During the summer, there are always a million things to do. Festivals, concerts, you name it, and we have it. One of my favorite events to attend during the summer is always the Italian Festival. It’s always the weekend around the 13th or 14th of July and a great celebration of Italian heritage in Buffalo.

Last night, I went down with friends to see what the offerings were. I have two food items I ALWAYS get every year. I always get Louie’s pizza because there is no Louie’s pizza locally. Louie’s travels from festival to festival, so I can only get their pizza once a year. My other favorite food to get at the festival is the Hot Pepper Roll from Molinaro’s. Molinaro’s is a family-owned business out of Lockport and I like to support it because a) the food is great and b) I grew up with the Molinaro family. I’d heard a rumor that they would not be attending the festival this year, but I was delighted to find them, closer to the main area than usual. I bought one of the hot pepper rolls - a hot banana pepper stuffed with ricotta cheese and sausage and then deep-fried in breading - and it did not disappoint. It was hotter than I remember, but still delicious! The music is always festive for the weekend and I was glad to run into some old friends while walking around.

New this year was the Tiki Bar at Romeo & Juliet’s. Normally, R&J’s is closed during the festival. They decided to try something different this year and stay open as well as sell drinks. A great idea! It was packed when we stopped in for some sangria (yum!) and to check things out. They said they decided to see how things went and what the feedback would be and maybe make things bigger and better next year. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves!

So, head on down because you’ll never have the choices of great Italian food, desserts and entertainments than you do at the Italian Festival!

RSS 2.0 Respond Trackback