BYP Monthly Happy at Scharf's Schiller Park Restaurant this Thursday

Missing photo caption: "You wanna take down this building?! You'll have to go through us first!!"

Missing photo caption: "We did not even know where/what this place was until the Buffalo News told us it was closing."

The German-American neighborhood restaurant - the last of a kind. Troidl's, Wurzburger Hof, and many more once dotted Schiller Park and Kensington. We should all pour a little bit of Spaten on the ground to honor them.

Like I said in an earlier post, even if the restaurant at its current location isn't viable, it should be given a chance somewhere else, if the owner desires. Their customer base is largely "old Buffalo" and suburban, but they're also from a generation that held a belief that the move of any restaurant made the food's quality worse. Many "institutions" that moved to the 'burbs in response to neighborhood changes didn't last more than a year or two at their new location. "It's just not the same!"

A move to a location in a prosperous city location, where Scharf's can pick up a new customer base, could be a viable option. Thing is, despite having unique, high quality food, Scharf's has a 1970s corner tavern character that may not resonate with hipper Allentown, EV, and North Buffalo residents. Although it might work in Cheektowaga or Depew, it takes more than generic tables, vinyl tablecloths, and stacking chairs to create a new "third place" that would make a new generation of city residents regulars.

Id like to see them also tackle a big preservation project like what demolished building downtown most deserves to come back....what has the greatest need to come back.

The one thing that comes to my mind is the County Library.

With ECC having nursing and medical and dental courses...Life Sciences Campus a few blocks away....IT JUST MAKES SENSE TO HAVE A MEDICAL LIBRARY downtown with lots and lots of small study cubicles and conference rooms.

Study cubicles arent just for students but they also make the city valuable for the mobile office professionals that need a virtual office for a few hours.

As I commented on Newell's recent Scharf's article:

I think the ground floor of the great building that's being rehabbed at the corner of Breckenridge & Niagara would be a great location for Sharf's to relocate. Forgive me in advance for pointing out that the corner lot opposite is empty, so there would be ample parking. Bill Breeser is rehabbing that building, and the caveat is I don't know if he already has a tenant for the first floor. But it wouldn't hurt for someone to inquire...

That would put, in the space of a few blocks on Niagara: one of Buffalo's favorite Italian restaurants (Santasiero's), German restaurants (Sharf's), and two other great eating spots (Boomerang's and Marco's). Would be a great thing for an up-and-coming part of Niagara Street!

You cant just throw the problems of the east side as negative PR. There are very real SIGNIFICANT issues on the east side that have been going on for decades now that should not and cannot simply be brushed off or dismissed that way. To do so is irrational. It doesnt matter whether its all that happens or not. The fact is that it does happen and it happens waaaaayyyy too frequently. Persistent violence is no way to build a strong neighborhood and reverse the negative image.

FOOOOD TRUUCK !!!!!!!!