Gritty eats

Even before we thought of this tour, I liked to eat. I still do. I like trying different local specialties when I visit different areas. And that’s been one of the highlights of this tour, for me, eating and drinking new things. As well as teaching you about an area and giving you the opportunity to interact with locals, it can provide structure to your plans – you plan to stop at this bar, or that restaurant.

I’ve already written about the seafood in Baltimore; I should also give a shout-out to National Bohemian, the city’s signature beer. I wish I’d had a chance to try pit beef. Next time, next time. I also need to recommend Samos, a Greek restaurant in Greektown. It was our first stop when we got to Baltimore. Great souvlaki and dolma.

In Buffalo, obviously you eat wings. One of our first stops when we got there was the Anchor Bar, where they were invented. The place was packed. We found a seat at the bar, though. The wings aren’t as saucy as they are elsewhere; they put enough on for flavor, but they don’t drown the things like some places do. Also – and we saw this elsewhere in Buffalo – the wings are huge. Close to twice as big as what you’d see in your average pizza joint or chain restaurant in eastern New York. Different bars and parts of the city have different wing styles, apparently; a bartender at the Blackthorne in South Buffalo said that South Buffalo-style wings have a more in-your-face kind of punch in the sauce flavorings than wings elsewhere in the city. That's the Irish for you. He also recommended we have the steak sandwich there, which was excellent.

I like to try the pizza everywhere I go. I worked at pizzerias for years; it’s one of my favorite foods, and I consider myself a bit of a connoisseur. Buffalo-style pizza has a thicker crust than New York City, but not as thick as Chicago. It’s not as crispy as New York-style either. One thing that stood out to me was the tomato sauce – it’s a lot sweeter than the sauce in the NYC area.

The Texas wiener, despite its name, was invented in Paterson, supposedly at the diner Libby’s Lunch. The diner is still there, right by the Great Falls. It looks kind of dumpy on the outside, but it’s nicer when you get inside, and the prices are very reasonable. I had my wieners “all the way” – with chili sauce, chopped onions and spicy mustard – and some gravy fries. Texas wieners, to the uninitiated, are deep-fried hot dogs. They’re supposed to be really healthy, just like visiting off-the-beaten-path cities nobody else goes to and walking around their most depressed and violent neighborhoods.