All Things Buffalo

BUFFALO, NY: A city that gets an awful reputation from ignorant folk who think the character of a city is based around the success of its sports teams and its yearly winter forecast. Well, the truth is, Buffalo has more personality than most modern day bustling metropolises. Being an avid traveler around most parts of the US (lolz), I am perfectly qualified to say that Buffalo is the cream of the crop. South Dakota, Northeast Philly, Nebraska, Las Vegas? You ain't got shit on Buff. The failure of its sports teams and below average winter temperatures only unite Buffalonians more, and, along with a slew of other amazing qualities, create a place I'm proud to call home. An underrated gem in the westernmost part of New York state, the Queen City straight up r00lz . So this post is dedicated to All Things Buffalo...or at least a few things Buffalo, and a million reasons why you should give the city a chance. After a brief two week visit back to the motherland, I've once again got Buffalo fever flowing through my veins...and plenty of blue cheese, beer, and hot sauce, too.

Isn't she a beaut!?

Noobs to the Rough Buff are always asking, "What is there to do in Buffalo?" Um, duh. Everything. What is there to do in any city? Eat amazing food, drink excessively, spend a few hours of your afternoon in a foreign country. ...Oh wait. I could write a fucking novel about everything exciting Buffalo has to offer, but I'll just stick to the few highlights that I managed to capture on film.

1. Food
Buffalo has mastered the art of one of the most deadly combinations ever created by mankind: hot sauce and blue cheese. This might actually beat out pickles and peanut butter for my favorite food combination. And that is quite the accomplishment. You literally can't say you've been to Buffalo if you've never been to Jim's Steakout. Token drunk food, but SO much more.

This picture obviously doesn't do it justice, but a chicken finger sub has been, at some point in every Buffalonian's life, his or her favorite food. I took a vegetarian hiatus just for this bad boy. And it was worth every fucking bite. Other cities try to recreate this masterpiece, with "chicken tender hoagies" and other bullshit, but literally nothing compares. Deep fried chicken soaked in hot sauce on bread with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and blue cheese (if you get mayo instead you're fucking nasty and need hand over your Jim's reward card STAT)...heavenly.

Conveniently, located right across the street is another favorite hot sauce/blue cheese destination: ETS. Although they're best known for their cheap Mexican food, ETS has the best waffle fries on the face of the earth. Add a side of Frank's hot sauce and blue cheese to that, and you're fucking golden. This Buffalo staple has been trademarked by none other than Stephanie Tran and myself, and is most commonly known as the "Trib & Stib Combo." Hell to the yes. I'm sure ETS will be adding this to the menu in the near future, no bigs. It's the perfect sober OR drunk food (and that, my friends, is rare), and is especially delicious after raiding the Gartners' fridge and finishing off the last of Drawde's Peanut Butter Swirl ice cream. Sup thickness? My mouth is watering.

I could go on forever about all the bomb ass food Buffalo has to offer, but I won't. Hot sauce and blue cheese is just the tip of the iceberg, obviously. But it's also my favorite and the most relevant to Trish the Dish...because my opinion is all that matters here. Everyone already knows Buffalo has the best chicken wings in the world, that's why people everywhere else call them "Buffalo wings." We were also pretty much the pioneers of Wegmans, and look how that's taken off. Not to mention...Tim Horton's? Mighty Taco? The possibilities are endless.

2. Drink
I'll make this brief. Buffalonians know how to drink. You can buy alcohol at pretty much any store that has a door on the hinge. Bars are open until 4am, sometimes later. Most bars per capita than any other city. Liquor stores are open late. Pretty much everyone is drinking or drunk all of the time. We know what's up, and we don't fuck around.

3. Exotic Getaways
I know this post is about all things Buffalo, but you can't talk about Buffalo without mentioning our friendly neighbors to the north, America's hat, Canada.

While I was home, I found out a fun fact: the distance from my front door to Canada? Three miles. Are you kidding me? How fucking cool is that?! Growing up in Buffalo, you never realize how awesome it is that you literally live on the border of two countries. People from different parts of the US have no concept that you can go to Canada for dinner, to go to the beach, for a weekend at your lake house (the Hamptons of Buffalo? I think so), or just to stock up on Cuban cigars. And we completely take this for granted. Hell, you can buy codeine over-the-counter in Canada...what's not to love about that? Canadians may be slow...in SO many ways, but they're pretty friendly, and the babs at the border love to let us into their country at the blink of an eye. Wish I could say the same for the asssholes at customs on the way back... America, step your game up. Hire some fine young men to work the border for me to bat my lashes at and flash my super cute passport pic to. The old farts there now take their jobs way too seriously. Yes, I'm a hungover hot mess trying to drive as fast as possible home so I can crash and burn in my own bed. No, I'm not hiding a weapon of mass destruction in the back seat of my Vibe.

If you're still not sold on taking a brief detour to the exotic and super swanky Canadia, I'll let this picture do the talking...

Poutine...Canada's gift to the rest of the world. French fries, cheese curds, gravy...Amen.

If you've never been to Buffalo, you're seriously missing out. Ten minutes from Niagara Falls, the honeymoon capital of the world ;). Literally on the border of Canada (just don't forget your passport...). The best food. The best people. The most fun. The birthplace of everyone's favorite blogger...

Much love, peepz.