Photolog 2020: Day 109 of 366

I was simultaneously in the mood for both fries and shawarma tonight (which was driven by the thought of not wanting to make dinner at home) so I looked through various restaurants on DoorDash and decided to order from Osmow's, which specializes in "modern Mediterranean cuisine." I decided on the "Mixed on the Stix" combo — half chicken and half beef shawarma with tomatoes and onions on a bed of fries with "Osmow's sauces," done with medium spice. It took over an hour to arrive because they had to find a new Dasher about 30 minutes after I ordered, but the food arrived piping hot and OH MY GOD, IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD.

Now, you can usually bet on meat and fries to be a reliably tasty combo, but what makes this place notable is the spices they use in their meats and the "Osmow's sauces," whatever they are. It reminds me of The Halal Guys, which should say enough on its own. Also, they aren't fucking around with their spice levels. I usually get medium because mild at most restaurants is too mild (a.k.a. no spice at all), but this was actually pretty spicy — at least enough to make me sweat. It's weird that I'd never heard of this place before since it's a huge chain with dozens of locations, but I just found out that I live like, three minutes away from one. So you know I'm gonna order from them again.

Pano's

So, I made a little overnight trip to Buffalo yesterday with Ronsee and Ben as a sort of birthday trip (Ben's and my birthdays are only two weeks apart, so we tend to do a little celebration out of town). After fighting rush hour traffic and waiting half an hour to get over the border, we got to our hotel a little after 6:00pm, did some shopping at Target, and unwinded with a drink (Freshly Limeade is pretty much the best thing, ever) in the hotel room. By 11:30pm, we were starving. Last week, I mentioned to one of my regular clients that I was going to make a trip to Buffalo, and she told me that I should check out Pano's. Luckily for us, it just so happens that, in a city with so few late-night dine-in restaurants, Pano's is open until 1:00am. When I asked our server what they were known for and what he recommended, and he said they were known for their souvlaki and recommended the gyro. So, that's what I got.

Gyro souvlaki

Greek potatoes

The portion is huge, the meat is flavourful and tender, and the salad is crisp and fresh. Was it good? Yes. Was it anything special? No. Not sure how good their other dishes are, but they've gotten pretty good ratings and reviews, so I'm wondering if maybe I should've ordered a non-souvlaki dish. Then again, I might've been way more impressed if there was tzatziki sauce. I'm not going to say I didn't like it, 'cause I did, but I think I was just expecting better. I would try it again next time I'm in Buffalo, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it.


Pano's
1081 Elmwood Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14222
(716) 886-9081

Mr. Greek

Shawn and I went for dinner at Mr. Greek, 'cause we were craving Mediterranean food. I ordered gyros with rice, potatoes, and Greek salad. It was... okay. I've definitely had gyros that tasted better for a cheaper price (one place I love is Falafel House, who has some awesome gyros pita wraps). And I don't need my food to be piping hot but, you know, I like it at least warm to hot. But the meat was lukewarm at best. I think next time I will stick to souvlaki.