Postcards from the Edge

Today I went with my mom to the fish fry at the Edge of Town. That is the ancient tavern on Genesee Street at the city line, hence, the Edge of Town. I have written about the place before -- and, zut alors, I even used the same headline! Oh well.

Above is a picture of my mom and me after eating our gigantic fish fries.

The Edge of Town is just this Buffalo kind of place. Leonard Pennario would have loved it. He was like me. He never met a calorie he didn't like.

One problem with the place however is you have to wait for your table on a Friday because the place is crowded. My mom and I learned it would be a 20-minute wait.

My mother was fretting because she had not eaten even though I HAD TOLD HER to have a snack. All she had had was a spoonful of cottage cheese. Anyway, I settled her at a barroom table and went to the bar and ordered drinks and asked if I could pay for a salad bar in advance so my mom could have some cole slaw or something.

Here is what is great about old-time taverns. The bartender just shrugged and smiled. "Just go," she said. "Just go to the salad bar."

She understood moms!

So there is my mom happy as a clam perched athletically on this high barstool eating cole slaw and drinking a huge Bud. I am a winner!

Later we went into the dining room and dined and my mother admired the tin ceiling and the dining room and the beauteous front window which reads "Restaurant and Lounge."

My mom had the Beer-Battered Fish Fry, the Edge of Town's specialty, and I having already consumed a cheese Danish earlier in the day (long story) had the pious baked fish. My mother was pious too and took half of her dinner home. She had this huge Styrofoam container brought to the table.

"Are you through with that lemon wedge?" she asked me. I said I was. The maw of the giant Styrofoam container opened and in went my lemon wedge and it slammed shut.

The Edge of Town took my mom's Discover Card which, nobody takes that. And after that they wooed her back with talk of potato pancakes and Roast Pork nights.

"Oh," my mother said, interested.

We thought it was weird that Liver and Onions night is Thursday. My mother said that traditionally Liver and Onions night is Tuesday. Well, no place is perfect. On the plus side, every 11th dinner at the Edge of Town is free. It is like their meal plan.

We shall return!