It’s not often that I find myself dining near the border of Riverside and Black Rock, which is a shame considering that the area has so much potential. Recently I was made aware of a relatively new dining establishment by the name of Buffalo Supper Club (BSC). MY buddy Mark Madden opened up a tattoo shop just down the street, around a year ago, and told me that he had stopped in for dinner and drinks and was pleasantly surprised with the place.
Last night four of us hopped in a car and headed over to try out the food at BSC. Before I get into the food and drink aspect, first let me tell you a little bit about the owner. Kyle DeLuca grew up four blocks away from the restaurant, and is a huge advocate of the Black Rock/Riverside area. When I spoke to Kyle, he told me about a number of establishments that had previously occupied the building, including Shenanigans Bar and Grill and The Green Room (more recently). “I always wanted to have a more upscale place to eat and drink along this section of Niagara Street,” Kyle told me. “I’ve done some traveling and knew that I could bring something to the neighborhood that would have great food and drinks, with a nice family-friendly atmosphere. When The Green Room closed I realized that there was an opportunity to open Buffalo Supper Club. At the time, Riverside was known for its pizzerias, but there weren’t many places to sit down, have a drink, watch a Sabres’ game and get the type of food that we’re serving here. This is a blue collar neighborhood. We’re here to offer from scratch food at reasonable prices.”
Looking around the Buffalo Supper Club, it’s clear that there are some nice attributes… and some hills to climb ahead. Rather than sitting at the bar before our meal, we walked directly over to our table in the dining room. The reason for the immediate b-line to our table was that we saw an artist friend, Jessica Saddleson (ArmCandy), working on a mural. Recently, Jessica has been extremely busy around town, painting murals at businesses such as Agave and Epic (more to come on that front).
It didn’t take long for Kyle to walk up to our table to say hi, as we were accompanied by tattoo artist Mark Madden who he had met preciously. As Mark and Kyle chatted, I began to take in my surroundings. The first thing that I noticed about the dining room was how extremely bright it was. A couple of us commented on the brightness, and were told that the lights were already dimmed to the lowest setting. The bar (in the other room) on the other hand, was perfectly lit, and in all fairness we could have sat there, but we wanted to check out Jessica’s work as it was in progress.
Looking around a bit more, I noticed that there were five flatscreens hanging on the walls, four of which were broadcasting the Sabres’ game. The mirrors making up the back bar in the other room made it look like there were even more screens. For sports fans this is a great place to catch a football or hockey game. “We just got our full liquor license,” Kyle pointed out. “Even though we’ve been open since the fall. I want people to think of us as a restaurant where you can get drinks, not as a bar that sells food. We pride ourselves in our food and want people to enjoy the homemade dishes.”
As we talked to Kyle and Jessica, we perused the menu. I asked Kyle what his favorite meal was, and he told me that it was the pan seared herb salmon dinner, topped with mango salsa and served with risotto and sautéed asparagus. That sounded fine to me, so I went with his recommendation. Kyle also suggested that the table order up the fried provolone sticks (not mozzarella), which, according to my wife were “off the hook” delicious. Who would have thought that cheese sticks (haven’t had them in about ten years) could taste so good. We also ordered the pastelillos, which, although were made from scratch were not as good as some of the versions that can be found in Lower West Side neighborhoods along Niagara Street. Mark ordered the chicken parmesan, which he said that he really liked (large dish alert), and his wife Dawn requested the Caesar salad, and that was a hit too (perfect ratio of salad to dressing). It was my wife, however, whose dish was the hit of the night. She couldn’t stop raving about the char-grilled Jerk chicken fingers. She told me that they were, hands down, the best she ever had. She also flipped for her main course, the pollo guisado (chicken stew). She exclaimed repeatedly that the chicken was cooked to perfection, and was seasoned perfectly as well. My salmon was good, but not the winner of the night. The risotto was cooked just the way I like it, but lacked in the flavor department.
All in all, we were very pleased with the dinner offerings and are already talking about heading back to watch a game and try some of the menu items. Hopefully Kyle can figure out how to get the lights to dim properly to help bring the atmosphere down to a nice chill level (similar to the lighting level of the bar). Fortunately, he appears to have figured out one of the hardest aspects of running a restaurant – the food. Apparently the head chef has a solid history at The Cheesecake Factory, as well as at Black and Blue. The atmosphere can always be tweaked, whereas the food department can be less forgiving in this industry. The new mural is a great start to adding some moodiness to the joint. And even though we all drank beer (for the most part), I hear that the cocktails are also a hit with customers.
In the spring, Buffalo Supper Club will bust out a fairly large back patio. In the meantime, anyone living in the Black Rock/Riverside neighborhood should support this restaurant. Kyle is doing a great job pulling together a quality dining experience that will hopefully be around for a long time. It’s nice to see a young guy who cares deeply about his neighborhood, and who obviously understands that he can make a big difference by stepping up and putting out a quality product for everyone to enjoy.
Buffalo Supper Club | 2179 Niagara Street | Buffalo, New York | (716) 875-2939 | Facebook