice Cream Appreciation week. 

[JujuFish]

3 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

Do you hear "Bills Mafia" and think of the worst aspects of it?

When I hear "Bills mafia" I think of the worst aspects of the word mafia. I love the Bills fandom (mostly). Hate the mafia.

[shrader]

5 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

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.)

 

I do think of the raging drunks and the table. But more than anything, I’ve always hated fanbase nicknames. I mean, it’s not <team> nation like 2000 other cities out there, but it’s still lame. 

[shrader]

2 hours ago, JujuFish said:

When I hear "Bills mafia" I think of the worst aspects of the word mafia. I love the Bills fandom (mostly). Hate the mafia.

And yeah. It’s not quite as bad as ending with a Z instead of an S, but mafia is dumb. 
 

My phone just autocorrected and replaced “mafia” with “Maria”. So yeah, she can go too. 

[SwampD]

I’ve never been to the Anchor Bar. There was never a reason to go.

[Taro T]

11 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I’ve never been to the Anchor Bar. There was never a reason to go.

Never went until in mid-20's.  Pretty much only went because friends from out of town wanted to go there.  Have been there a handful of times.  Would definitely rather go to at least 5 other places than the Anchor Bar.

Thing is, there's supposed to be a Bar-Bill in Webster now.  Need to check that out.  If it's even close to the original, it'll be great.

[DHawerchuk10]

8 hours ago, Doohickie said:

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?

I get that, but people talk about Paula’s like some Buffalo institution every time I return, and it almost gaslights me into thinking I was left out of some hidden trend.

Not to hijack things, but I always found cultural differences between Southtowns and Northtowns fascinating.  There are numerous things that are popular in the Southtowns, that a Northtown gent like myself didn’t even know existed.  I kinda thought Paula’s might be like that, and I just wasn’t “with it” back in the 80’s and 90’s to know it was there.  Same with Bar Bill.

[matter2003]

Mighty Taco

 

[Quint]

Here's some good things about Buffalo. (there's a lot) But some of these links don't work.

https://cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/buffalo.html

[Doohicksie]

3 hours ago, SwampD said:

I’ve never been to the Anchor Bar. There was never a reason to go.

To be honest, I went five years ago because my mom had surgery and I could see the Anchor Bar from the parking garage in the hospital district.  So I suggested to Frank (my mom's boy toy) that we go there for lunch.

It strikes me that Frank accompanies me on all my Buffalo food pilgrimages.

 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Doohickie

[shrader]

10 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

To be honest, I went five years ago because my mom had surgery and I could see the Anchor Bar from the parking garage in the hospital district.  So I suggested to Frank (my mom's boy toy) that we go there for lunch.

It strikes me that Frank accompanies me on all my Buffalo food pilgrimages.

 

On my smaller phone screen, he kind of looks like Ed O’Neil in that picture. 

[GoPuckYourself]

12 hours 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 didn't know it was based in Minnesota, thanks for the info. Still not a fan! 

12 hours 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.

 

 

I thought I was going to catch heat for that to be honest, I know so many people love them. I don't hate them it's just not my type of music.

[GoPuckYourself]

12 hours 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

Yeah I guess it's more touristy but even people who have lived here for most of their lives speak about it like it's the holy grail. To each their own I guess but I find the food to be mediocre and the atmosphere also. 

I actually like Arby's more than BWW, the fish sandwich is maybe the best fast food fish sandwich I've ever had. Again everyone is different and BWW is always packed so I'm probably in the minority.

[Doohicksie]

5 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

BWW is always packed so I'm probably in the minority.

It's packed because it's a sports bar chain.

[Brawndo]

22 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

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.  

Old Man River is still around and hasn’t changed much, except it’s now owned by the same people who own Mississippi Mudds down the road. 
 

A Walgreens is now where Pats Hot Dog Stand was on the corner of Sheridan and Parker and having Dealings ten minutes away as a kid was incredible. 
 

It’s 32 degrees this AM, I wouldn’t miss the weather either. Love the summers here, but January through April not so much

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

It’s 32 degrees this AM, I wouldn’t miss the weather either. Love the summers here, but January through April not so much

It's cold here in Texas this morning.  Yet I snuck out to my car in the garage, and from my car to my office, without a coat.  You see, in Texas, cold means 49 degrees.  We will get below freezing at times but it's not too frequent, although in recent years we've had temps that dipped below 0 (which still isn't awful, except that houses aren't built for weather that cold and frozen pipes are a risk).

[That Aud Smell]

10 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

I actually like Arby's more than BWW, the fish sandwich is maybe the best fast food fish sandwich I've ever had. 

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

Old Man River is still around and hasn’t changed much, except it’s now owned by the same people who own Mississippi Mudds down the road. 
 

A Walgreens is now where Pats Hot Dog Stand was on the corner of Sheridan and Parker and having Dealings ten minutes away as a kid was incredible. 
 

It’s 32 degrees this AM, I wouldn’t miss the weather either. Love the summers here, but January through April not so much

Every May we do old man River to officially welcome summer. My wife loves the lobster roll. 

[Pimlach]

21 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

From a life long WNYer…

Sponge Candy, Weber’s Mustard, Darwin Martin House, AKG Art Gallery, Anchor Bar & Chef’s can all disappear from the face of the earth and I wouldn’t shed a tear. 

Why would a life long WNYer think this?  
I get the food and restaurants.  But what do you have against AKG and the Darwin Martin House?  

[Pimlach]

17 hours ago, Taro T said:

Never went until in mid-20's.  Pretty much only went because friends from out of town wanted to go there.  Have been there a handful of times.  Would definitely rather go to at least 5 other places than the Anchor Bar.

Thing is, there's supposed to be a Bar-Bill in Webster now.  Need to check that out.  If it's even close to the original, it'll be great.

The Bar Bill on Main in Williamsville is not quite at the level of the original in East Aurora. 

Edited November 21, 2023 by Pimlach

[LabattBlue]

14 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Why would a life long WNYer think this?  
I get the food and restaurants.  But what do you have against AKG and the Darwin Martin House?  

Because I have no interest in them, therefore, they hold no meaning for me. 
 

😂