A weekend in food

Sorry I've been MIA...we just got back from a long weekend (well, almost a week!) in Buffalo visiting family for our first annual "Christmas in January". It was a lot of fun, and felt a lot less hurried and stressful than normal Christmas-at-Christmas time travel.

But the purpose of this isn't to recap all the fun stuff we did, but rather, all the delicious stuff we ate. See, when we go back to Buffalo, we OD on all the local Buffalo food that we miss desperately. I don't know if I've got any Buffalo natives reading, but if so, you are so lucky to always have this food readily available!

So here's what we had:

• Loganberry "juice". I've never seen this anywhere besides the Buffalo area, but it's an omnipresent lurker in the soda stations back home. It's SWEET and bright red and delicious!
• Sponge candy. Okay, this isn't just a Buffalo thing, but it's everywhere in the Buffalo area, even the bulk bins at the supermarket. I could find it here, I'm sure, but I'd have to search. At home, I got three different flavors (milk, dark, and orange) in the bins at the grocery. Easy, peasy, and so yummy!
• Duff's wings. First, if you're in Buffalo, they're not called "buffalo wings". They're just wings, or perhaps chicken wings. And they're awesome. I've never had wings as good anywhere else. In fact, I'd be hesitant to tell people to try "buffalo wings" outside of Buffalo. Or really, outside of Duff's. Oh sure, some of you are going to pull the whole "but Anchor bar is where wings were invented." Fine, but Duff's is where they were perfected, so head out to the 'burbs if you want the best. These are true HOT wings. So good, and just sopping in hot sauce, that's perfect to dip the fries in. Mmmmmmm....
• John's Chicken Finger Subs. It's so simple: chicken fingers shaken in hot sauce, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and blue cheese dressing. I've tried to get restaurants to make it here in the Boston area, but no one comes close to the perfection that is John's. Their pizza is horrid (though we'd always go out to eat it after track meets in high school), but their subs are outstanding!
  
• Elmwood Taco and Subs burritoes. It's nothing like "real" Mexican food...but it's still good. Their bean and cheese burritoes and meat and extra cheese burritoes are perfection. And that's about all that's on the menu (okay, fine, there's more, but just ignore it).

Things we missed this trip (hey, we can only eat so much!):

• Ted's Hot Dogs. They know, as everyone everywhere should, that the only proper way to prepare a hot dog is grilling. Oh, and they have the most awesome onion rings and milkshakes. Why can't you find a good hot dog stand outside of Buffalo?
• Mighty Taco. Well, this is a little embarrassing. If you're from outside Western New York, the best way I can describe Mighty Taco is that it's a regional chain kind of Taco Bell-ish. Except that doesn't do it justice at all, as you couldn't pay me to eat Taco Bell, but I still love Mighty Taco. Not like my brother and sister-in-law, who got this the minute they arrived in town, but the hard shell bean and cheese tacos at Mighty are just so awesome!
• Beef on weck. It's a famous Buffalo food that I'm actually not too keen on. I find kimmelweck rolls kind of gross, what with all the excess salt and caraway seeds. So we often skip this, but it did need a mention since a trip to Anderson's for a roast beef and frozen custard (loganberry on the side!) is always a good Buffalo outing.

Isn't it weird how tied you become to local foods? I wonder, if we ever moved out of the Boston area, what food we'd miss?

What's the local food in your area that's not to be missed?