America – Michael Eats

Amazing Sandwiches at Charlie the Butcher in Buffalo

Published on February 9, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: https://www.charliethebutcher.com/
Website: 1065 Wehrle Drive, Buffalo, NY

You’ll have to drive to Buffalo for this one, but you know what? It’s worth it.

If you’re not familiar with a beef on weck (which is a Buffalo thing that is, sadly, unavailable in the GTA, though please correct me if I’m wrong about that), it’s a pretty simple roast beef sandwich. What makes it so magical is the kummelweck roll it’s served on, which features a generous sprinkling of chunky salt and caraway seeds.

You wouldn’t think the salt/caraway combo would add all that much, but it gives the sandwich a ton of personality.

The version at Charlie the Butcher comes piled high with good quality medium-rare roast beef, some jus to moisten the bun, and a little cup of horseradish on the side.

It’s simple enough that if any element were lacking, the whole sandwich would fall apart, but I’ve been getting sandwiches from this place for years, and it’s consistently great. It’s beefy and delicious. Top 10 sandwich contender for sure.

Pizza Perfection at Descendant

Published on June 21, 2018June 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1168 Queen Street East, Toronto
Website: http://descendantdsp.com/

Is the pizza at Descendant the best in the city? I don’t know. It’s not not the best pizza in the city. It’s a contender, that’s for sure.

It’s so different from the Neopolitan-style pies that you’ll find throughout the GTA that it almost tastes like a completely separate dish.

Descendant serves Detroit-style pizza, which is cooked in a square pan and features a thick, substantial crust that’s delightfully crispy and greasy on the bottom. It’s kinda like the pan pizza from Pizza Hut, but a million times better.

This was my second time at Descendant; I liked it a lot on my first visit, but I liked it even better this time. It’s just so satisfying.

The thing that’s so impressive about this place is that the pizza itself is so good that they could easily phone it in with the toppings and just offer the usual suspects. But a lot of the flavours here are surprisingly bold and interesting, and it all works so well.

Take, for example, the Electric Avenue: “jerk chicken, fresh pineapple, curried lime aioli, green onion, Mama Lil’s Peppers, Diablo’s Fuego hot sauce.” It’s sweet and spicy, with flavours that are about as far from a traditional pizza as you can get. But it’s so good.

We also tried the special, which on this visit was the Mexican: “chorizo, pickled peppers, lime-pickled red onion, sour cream, tomato sauce, fresh cilantro.” This was probably my favourite pizza of the day — but they were all delicious. The flavours were so well balanced, with the brightness of the pickles balancing out the rich sausage and cheese.

The last pizza was the pepperoni, which was more traditional, but no less delicious.

One of the great things about this style of pizza is that you get such a great contrast between the crispy exterior and the soft interior of the crust. Plus, there’s a ring of cheese on the edges of the pizza that’s dark and crispy and amazing, and it’s just the best.

Cheesy Fried Goodness at the Cracker Barrel in Buffalo

Published on April 21, 2018 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6643 Transit Road, Buffalo, NY
Website: https://www.crackerbarrel.com/

When I was a kid, my family and I used to go to Florida every summer. We’d always drive there, and a stop at the Cracker Barrel was a must. It’s not exactly gourmet, but if you’re craving greasy southern comfort food, it nicely fits the bill.

Their current special is something called Southern Bowls; I went with the Sausage, Grits Cakes n’ Green Tomato Gravy Bowl, which I couldn’t resist. I mean, read this description from their menu and tell me you don’t immediately want to eat it:

Enjoy a fresh take on Southern flavors with two deep-fried stone ground pimento cheese grits cakes and our Sweet Pepper n’ Red Skin Hash topped with sausage patties, two scrambled eggs, and shredded Colby cheese all smothered in our green tomato gravy with a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Yeah.

And it’s pretty much exactly what you’d think it would be from that description. None of the individual components stand out as being particularly great, but they all kind of meld together into one cheesy, creamy, delicious mess. In particular, the zingy green tomato gravy does a great job of adding a pop of vibrant flavour, and cutting through the richness of the eggs and the cheese and the grits.