For his birthday, Eric suggested we try out BuffaLouie's for lunch. Right off campus, across from the Sample Gates, on Indiana Ave between 4th and Kirkwood, is a restaurant that is famous for its wings. USA Today voted it one of America's top 10 wings places in 2011. They do other things well too (burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads), but the pretty much the point of going there is for the traditional (bone-in) buffalo wings.
Walking inside the restaurant is like walking into a shrine dedicated to Indiana sports. It is awesome and incredibly overwhelming. This is not a quiet restaurant; it is three open floors of sports games on TV, people talking, and a food runner yelling out the name of the person on the order he or she needs to deliver. It is a fairly unique atmosphere (definitely different than sports bars, at least at lunchtime; we have never been at dinner or for watching an IU game).
We wound up getting lucky and the current owner of BuffaLouie's, Ed Schwartzman, was the guy who took our order. As soon as he found out we'd never been here before, he gave us the whole run down about how the food is fresh, made to order, and all the wings sauces are homemade. As soon as I found out his last name was Schwartzman, I mentioned it to him and he and his wife (also the owner) got excited (there are not many Schwartzman's) and I even got a hug. Pretty awesome and super random!
The food was very tasty. I ordered 5 honey garlic traditional wings, and by the end of lunch, they were thoroughly picked over and my hands were covered in a sticky sweet yummy sauce. Eric got 10 medium-heat traditional barbeque wings which he said were good, his sister had a chicken parmesan sandwich and ate the whole thing, and his mom had a buffalo chicken salad which had noticeably fresh ingredients and tasted good.
Since the restaurant is right near campus, the only viable parking is street meters. We parked on Dunn and 4th and walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant to avoid driving around looking for a parking spot. There were definitely a lot of people at the restaurant which made it hard to hear when our order was called (you give them your name when you order, then someone comes out with it when it's done and yells your name). But the food is good and the atmosphere is fun, and this is certainly a Bloomington staple restaurant to check out when you're in town!
Walking inside the restaurant is like walking into a shrine dedicated to Indiana sports. It is awesome and incredibly overwhelming. This is not a quiet restaurant; it is three open floors of sports games on TV, people talking, and a food runner yelling out the name of the person on the order he or she needs to deliver. It is a fairly unique atmosphere (definitely different than sports bars, at least at lunchtime; we have never been at dinner or for watching an IU game).
We wound up getting lucky and the current owner of BuffaLouie's, Ed Schwartzman, was the guy who took our order. As soon as he found out we'd never been here before, he gave us the whole run down about how the food is fresh, made to order, and all the wings sauces are homemade. As soon as I found out his last name was Schwartzman, I mentioned it to him and he and his wife (also the owner) got excited (there are not many Schwartzman's) and I even got a hug. Pretty awesome and super random!
The food was very tasty. I ordered 5 honey garlic traditional wings, and by the end of lunch, they were thoroughly picked over and my hands were covered in a sticky sweet yummy sauce. Eric got 10 medium-heat traditional barbeque wings which he said were good, his sister had a chicken parmesan sandwich and ate the whole thing, and his mom had a buffalo chicken salad which had noticeably fresh ingredients and tasted good.
Since the restaurant is right near campus, the only viable parking is street meters. We parked on Dunn and 4th and walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant to avoid driving around looking for a parking spot. There were definitely a lot of people at the restaurant which made it hard to hear when our order was called (you give them your name when you order, then someone comes out with it when it's done and yells your name). But the food is good and the atmosphere is fun, and this is certainly a Bloomington staple restaurant to check out when you're in town!
Bloomington, IN: BuffaLouie's
Reviewed by Maria
on
10:00:00 AM
Rating:
Reviewed by Maria
on
10:00:00 AM
Rating:
Posts
No comments: