Danny's Buffalo Cuisine- South

4300 Abbott Road, Orchard Park
Visited Dec. 22, 2010
Written by Greg



Editor's note: During a recent foray in to the Buffalo area, we grabbed a bite at Danny's right down the road from Ralph Wilson Stadium. It's outside our boundaries, but I'm sure some of our readers will be out that way sometime in the near future for a game or what not. Anwyay, Greg had a strong opinion about Danny's and wanted to write a review, so we let him. You will probably enjoy his colorful, blantantly honest style. Enjoy.

Over our winter recess from our respective institutions of higher learning, Tyler, Joe and I took a day trip to Buffalo so Tyler could spend a few hours at the Ralph for his internship. Joe and I, in the meantime, walked a few hundred yards down the street to Danny’s South, a restaurant known to many a Bills fan for its Chicken Wing Soup.

We first sampled this delicious concoction at Taste of Buffalo the previous summer and fell in love with it; so much so, we drove an hour out of our way (kind of) to try it for real.

As you walk in you’re instantly greeted by walls adorned with sports memorabilia, including a section of metal bleachers from the Bills’ old stadium to sit on while you wait for a table. However, not being a game day (it was a Wednesday actually), we were immediately seated in the large and spacious dining room (we had the option of sitting in the bar), right next to the large exterior wall full of windows.

Overhead were a half dozen or so scale-model airplanes made of wood or metal, presumably. The walls were still full of sports memorabilia, though on a far wall there was a glass cabinet full of ceramic dolls and stuff. Creepy.

Anyway, it didn’t take long for us to be waited on. Our waitress kind of bothered me a little bit; she interrupted me twice while I tried to ask questions about their lunch special, and just in general seemed like she didn’t want to be there or like we were wasting her time, and apparently was allergic to cordiality.

Joe and I both opted for the $10 lunch special, which included an entrée preceded by the soup and salad bar. I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Finger platter, while Joe had 10 Buffalo wings. My platter included four rather large chicken fingers coated with Buffalo sauce, a moderate serving of fries, a few sticks of carrots and celery, and a cup of bleu cheese.

The fingers themselves were soggy, not crispy as they should be, and the Buffalo sauce could have been hotter (I don’t recall having an option of temperature), though it wasn’t overly buttery as some Buffalo sauces often are. Overall the chicken tenders were pretty generic, and the fries were quite disappointing. They had no seasoning whatsoever – a pretty poor effort if you ask me. I mean, throw some salt and pepper on there when they come out of the fryer at least.

The soup (and salad) bar was the reason we came here though, and it certainly did not let us down. The Chicken Wing Soup was just as good as we remember it, maybe even better.

It’s orange in color, and the large chunks of celery, chicken, and potato are clearly visible. It’s just the right hotness to consume quickly and in liquid form, and has very adequate amounts of chicken and its other ingredients. It had a very enjoyably creamy texture, but wasn’t too thick to slurp, or so watery it splattered.

They also had a basket of cheesy breadsticks, which we each got nearly every time we went up to grab more soup (3-4 times each in total). The breadsticks were cooked just right, the cheese wasn’t burnt, and they weren’t overly seasoned with garlic. Some marinara sauce would have been ideal I suppose, but dipping the breadsticks in the habit-formingly delicious Chicken Wing Soup certainly sufficed.

Joe had himself the $10 lunch special comprised of 1 dozen “hot” Buffalo wings. He said they were definitely hot enough, but he was disappointed with their size despite being full from the meal. He also thoroughly enjoyed the Chicken Wing Soup (who couldn’t?), noting that it was a satisfying reprieve from a bitterly cold day. Joe joined me in the practice of dipping the delicious breadsticks in the soup as well.

Joe agrees with me (after I convinced him, of course), that the service we experienced was certainly sub-par. He noted that the waitress seemed completely disinterested in us, as well as the friendliness we regularly experience at our favorites such as Hoock’s and HFR and how it makes our meals at those establishments that much better. Joe really took to the décor at Danny’s, as well as the fact that it’s right down the street from Heaven... I mean Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Ratings

Food: I was pretty disappointed with my entrée. It filled me up, but was boring and I could get much better chicken tenders somewhere else, and probably for a better price (could be said about Joe’s wings as well). However, the Chicken Wing Soup would probably bring me back here, if I were willing to give the menu a second chance.

Atmosphere: It’s a pretty neat place to eat, I suppose, what with all the sports memorabilia. Though, next time I’d opt to sit in the bar area with some TVs broadcasting various sports networks, and drinking some adult beverages.

Service: The service definitely irked us, and might have even been bad enough for me to not return. Our waitress was curt, cold, and – at one point – downright rude. She made us feel like we were wasting her time, and didn’t make our time worth-while.

Overall: Wings somewhat disappointing, unfriendly service (at least from our experience). However, the Chicken Wing Soup is incredible, and Danny’s has a great atmosphere, especially on game day at the Ralph.

Grade: After much deliberation, we give Danny’s South a grade of C+.