Taki it to me!

• 43 Court Street, under the green awning!
• Price - Cheap-to-moderate
• Distance to target - 487 steps
• Coke or Pepsi? - Coke

French cafe-style seating available.

It's a familiar sight on Court St, stuck onto the rear-end of the Buffalo Convention Center in a building known mostly as "that building that caught on fire in the middle of the day last year".* 

Taki's Restaurant was a natural choice for the Buffalo Lunch.  It's an easy walk from just about anywhere downtown so we took advantage of the nice weather and made the trip  It's been a downtown staple for just under five-hundred years for good reason: They serve top-quality diner food quickly and without a big hit on the wallet.

On your first trip into Taki's you might think you know why they keep the prices low.  The walls are painted dull yellow and the Formica tables are accented by plastic red cups they got at a Pizza Hut close-out sale.  The whole place carries an air of disdain for the past three decades.  You might even be tempted to turn your nose up and leave.

You would be making a huge mistake though you snobby jerk.  Look around and you'll notice the restaurant is full of judges, clerks, and attorneys from the various court houses up the street.  Here's a Buffalo Lunch rule-of-thumb:  If an attorney will eat there it's plenty good enough for you.

The space has a very cool NYC-deli vibe. You'd also notice the funny posters on the wall.  Greek gods and goddesses making puns about the food at Taki's.  That's clever!  Also, if you were Buffalo Lunch you'd notice they recently replaced all of the chairs which goes a long way in our book.

Is it the 1970's again?

We split up the menu among the Buffalo Lunch, ordering burgers and club sandwiches and of course chicken souvlaki.  Just about anything on the menu can be had for less than $10.  We've eaten here quite a bit over the years so we can comfortably recommend all of the food without reservation.  All of the lunch specials come with fries which are the kick-ass crispy beer battered type.  All year long on Friday Taki's drops a mean fish fry in the tank. 

The best part about food at Taki's though is the all-day breakfast.  It's the only place downtown we have been where you can order breakfast in the middle of the day and not feel weird about it at all.  Having a bad day? Pancakes smothered in syrup is therapeutic.  Boss wearing you down?  Steak and eggs!  There are few problems that don't feel lighter after eating breakfast food at 1:00 in the afternoon.

Buffalo Lunch wholeheartedly recommends Taki's at any time of year.

*-In Taki's defense, they had nothing to do with that fire.  What they did have something to do with is the delicious lunch that you've almost certainly had if you work downtown.