![I [heart] Scwhabl's](http://static2.px.yelp.com/bphoto/6hXl44wKmRBE15DPARwXcg/xss){kind=small}
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Schwabl's Restaurant
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
13 reviews for Schwabl's Restaurant
Not only is this the best beef on weck I have ever had, it's also the best german potato salad and the best cole slaw I've ever had. Put all that together on one plate and you're in for one of the best meals you'll ever have.
And for the person who said they don't allow take out, they allowed me to get a beef on weck to go.
My only small beef (no pun intended) was they did not have any rare roast beef when I was there. But they did inform me of the fact, and it still was amazing even not rare. I think it's just the nature of the way it's cooked which they definitely should NOT change. I was there at a weird post lunch, pre dinner hour and all the rarer cuts had probably already been served at lunch.
Schwabl's roast beef is as good as it gets. There is none better in any other galaxy. This is one of the few places I've been that actually understands the definitions of rare, medium, etc. You get what you order.
The mashed potatoes with gravy are yum, as is the fresh rye bread. They have an old fashioned bar with the real deal old fashioned drinks. A+!
Guys..... Schwabls is THE REAL DEAL,
and its all about the beef on a weck. Not only have I never had one of these before, but ive never even HEARD of them, so it was incredible fun to travel for hours to try a sandwich. For the rest of you who are in the dark, Beef on a Weck is defined as sliced roast beef on a Kimmelweck roll. Sounds good already but it gets better....
at Schwabls, you will sit and drool as you watch a giant roasting pan get carefully (and reverently) carried out of the kitchen with a beautiful roast fresh out of the oven. It smelled amazing! And we got to watch a man in an immaculate white butchers coat, with a very serious looking knife and carve off perfect slices of beef for our sandwiches. Beyond impressive.
The taste -- worth the drive!! Seriously. I cant figure out why we dont have wecks in NYC, let alone Beef on a Weck, but im thrilled to know the country still has regional foods, and Shwabls is DEFINITELY the place to go to experience this fantastic sandwich.
Places like this are worth any drive to visit. They're small, they're local, they love what they do, they care about making their unique product better than anyone else. and they having something different than the strips of sonics, cracker barrels, chipotles and other chains that can be found in anytown USA.
Thanks Guys!
Even though I grew up in Buffalo for the first 18 years of my life, I had never heard of Schwabls until Anthony Bordain paid them a visit on his show.
I thought the roast beef was some of the best I've had, with nice generous, thick cuts of beef. I enjoyed the tanginess of the German potato salad, but my family wasn't as impressed. The garden salad was also surprisingly good with the addition of crumbled blue cheese (or gorgonzola?). Only complaint is a bit too much salt on the Kimmelwick roll, but most Buffalonian's wold disagree. Simple, but reminiscent decor.
This place was burned into my brain by "Sandwiches That You Will Like" and when I realized we were driving through Buffalo at lunch time there was no way we weren't finding Schwabl's.
It's definitely a classic, unchanged after so many years, and just walking in was a treat.
Unfortunately the beef on weck just doesn't live up. It's just roast beef on a kaiser roll made with carroway seeds and and (overly) coated with salt. The salt made each bite hard to enjoy, b/c it totally overpowered the flavor of the beef, which is subtle to begin with.
The beef is all carved by hand behind the bar, which is awesome to watch but far less awesome to wait for. And waiting is necessary - it took us a half hour to get three sandwiches. That was a buzz-kill.
If I'm in town I may return for the atmosphere (in fact dinner might be fun), but first-timers should come with tempered expectations.
Finally made it to Schwabls after watching Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" the other night, and feeling ashamed that I live 2 miles from this place, but have never been there.
Overall our experience was great - we expected it to be busy since the show aired the night before, but we got there about an hour before closing, and were seated right away.
Immediately upon entering, I was loving the classic feel of this place - the vintage cash machine, the uniforms, etc. As we sat down and glanced over the menu the first thing that struck me was some actual cocktails - yes, unfortunately there was a few "mocktini's" (WHY?!?!) - but a list of classics including tom collins, bourbon manhattan, gimlet, etc with a notation that they do not use mixers, only fresh juices and ingredients. Wow - not perfect (I would have preferred a rye manhattan along with actual ingredient lists...) but this isthe closest to real cocktails than I have seen anywhere else in Buffalo. I must also add that they also serve a seasonal punch and tom & jerrys! I ended up ordering a Tom Collins (which was very good).
I ordered the Beef on Wec Special with German Potato Salad and Pickled Beets. Requested that the beef was medium, but unfortunately they had just brought out a new beef and the best they could do was well done. Not my preference, but it was ok considering we came in pretty late.
The pickled beets were to die for, as well as the german potato salad. The Kummelweck roll was fresh and not soggy, which is a huge plus in my book.
Overall this was a great experience, with a great waitress, great drinks, and great food. I look forward to visiting again and having better luck with the beef.
If you haven't had Beef on Weck, your life is incomplete. If you want to have the best Beef on Weck, go to Schwabl's.
The ambiance is one of a kind - Thomas M's review describes it well. I love to watch the guy in the white lab coat meticulously sharpening his knife before he starts slicing the side of beef behind the bar.
This place is like a step back in time (giant step back) to the 50's. Not a slick attempt to recreate something that once was; rather, a place that knows what it does well and has stuck with it for generations.
Well worth the trip.
I grew up in West Seneca and never went to Schwabl's until after I moved away... I can't believe what I've missed all those years.
Buffalo has been known for its Beef on Weck, but the best place to get it is out in the suburb of West Seneca (sorry... Charlie the Butcher, you KNOW I'm right!!!)
Schwabl's is THE place for Beef on Weck. It's often listed as one of the best places in the USA to get a sandwich, and they are correct!!
Great Beef, Great Weck, great German potato salad. Plus... BEETS. I'm not a beet fan whatsoever, but these were pretty darn good.
The last time we were there, we came in at the end of the night and the carver apologized ahead of time for they felt the beef would be too well-done... but it was perfect.
INCREDIBLE!!! I cannot tell you how much I love this place. When I'm back east, I always go here.
First, it's an old restaurant that has tons of character. Second, the service is great and the beef is carved right behind the counter (I think it's technically the bar).
The beef on weck is very popular but for me it's all about the roast beef au jus (roast beef alone). It's a plate of freshly carved roast beef served with the juices and horseradish. The German potato salad is the best I've had in Buffalo.
They do have two seasonal drinks - from Thanksgiving to St. Patrick's Day it's the Tom and Jerry and their summer drink is an Ebenezer Punch. I've only had the Tom and Jerry - can't say I enjoyed it but my in-laws LOVE it so much I bought them a Tom and Jerry bowl and cups on Ebay so that they could make it for their friends.
When I first stepped off the plane in Buffalo, I was assaulted (or a-salted, oh! a pun) by posters for beef on wec. What's a wec? Kummelweck (ie "wec") is a salty, crunchy kaiser-like roll with caraway seeds atop and is at its most divine when paired with slow-roasted beef. And, although Buffalo has given the world wings, it keeps this local treasure to itself .
Schwabl's serves up a mean beef on wec. I would go one step beyond Daniel B and say this joint is beeftastic.
Their beef mouth-wateringly good, slow roasted, and sliced to my specifications. Oh, and the rolls! The kummelweck was crunchy on the outside, with the perfect combination of coarse grains of salt and caraway seeds, and still soft yet chewy on the inside. As it turns out, and believe me I tried this sandwich at other places around town, I only like beef on wec here.
Plus, Schwabl's has a certain grandpa-chic-ness to it. It has been around since 1837 and the waitresses scoot about in white nurse-like uniforms (with matching white nurse-like shoes). I maximized this vibe by eating dinner there at 5 PM and had beets (another option was German potato salad), fries, and a dab of horseradish as accompaniments.
Overwhelmed by saltiness, I could only eat half the sandwich in a sitting and had to wait another hour or two, and rehydrate, before I could finish it -- and yum, the wait was totally worth it!
I am honored and humbled to be the first reviewer for Schwabl's.
I can sum it up in one word: Beefilicious.
Seriously. This place smells deliciously of roasting beef. You know how sometimes you walk into a restaurant, and it doesn't smell like anything? Or worse, it smells like industrial cleaners?
Schwabl's smells so good, for good reason, the beef carver is front and center. All night he was meticulously slicing cuts from different parts of the roast, to make sandwiches to spec (I took mine medium rare). This is, after all, reportedly THE place to get Beef on Weck.
Waitresses in immaculate white smocks, whisked the sandwiches to the back to heap up the plates with sides. I had German potato salad and pickled beets. The missus went for mashed with gravy. I won. Bacon always wins over gravy IMHO.
The place is small, but in a warm and cozy kind of way. Perfect for what I imagine are brutal Buffalo winters. Luckily the menu reports that the bar provides Tom & Jerry cocktails during the blustery season. During the summer, their cocktail special is the Ebeneezer, which I regretfully declined.
Please don't go. They get enough business already. I don't want it to go to their heads. If you do go, don't tell your cardiologist I sent you. Because if the cholesterol from the beef doesn't get you, the sodium from the salty chewy rolls will.
Food - 5 stars
Staff - 1 star
The food is great, as the other reviews will testify. And the place is packed on weekends and fridays. Unfortunately, I think they let it go to their heads. The waitress was fine, can't complain. The waiter who was acting as the host that day, however, was extremely rude, as was the bartender. There's no place to wait, which I understand, given that it's a tiny restaurant. They want you lean against the bar, fine. However, they get upset when you don't want to order drinks while doing that. Too bad.
Also, when the side door from the parking lot opens up right in the middle of the restaurant, you don't get to be cranky if it takes people (especially an elderly couple) a few minutes to walk up to the front and get out of the way of waitstaff. If you don't like it, then lock the door and put up a sign that says "staff only".
Also, I don't normally complain about service charges for large parties. I waited tables for 4 years, and serving a large party is much harder than a small party, I totally understand. However, 5 people hardly constitutes a large enough party to demand 18%, especially considering the poor service.
If you enjoy good food, there's only 2 of you, and you plan on paying cash, then go ahead and eat here. But if you want good beef on weck and less cranky staff, turn around and head up Union to the Garden View.
Bailos kicked ass. This place does not. The food is pricey, no take out allowed. The only claim to fame - they serve beets.
Trust me, I've lived through the Broadway Market Years as well as The Schupper House and a variety of other establishments. Go elsewhere.
