The Buffalo Room
Tasty bison burgers and wings at new Buffalo Room
This is what Stewart Mednick doesn’t have in his new place, the Buffalo Room: a microwave, foam carry-out trays; and pork. This is what he does have: tasty bison burgers; a choice of 21 sauces for his “Wings of the World”; and the most delicious, unusual, tender, juicy pulled sirloin steak sandwich we’ve ever had.
The Buffalo Room is narrow and deep, with an open kitchen in the middle of the space and a few tables, with most of the seating at a long counter along the edge. Mednick has decorated the place with autographed guitars and sports memorabilia from his own collection. Mednick may be the ultimate hands-on owner, greeting patrons and sharing his memories of Ralph’s, the Hertel Avenue eatery operated for years by his grandparents, Ralph and Bertha.
The menu is so focused that Ruth, Dan, John and I sampled everything on it without even trying. Besides the wings ($7.99 single, up to a bucket of 50 for $26.99) there are tenders, similar to chicken fingers but with a sturdier breading ($8.99, served with Buffalo tots, potato nuggets that can be ordered plain or spicy); the pulled sirloin sandwich ($7.99); two kinds of bison burgers ($6.99 or $7.88 with blue cheese); a chicken salad, which is tenders over mixed greens, tomatoes and onions ($6.99); and, by far the best deal, the Buffalo Room combo, which contains wings, tenders, a full-size pulled sirloin sandwich and a side order of tots for $10.99.
The sauce types range from Korean BBQ and Zesty Orange to Mexicana, Italiano, Sweet and Spicy Plum and Curry. We sampled several on both wings and tenders and found them subtly flavored, with a slight, tasty sweetness in many. The Orange Mandarin Ginger sauce was a particularly complex mix.
If you don’t like your wings saucy, you might want to stick with the classic mild, medium, hot or “blizzard warning.” The wings themselves are medium to large, not too fatty and cooked perfectly. The tenders were much more heavily breaded than the menu indicated, but they were tasty and crisp, rather than greasy.
The bison burger was juicy and tasty, but the pulled sirloin sandwich drew raves. Piled high on a plain bun, the beef was delicious and juicy, incredibly tender and flavorful. A dab of barbecue sauce —which can save dry, chewy meat—was utterly unnecessary. The leftovers go home in an old-style foil tray.
We’ll definitely go back to this one.
The Buffalo Room is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily except Sunday, when it is closed. It is handicapped-accessible.
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