Buffalo Rising Online

Nov 26th 2007, 12:37pm By queenseyes

While heading down Tonawanda Street yesterday I could not believe this wonderful looking restaurant sitting on the corner of Hertel. Had we not just eaten breakfast I would have swung around to try it out. Instead, I decided to come back today… and that’s where I’m writing this post from. I just met Samir, the owner of Emily’s Restaurant (named after his mother), who tells me that he makes the meanest potato pancakes in the city. The interior of the eatery is a mix between a country kitchen and a roadside diner. There are barstools where you can sit and watch the kitchen activity (like the old Pano’s), or you can grab private booth or you can even enjoy family-style four-top seating.

Looking out of the windows onto the corner of Hertel and Tonawanda, it is nice to see the red brick crosswalks that have been added, thus making the corner a little more walker-friendly. And if it weren’t for the one corner parking lot the entire four-corner intersection would be very quaint. On the far corner, a new drycleaner has a sign on the building announcing its 'Grand Opening'.

Emily’s Restaurant has only been open for one year… previously it was called Amelia’s. Actually, even though ‘Sam’ took over the restaurant he still hands out a menu with Amelia’s Family Restaurant printed at the top. The menu is a hodgepodge of Greek and American foods catering to the hungry, the health conscious (with a small lo-cal section), kids (any place that serves Mickey Mouse pancakes is OK in my book), and breakfast, lunch and dinner-goers.

As advertised on the windows, there are all sorts of fun specials ranging from ‘Buy a dinner and get a dessert free’ or ‘Buy four Texas Hots and get one free’. That means that it would be a great place for the college kids too… cheap eats with free add-ons.

Halfway through my breakfast I was introduced to Samir’s wife and business partner, Jocelyne. She wanted to talk about the business – “We’re working on the redoing the menu at this time,” she said. “We’ll be adding Polish sausage and breakfast specials. I make all of the homemade specials – lunches and dinners as well as homemade desserts. We remodeled the entire restaurant two weeks before the holidays last year. We wanted to have it ready for the Christmas season. It was totally different before we took over. Now the clientele comes all the way from North Tonawanda because they like our food. We remodeled the building because we’re proud of the neighborhood and we’re trying to make a difference. We would like to see more people come in from outside of the neighborhood to see what we’re doing here. On Sundays we get a lot of people from the nearby churches. Everybody who comes loves our food.”

This is still a close, friendly neighborhood. When the mailman walked in he said “hello” to everyone and called them all by name… that’s pretty cool.

Emily’s Family Restaurant – Black Rock - 183 Hertel Avenue (Corner of Hertel and Tonawanda Street) 716-871-5991

And don't forget that the Viking Lobster Company is just down the street!