The Grant Amherst neighborhood will be happy to hear that they’re getting a new restaurant—BR reader Willie1 especially so.
A few months ago we told you about El Flamboyan, a new restaurant that had opened up in the tiny building that was formerly occupied by The Signature Café. Located on the corner of Elmwood and Amherst, it offered an atmosphere and cuisine to the neighborhood unlike any of the other restaurants within walking distance of the busy intersection. Though the food was good, El Flamboyan struggled to maintain steady business hours. We heard about it quite often here on YUM; people were excited about the new Puerto Rican eatery and were very disheartened to find its lights off and its doors locked at the dinner hour. We can’t say why they closed, but we were all sad for the missed opportunity.
When El Flamboyan officially shuttered its doors, Willie1, reader and resident of this up and coming little neighborhood, sent me a plea via email. He was hoping that I could help him find another restaurateur willing to move into this spot. Unfortunately, at the time I wasn’t aware of anyone looking to open a new business, but my heart went out to this reader and his pals at the gas station located on the corner opposite of the restaurant. Certainly anyone that chose to run a restaurant here, and do it well, would have the distinct advantage of moving into a neighborhood full of people excited to be customers.
It took only a few short months for Rich Brown to spot this space and see it as a home for his dream. A man of many talents, with the firm support of his family and fellow parishioners at the Church of Christ, Brown began working with the Small Business Development Center, the Buffalo Niagara Jobs Initiative and taking some restaurant courses at Buff State in hopes of developing some new opportunities for himself. And he has.
“I see a need in this neighborhood for Caribbean,” Brown told BR. “The gentleman that taught me to cook, his family was from Jamaica. He taught me to cook but he inspired me to do more, to be more. He also taught me that if I try it and it doesn’t work to just move on and try again.”
The restaurant, called Richie’s Place, will serve American and Jamaican food for breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday. The prices on the menu are more than reasonable and the menu’s incorporation of traditional American offerings and exotic, flavorful fare will, if done well, allow this restaurant to be an every day eatery for the neighborhood and a spot worth the trip for those that live farther away.
Breakfast includes eggs and omelets, bacon and sausage, waffles and pancakes, but there are some Caribbean flavors as well including sweet potato pancakes and waffles served with a compote of tropical fruit and coconut ($2.99 - $6.99). At lunch there are burgers--beef, turkey or veggie, cold subs and steak and cheese hoagies. The more adventurous will be pleased to spot interpretations of jerk chicken served as a sandwich with plantains, mango salsa and creamy honey mustard spread; a jerked pork chop smothered with creamy pineapple slaw, and a Cubano chicken sandwich topped with bacon, ham, sweet pickle relish, swiss and a spicy mayo ($2.99-$7.99).
Dinner entrees include curry of chicken, beef, pork and goat, jerked chicken, beef or pork, meatloaf, fried chicken, West Indian fish cakes with curry sauce and a Jamaican-style fish dinner made by simmering mackerel in a spicy sauce of celery, onions, garlic and tomatoes ($7.99-8.99).
Sides of French fries, sweet potato fries, plantains, pastelitos, Jamaican patties and pineapple slaw are very affordable at only $1.75 each. There is also a kids menu whose offerings hover around $4 and include a drink and ice cream.
I think that Richie’s Place could be a great success story for the owner and the neighborhood. It has the right combination of an interesting but approachable menu, an owner with gumption, and an area that is not only on the rise, but also anxiously awaiting a new restaurant.
“I think we can all play off of each other,” Brown said, speaking of the other businesses in the neighborhood. “We can help one another out. I lived in Buffalo all of my life until I moved out to Amherst. But I always thought that I wanted to give something back to Buffalo, back to the community.”
Brown has been very thorough when it comes to paperwork and permits, a business plan and his menu; he’s just winding up construction. The doors should open in the very near future and we’ll tell you about it as soon as they do. If you can’t stop by, no worries, Richie’s will also be offering delivery.
Richie’s Place
1595 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, 14207
716.447.1340