Coming from Poland as an immigrant when she was just eleven years old, Ania Duchon— now the owner of multiple eateries around Buffalo including the newly opened Queen City Pizza— never thought her life would lead her down this path, according to her vice president of sales and marketing, Peter Zlotkowski. Duchon owns multiple popular spots in Buffalo, including Chrusciki Bakery, Sto Lat Bar, and now Queen City Pizza, along with Pierogi Pete’s— a reinvention of their restaurant Simply Pierogi that is opening next month. But her newest opening, Queen City Pizza, is gaining popularity with locals. Located on Sheridan…
Author: Julia Barth
Buffalo’s East side is home to some of the city’s most hidden gems, including shops, bars, and restaurants. But one restaurant that is not-so-hidden any longer is Park Vue Soul Food, owned by mother-daughter duo Harrita West and Schenita Williams. Serving up classic soul food dishes to the community Thursdays through Sundays, Park Vue didn’t always have their phones ringing non-stop. West, who worked in banking for 28 years, as well as her mother Williams, who is a teacher and has been for 47 years, said that the taking off point for their restaurant was when the popular Food Network…
Situated on Main Street in Tonawanda is the restaurant Guud & Evul, a vegan eatery opened in September of 2021 by Shawn Mereau, a classically-trained chef who has been vegan for years. The idea sprouted between Mereau and his co-founder, Clarence Middlebrook (who sadly passed away in December), on the way back from a 2019 trip to Arkansas. “We were both vegan and there was absolutely nothing to eat. We were actually going to the grocery store to buy fruits and vegetables,” Mereau said. “It started out as kind of a joke.” But before they knew it, they had an…