A breakfast-lunch-dinner birthday celebration has never been a family tradition, but may be about to become one. Family Birthday celebrations have always involved a dining out element, and this year for my birthday, we took it a step further.
Saturday lunch initiated the celebration with some classic Buffalo Wings from Bar-Bill, on everybody’s top 5 list of best wings in Buffalo. Crispy on the outside and hot and juicy on the inside, Bar-Bill always does wings right. We visited the Bar-Bill North location on Main Street in Clarence, NY. It’s not hard to find good wings in Western New York, and it’s not hard to find not so good wings as well. Bar-Bill is classic, as is Duffs, and several other businesses produce consistently excellent wings. One of the most famous wing locations, and arguably the place where Buffalo Wings were created, Anchor Bar, doesn’t seem to find it’s way onto the Best Wings in Buffalo lists. We were there a few months back and wings were actually pretty good. Unfortunately over the years the experience hadn’t bee great as often the wings came out crispy on the outside, dry on the inside.
More people would choose ranch dressing over blue cheese when ordering a salad, but for wings, blue cheese is the perfect accompaniment. Outside of Western New York, ranch seems to be preferred with wings, and I no longer try to make the argument with friends and family that blue cheese is the true and very best choice.
We also ordered an appetizer of cajun loaded fries, which was very good. We also had another Buffalo fave, beef on weck sandwiches. I personally can’t give high marks on the sandwich as the bun was too salty for my taste, and the beef a bit well done. Compared to our favorite place for beef on weck, the Glen Park Tavern, this one was a mediocre offering.
Anyway, if you’re hankering for some great wings, Bar-Bill is always top notch
The second meal of the birthday weekend came a morning later at what is arguably the best Sunday Brunch in Western New York, at the historic Roycroft Inn in East Aurora. The setting is perfect and the food choices on the buffet are always awesome. The carving station featured leg of lamb as well as roast beef and turkey, and other offerings included sausage stuffed turkey, delicious coddled eggs, Belgian Waffles, several salad choices, and lots of dessert choices. Driving from the north towns to the south towns, the drive to the East Aurora and the Roycroft is always worth it.
First opened in 1905, the Roycroft retains all of it’s original charm. Both the exterior and interior transport you back over a century, and the class and charm of the place make it an ideal setting for a meal or even an overnight stay.
Two days later our final birthday destination was to one of the best restaurants in Western New York, Lucia’s On The Lake, on the shores of Lake Erie, in Hamburg. The food at Lucia’s is made to perfection, and the quality of the service is rarely matched. When I think about exceptional service at Western New York restaurants, I think first of Ristorante Lombardo in Buffalo, and secondly of Lucia’s.
Noted here is that the food we ordered at Lucia’s provided dinner for two days as we had plenty of leftovers. We started with appetizer’s, including Lobster Linguini which is actually a meal. We had the Meatball Duo where one of the meatballs was a tomatoey marinara sauce and the other was served with a Gorgonzola cream. The linguini had plenty of lobster, including a whole lobster tail. We also ordered braised pork belly, which was good, but not our most memorable food experience that evening.
The main entree was an 18 oz New York Strip Steak, cooked medium to perfection, served with a Bourbon Butter and sautéed mushrooms. It was delicious.
Covering three days and three meals, it was quite a great way to celebrate a birthday, and we believe has started a new birthday tradition, as we can’t wait to do it again!
