Author: Paul Gemmati
Have you ever walked down a busy street and stumbled upon a restaurant that you’ve never noticed before? Often we find ourselves missing out on some of the city’s best places to eat, mostly due to a heavily traveled route such as Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo.
Chris’s NY Sandwich Co. is one of the hidden gems that I’m talking about. A work companion and I decided to try the place for the first time, just the other day. Until that point, the place was not on our radar, although I must admit that I was away from Buffalo for 16 years and am still doing some exploring.
Upon walking in, our immediate take on the restaurant was under par mainly due to the décor. The question that we both had, right off the bat, was, “How good can the food really be if the restaurant looks so dated?” The place looked like it was stuck in the early 90s, with pastels and fake foliage. Undeterred, we took our seats and waited for our waitress to arrive. Looking at the menu, we were astonished that there was so much to choose from. Typically, this is another sign that we might be in some trouble, considering the amount of fresh inventory that a restaurant would have to stock in order to prepare all of the menu items. In the end, it was hard to come to a decision, so I ordered the barbecue meatloaf sandwich. My co-worker opted for the panko crusted chicken salad.
It didn’t take long for our meals to arrive, which was understandable because Chris’ caters to an afternoon work crowd that needs to get in and out in a reasonable amount of time. Apparently the restaurant has been a workforce favorite for ages. It’s so busy in fact, that maybe that’s the reason that they have not changed the décor – the owners would have to shut the place down for a spell, leaving their devote customers out in the cold.
As for our meals, our initial question (how would the food be?) was answered when a phenomenal looking dish arrived in front of me. The sandwich looked so delicious that I could not help but text friends and family about how large the portion was. My order was a sizable slice of hot meatloaf slathered up in barbecue sauce. The meatloaf sat between two thick pieces of Italian bread with lots of melted cheese. It was a typical cold day winter day in Buffalo, which helped to make this the perfect meal. The side of tuna macaroni salad that came with my sandwich was incredible on its own. The salad that my co-worker ordered was very large portioned, with panko crusted chicken, mesclun greens, sliced strawberries, honey roasted pecans, feta cheese, and so many more items, all of which added to the creativeness of the dish. It turned out that both of our meals were home runs, which is why I continued texting away about my utter appreciation for the newfound eatery.
One of the things that I most like about Chris’ is the way that they take ordinary sandwich concepts and turn them into their signature menu items. They do this by adding ingredients that you might not expect to find inside, say, a turkey sandwich. From the bread choices (Grain Wheat, Organic Sour Dough Wheat, Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese) to the sandwich toppers (Cripsy Applwood Bacon, Homemade Coleslaw, Fresh Roasted Hot Peppers or Sweet Red Peppers), there are so many incredible options to choose from, making each sandwich a masterpiece.
Seeing that our initial orders were such big hits, I decided to add Chris’ NY Sandwich Co. to my list of favorite lunch spots in Buffalo. Since that initial visit, I have been back a few more times, and can attest that the quality of food is very consistent – something that I find is lacking at a number of other eateries around town. Chris’ serves up hot and cold sandwiches, a plethora of salads, soups, burgers, not to mention that they have daily specials, which I would think would be a daunting task considering the size of the daily menu!
Chris’ has a shorter operating window than most other restaurants because they appeal to the lunchtime work crowd. If you can’t make it to the restaurant during those brief hours, don’t worry. They also offer delivery. If there’s one thing that I can say about Chris’, it’s that the food speaks for itself. And now that I think about it, the 90s are kind of hot once again. Heck, you never know – maybe the décor is back in style. Stranger things have happened. What I am sure of is this – we are all lucky to have an established sandwich shop that serves up such great tasting food that is also reasonably priced. For my money, I believe that it’s one of the best in town.