Santasiero's Restaurant — Restaurant in Buffalo

Dear owner,

Hello Sir,

So, my family had quite the experience at your place yesterday. I am not writing you about he said’ she said non-sense. I simply wish to document three points. But first, I wish to thank you for the memory of a very special family occasion that you catered.

1) Timeline of bill 2) Honor and CONTEXT 3) Great story

1) I guess that we are horrible people. So, your manager decided to wait until right after the wateriness took our bill, along with a 15% tip, and then came over and made a very loud point to kick us out and ban us for life, so that EVERYONE heard it. That simply is not ethical. That thirty seconds says more about her character than anything I can ever say.

2)  I guess that it is because we were rude? What???? Allow me to explain the context of our dinner. 18 months ago, I was diagnosed with a terminal condition, that with the help of some amazing doctors, I beat. I should not have been at your place yesterday, but I was. It was a celebration dinner of my life, and my Uncle wanted Santesieros. EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong did. The food was not to any standard I am aware of. Four orders were horrible wrong, he was HUMILIATED. Was he rude, NO. Was anyone rude, NO. Was my poor Uncle openly frustrated, hell yeah! Who would not be??? Your place ruined our celebration dinner.

3) But why humiliate and punish 7 other people, because of that. I mean, it was kinda funny when he was hitting himself in the head with my mother’s rock hard bread sticks, and pretending to get knocked out. I can even see why the waitress was pissed. But for the manager to GO OUT OF HER WAY to humiliate 7 other people, including my kids, not cool….

My Dad was quiet the whole meal, and he was treated like a man without honor by your manager. He is old fashioned, and honor is everything to him. To be treated like a criminal, when HE was the one who insisted we still tip, was so hurtful to him.

BTW, I freely admit I was rude after all was said and done. Specifically, when your manager got confrontational with me, and was making a show of being “Tough” in front of other patrons. I explained to her what I thought of my wife’s pesto, in such a way that others can hear. This was because she called me out, and said, “Well you sure did eat it, didn’t you” loud enough for all to hear.

Yes I did, because I am a human garbage disposal, I eat anything. I hate to see waste, and my wife did not finish it. How do you mess up pesto like that? It was oil and spices. There was no basil or pine nuts. It actually did taste good, but it was not pesto, or even close. Once again, how do you serve pesto that does not have basil???

Most of my family thinks your ruined a cerebration. I do not. I think you created a National Lampoon Vacation moment I will always remember, and I thank you for that. I truly do. Some of the family is still pissed, I have been laughing non-stop. However, I don’t think you run your place, so that people remember you, and laugh at the idiocy of eating...

Our first clue to what awaited us was that it was a Saturday night, and there was one car with an out-of-state license plate in the parking lot. Inside, one table had two occupants in the reserved dining room, and as we walked through to the main room where the bar was, it was empty. We visited this establishment in 2016 when the place was packed, and we didn't know if we could even get a seat. Everyone who looked like regulars turned to look at the newcomers. That made us uncomfortable, like "how dare you come to my place?". It was momentary as they quickly went back to their food and drink. We were fine after that.

But what happened to Santasiero's?!? I tried to look it up online to see if there was a story. This place had been an institution for over 100 years, and many people cited great memories of the food, atmosphere, and community. Reading through the Google reviews and experiencing it many years ago, I speculate that the pandemic and the passing of the restaurant's matron in 2021 had taken their toll. We noticed that the street had changed a lot - a lot of redevelopment occurred since we last visited. I don't know if that had an impact, perhaps from all the construction during the redevelopment. I'd be interested to hear from others.

I wish I could report that our food was amazing, but it was not. Interestingly, the food reviews were inconsistent - some dated recent or at least within a year ago said great food, but then, within the same period, others had a terrible experience. Was it a particular dish that was good/bad? Did it depend on the chef/cook? Was there a chef/cook? What I had looked like it was prepared days ago, taken out of the fridge and heated up like a tv dinner. Rolls were wrapped in plastic. Meatballs were really dense like golf balls.

The service was decent. The server was accommodating. There was no atmosphere to speak of because very few tables were set up, and the music was pop radio. The front door was sealed off. The bar was no longer in service. There was a couple of people picking up take-out but not many others while we were there.

All in all, save Santasiero's legacy, close, and cut your losses. I don't wish any business to close, but it was just too sad in its current form, knowing what was there before. (I did not take photos because it was too...

We will never go back to Santasieros again. Another table of 2 arrived at the same time we did. A table of 3 person's arrived 15 minutes after us. And yet another table of 2 about 10 minutes later. The waitress, apparently being the only one there was less than attentive. After 25 minutes we did get to place our order. And then the real wait began. The first table of 2 received their meal. 15 minutes later, the table of 3 received their meal. And then the 3rd table of 2 was tended to. We flagged down the waitress to ask where our meal was. Of course she faulted the kitchen. Upon asking again, we were told it was coming right out. And yet another 15 minutes passed. Being very upset, not to mention hungry, we picked ourselves up and asked what we owed for the 2 soda beverages we did receive. I asked to speak to whoever was in charge and was told that no one was around to speak with. The waitress went over to the open window kitchen and started to talk to the cook. I followed in her foot steps. I mildly voiced my concerns to the cook and was told that 5 people in the kitchen was short staffed. Apparently not short staffed enough where the other dining patrons didn't get their food. Then he told me it was the waitresses fault. He never received the order. She claimed she did turn it in. And then a kitchen staff member, came over to the kitchen window and proudly stated to us that we should have a good night and they really didn't need our business. The waitress did tell us there was no charge for our beverages. Confusion, mayhem, throwing blame on fellow workers and disrespect. This is not a restaurant I would recommend to anyone. Having to have had make reservations, the restaurant could control their patron flow in accord with staff on duty. Short staffed and poor staff have become an excuse for many establishments. Roll up your sleeves and learn what work ethic...