I'm always looking for new places for brunch. Places open, places close. One spot serves brunch one day... and the next day nada. When it comes to brunch I'm pretty picky - some places that say they serve brunch might as well call it 'serving breakfast on a Sunday.'

When I think of brunch I think of a table set up with special offerings... not necessarily a buffet, but something that says that the restaurant has gone out of its way to offer something special. A pastry and yogurt stand... a chef station serving waffles... over the top Bloody Marys... these are the types of treats that

Although an article was written on Papi's Family Restaurant back in 2007, when a friend of mine recently pointed out that it had some of the best Puerto Rican food in the city I had to admit to him that I had never been there. "What? Do you mean to tell me that you've never tried their mofongo?" he asked. I told him that not only had I never tried their mofongo... I was unaware as to what mofungo even was. It was then that I asked him to send me some info on the dish. Little did I know that he would send me an extensive

The Lilly Family and Citadel Broadcasting, WEDG, WGRF, WHTT have teamed up for a second consecutive year bringing you the 2nd Annual Buffalo Wine Festival. The premiere event will take place on Saturday, April 2nd at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.

The event will be held all in one day, with two separate sessions - the first session running from 1-4 p.m. and the second going from 6-9 p.m. Event-goers will able to taste and purchase the New York Region's premiere wines with live music, food from local area restaurants, and vendors on the scene as well.

"The Lilly Family

Today marks the first day of a week-long celebration of good food at unbeatable prices throughout Western New York. Buffalo food lovers are invited to come out and support their local restaurateurs, try some new places and get their fill of all the great food our city has to offer.

From March 28 through April 3, 200 independently owned, local restaurants will be showcasing samples of their tastiest meals for just $21.11.  Each restaurant will be offering its own special deal, some promoting dinners for two, others multi-course meals for one.  One can view the full list of participating

Although this tiny cafe (three seats and one table) might possibly be the smallest cafe in the country, it makes up for its small size with its aromatic intrigue. Upon stopping into the West Side Bazaar (learn more) to pick up a Burmese satchel, I noticed cafe hosts Munir and Asmahan (lead photo) preparing Sudanese coffee towards the back of the room. Munir inquired as to whether I had ever had the pleasure of tasting Qahwa (Sudanese coffee), and I shook my head. He then explained that I had the option of ordering Qahwa

If someone was looking for a good place to open a late-night hot dog joint, then the west end of Allen Street might just be the best place to do it. When Lagniappes' owner Chris Silverstein decided to expand into a larger location (see French Quarter Cafe), he wisely held onto the original grab-n-go spot in order to establish Lucky Dogs. In true Silverstein fashion, the menu at Lucky Dogs is nothing short of fast food amazingness. Take a gander at the retro-style menu board and you will find an ode to Allentown

Southern barbecue is heading to Allen Street once again. Nadia's Taste of Soul is moving into the former Falafel Bar location, and with it comes one of the city's more fiery personalities - Chef/Owner Guy Lane. According to Guy, he's been delivering exceptional barbecue around town for a while, and at this point there's nobody out there who can hold a candle to his cooking. "I'm not going to give you my secrets," Guy told me. "I can tell you that my award winning country back ribs are cooked three different ways in one day. They're cooked and cooked and cooked."

Nadia's plans on delivering

There has been a buzz going around for a while regarding a different type of pizzeria opening in the city. Just this past weekend I had a friend visit from NYC who told me how much he loved Buffalo style pizza, and we all know that there are plenty of places to get that around the city. But whenever a conversation arises on BRO about pizza, there is a contingent of people who lose their minds... ranting and raving about a mystical pizza that continues to elude those ravenous for a classic brick oven style version that can only be found in NYC. Has that day finally come? Is the Elmwood Village about

On Friday, April 1, locations worldwide will be celebrating an intersection of the literary and culinary worlds with the International Edible Book Festival.  Here in Buffalo, the Western New York Book Arts Center will be hosting their third annual Edible Book event from 5 to 8 p.m.
 
Book, art and food lovers are invited to submit their edible books or simply join the rest of the crowd in viewing (and later eating) the different submissions on exhibit.  There will be three categories for submissions: Professional, amateur and junior

I rarely drive down Main Street these days, but I happened to be zipping down Main one night a few weeks ago when my eye was caught by a glow coming from The Eights Bistro.  I remembered seeing a brief mentioning of this new restaurant (back story) a few months ago, but I hadn't heard much about it since then.  Making a mental

I was recently checking out Buffalo Spree's article on WNY eligibles.  A number of the Buffalo Sabres were featured and from what I remember, all but one listed Encore as a favorite restaurant in WNY.  This is pretty impressive considering a majority of the players live in the burbs.  I hang my lid right around the corner from Encore (have been there many nights for drinks) so I decided to check out their cuisine on a recent Tuesday evening.
 
I was welcomed by Mike Greco and must say that after a few minutes of Q&A and a couple 'apps', Encore elevated from a hidden

Amongst several international markets on Grant Street, one can find The African Market Center & Deli.  This store provides imported groceries and 100 percent Halal meats (permissible under Islamic dietary guidelines) at reasonable prices.  It can be a great market to wander if you like making meals from scratch and want to do some experimenting with different ingredients.
 
They provide a wide variety of grains and spices.  You can find pasta, basmati rice, whole corn, white corn hominy, and juwar flour.  Juwar, which is also known as sorghum, is a staple

After being closed for about a week, Cafe 59 has reopened under new ownership. If you're familiar with Cafe 59, that might come as a bit of a shock considering that the cafe had pretty much been coasting along, relatively unchanged, for years. A couple years back, the previous owner expanded the footprint of the restaurant, but the food remained the same all the while. "That's not what we're about," owner Chris Connolly told me. "You'll notice that the menu has changed along with operations... we're even going to extend the hours. We're opening earlier in the morning (7am) and we're looking at

While I'm sure that the Sunday morning scene at the Cozumel Grill is a far cry from that of Saturday night, it's still worth your while to stop by and grab some late morning brunch.
 
The interior of the restaurant is warm and inviting, with all-brick floors and walls that are covered with fun, colorful décor.  There's plenty of seating between the dining room and the bar, where you can always catch Sunday's game on the big screen. I'm sure that once Buffalo's seemingly eternal winter finally does come to an end, the outdoor patio is probably a great spot to relax on a Sunday.
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Last Thursday marked the opening of the West Side Bazaar. After hearing about the possibility of an international market opening for years, I had almost given up hope that the day would ever come. Thanks to a dedicated group of enthusiasts, comprised mainly of volunteers from the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI), a handful of budding businesspeople now have the opportunity to learn about real life economic enterprise. The West Side Bazaar operates out of a 600 sq.' space in close proximity to Guercio's on Grant Street. Although small in

Last Friday, a friend and I headed down to Virginia Place to try out Scarlet's eclectic cuisine after hearing some good things about the restaurant.

The atmosphere inside this renovated Allentown carriage house is very cozy.  Scarlet was honored with a building beautification award by the Allentown Historic Society in 2007, and it's easy to see why. The entire interior is brick-walled, with small, suspended lighting fixtures and a pair of stone fountains on the wall.  There is plenty of seating between the two floors.  There is a bar on the main floor that offers a great

As much as I was sad to see Fiddleheads go, it's a relief to see the corner of Allen and Franklin filled so quickly. The new restaurant taking over the location is going to be called Atmosphere @ 62, which is being touted as an American fine dining establishment. The interior is being remodeled in preparation for what will be a white linen tablecloth, candle lit eatery serving steaks, pastas, fish, etc.

Atmosphere 62 is the creation of owners David Stahl and Brian Szkatulski, who recently experienced a major setback when their restaurant in Gowanda (Atmosphere @ 31) was destroyed by

The Academy Awards ceremony is in just two days and Buffalo Rising will be hosting an Oscar Party at Sample Restaurant to celebrate the occasion. 
Adam Goetz, Owner and Chef at Sample Restaurant, has created a menu for the party inspired by Wolfgang Puck's menu for this year's Governors Ball.  Adam, in case you don't know, is one of Buffalo's Nickel City Chefs. The Oscar Party menu will include: 
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Does Elmwood need a new chocolate shop? Dare I venture to say, "Yes"? Now before you counter me, let me ask you if you've ever paid a visit to Chow Chocolat on Main Street. If you have, then you might know Jaclyn (photo left with Liz Tupper) and Scott Wisz and their passion for sweets. What you might not know is that after 3 1/2 years of business on Main Street, the two have decided to spread their wings a bit. They have made a decision to open a satellite location in the former Lu Modern location where they are really going to get down to mouth-watering business.

Ultimately, Jaclyn

I was a fan of Niagara Seafood when the market first came onto the scene. Having a fresh seafood purveyor on the West Side is convenient... and now seafood lovers can stop in to pick up prepared meals to take home, or sit down in the market-style cafe seating area. When I first learned that the business was going to be offering lunch and dinner, I was hoping that the menu would consist of more than the standard fish fry (always the easy way out). I was happy to discover that the take-out selections