Unexpectedly Amazing Barbecue Around Buffalo

I grew up searching for authentic barbecue on family road trips to Florida through the Carolinas and Georgia. I have vivid memories of the sweet, tender, and smokey goodness we found at almost every stop. In high school my brother and I graduated to smoking our own meat and fixing our own sauces that always attracted half the neighborhood. After college I started working in Colorado. Every-time I drove across the country I would plan my route around looking for the best brisket and ribs in St. Louis and Kansas City.

So, what’s the barbecue like in Buffalo? Unexpectedly delicious based on the research I’ve been doing. In fact, there’s a newcomer to the local barbecue scene that’s getting rave reviews from publications like National Geographic Traveler. A recent article by Julian Manning called Southern Junction, an Indian Texas barbecue fusion stop in Buffalo, “some of the best barbecue in America.” That statement inspired me to dig a little deeper into my hometown’s barbecue joints. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means but it’s a good place to start.

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Southern Junction

27 Chandler Street, Buffalo / southernjunction.square.site

First and foremost, the flavors here are unique. It is the only Malayali and Texas style fusion food in the country, if not the world. But what really stood out as soon as I opened the giant combo sampler chef-owner Ryan Fernandez prepared was the high quality of the ingredients that you could see and smell even before the first bite. I couldn’t help but try the Brisket Biryani first and the flavors literally jumped off my fork and onto my tongue. The texture and tenderness of the brisket was superb with a hint of Indian spices and not too much smoke. The ribs fell off the bone and exuded a flavor that was familiar yet unusual. The homemade barbecue sauce accented the meats perfectly with a slight tang and sweetness that was not overpowering in the least. The pulled pork had a sauce unlike anything I have ever tasted. We also tried the smokey tikka chicken — smoked chicken marinated in yoghurt and spices in a tikka sauce with a hint of heat served over coconut rice. Southern Junction is located in a refurbished warehouse at 27 Chandler Street that’s a little off the beaten path, yet during my time there a slew of regulars passed in and out. One customer told me to the smoked cauliflower. It was unbelievable. The smoked bacon wrapped stuffed jalapenos were the perfect addition to this wide-ranging platter. The whole meal was rounded out with homemade cardamon cornbread that soothed the jalapeno’s sweet heat.

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La Verdad

Pop-Ups & Catering / Facebook

The truth is La Verdad is delicious. This East Buffalo staple offers authentic smoked barbecue with a touch of gourmet flare. Chatting with chef-owner Vivian Robinson while picking up our meal she talked about her essential secret ingredients: love for food and people. That love is palpable in La Verdad’s offerings. The meats are cooked to perfection, tender, but with a good hint of smoke and excellent seasoning. The burnt ends — the charred tips of a brisket that produce some of the richest flavors of the barbecue world – offered unbelievable flavor. Paired with their homemade bourbon barbecue sauce you have a sure-fire win. The sides we tried included an apple-kale slaw, smoked gouda mac and cheese, Goya rice with a custom sauce, and perfectly moist cornbread. La Verdad is currently in a transition period, but still offering pop-up stops to their mailing list and always available for catering. In 2023, La Verdad plans to open a food truck and a new brick and mortar location. Stay tuned!

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Fat Bob’s Smokehouse

42 Virginia Place, Buffalo & 25 Pine St., East Aurora / fatbobs.com

Fat Bob’s has been serving up consistently good barbecue at their Allentown location since 1999. They recently opened a second location at 42 North Brewing Co. in East Aurora. Their menu offers the standard barbecue fare like ribs, chicken, pork and brisket slow cooked in their custom Texas style smoker. Having eaten at the restaurant several times before, I opted to catch the food truck and try some slow smoked deliciousness on wheels. Anytime I try a barbecue spot I always go for a combination platter to sample as much of the menu as possible. At the Fat Bob’s Food Truck I got a pulled pork and brisket combo platter with their mac and cheese and collard greens. The pulled pork had great texture and flavor. The brisket was delicious with a great tasting rub. All of their sauces and sides are home-made and it definitely showed. The mac and cheese was superb and the collard greens knocked my socks off – maybe even stealing the show. A quick look at their dine-in menu also shows some excellent Creole-inspired varieties such as blackened shrimp, gumbo, and a Creole salad along with smokehouse nachos, four “Mac Bowls” (Memphis, Texas, Atlanta, and Buffalo), and a barbecue twist on a local favorite: brisket on weck. All of which warrant a return trip to this iconic Buffalo spot.

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Ike & BG’s Restaurant

1646 Genesee St. Buffalo / ikebgsrestaurant.com

Ike & BG’s Restaurant has been a community staple since 1998. Founded by the late Isaac Gray and his wife Bettie “BG” Gray, Ike & BG’s cooks up delicious soul food and barbecue inspired by Ike Gray’s roots in Alabama. In 2017, Ike & BG’s was acquired by Steven Butler, Ike Gray’s godson and protégé who grew up working in the kitchen. This spot reminded me of the deep South but set on the East Side of Buffalo, complete with a barrel smoker letting off a sweet aroma on the sidewalk. I ordered a half rack of ribs with a side of mac and cheese and string beans. The ribs were tasty and you could definitely taste the wood smoke. The sides were excellent and full of soul food accents. What really stood out was an excellent house made barbecue sauce that I happily mopped up with the two slices of white bread served with the meal. Ike and BG’s also has a second location on Niagara Street in downtown Buffalo that serves up a range of finger licking soul food.

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Yankee BBQ

3379 Lakeshore Rd., Hamburg / yankeebbq716.com

If you’re going to do Central Texas Style barbecue in New York State you may as well own it and Yankee BBQ’s name sure does. They also offer up authentic great tasting barbecue with a unique flavor. In good Texas style all of their meats are slow cooked with oak wood. We opted for a sandwich sampler, ordering the brisket, pulled pork, and prime rib sandwich. In each one you could definitely taste the wood smoke and spices that really brought out the flavor of the meat. The sauces are made in house and each one had a very interesting flavor. The first I tried had a light-colored Carolina mustard base with a hint of Texas pepper. The other was a very sweet loganberry, an almost syrupy sauce that was a nice change of pace and I alternated dipping bites in each. For sides we sampled the cheesy potatoes, baked beans, and coleslaw – all of which complemented the sandwiches nicely. What really stole the show for me was the smoked prime rib sandwich offering so much simple, craft flavor. On my next trip there I won’t miss the Big Texan sandwich: a quarter pound of brisket, a quarter-pound pulled pork, turkey, and a half hot link all held together with a pork rib toothpick. Try topping that!

The post Unexpectedly Amazing Barbecue Around Buffalo appeared first on Visit Buffalo Niagara.

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The shutdown has no end in sight, with Democrats demanding an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that stabilize millions of people's insurance premiums as a condition of their votes, and Republicans refusing to negotiate on this matter until the government reopens.

According to Politico, "the unusual tactical disagreement between the two top congressional leaders played out in front of cameras Tuesday on Capitol Hill as the shutdown heads into its second week."

Johnson, who has not convened the House in days, told reporters this week, “I’m certainly open to that. We’ve done it in the past. We want to make sure that our troops are paid.”

Thune, however, disagreed, saying, “Honestly, you don’t need that.”

“Obviously, there are certain constituencies — many of them are going to be impacted in a very negative way by what’s happened here. But the simplest way to end it is not try to exempt this group or that one or that group. It’s to get the government open," he added.

In Thune's view, Republicans should hold firm and not even call the House back until Democrats in the Senate agree to pass the funding bill the House already passed.

Further complicating the issue is that House Republicans have avoided swearing in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ). Grijalva is the final vote needed for a Trump-opposed bipartisan discharge petition for the House to compel the Trump administration to release the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files.

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‘Hope he’s listening’: Farmer makes dire plea to Trump as US ‘backbone’ risks collapse



An American farmer made a dire plea to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, saying "hope he's listening," as America's "backbone" risks collapse.

Arkansas farmer Scott Brown told CNN it's unclear how he or other agriculture producers will survive Trump's ongoing tariff war, especially as the fall harvest begins.

"I hope to break even, but I mean, we don't know," Brown said. "We're not cutting soybeans yet, and I don't know what the yield is. We're just finishing up corn. I'm a pretty low-debt-load farmer. I farm 800 acres. My equipment's all paid for. I do it all by myself. I'm a first-generation farmer, so I don't have as big of problems as a lot of the guys do. But, I mean, I have friends that farm thousands of acres, 5,000, 10,000, 11,000 acres. They've got worlds of problems. I mean, I don't know that there's any way to yield yourself out of this."

For his friends, the tariff fallout could mean losing everything.

"I don't think that the average American understands when you go down to the bank and get a crop loan, you put all your equipment up, all your equity in your ground, you put your home up, your pickup truck, everything up," he said. "And if they can't pay out and if they've rolled over any debt from last year, they're going to call the auctioneer and they're going to line everything up and they're going to sell it."

Trump is reportedly considering a potential bailout for farmers, a key Republican voting bloc. But that's not enough, Scott said.

"Well, the stopgap needs to come because they've kind of painted the farmer in a corner," he added. "I mean, I want trade, not aid. I need a market. I need a place to sell this stuff. I can work hard enough and make a product. If you give me someplace to sell it, I'll take care of myself, but they've painted us in a corner with this China deal and China buying soybeans. I mean, they've torn a market in half."

China — the biggest buyer — has made zero soybean orders this year. Instead, they've pivoted to purchasing soybeans from South American countries, including Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. These countries plan to expand planting acreage for their crops and focus on planting soon for the 2025 and 2026 crops in the Southern Hemisphere.

The price per bushel of soybeans has also dropped, he added.

"The farmer can't continue to produce a crop below the cost of production. And that's where we're at. And we don't have anywhere to sell it. We're in a tariff war with China. We're in a tariff war with everybody else. I mean, where do they want me to market this stuff?" Scott asked.

This uncertainty also makes it hard to plan for 2026.

"Farming is done in a Russian roulette fashion to say a better set of words," Scott said. "If you pay out, then you get to go again. If you've got enough equity and you don't pay out, you can roll over debt. There's lots of guys farming that have between $400 and $700,000 worth of rollover debt. You know, and then and then you compound the problem with the tariffs. Look at this. When we had USAID, we provided 40% of the humanitarian food for the world. That's all grain and food bought from farmers, from vegetable farmers in the United States. The row crop farmers and grain and everything. So we abandoned that deal. And China accelerates theirs. So now I've got a tariff war that's killing my market."

He also wants the president to hear his message.

"I hope he's listening because, you know, agriculture is the backbone of rural America," Scott said. "For every dollar in agriculture, you get $8 in your rural community. I mean, we help pay taxes on schools, roads. We're the guys that keep the park store open, we're the guy that keeps the local co-op open, that 20 guys work at, and the little town I live in, we have a chicken plant, about 600 chicken houses, except for the school and the hospital. Almost our entire town of 7,000."

Agriculture is tied to everything in rural America, he explained.

"People's economy revolves around agriculture," Scott said. "I mean, I think he needs to listen. It's bigger than the farmer. It's all my friends. Whether they work in town or anything else. I mean, rural America depends on agriculture. And it doesn't matter if you're in Nebraska or you're in Arkansas."