Niagara Café for Puerto Rican Food
Visiting another favorite for comforting cuisine
Last week’s post about visits to two of my favorite restaurants got me thinking about an old favorite to which I hadn’t been in some time. So we paid them a visit this past weekend. Niagara Café at 252 Niagara Street has been an institution on Buffalo’s west side for Puerto Rican cuisine since 1992.
Back when I lived and worked in the city, I didn’t have much money for eating out. That is when I discovered Niagara Café’s lunch specials, available 11am - 2pm, weekdays only. Beef stew, roasted pork, or a quarter chicken served with a hearty serving of rice and a cup of beans became a monthly lunch treat for me. Today, the lunch specials are priced at $9.50 but back then they were even less expensive and the quantity of food received for that price was enough for two meals (still is). Because we were visiting on the weekend, the lunch specials were not available. But I was able to enjoy my favorites from the Puerto Rican dinner menu.
The pulled roasted pork (pernil) is incredibly tender and juicy. The equally tender chicken is cooked on a rotisserie and available in quarters, a half chicken, or the whole bird. A family package, currently offered at $25, includes a whole chicken and a large side of rice and beans.
Appetizers offered include tostones and maduros, plantain chips and sweet plantains respectively and relleno de papa, a vessel made of potato dough, filled with seasoned beef and deep-fried with crisp breaded exterior.
My favorites are the pastellios, a deep-fried meat pie/turnover filled with beef, chicken, or sometimes other fillings. I feel that Niagara Café has the best pastellios, spoiling me for all others much like the scallion pancake at Chin Hills or the homefries at Nick’s Place on Elmwood, that I wrote about last week. I might be biased because Niagara Café’s pastellios are the first pastellios I ever tasted, but Jeff does agree.
Niagara Café is a CASH ONLY establishment, so bring the green or plan on using that plastic at the ATM onsite.
While on the subject of Puerto Rican/Latino cuisine, I’m hoping a reader out there can assist me in my quest for Pastelón. Almost a decade ago, this dish appeared at a work pot luck and I fell in love. I never did find out who made it and I have been unable to find any restaurant with it on their menu. I googled a recipe and tried making it myself once with minimal success.
Our regular stomping grounds include, Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, and occasionally Monore county. If anyone knows of place serving this coveted dish, please let me know. If you have a recipe you’d be willing to share, I’m also opening to giving it another shot, making it at home.