Eat like a local
Local Eats: What to Eat in Niagara Falls, NY
Wings are just the start. Beef on weck, the stinger, sponge candy, a Sahlen's dog with a loganberry: here's what to try while you're here, how to order it, and the local spots that do it best.
Can't decide? Start here
🏆 Best all-around for local eats
These spots do most of the local classics, and do them well. One stop, a table full of Western New York.
- 1 Judi's Lounge Town of Niagara 🍗 Wings🍕 Pizza (WNY Style)🥩 Beef on Weck🍗 Chicken Fingers🥤 Loganberry🥖 The Stinger
- 2 The Griffon Gastropub, Military Road Town of Niagara 🍗 Wings🍗 Chicken Fingers🐟 Friday Fish Fry🥩 Beef on Weck
- 3 Taylor's Tap & Grill Wheatfield 🌯 Pizza Logs🐟 Friday Fish Fry🍗 Chicken Fingers
- 4 Mister M's House of Food & Drink Niagara Falls 🥩 Beef on Weck🐟 Friday Fish Fry🍗 Wings🍕 Pizza (WNY Style)🥖 The Stinger🥖 Steak & Cheese Sub
Wings
Deep-fried, unbreaded chicken wings tossed in hot sauce and butter, served with celery and blue cheese. Around here they're just "wings". Nobody calls them Buffalo wings.
Order like a local: Pick your heat (mild, medium, hot), ask for them extra crispy, and it's blue cheese, never ranch.
Blue Cheese (Rootie's)
Thick, tangy, chunky blue cheese dressing: the only acceptable dip for wings in Western New York. And the local legend is Rootie's, made in Buffalo since 1978.
Order like a local: Blue cheese with your wings, always. Never ranch. Take a jar of Rootie's home.
Chicken Wing Dip
A hot, bubbly dip of shredded chicken, cream cheese, hot sauce and blue cheese, baked until gooey. It tastes exactly like a plate of wings with blue cheese. Around here it's "chicken wing dip", never "Buffalo chicken dip", the same way wings are just "wings".
Order like a local: Scoop it with celery, tortilla chips or crackers. And make it with blue cheese, not ranch.
Friday Fish Fry
Beer-battered haddock, served on Fridays with fries, coleslaw and often macaroni or potato salad. It's a Lent tradition that locals keep going all year.
Order like a local: Go on a Friday. Ask for rye bread and extra tartar sauce.
Pizza (WNY Style)
A medium-thick, chewy crust with a slightly sweet sauce, lots of cheese, and small pepperoni that curl into crispy little cups as they cook.
Order like a local: Get a pepperoni pie with cup-and-char pepperoni. Pizza and wings together is a local dinner.
Beef on Weck
Thin-sliced rare roast beef piled on a kummelweck roll, a hard roll crusted with coarse salt and caraway seeds, with sharp horseradish.
Order like a local: Load it with horseradish and get a dill pickle on the side. Making it at home? Pick up real kummelweck rolls at DiCamillo Bakery.
Chicken Fingers
Breaded chicken tenders, often tossed in wing sauce just like wings, and served with fries, celery and blue cheese.
Order like a local: Ask for them tossed in medium or hot sauce.
The Stinger
A Western New York original: a steak and cheese sub and chicken fingers on the same roll, usually tossed in wing sauce.
Order like a local: Order it hot, and plan on a nap afterward.
Steak & Cheese Sub
Shaved steak grilled with melted cheese on a long sub roll, often loaded with grilled onions, peppers and mushrooms. A staple at local sub shops.
Order like a local: Get it with everything grilled in.
Pizza Logs
Pepperoni, cheese and sauce rolled up in egg roll wrappers and deep-fried until crispy. A local bar-menu favorite.
Order like a local: Dip them in blue cheese, the same as your wings.
Sahlen's Hot Dogs
Hot dogs made by Sahlen's, a family-owned Buffalo meat company, cooked over charcoal until the skin snaps. You'll find them at local hot dog stands and summer cookouts.
Order like a local: Char them on the grill until the skin splits, then load them up with mustard, relish and onions.
Loganberry
A sweet purple fruit drink made from loganberry syrup. It's hard to find outside Western New York, but it's a summer staple at local hot dog stands.
Order like a local: Pair it with a Sahlen's hot dog.
Fresh Pierogi
Polish dumplings filled with potato and cheese, sauerkraut or meat, boiled and then pan-fried with butter and onions. They're part of the region's deep Polish roots.
Order like a local: Fried, with onions and a side of sour cream.
Sponge Candy
Crunchy, airy toffee with a honeycomb texture, dipped in chocolate. Local chocolatiers make it, and it's the classic Western New York souvenir.
Order like a local: Keep it cool and dry. Humidity makes it sticky. In a hurry? Local Tops Markets sell boxes too.