Taste Of Western New York Comes To Church Avenue
Hearty food from our neighbors to the north will be here very soon.
Buffalo’s Famous, a “Quick Service” restaurant, specializing in food imported from and inspired by Buffalo and Western New York, will be opening at 1111 Church Avenue in early May.
The Church Avenue storefront, between Stratford and Westminster Roads, previously housed Nine Chains Bakery and Café.
“This is a small business,” not a corporate chain, stress owners and Buffalo natives Matthew Fortune and John Marren. Their objective has been to emulate the type of food venues they say work so well in a smaller city like Buffalo.
“Buffalo is a food city with established food brands and dishes that are known for great taste and great value – simple food made with love, served with a smile at a great price,” Fortune and Marren said in a statement.
“We are excited to bring that combination to our neighborhood because we truly believe that there is a desire for it here in Brooklyn,” they added.
Both Fortune and Marren attended Brooklyn College and have lived in the Ditmas Park area for eight years. They teamed up with local restauranteur Avraham Shuker — owner of Mimi’s Hummus, The Castello Plan and Lea Brooklyn — to return to their roots, the food of Western New York that they grew up on.
Fortune has been working as Mimi’s financial manager, and Marren manages Mimi’s Hummus Market.
The new restauranteurs plan to prepare Western New York staples “as traditionally as possible.” Buffalo’s Famous will feature “authentic” Buffalo-style chicken wings, ranging from mild to extra hot and barbecue.
Because the Church Avenue space has such limited seating, Fortune and Marren say they have focused on the quick take-out favorites of Western New York, with an emphasis on “pricing things right for the neighborhood.”
Also on offer at Buffalo’s Famous —
- Beef on Weck (hot roast beef sandwich on a carraway and salted Kaiser roll)
- Chicken Fingers tossed in sauce and served with fries or as a sandwich
- Home-made blue cheese
- Pierogis
- Rochester’s famed Garbage Plate (a pile of fries, coleslaw or macaroni salad, burgers, dogs, fingers, and meat sauce)
- Sahlen’s Hot Dogs (“hands down the most popular dog in Buffalo”)
- Chiavettas (chicken barbecue marinade)
- Weber’s Mustard and Hot Relish (regional horseradish mustard)
- PJ’s Famous Crystal Beach Loganberry Pop (yes pop, not soda)
- “A Buffalo legend” – Perry’s Ice Cream. Buffalo’s Famous will offer 6 flavors and over 50 different milkshake options.
And though it won’t be made in Buffalo, Fortune and Marren say they toiled to produce an “amazingly flavorful” and affordable burger. That alone sounds worth trying.