The Buffalo News: Dining

Dining

Club Watch: Doc Sullivan’s a South Buffalo mainstay: BY TOM WATERS

Special to The News

Updated: 11/14/08 8:42 AM; It was a frosty evening, and I had green hair (for holiday-related parties) when we shuffled into South Buffalo mainstay Doc Sullivan’s. If I was going to blend in with the hair, I suppose that an Irish bar was the place to do it. There was a Sabres game on (along with a wedding rehearsal dinner), and the place was mobbed. A wall of small talk permeated the bar, and the lone bartender (Tommy) was doing a bang-up job of keeping pace with the legion of drink orders as he pinballed back and forth along every end of the rectangular bar.

Dove: Home of tempting dishes, surprises: BY JANICE OKUN

News Restaurant Reviewer

Updated: 11/14/08 10:56 AM; A warm ambience pervades at the Dove Restaurant. It’s warmly decorated and, even on a Monday evening, full of neighborhood folks who all seem to know each other. Maybe it was the wine tasting in the barroom that drew them; maybe it was the specially priced dinner served early in the evening.

Cheap Eats: Bargain fish fry at the Blue Wall: Updated: 11/14/08 8:35 AM; The Blue Wall, located in that little grid of streets just beyond Cazenovia Golf Course, is actually in West Seneca. But you can hit Buffalo with a rock from its front door. But there’s another, more pressing question about the Blue Wall: How can they possibly afford to offer buy-one-get-one-free fish fries from noon to 8 p. m. on Fridays?

Bistro Europa: Sure-to-please Old World cuisine: BY JANICE OKUN

News Restaurant Reviewer

Updated: 11/07/08 10:01 AM; Is Bistro Europa the smallest restaurant in Western New York? It’s certainly in the running, and I hereby nominate it. It boasts no more than 10 tables clustered around the not-very-large bar. No wonder it takes no reservations — although our server did advise that if you call the place once you’re actually on the way, they “put you on the list.”

Premier Cafe: Sandwiches with a special touch: By Anne Neville

News Staff Reporter

Updated: 11/07/08 10:03 AM; Two sets of words I never thought I’d write: “Cheap eats” and “Premier Gourmet.” But yes! The market known for its upscale products is the site of an order-at-the-counter cafe that offers reasonably priced soups and sandwiches made with the same ingredients sold inside.

Where to eat / Restaurant reviews in brief: Updated: 11/02/08 6:34 AM; Following are some restaurants visited by News restaurant reviewers. New restaurant reviews appear monthly in Niagara Weekend. Look for the next one next Sunday.

Thai House: High quality Hamburg dining: BY JANICE OKUN

News Restaurant Reviewer

Updated: 10/31/08 11:57 AM; The sign says Thai House, sure. And that’s sort of a surprise when you pull up at this new restaurant. Thai House is sited in what was obviously an old-time tavern, the kind of building that was once ubiquitous here in Western New York.

Cheap Eats: Any meal, at any time, at Greek to Me in Tonawanda: Updated: 10/31/08 10:24 AM; While most people order food they think they’d like to eat, on Cheap Eats jobs I order food I’d like to write about. That’s how I wound up with Elvis-stuffed french toast at Daisies in Lackawanna, which I still sometimes daydream about.

Dining review: Crazy Jake’s causes a stir in North Tonawanda: BY JANICE OKUN

News Restaurant Reviewer

Updated: 10/24/08 11:31 AM; Crazy Jake’s has become a real center of excitement in North Tonawanda. It has been open for only a couple of months, but it has had about 10 months’ worth of action. And no wonder.

Cheap Eats: Moonbeam burger at Ray’s Tavern: BY ANNE NEVILLE

News Staff Reporter

Updated: 10/24/08 11:20 AM; I’d heard a couple of things about Ray’s Tavern in Youngstown: Go early, because it can get crowded, and try the burger. So Ruth, John and I combined an afternoon search for pumpkins with a spin along Lake Road that ended at Ray’s a few minutes after 4 p.m., which is when the kitchen opens. And sure enough, by the time we walked out at the still-early hour of 5 p. m., the 15-table dining room was beginning to fill up. The room has a lot of lakeside charm, with light wood paneling and dozens of pictures of lighthouses set off by other nautical touches.

Good food at a price that’s right: By Mike Kurilovitch

NIAGARA RESTAURANT CRITIC

Updated: 10/12/08 7:16 AM; WILSON — My first thought upon glancing at the menu at The Nook was something like, “When did we teleport onto the set of The Price Is Right?”

Wi-tini: Martini bar expands into elegant dining: BY JANICE OKUN News Restaurant Reviewer

Updated: 10/10/08 12:04 PM; Wi-tini’s is a small, freestanding restaurant. It opened first as a martini bar — and it still has a busy bar scene with a thick, 40-plus martini menu — but then it expanded, opening an adjacent dining space. That space is modestly furnished but attractive, with a good-looking wood floor and quirky light fixtures.