CHEAP EATS
Sawyer Creek Hotel: Great food and atmosphere
Stepping into the Sawyer Creek Hotel is like stepping back in time to the Western frontier, if they ate club sandwiches and fish fries on the frontier 100 years ago.
Tom and Paula’s adult twin sons frequent this spot at the corner of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Nash Road, not too far past the Wurlitzer complex as you travel north.
It’s a historic-looking building from the outside, but the real atmosphere is preserved inside. In the bar, you’ll see the original coolers, still used to chill libations. (See, just visiting the place has me using the big words they used to throw around on “Deadwood.” Not the bad words, just ones like “libations” and “thoroughfare.”)
We arrived just after noon on a Sunday, when the place was empty except for a few people in the bar and an extremely frightening- looking cowboy in one of the anterooms. He was wearing cowboy duds, but instead of skin he was covered with seashells. I resisted an almost overwhelming urge to see if the shells extended under the clothing.
We sat in a comfortable back dining room with dark vertically striped wallpaper and large portraits of appropriately grim-looking old-timey folks watching us. The table was a bit wobbly, so we guessed that it had been overturned during a gunfight 100 years or so ago.
The menu had a frontier flavor, with a sassy note on the cover, “Prices may change due to ATTITUDE of CUSTOMER!” and sandwiches titled “the sheriff” (grilled ham and turkey) and “the deputy” (grilled ham, bacon and pepperoni with provolone cheese). Each was $7.25. We tried “the sheriff” and found the combination generous and delicious, and the sandwich made on a fresh Kaiser roll.
Sawyer Creek has fish fries ($8.95) all day, every day, and you have to like that, even if I would have liked to see another cold salad alongside the fries and coleslaw. The fish that took the crown was a piece of pike, offered in a pan-fried pike sandwich ($7.25) on the specials board. The fish, which boasted a slightly crunchy fried crust, was served molten, as hot as if the chef had brought it in the pan right to the table.
The day’s soup, Rhode Island clam chowder, was an unusual offering. It had plenty of clams and spuds and a creamy tomato base, sort of like the classic tomato soup made with milk.
The kitchen at Sawyer Creek Hotel is open from 11 a. m. to 11 p. m. daily, and they will fry you up some food until midnight. It is not handicapped-accessible, but the five steps to the door are long, low and carpeted, with a sturdy handrail.
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