Davison Road Inn & Smokin' Little Diner

My New Favorite Steak Sandwich & BBQ for Breakfast

This week I’m sharing my experiences at two new [to me] restaurants from the past two weeks, the first in Lockport and the second in Depew.

A few weeks ago we lost The Pink/The Pink Flamingo in a devastating fire. I wrote about it here: In Memory. Being new to the Buffalo area these past few years, Jeff had never been there, so I found myself explaining to him what The Pink was to the community and how they were known for their steak sandwiches. All that talk about steak sandwiches put us in the mood for one.

A search of our to-try list revealed the perfect opportunity to both satisfy those cravings and scratch one more restaurant off our list. We headed out to Davison Road Inn at 383 Davison Road in Lockport.

A local institution since the 70s, Davison Road Inn came under new ownership in 2007. They offer a full menu including appetizers, soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches, wings, steak, seafood, Sunday brunch, and over two dozen draft beers at the bar. During the summer months, one can choose to dine outside on the back patio.

We came hungry, ordered too much food, and took plenty to go home. Jeff ordered the D.R.I. Rub Burger, a hand-pressed patty seasoned with a homemade dry rub, topped with bacon and honey glazed onions. I ordered the open steak sandwich, an 8 oz. NY Strip steak with melted provolone cheese on garlic toast. Any time you put something on garlic toast, I’m sold. The steak was lean with hardly any fat and came cooked to temp as ordered. Jeff’s burger was also served medium-rare, as ordered, a request we find rarely satisfied when ordering burgers.

The sandwiches were huge, but because they came served with only chips, we also ordered some appetizers as sides. One thing I cannot resist, other than sandwiches served on garlic toast, are potato skins as they seem to be a rare find these days. The plate included two large potatoes, halved, topped with cheddar cheese and bacon. We also ordered a side of beer battered onion rings. We took half of each order home.

View more pics from this dining experience at Open Till Four’s Instagram page.

Davison Road Inn is located on the far east side of Lockport near another favorite of ours, The Village Eatery. Both are a little drive if you don’t live in the immediate area but both are worth it. We will definitely be back.

The second restaurant that I recently experienced for the first time was The Smokin' Little Diner at 4870 Broadway in Depew. Our good friends were the ambassadors for this breakfast when we met here upon their recommendation, this past weekend.

I cannot believe that this mash-up of an adorable 50’s diner with a BBQ joint, flew under my radar for this long.

In addition to all-day breakfast (Tues - Sun), The Smokin’ Little Diner offers lunch and dinner (Tues - Sat) featuring BBQ classics such as pulled pork, pulled chicken, brisket, ribs, and wings. Order your favorites as a sandwich or a platter with your choice of classic BBQ sides or pile that meat atop an order of mac n cheese.

We were visiting for breakfast, but I couldn’t resist the temptation of BBQ and paid a few extra bucks to upgrade the meat in my breakfast sandwich to pulled pork.

The Smokin’ little diner offers a variety of sauce options from Some Great BBQ Sauce Co. I started my sampling with the original variety but the nine options included Apple Chipotle, Bourbon Street, and Fire-Berry, just to name a few.

I have been informed that their homemade pies and cheesecake are not to be missed. Next time.