The Silo - Lewiston, NY

The Silo was featured on Man vs. Food for their now famous "haystack" sandwich, but more about that later.  First, I'd like to talk about the building itself which is...a silo overlooking the Niagara Gorge in Lewiston, NY.

This is a view from one of the tables in the round balcony which surrounds the restaurant.  You grab your food inside the silo, then step out onto the round, roofed balcony attached to the side.  

While waiting for your number to be called you can proactively grab your condiments on these fine antique stoves located on the balcony.  They score bonus points for having both vinegar and hot sauce readily available.

And, now for the main event: The Haystack!!  This comes in two sizes: regular (pictured above) and footlong.  A Haystack is chopped ribeye steak with mayo, mozzarella, and toasted hashbrowns on a hoagie.  Its steak is tender, the hashbrowns crispy, and roll fresh - making this one delightful adventure for your taste buds.

We also ordered a Silo Chicken Sandwich, which is a marinated chicken with cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and ranch.  It typically comes with american cheese, but we requested something else (I can't remember if we got swiss or provolone).   Anyway, the sandwich was tender and flavorful with plenty of fresh toppings and crispy bacon.  

We each got a meal deal, which features either fries or onion rings and a drink.  We got both fries and onion rings, but I forgot to snap a picture of the fries - oops!  Anyway, the onion rings were real, as one would expect from a place like this, and perfectly fried.  They had a great onion/batter balance which is always a welcome treat.

Our niece (who is a chicken finger addict) tried out the chicken finger basket, which comes with blue cheese and fries.  She  reports them as being very good: golden brown and crunchy on the outside with a juicy interior.  

The Silo was delicious!  You're looking at about $12 per person if you get a meal deal with fries/onion rings and a drink, but it's totally worth it.  The view is spectacular, and the food well worth the drive, but be aware they're only open seasonally May - September.  Oh, and you can get ice cream in a renovated train car behind the restaurant!  This okapi gives The Silo 5 stars, so if you're in the mood for a nice drive or if you're travels ever find you near Lewiston, stop in.

Fisher's Country Eats & Treats

We were driving from Lancaster to Rochester via Route 104 when we decided to stop at an ice cream stand.  Thus, I have no idea what town this is in, but if anyone can drop it in the comments I'd be appreciative. (Update: It's in Medina.  Thanks, anonymous!)

They had a nice selection of Perry's ice cream, and the prices were average.  Fancy had that giant cone up there and enjoyed every bite.  Our niece had the red velvet ice cream which I found a tad rich.

There are two awesome things about this place.  The first is pictured above: they make "doggie" sundaes!!  How awesome is that?  Tell you what, if Tiger Pup had been with us she would have loved some vanilla ice cream with dog treats in it!  Best idea ever.

The second awesome part about the place is that they offer deep fried sweet corn for a buck.  Yeah, you read that right.  There were three of us that tasted it with the following reactions: 1) It tastes like corn, 2) it tastes greasy, and 3) it tastes like McDonald's french fries.  So, you should, um, try it for yourself?

I had a peanut butter sundae which was delicious.  They got the sauce all the way to the bottom, so it was consistently tasty the whole way through.  

Oh, and they have a produce stand next door.  They really want you to go try it.  Also, they want you to play mini golf.  This place is awesome.  I give it 5 starts for courtesy, selection, and of course small town creativity.

Schoop's Hammond, In Review (Chicago Vacation Series)

Whenever Fancy and I visit my sister in Chicago we head to the Horseshoe Casino in nearby Indiana.  That gives us an opportunity to have some delicious, old fashioned Schoop's burgers.

These burgers are fairly thin and browned around the edges.  Most of the ones featured are actually a double burger, but we all ordered a single.  They offered the typical burger toppings including full leaf lettuce and other fresh ingredients.

As you can see, they didn't skimp on the toppings.  Also, they offered your typical burger place shakes.

The burgers don't come accompanied by fries, but a single order serves two people.  They were thin, crispy, and delicious.

Our vegetarian had the egg salad sandwich, which she reported as being fine.  I don't know much about egg salad as this okapi hates eggs, but there appeared to be a generous portion, and the bread was nicely toasted.

The onion rings were perfectly fried with a nice breading.  Everyone enjoyed the Schoop's experience, and it's something you should definitely try if you're ever in the Indiana area.  Just keep in mind as a burger specialty joint, you're looking at around $10 for your burger, fries, and drink.  As a western new yorker, I know good burgers, and Schoop's ranks among the best.  This okapi gives them 4.5 stars.

Salvatore's Latta Review

We haven't been to a Salvatore's for quite a while (for reasons explained below), but we're glad we gave them another try.  That up there is a pizza ordered thin, which might seen odd considering their regular crust is on the thin side.  However, I like my pizza about 1.5-2 times the thickness of NY style pizza, so ordering Salvatore's thin gets me right where I like to be.  On a side note, if you like it NY thin, they do that too, but call it "thin-thin."  Anyway, one of the things I really like about it is the sauce/cheese balance.  I love sauce and Fancy loves cheese, so if a place is too heavy (or light) handed on either, one of us is unhappy.  They go with a sweeter sauce and a hint of garlic, which is just how we like it.

The bottom is perfectly brown, not too oily, and firm with a light garlicy flavor.  Also, the cheese is nicely browned at the edges for an extra crunch. Last up we have the wings.  They give a nice pooling of sauce at the bottom, so you can have them as wet as you like.  We get the Buffalo hot, well done, and they performed perfectly.  These aren't tiny wings, and they are plenty flavorful.

Fancy and I used to eat Salvatore's pizza a lot, but got away from it due to some less than stellar performances by their Lake Avenue location and a refusal to deliver to us from another location a mile further away.  Admittedly we have a slightly complicated order (including a square cut on a medium pizza), but most places can handle it just fine.  Also, Salvatore's is a bit higher priced than some other local places, so the mess ups (mostly on the thickness of the crust or just plain cold food) was unacceptable.


Now they've opened a Latta Road location, which will deliver to us, so we decided to give them another shot.  The meal was perfect, and the online ordering system was extremely user friendly.  They let you customize even weird stuff like my square cut, which is nice.  Also, they offer to send text messages to keep you up to speed on where your order is, and a one click option to save your favorite meals (including specials from their "coupon" page).  My only real complaint is the delivery charge of $2.50 is a bit steep.  All in all this okapi gives Salvatore's 4.5 stars.

Creek Creatures

So, as y'all know one of my favorite things to do is go creek walking down at Warsaw Falls.  Usually, we tend to miss the local wildlife, however this trip was taken with Mr. Fix-It and Spider Lady.  They love the wildlife, so it gave me an opportunity to slow down and check it out.

It was nice to see living things hanging out and made me wonder if I accidentally have crushed some in the past.  This handsome frog was startled from his hiding place by ye olde Tiger Pup.

Lastly, we have Mr. Salamander.  I've never seen one of these in the wild before, so it made me happy.  So there you have it, some cool stuff living the local creeks.