Hey guys hey, I’m all out of order over here. We had a really fun (for me) day trip on Sunday to Niagara Falls (a super brief trip!) and then Niagara Amusement Park outside of Buffalo. That will be its own post but in the meantime, here’s a quick review of a new-to-us vegan spot in Buffalo that we ate dinner at before starting out drive home: Strong Hearts.

It was the first thing that came up when I Googled “vegan Buffalo NY” which doesn’t always mean it’s the best, but the menu looked good and I didn’t want to get too deep into it. Not even a backup plan.

Right off the bat, I thought it was pretty inside, nice and bright. A little cafeteria-ish if that makes sense.  But for some reason, I really dislike places where you order at a counter. I don’t know why. Sometimes I just want a dark and cozy hole in the wall where I can stuff my ass into a booth and have someone COME TO ME for my order.

I also didn’t get great vibes from the staff behind the counter. Did I interact with them myself? No. BUT I FELT WHAT I FELT.

The menu was a banger though. To the point where Chooch and I were the Hem and Haw siblings, going back and forth between 5 or 6 different options. Do you know how hard it is to be us and go from places where we’re lucky if we can get a grilled cheese, to a place that has 8 different veggie burger and faux chix varieties alone??

AND DILL POTATO SALAD.

OMG I got this Chiavetta’s Fried Chicken which had buttery Chiavetta’s sauce, house slaw, dill pickle chips, mayo. I have no fucking clue what a Chiavetta’s is but I was close to writing a glowing review of it on the bathroom wall. It was unlike any sauce I have had before – definitely buttery but not in a “for lobster dunking” way.

OK I took one of the team and googled it – it’s some beloved local Buffalo BBQ flavor?? I guess it’s a whole-ass BBQ called Chiavetta’s and that’s like their…house sauce?

Just another reminder of how great I am at travel blogging. I teach you guys so much that it is actually exhausting. Like, where’s my sabbatical, you know?

Oh yeah, Henry got a sweet potato burger (the fries were impeccable) and Chooch got….a ciabatta BLT I think. He said it was good.

For the road, we also got cookies (confetti and snickerdoodle) and Chooch got a salted caramel cupcake. The cookies were fine and I didn’t see Chooch actually eat the cupcake so I don’t have much to report on that.

Overall – the food was great but everything else was forgettable. If we’re back in Buffalo, I think I’d prefer to get it to go and eat it somewhere else because the staff made me uncomfortable – oh yeah, I actually did kind of interact with one of them when we stopped at the counter to get the cookies and she was absolutely vacant and poker faced. Not even a hint of a smile. Not even a whiff of personality. She actually made me feel like I didn’t want to order anything else, honestly, like we were taking up so much of her time.

But, this is often our experience at vegan spots.

Good food, mid staff.

I didn’t want to start the drive home right after eating so I convinced Henry and Chooch into “just walking down the block” with me, which turned into, “What is that big building down there let’s walk to it.” Lol.

It wasn’t that far of a walk – MAYBE 10 minutes from Strong Hearts – but Chooch was being such a bitch about it. Then Henry finally was like, “FOR CHRIST’S SAKE” and googled what the building was because I kept wondering out loud.

I already forget what it is.

Oh. City Hall. Lol. Henry just told me.

I also liked these bitches on the roof of that other building.

More City Hall views.

It’s crazy but I think this might have the first time I have actually (sort of) walked around downtown Buffalo after being in and around the city numerous times for concerts.

Well, that’s all I wanted to say about that. What a fun (for me) day!

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