January 24, 2008...11:45 pm
Bless me, father: Daisies Cafe, Lackawanna
Such a rough-and-tumble name for a breakfast’s that’s pure comfort food.
The place I meant to go was closed, so I was driving through Lackawanna looking for lunch. In Buffalo’s, er, economically challenged sister city, I wasn’t exactly expecting to find a killer salad bar.
Still, the sign made me hit the brakes.
LARD OMELETTOS.
“So, that’s a little omelette, filled with lard?” I asked my friend Doug, as my car idled in the middle of South Park Avenue. “I mean, I’ve heard of cured lard on pizza, an Italian thing, but an omelette?”
Doug rolled his eyes, but he knew what he was getting into, climbing into my car at lunchtime. We pulled over and walked into Daisies Cafe (2711 South Park Ave., 826-3410).
Seated, I asked the server, “So what’s in a lard omelette? Besides lard.”
She explained that I had missed the sophisticated rebus-like subtext of the sign (below).
The dish Daisies had to offer was, in fact, a Lard Ass Omelette ($5.25). “It’s basically got all of the breakfast meats in one,” she explained. Bacon, sausage, and ham, with American cheese and sauted onions, inside of a plush three-egg quilt.
I considered the dietary sin I was about to commit. Then I looked out the window at the Our Lady of Victory Basilica soaring into the sky. Across the street, a health care facility.
I could get an angioplasty, Confession, and Last Rites within staggering distance.
“That sounds good,” I told the waitress. “Rye toast, please.”
Doug’s open-face chicken souvlaki ($6.50) was a ridiculous pile of lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes and feta cheese, topped with an ample amount of well seasoned, moist chicken tenders. The pita half-moon was grilled until crusty.
The omelette was a guilty pleasure, Porkapalooza on a plate. But it wasn’t so huge that my parents’ lectures about the starving children in Africa came to mind.
Daisies’ cheery owners, John Ryan and Alana Sibiga (above), said they were about to move into their new place, a couple of doors down from the corner of South Park Avenue and Ridge Road. Still close enough to the Basilica to try to avoid a venial sin in advertising.
“That was good,” I said to Doug as we left. “And quick. We still have time to get some Texas hots on the way back.”
7 Comments
January 25, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Your omelette reminds me of my all time favorite omelette from Louie’s Texas Hots - to be eaten sparingly. It is 3 eggs filled with chopped hot dogs, onions, the texas hot sauce they put on their hot dogs, and covered in American cheese. Oh, and served with home fries and toast. I don’t know if all locations have it, but I have eaten it at the one on Transit in Lancaster.
January 25, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I moved to Lackawanna last March and Daisies was one of the first local restaurants we tried. Their turkey sandwich is to die for - real, moist hand-carved turkey meat stacked high. We also tried their egg salad sandwich. The filling tasted fresh - so unlike the old refrigerated stand-by that many restaurants make to use up old eggs. Daisies made me more selective about deli sandwiches.
January 25, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I love Daisies. It’s nothing fancy, but the kids love it and the husband and I always come away pleased with our meal and the grand total. Great place to stop for lunch after a day at the gardens.
January 26, 2008 at 12:22 am
Greetings from FL. I need to take you to Nick’s for bkfst. Ham off the bone, hot dog omeletes. It’s the bomb, man.
January 26, 2008 at 3:11 pm
That omelet looks very interesting. I recently started my own blog at http://www.baeats.blogspot.com. I like reading your blog because it is local. I also enjoy reading other food blogs, so I thought would venture into the arena myself. Recently, My Mother, my Sister and I started a specialty foods store in East Aurora because we wanted access to more of a variety of products. Maybe you could stop by sometime and let me know what you think. I know self promotion, but it hard to run a business in this area!!
February 2, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I have not gone there since they first opened, maybe ten years ago. Daisies has really sporadic hours, or at least it seems that way, so I’ve been kind of weary about what is going on with this whole new location down the block. I live a mile down the road and haven’t made it out in a decade, so perhaps I should give it a try again, looks tasty.
And Julie, I know the Louie’s on Harlem @ Mineral Springs has that same omelet, though last time I got it with feta.
June 15, 2008 at 3:02 pm
My friends’ and I always go to Daisie’s each Saturday morning. We are “regulars” here and the food is the best by far. If you are like me you are willing to try several different items in various restaurant menus. Nothing by far compares to the Elvis French Toast special which can be prepared anytime. I highly recommend this place for the platter or in my case Elvis French Toast.
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