Crave King in Lackawanna was my first taste of Yemeni cuisine. The first time I dug into a cauldron of Yemeni vegetable stew and fresh bread, I was left wondering why Yemeni restaurants weren’t bigger in Buffalo.
During World War I, Yemeni citizens of Buffalo were drafted into the U.S. Army. The biggest influx to Lackawanna was during the 1960s, as Yemeni men found work in Buffalo’s steel and automobile manufacturing industries, and brought their extended families.
But it wasn’t until the 2010s that Yemeni restaurants became a thing in Lackawanna and Buffalo. When heavy industry left Buffalo, “Yemenis started opening businesses like corner stores,” said my Yemeni friend Faress Saleh. “Restaurants were the next evolution since most of these men worked a long way from home, and now have money.”
Shibam Mediterranean Restaurant is the next step for the underrated satisfactions of Yemeni cuisine to gain traction in Buffalo. It’s in Kenmore, a mile from Hayes Hall. The dining room is quiet, the service pleasant. The eating is first-class – at Buffalo prices.
