| Price:$$ |
Decor: Bar and
Grill casual |
| Summary: Birthplace of
Buffalo Wings |
 (3
crabs out of 5) |
Of all buffalo wing fans, there are a few
truly bold souls who have braved miles and miles of American highway
to sample the restaurant that created their distinctive taste.
Paul and I recently joined that daring-and some might say obsessive-group
of culinary explorers.
That's right, we drove all the way to Buffalo, New York to sample
their famous wings in their birthplace, the Anchor Bar. (OK, so
we saw Niagara Falls and the Butterfly Conservancy too. There
has to be something in between meals, right?)
It's as seedy a place as you might imagine the ultimate guy food
would be born in-smokey and a little dark, with deafening jazz
entertaining a somewhat inebriated clientele. Maybe they are resting
on their laurels a little but our waitress was not in any hurry
to get to us. For minutes on end, we had to observe others with
their platterfuls of orange-red goodness, in some cases with circular
stands a foot off the table full of the wings (later, we saw those
ambitious but ultimately incompetent wing eaters shoveling them
into a box.)
When finally ours made their appearance, Paul actually pish-awed
the supposed spicey kick of those patriarchal appetizer, but that
might be my fault, since I insisted on "medium" level.
He got a side of "hot" but apparantly that, too, wasn't
up to snuff.
But we both loved the plump meat clinging to the bones, and the
crispy folds of chewy skill dripping with sauce. Piled up high
on a plate, they were so inviting one could easily see how their
progency spread like wildfire across U.S. restaurant tables. They
blended perfectly with the bleu cheese, but evidently sparse portions
of the dressing started here as well-there was only one little
tub, and extras were 75 cents.
Paul- pizza rolls-They were just egg rolls with pepperoni
and cheese instead of Chinese filling. Like a deep fried pizza.
Karen: I always thought that's what pizza needed, deep-frying.
Paul: $3.75 for three-I thought it was a little expensive for
what you get. For some reason I was expecting something a little
more inventive.
Karen: True, but one can understand them being cocky about their
appetizers-pardon the pun.
Paul: Potato stuffed things-huge, with cheese & bacon. But
potato itself was pretty dry.
Karen: I needed a salad to go with the mounds of fried foods,
so I got a chicken caesar. Although it wasn't complicated at all,
it came just how I like it: lettuce in small bite-sized bits slathered
in dressing, with crunchy croutons and julienned chicken. Aside
from one piece with gristle, it was a fresh indulgence.
So in the end, The Anchor was a good if fairly unremarkable pub
restaurant-the prices were what you'd expect, maybe a little higher,
and their wait stuff needs to show a little more hustle. But while
other pubs may have taken the buffalo wing concept and run with
it (See: Bill Bateman's), it was an enriching experience to rediscover
the mother of all wings in their home city.
Reviewed-June 2002
| $$$$$-over 20 dollars |
| $$$$-15 to 20 dollars |
| $$$-11 to 15 dollars |
| $$-5 to 11 dollars |
| $-Below 5 |