Keeping up with Fred Daniel and his friends is no easy task. Fred recently opened Freddie J's Barbecue on the city's West Side. The restaurant is now keeping longer hours after the buzz from Extreme Makeover generated a ton of interest in his food. Every week I receive a phone call from Fred outlining his plan to dot the urban landscape with uniquely-Fred culinary enterprises.
Fred's latest endeavor puts him at the helm of his buddy Eric Humphrey's sports bar and grill. "The Good Life is all about putting Bailey on the collective map for all of the right reasons," Fred explained to me. "The management team went in and stripped down the old Midway Tavern... then they came back and built it back up into a vibrant, clean East Side sports bar. The Good Life features eleven flat screen TVs, with a full bar and finger foods with a slant on soul foods. Of course there are also chicken wings and fish fries."
Having never been into any of the previous establishments occupying the building, I couldn't get a real grasp of the improvements. I can tell you that I was very impressed with everything that I saw. While I was walking around, there were people cleaning the floors, wiping down the Little League Ravens trophies, preening the black linen tablecloths - The Good Life opened June 20th, though it looked like it had just opened the day before. "We are making a point to set an impression here," Fred continued. "Our hours are early evening to midnight, with extended hours on the weekends. We are a tight-knit community - to tell you the truth, this has already been the most successful restaurant that I have ever been affiliated with because the community support has been tremendous. People want to hold their parties and celebrations here because we really spend the time making this place as nice as it can be. We want to continue to push it in a direction that appeals to everyone... that's why I called you."
The Good Life features jazz on Sundays, Monday Night Football specials, Martini Wednesdays, Comedy Thursdays, with a concentration on food and music on the weekends. Fred's belief is that if The Good Life supports the community, then the community in turn will support a place that offers an amenity that they might not normally find on the East Side of the city. When I asked Fred about Bailey's past struggles, he pointed out that if The Good Life can be an anchor and a model for other businesses to succeed, then maybe that is what their role will be. "We are only a couple doors down from United Men's Fashion - that store is very successful and has been in business for a long time... it's a destination. If we can get a solid base of businesses to market together and have a voice, then maybe we can get more accomplished on the street. The effort has to start somewhere... why not here?"
The Good Life Sports Bar and Grill
3076 Bailey Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14215-1617
(716) 836-3166
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Fred's latest endeavor puts him at the helm of his buddy Eric Humphrey's sports bar and grill. "The Good Life is all about putting Bailey on the collective map for all of the right reasons," Fred explained to me. "The management team went in and stripped down the old Midway Tavern... then they came back and built it back up into a vibrant, clean East Side sports bar. The Good Life features eleven flat screen TVs, with a full bar and finger foods with a slant on soul foods. Of course there are also chicken wings and fish fries."
Having never been into any of the previous establishments occupying the building, I couldn't get a real grasp of the improvements. I can tell you that I was very impressed with everything that I saw. While I was walking around, there were people cleaning the floors, wiping down the Little League Ravens trophies, preening the black linen tablecloths - The Good Life opened June 20th, though it looked like it had just opened the day before. "We are making a point to set an impression here," Fred continued. "Our hours are early evening to midnight, with extended hours on the weekends. We are a tight-knit community - to tell you the truth, this has already been the most successful restaurant that I have ever been affiliated with because the community support has been tremendous. People want to hold their parties and celebrations here because we really spend the time making this place as nice as it can be. We want to continue to push it in a direction that appeals to everyone... that's why I called you."
The Good Life features jazz on Sundays, Monday Night Football specials, Martini Wednesdays, Comedy Thursdays, with a concentration on food and music on the weekends. Fred's belief is that if The Good Life supports the community, then the community in turn will support a place that offers an amenity that they might not normally find on the East Side of the city. When I asked Fred about Bailey's past struggles, he pointed out that if The Good Life can be an anchor and a model for other businesses to succeed, then maybe that is what their role will be. "We are only a couple doors down from United Men's Fashion - that store is very successful and has been in business for a long time... it's a destination. If we can get a solid base of businesses to market together and have a voice, then maybe we can get more accomplished on the street. The effort has to start somewhere... why not here?"
The Good Life Sports Bar and Grill
3076 Bailey Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14215-1617
(716) 836-3166
This couldn't be more timely -- I've recently been doing research on St. Gerards at Delavan and Bailey (which WCP wrote about, here: http://archives.buffalorising.com/story/move_to_save_st_gerards_georgi ) and have been checking out the neighborhood and commercial strip along Bailey between UB and Delavan. It's a great part of the city that I think a lot of people don't get to see much. It's got great housing stock and really lovely residential streets -- many of which proudly proclaim their active block clubs with notable signs. The neighborhood stretching from UB to Delavan is all within the University council district, which aside from the Delaware district had the least number of vacant properties in the recent City auction. It's also proximate to the towns of Tonawanda, Amherst, and Cheektowaga.
The commercial strip has seen better days (not unlike most parts of the city), but has far more offerings and is much more vibrant than I had been lead to believe by others who ran it down perhaps without knowing it well. Rather, my gut told me it was an area that either was or could soon be on the upswing, so I couldn't be more delighted to see this story. Bailey/Kensington is especially cool with lots of really great buildings and unusual intersection angles.
When I wrote last year's article on "Great Streets" (here: http://archives.buffalorising.com/story/ten_qualities_of_a_great_stree ) I didn't know about the great residential/commercial district along Bailey -- but if I had I definitely would have mentioned it.
Fred and Eric, hope to stop by soon to check out The Good Life!