Niagara Frontier

Founded in 1952 by the eponymous John and Mary Guida at a former used car dealership, in the years since the former's death and the latter's retirement each location of this local chain has been independently owned and operated, with menus that vary somewhat from one to another and only the name and logo in common. But it's pretty much the same general idea no matter where you visit: part pizzeria, part hamburger stand, and part sub shop, with a friendly and unpretentious ambience. John & Mary's has locations in Alden, Amherst, Arcade, Batavia, Cheektowaga (the original; famous for its "A-Bomb" Italian sausage subs slathered in secret-recipe hot sauce), Depew, Hamburg, and Lackawanna.

Founded in 1967, Louie's is probably the best-known place specializing in Texas hots, but the menu also includes other standard fast-food staples such as regular hot dogs, burgers, milkshakes, chicken fingers, French fries, and the like. The origin of Texas hots among the local Greek immigrant community manifests itself on the menu as well — cheeseburgers made with feta are an interesting option, pita bread is listed as a side order, and Greek desserts such as rice pudding and baklava are available. Louie's has three locations in Buffalo as well as four suburban ones (West Seneca, Depew, Orchard Park, and North Tonawanda).

Marco Sciortino, longtime chef of Marco's Italian Restaurant on the West Side of Buffalo, has spent the last decade or so feeding Western New Yorkers' love of hearty, tasty Italian cuisine with his growing list of Marco's Italian Deli franchises. Delicious sandwiches are the rule here, boasting the finest premium Boar's Head deli meats and cheeses, as well as unforgettable monikers such as the "Don Corleone", the "How-You-Doin'", and the "Forget About It". Soups, salads, burgers, and panini are also served. In addition to the original restaurant, which serves a wider range of entrees, locations are found on Hertel Avenue in North Buffalo as well as two in Amherst.

Perhaps the largest and best-known chain restaurant of local provenance, Mighty Taco is a Mexican fast-food outfit that was founded in 1973 and now boasts 21 locations all over the Niagara Frontier. This place's popularity among locals is so great that Taco Bell was shut out of the local market till well into the 1990s, and Mighty's sales figures still dwarf those of its much larger multinational rival. Signature specialties are the El Niño Burrito and their extensive line of "Roastitos", as well as seasonal offerings such as Chipotle Chili and BBQ Beef Burritos. Mighty Taco is also well-known for the unique, somewhat psychedelic commercials they run on Buffalo television, especially during the late-night hours.

The tentacles of this chain of sports bars now spread far beyond the Niagara Frontier, with a presence as far afield as Genesee County and the Corning/Elmira area. But Kenmore is where Mooney's got its start in 2010, and it's still where you'll find a majority of its nine locations. Each one has a slightly different menu from the others (burgers, hot and cold sandwiches, deep-fried appetizers, and other standard pub grub is the general idea, along with a decent selection of local fare such as beef on weck and Buffalo-style chicken wings and fingers), but they all serve the specialty that the chain is most famous for: the area's widest and most creative selection of specialty mac & cheese platters, topped with everything from lobster to taco fixings to (of course) Buffalo-style chicken and blue cheese dressing. Homey wood-panelled walls bedecked with local sports memorabilia, omnipresent TVs tuned to the big game, and a general "where everybody knows your name" vibe complete the unpretentious ambience. Area locations include the original one on Military Road plus satellites in Depew, Lancaster, Tonawanda, West Seneca, and at the Eastern Hills Mall.

If we're talking volume alone, Tim Hortons is the area's favorite coffee-and-doughnut outfit, with Dunkin' Donuts a far distant second. If rabid customer loyalty is the metric, though, Paula's has both of those places beaten hands-down. The menu isn't anything out of the ordinary, with piping-hot coffee, doughnuts and other baked goods, and breakfast sandwiches all making their obligatory appearance. But it's the sheer size of their doughnuts that makes Paula's stand out from the pack — the jelly- and cream-filled ones in particular are better split between two people (this has as much to do with their taste bud-blasting sweetness as their size; these doughnuts pack a sugar punch that leaves the big-name competitors in the dust). Also notable is the wide variety: Paula's repertoire includes about 50 different permanent and seasonal doughnut varieties, of which usually 15 or so are available at any given time. You'll find three Paula's locations scattered around the metro area: the original in Tonawanda and branch locations in Clarence and West Seneca.

"Like Chipotle for Mediterranean food", in the words of one reviewer: at Rachel's you pick your favorites from a seemingly neverending list of meats, veggies, and toppings to be customized into your very own wrap, salad, or rice bowl. Gyro and souvlaki are on point, but purists take note: this place has an odd and blatantly incorrect definition of shawarma (their version is basically chicken souvlaki mashed up with fried potatoes). Add on a side — hummus and tabbouleh are popular options — and you're good to go. In addition to the original location that's still going strong on Main Street in Williamsville, there are locations on UB North Campus in Amherst, on Chippewa Street in downtown Buffalo, and in Cheektowaga and Hamburg.

It's not exactly a local coffeeshop chain — the company has been Canadian-owned since 2004 — but Western New Yorkers still claim SPoT as their own based on the fact that this is where you'll still find the vast majority of locations (despite ambitious plans to expand into the Canadian market, their two Toronto-area shops only lasted a few years). High-quality house-roasted coffee is the name of the game, along with a range of sandwiches and panini, healthy salads, and other gourmet lunch fare; pricey but worth it. You'll find three locations in Buffalo plus additional ones in Williamsville, East Amherst, Orchard Park, Hamburg, Kenmore, and coming soon to Niagara Falls and North Tonawanda.

The hot dogs served up at this place since 1927 by three generations of the Liaros family have made Ted's among the best-loved of Buffalo's local traditions. Char-broiled dogs come with your choice of the standard condiments of ketchup, mustard, onion and pickle relish, as well as chili and cheese for a nominal extra cost. Ted's chili sauce, though, is distinctly different from what you'll find on Texas hots. Burgers, fries, onion rings, milkshakes, and soft drinks (including loganberry) round out the offerings. Sadly, Ted's original location on the waterfront of Buffalo's West Side closed in the 1990s, but the chain still boasts nine locations: one downtown and one each in the suburbs of Amherst, Cheektowaga, Lancaster, Lockport, North Tonawanda, Orchard Park, Tonawanda, and Williamsville. Or you can hop online and see if Ted's "Charcoal Chariot" food truck will be putting in an appearance near you.

The Bocce Club is a small operation, barely worthy of the term "chain" — it only has two locations, both in Amherst — but it merits inclusion here due to its outsize reputation among locals. Though there are some who say Bocce's is not quite as good as it used to be, the Pacciotti family's secret recipe is still often cited as the gold standard of Buffalo pizza. The key is the freshness of the ingredients, with dough made from scratch on the premises and only 100% whole-milk mozzarella cheese, which makes up for the fairly modest range of toppings offered. The usual array of wings, subs and sides are also offered, along with a decent fish fry. Also on Transit Road in East Amherst is the Original Bocce's Pizza, run by a different branch of the same family; local consensus says it's not as good.

The happy medium of Buffalo pizza, Franco's pies are offered with a respectable variety of toppings, but they're not as creative as Just Pizza; fresh-tasting and well-balanced, but not as artfully executed as Bocce's. Though the quality here can sometimes be inconsistent, Franco's is generally agreed to be above-average on the Buffalo pizza hierarchy. Where they truly excel, however, is the accompaniments — the garlic bread here is soft, moist and has a pleasantly sharp garlic flavor, the wide variety of subs on offer are all large and delicious, and the hot wings pack a spicy punch. Franco's pizzas stand out from the rest of the pack thanks to their square(-ish) shape; as the slogan goes, "Franco's doesn't cut any corners"! Locations are concentrated in Buffalo's northern suburbs, with two Tonawanda outlets and one each in Amherst, Kenmore and North Tonawanda.

The "subs" half of the equation is what earns John's its greatest acclaim — specifically their chicken finger sub; thick, meaty, sauce-drenched chunks of meat served on soft, delicious sesame seed buns run rings around their competition and justify the high prices you'll see on the menu. As for the pizza, it's hit and miss: some people swear by it, but the consensus holds it as mediocre, crust-heavy and topping-light and served in relatively stingy portions. John's counts two Amherst locations as well as additional ones in Tonawanda and Grand Island.

The closest thing to "gourmet" that you'll find in the realm of Buffalo pizza delivery, the creativity and endless variety on Just Pizza's menu have earned it comparisons to a homegrown version of California Pizza Kitchen — the online menu even suggests wine pairings to accompany their more popular specialty pies. Retaining the classic Buffalo crust and sauce but reinventing everything else, the dizzying selection of toppings, cheeses, and fourteen different crusts offered here are such that even the most diehard pizza fanatic will never be bored. Despite the name, they also serve respectable chicken wings (with, true to form, your choice of 20 sauces), subs, tacos, and the like. By far the largest chain of pizzerias in the area, Just Pizza boasts nine locations, three in Buffalo and one each in Amherst, Clarence, Grand Island, Lancaster, Tonawanda, and West Seneca.

Like the Bocce Club, the extent of La Nova's reputation belies the small size of the business, with only two locations: one on Buffalo's Upper West Side and another in Williamsville. But this truly is among the best Buffalo has to offer — not only to citizens but to the whole country; they do a brisk business shipping all over the continental U.S. (a testament, again, to that outsize renown). La Nova's crust tends to be thicker and doughier than the average Buffalo pizza, the better to support the generous portions of toppings and mounds of cheese piled on top. And the wings are in the same league as Duff's and the Anchor Bar. (Those who'd like to try both the pizza and the wings — highly recommended — should opt for a Combo Pack).

With four locations in Williamsville, West Seneca, Lancaster and Hamburg, Picasso's stands out from its competition for the value customers get for their money. On paper, the prices at Picasso's are comparable to other pizza places in Buffalo — but the portions are huge, such that a medium pizza here could easily pass for a large somewhere else. That being said, the pizza itself can be described as merely average, with a crust that's slightly sweeter and nuttier in flavor, and wing lovers would probably be better served elsewhere. Picasso's does have an immense variety of other options available encompassing pretty much every type of simple, portable food that you might imagine from a place like this: everything from calzones to pasta dishes to several dozen varieties of hot and cold subs, and most interesting of all, an impressive variety of surprisingly tasty salads.