On a Bills Sunday, the city gets up early. Tailgates in Orchard Park start hours before kickoff, the bars fill by noon, and everybody has a plan. The plan usually skips breakfast, which is why so many people are asleep on a couch by the third quarter. We would like to fix that.
The game-day breakfast, defined
You want protein, potatoes, and coffee, in that order, and you want it early enough that you are not eating a wing at 12:45 on an empty stomach. This is what a diner is for. We open at seven on Sundays, the griddle is already hot, and the counter is full of people in jerseys by eight.
What to order
- The Blizzard Breakfast. Three eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, a side pancake, and toast. It is named for the weather, but it is built for a tailgate. This is the one.
- The 3-3-3. Three eggs, three strips of bacon, three pancakes or French toast. For people who like their breakfasts to have a system.
- Strip Steak & Eggs. If it is a big game and you want to walk into the stadium feeling like a lineman.
- Country corned beef hash. Corned beef we roast and shred ourselves, with potatoes, peppers, and onions, and two eggs on top. The hangover option that is also just a very good breakfast.
- A fried egg sandwich with peameal. For the person driving, who needs one hand free. Peameal is the Toronto bacon, and yes, we know what you are thinking about Toronto on a football Sunday. It is still the best thing to put on an egg sandwich.
To go, for the tailgate
Call ahead and we will have it packed. Breakfast sandwiches travel well. Pancakes travel fine if you eat them within the hour. Milkshakes travel surprisingly well in a cold car in December, which is most of the season. And the Diner Pantry sells our Blizzard Blend coffee by the half pound and fresh-squeezed orange juice by the bottle, both of which improve a parking lot.
Protein, potatoes, coffee, in that order, before anyone hands you a wing.
The Sunday problem, and the Thursday answer
Here is the honest part. We close at three, and our sister restaurant across the parking lot, The Steer, is closed on Sundays and Mondays. So on a regular Bills Sunday we can feed you before the game, but neither of us is the place to watch it.
Thursday nights and Saturday games are a different story. The Steer is open, the bar goes until two, and they wrote up where to watch the Bills near UB, including their own saloon. Breakfast here in the morning, game there at night, same parking lot. That is a good Thursday.
The morning after a loss
We are open Mondays. The Steer is not. Come to the diner, order a chocolate malt with your eggs, and do not read the sports section. We are good at mornings after; it is most of what a diner does. And when both places are open again on Wednesday, the week resets.