Panaro’s

«BEST ITALIAN FOOD EVER», «Oh My Goodness», «Lord Have Mercy», «Yasss Hunny Yassss». These are a few of the comment my coworkers and I say on a daily basis! We have tired so many different things from Panaros and we have NEVER EVER EVER been disappointed. From their amazing pasta fagioli, lazy lasagna, chicken parm-​pizza-​sandwich-​entrée, and cannolis and cheesecake brownies– EVERYTHING IS AMAZING!!! I wish I could eat there all the time they are soooooooo great!!! Also, the service is PHENOMENAL! We love calling in our order and getting the young sweet dark haired girl answering the phone is a particular way, almost singing «Paaaa-​Narrosss! ». We adore her! She is always so kind and sweet and there are not enough good things to say about her! The ONLY thing that stinks is… they are only open M-​F 11−3pm. I wish they were open late night or weekends so I could bring more family by to try the food, but everything else is so good I can’t even take a star away from them! Actually, can I add bonus stars? I need too LOL!

Braiscole for lunch on Wednesdays! How can lunch be better. Unless it’s the baked fish on Friday. Haven’t even got to the desserts yet the lunch is so good. What a nice family, lunch at Panaro is going to be the only thing we miss when my wife changes jobs soon. We’ll make a special trip!

I\m surprised there aren’t more reviews for Panaro’s because they were super packed when we stopped in I was told they’re pretty much always busy. This little café is open for lunch only but does lots of catering and private party action at night.
For a lunch-​only place, the menu is huge! There are fresh, creative salads, sandwiches, Italian entrees and even pizzas. It was hard to choose but we started with a basket of their famous pasta chips (basically fried pasta strips that you dip in red sauce). They’re garlicky and addictive. I went with an apple walnut salad which was full of fresh, tart apples, creamy goat cheese, crunchy walnuts and craisins. Really a great salad for $ 9. The people I was with both ordered soup — one a cup (served in a big bowl) and one ordered a bowl (which was a huge tureen) so know that portion sizes are more than generous.
Apparently everyone that works here is family — and it shows. The owner was walking around, checking on people and chatting and his sisters were taking orders and running food. You can tell they put a lot of care into making sure that their food is fresh and delicious. This is a great little find!

I went into Parano’s on what I was guessing would be a slower Friday afternoon. I went around 1:30 which I thought would be after the lunch rush. I was very mistaken.
They were absolutely slammed when I got there. There was one server running the entire dining room. One of the owners was running food and refilling waters. I think they only had one or two people in the kitchen. It took almost an hour to get our food, but it was really good. I had the chicken parm and it was AMAZING. I got it with penne and I would have licked the plate clean if hadn’t stopped myself.
They are family owned and you can tell. The food tasted like it was fresh out of grandma’s kitchen. The cannoli’s are filled to order. It was an excellent gastronomical experience. I will be back even though I waited so long. At the end when I paid at the counter the man who closed me out was almost overly apologetic about the wait and made sure to make sure we had a good experience.
I would say the only issue that I had with Panaro’s was that the waitress had her hair down. I just didn’t think that it was professional in the service industry, especially since she was so busy running around, her hair could have ended up in someones food.

Full Disclosure: I have known and have been friends with an owner of Panaro’s, Michael Concialdi since he was my boss at Planet Video many, many years ago in a galaxy far, far away. While he was a wonderful boss, his epic moment of those years was taking his underlings to the Locker Room for a few cocktails, getting us tipsy, then dragging this surly crew of pirates to Mike’s Giant Subs, where Mike (as Captain of this rag tag bunch of né’er do wells) took over the kitchen (with minimal ado amazingly enough) to make us all his special version of Steak and Cheese subs, which as an aside were quite excellent. However, with that said, one could assume this review may be slightly slanted. That is why I gave him four stars so that you can all see I am being fair. When he opens for dinner (they only do lunch) so I can enjoy his food a bit more often, he will achieve the coveted 5 star status.
While Mike is a superstar in the realm of appropriating the kitchens of local sub shops, it is his brother Tony Concialdi (full disclosure: also a friend) who runs the kitchen and makes the best homestyle Italian comfort food in the City… and I do not use the word «best» lightly. While I can rave about the sauce (not too sweet, very flavorful, great consistency), and their amazing Italian cookies which are available most of the time and can not be beat, I will make this review short (er) and sweet and wax poetic about one item on their menu that is only available on Wednesday afternoons. However, this item is so special it deserves its own paragraph.
In his cookbook Les Halles, Anthony Bourdain writes: «You want to make a Frenchman cry? Make him a nice bowl of pot-​au-​feu. This is soul food for socialists.» So let us, like Hannibal cross the metaphoric Alps and determine what the Italian equivalent is for pot-​au-​feu. You want to make an Italian-​American cry? Make him a nice brasciole… Involtini to you traditionalists.
For those un-​aquainted brasciole is a slowly roasted pork shoulder, wrapped around ground meat, wrapped around hard boiled eggs and covered in Sunday Sauce. However, that is just the basic map, everyone does theirs differently. My Uncle Louie used to layer prosciutto, garlic and parsley between the pork shoulder and ground pork. Some people leave out the egg… a sin. Some people make it as a giant loaf and serve it in slices… like Romeo and Juliet’s locally who also always overcooks the hard boiled egg (rubber). At Panaro’s they make their brasciole as a single serving and it is truly the best in the city. That’s right Sinatras I’m talking to you… Panaro’s brasciole is superior.
While Mike and Tony’s brasciole may be lacking in length, they certainly make up for it in girth! That’s right you stugots I went there.
So let me paint a picture: A steaming plate of succulent pork arrives at the table, smothered in thick Sunday sauce that I can smell coming long before it arrives. I slice into the red mound with a fork since the meat is so braised it falls apart revealing a treasure for the diner; a perfectly cooked, hard boiled egg waiting at the center like a golden surprise. Next to the brasciole is a few links of Italian sausage and sautéed mushrooms, because why not opt for a bit more meat. Just thinking of this brasciole is already bringing tears to my eyes. I could not think of a more ideal Wednesday lunch, and da obligatory itus (see Urban Dictionary) which follows.
If you want a taste of real Western New York homestyle Italian comfort food, look no further. You will think you are back in Nona’s kitchen. There may be thousands of options in Buffalo, but in my ever so humble opinion, Mike and Tony do it the best… even if Mike is a stugots!
Buon Appetito!

My husband and I were married yesterday and Tony did our wedding cake. It was beautiful and absolutely delicious! He made every detail perfect! Panaros also provided us with our cookies and pastries. We had many compliments on all the desserts! If you want quality and deliciousness trust panaros! We are very happy we did.

This is a great lunch spot. They have really solid sandwiches and I’ve had a very good special pasta dish. I especially enjoy their meatball parmesan sandwich, which sounds like it might be a recipe for tomato sauce stains on your shirt, but is in fact nice, mild meatballs, sliced, layered in cheese, and on foccacia, making for an easy to eat and really tasty sammich. Service is quick and friendly and prices are quite reasonable. Definitely recommended.

Should I ever suspect a significant other of vampirism, I now know a perfect test: Can they survive lunch at Panaro’s? The food here is more suffused with garlic (and also basil and oil) than any other restaurant I have ever visited. Somehow, Panaro’s does a brisk business of serving suits, a matter largely beyond my ken as the smells of the place saturate clothing even if venturing in for takeout, much less if stewing in it a spell. Bring a Panaro’s sandwich back to the office, and you will instantly become the person with the smelly lunch.
Which isn’t to say the food, though one-​dimensional, is at all bad (as long as you are a fan of garlic, basil, and oil-​inundated fare). The ingredients used in Panaro’s many sandwiches are plainly high quality, ranging from juicy sausages to thick sauces, rich cheeses, and fresh Guercio’s (I believe) produce. The focaccia bread on which these sandwiches arrive is made in house, and it manages to provide a delightful contrast in texture even under the weight of the many fluids it surrounds.
Rather, there are three aspects of food at Panaro’s that really holds it back from being an optimal lunch location:
(1) With the disclosure that I have not tried their pasta dishes or pizzas, the sandwiches are definitely on the smaller side, especially compared to lunch sandwiches to be found at competitors like Sazon Criollo, Guercio’s, Café 59, or Phở Dollar.
(2) Panaro’s offers a choice of potato chips or homemade pasta chips, but neither is an enjoyable option. Though I wrote at length of the overgarlicking that marks the restaurant in general, the potato chips are startlingly flavorless and often somewhat stale. The pasta chips run to the opposite extreme, but the flavor and texture of the actual chip is that of hardened pasta, which even copious garlicking can’t hide. An option of a side salad, fries, or a cup of soup at the same cost would be a marked improvement to the total lunch experience.
(3) The value proposition of a lunch at Panaro’s versus any of the aforementioned competitors is not good, running you at least $ 8.00 plus tax for any of the specialty sandwiches. Three of the aforementioned sandwich places I mentioned above top out at more than a dollar less. Crust clocks in at $ 7.00. Lunch specials at Don Tequila are less than $ 7.00. Falafel and kafta at Gatur’s are less than $ 5.00. Other establishments like Colter Bay and Madonna’s run the same as Panaro’s, but they offer much higher quality sides.
As I mentioned before, Panaro’s does a wonderfully brisk takeout business, but a substantial number of its customers dine in as well. Dining in is a reasonable option but by no means a desirable one. Interior décor is quite sparse, as if the entire restaurant might suddenly pack its bags overnight. Large bay windows at the front of the store make adjacent tables quite drafty, even in summer, and I have often found myself wishing for an extra layer. The dine-​in area is competently but minimally staffed, and if all of the tables are occupied (a frequent occurrence), service can be quite slow. (That said, food never seems to take more than or less than 15 minutes to arrive. The assembly line in the kitchen works at a consistent and admirable clip given their volume.)
Panaro’s does also offer an assortment of reasonably priced and good sized desserts. My only experience of them is the chocolate cream cheese brownie, which is wonderfully rich, wonderfully buttery, and a source of completely unnecessary yet delicious calories on more than three occasions.
Ultimately, I do rather esteem the heavily garlicked fare here. If that significant other were to disintegrate before my eyes, I would gleefully devour the rest of my sandwich and likely hers as well (while being sure to stay well clear of those chip things). But I might also heave a sigh of disgust when my check came.
4 stars for food (–2 if you don’t like garlic)
2 stars for value
3 stars for atmosphere
3 stars overall

Best Italian Lunch in Buffalo!
For some reason most of Buffalo has never noticed this little eatery nestled between Tempo and Colter Bay. While they are only open for lunch we constantly have them cater all different events for us. They help set up and never mess up an order. Do you know how hard it is to convince construction workers to eat veggie or have vegetarians eat meat? Getting an order right, having all the stuff good to go is essential to making a host look good.
As far as lunches go I love their pasta chips and a nice bowl of soup during the winter. During the summer a nice light salad with some grilled chicken will do perfectly. Also when I feel like pigging out I get the spaghetti parm with 2 meatballs and a sausage in a smiley face.
I give this place 5 stars… if you don’t ever try it out that’s even better. More chicken cutlets and baby cannoli for me!

I work right up the street from Panaro’s and it is one of my favorite places to order lunch. I love that they have take out and the meals are homemade for very fair prices. The eggplant parm sandwich is AMAZING, I get it almost every time. I’m obsessed with the pasta chips, very unique and delicious! I’ve also had their dessert cakes at showers and definitely my favorite!

I hate walking the dog. Today I had to go to Hallwalls for tickets to something and I was hungry so I was triply motivated to halter up the animal and head south on Delaware Ave. I pressed my face into the glass at Panaro’s. I noticed they used the apostrophe correctly. I took it as a sign and I went in.
The soup of the day was seafood chowder but it was sold out. I thought about getting a salad, but I hate bad salad as much as I hate dog walking. Maybe more, cause I have lowered expectations out of a dog walk… I had to read fast because the dog was leashed to a bench. Dandelions leapt out at me. They were sauteed and added to a chicken sandwich with melted mozzarella on a homemade roll. I kind of hate chicken sandwiches because they’re usually dry and boring, and I usually hate mozzarella because if it’s not fresh it’s so plasticky, but I love dandelions.
They brought me my sandwich out to the bench. The dog and I hightailed it home, with me allowing only essential dog sniffing.
What is with Buffalonians and styrofoam? That said, the sandwich was superb. Smallish roll, not too doughy, tender, not too overwhelming. Delicious sauteed onion and dandelions that were a real element, not just a thin layer. Even the chicken was acceptable. What can I say, I’m a jerk about mozzarella.
There’s a dandelion vegetarian pizza that I am counting the days until I can get to. Maybe I’ll start to hate walking the dog a little less…

I don’t know why more people have not reviewed this place. A quaint little café on the corner of Allen St, complete with delicious sandwiches and basic Italian fare. They have pasta chips which are basically baked pasta seasoned to perfection. The staff is wonderful. They remember me everytime. They recently opened for take-​out in the evenings and it’s always great. It’s not open on the weekends which is a shame. But this place is perfect for a light lunch. A nice addition to the neighborhood!

This place has mind-​blowingly DELICIOUS cannoli!!! I’ve tried every cannoli from every bakery in Buffalo, and this place has THE BEST! Their pasticotti and cassata cake are good too, but their cannoli is insanely delicious… and pretty large compared to other bakeries. The yummy cannoli shell is homemade and tender, and the filling is plentiful and decadent. I’ve tried cannoli from Chef’s, Romeo & Juliet’s, La Bella Sicilia, Gino’s, DiCamillo’s, Dolci, etc, and although they all make decent cannoli, Panaro’s outshines them all. I’d say the next best one is at Romeo & Juliet’s…it’s somewhat similar to Panaro’s, but Panaro’s is still THE BEST!!!

Panaro’s is right on Delaware but it was one of those places I passed 1000x and never noticed. It wasn’t until I had actually left Buffalo but was planning a at «home» reception to celebrate our wedding that I was looking online for a reasonably place to do it. Panaro’s fit all my requirements and then some. It was very reasonably priced, the food is super delicious, they let you BYOB when you hold an event there (that alone saved so much money it was worth it), and the location was central and easy to find.
All the food is good, but I gotta tell you about this thing called «Cassata Cake». I think about Panaro’s Cassata cake a lot… much more often than any normal person should. Cassata cake is this crazy thing the Italians came up with where they stuff cannoli filling in between layers of moist yellow cake (they will use chocolate cake if you ask). I cannot put in to words how good this combo is. My mouth waters thinking about it. After I had Panaro’s cassata cake I came home to the Seattle area desperate to find something out there like it. I found some bakeries downtown (Columbia City) that makes a Cassata cake, but it’s not nearly as good as Panaro’s version. I would go home to Buffalo just to eat this cake, it is that good! (of course, I’d do it under the guise of visiting my parents).
Panaro’s is only open for lunch (11am-​3pm) M-​F, and then they rent out the place in the evenings and on weekends for private events. It holds ~50 people, I believe. If you are in downtown Buffalo around lunchtime during the week, I HIGHLY recommend eating here. The meatballs will melt in your mouth. Everything they make is divine, but save room for that Cassata cake! And if you need a great place that will work with you for a small event (~50 or less), THIS is the place to do it! My parents have their 40^th wedding anniversary in 2013 and I already know now this is the place I’m going to have the party at. I have looked around and no one else in Buffalo offers the quality of food that they do at the great price and the option to bring in your own beer/​wine.

This restaurant is not that big. But they do have nice desserts. In fact, they do specialize in wedding cakes. People are friendly there and felt very comfortable. Food was good, too.