By Andrew Galarneau
(Image above: Five Points Bakery founders Kevin and Melissa Gardner)

On this first Sunday of a new year, allow me to extend my best wishes to the people who feed us. 

The year ahead will be the most trying time for restaurants since the Great Depression. 

Here’s to the farmers and bakers, cooks and servers and dishwashers who devote their lives to providing our daily bread. 

Today I’d like to step back from the news for a moment, and use my bully pulpit to share my wishes for the rest of us.

While the average citizen cannot change national conditions, we are not powerless to affect matters within the reach of our hands. In Buffalo, as elsewhere, we can strengthen our community by showing up for the people and places we’d miss the most.

In 2026, consider the power of your purse. Put your money to work for what you believe in. Every dollar spent conscientiously is a vote for the future you want to see. For businesses this small, you can actually make a sustaining difference.

Well-aimed grocery and restaurant spending directs the proceeds from your purchase into local pockets. Spending on locals strengthens community assets: kitchens and farms that make Western New York a better place to live.

Here’s a few ways to do that. My wish is that one throws sparks for you in the new year.

Avoid corporate restaurants.

Every time you bring your party to Applebees, Olive Garden, or Buffalo Wild Wings, you miss a chance to boost the local economy. Their staffers might live in the area code, but corporate storefronts are the business end of multinational supply chains pumping in ingredients, then shipping gross profits out of town. 

That’s how they can afford to advertise so much. Do some detective work, poke around a bit, and you can usually find a locally-owned replacement whose workers, owners and suppliers are all neighbors. 

Avoid delivery apps whenever possible

If you’re housebound, sure. I’d try to use appetit, the locally-owned courier service that charges more reasonable fees. If you have a car, just go get it. The restaurant makes more money, and you get a chance to say thank you in person. Who knows, you might even get to talking and make connections. Stranger things have happened. I always tip for complicated takeout orders. You don’t have to — a genuine thank you or kind words have value too. 

Support community-based businesses 

Ever thought more businesses should treat workers better? The Lexington Co-op grocery stores on Elmwood and Hertel are membership-owned, with unionized workers. BreadHive is a cooperative of worker-owners. So is Extra Extra Pizza, whose delightful elimination of tipping – you only pay the menu price – is a mercy to servers and customers alike.

Five Points Bakery & Toast Cafe drew on community support to help make Five Points a desirable West Side neighborhood. When banks wouldn’t lend Melissa and Kevin Gardner’s whole-grain bakery the money to grow, their customers lent the Gardners the money to buy their current spot. Then got paid back with interest as the couple and their children and made it a neighborhood feeding spot and third space.

Invest in farmers

If you eat meat, consider finding a farmer and filling your freezer. It makes more sense than ever with supermarket beef prices skyrocketing.  If you cook with vegetables, consider a farm subscription, also known as a community supported agriculture share. Yes, it takes a commitment, and planning, and maybe even a freezer. The payback is getting top-quality food at rock-bottom prices, and maybe even a friend who drives a tractor.

Have mercy on workers

Whether they are talking to you over a candlelit tablecloth or a drive-through window, please remember that restaurant workers don’t set menu prices or decide how long you have to wait. 

That said, any conscientious owner wants to hear about your problems. If there was something wrong with your experience worth complaining about to the rest of the world on social media, see if you can deliver it in person first. See if they can cure the problem before you walk out the door. 

So when you find yourself hungry, think of your neighbors. Think local, to make your bit of the world a little better. Help build Buffalo into a place you’re even prouder to call home.

REVIEW: My enchantment with 99 Fast Food’s Vietnamese soups and plates started two decades ago, in the sparse star-anise-scented dining room across the street from Buffalo City Hall. On Bailey Avenue a block and a half south of the University at Buffalo’s Main Street campus, its preternaturally crispy pork-stuffed egg rolls even beat the ones I enjoyed in Hanoi. (Later this week, for patrons.) 

COMING ATTRACTIONS: The worldwide tour in support of Where to eat in Buffalo 2026 continues this week. I’m booking speaking engagements through March at present. If you’re interested please hit me at andrew@fourbites.net.

Jan. 6: noon, Lockport Rotary Club, 33 Ontario St. 

Jan 8: 5 p.m., Fitz Books & Waffles – and I’m bringing snacks.

ASK THE CRITIC:

Q: Does anyone know of stores that carry loomi (dried black limes)? I need them for a dish but was not able to find them at Wegmans.

— u/spacecasesam, Reddit

A: Sahar Bakery, 2784 Sheridan Drive, Tonawanda, an Afghan bakery that makes barbari bread and sells black lime and lots of Levantine/Arabic groceries. Also Buffalo Fresh, the biggest Levantine/Arabic/South Asian groceries in Buffalo, in Riverside, 284 Ontario St, and at 1018 Broadway.

More reading from Michael Chelus of Nittany Epicurean:

• Mr. Galarneau told us about the dazzling Chinese cuisine with old-school comfort he found at Golden Hill  [Four Bites]
• Andrew also told us that we can now find Manakish – essential Levantine street food – locally at Cheezaatar in Kenmore [Four Bites]
• Big Ditch has launched an inflation buster special – $4 pints of their No Punts Intended Pilsner every day at both of their taprooms [Buffalo Beer League]
• Buffalo Eats continued its annual tradition with “Our Favorite Meals of 2025” – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 (featuring yours truly) & Part 5 [Buffalo Eats]
• Brian’s Buffalo Beer Buzz told us about a non-alcoholic IPA from Other Half, the return of the Art of Beer to the Niagara Arts & Cultural Center and more [Buffalo Beer League]
• Francesca wrote about the flavorful dinners to be found at Hānai Hawaiian BBQ [Buffalo News]
• On her way to 40, Francesca named ten more of Buffalo’s best restaurants including Bratts Hill, Kuni’s, Marble + Rye and more [Buffalo News]
• The owners of Fat Bob’s are making a signifant investment in their bar [Buffalo Rising]
• Old City Pizza is set to open in the basement of Pear Street Grill & Brewery [Buffalo Rising]
• Buffalo Beer League’s favorite beers of 2025 featured offerings from Frequentum Brewing, Old First Ward Brewing Company and more [Buffalo Beer Leauge]

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