Spaghetti baked with marinara sauce and a thick blanket of mozzarella and Parmesan, served as the canonical Buffalo Italian-American dish. The version at Chef's Restaurant downtown is the model.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Chef's Restaurant at the corner of Seneca and Chicago downtown opened in 1923 and built Buffalo's signature Italian-American spaghetti parm. Lou Billittier became sole owner in 1954 and the Billittier family carried the room for a century. The dish is now a Buffalo institution and the canonical version a generation of locals associate with downtown.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Buffalo spaghetti parm is famously cheese-blanketed. Don't be shy with the mozzarella; the dish is a 1923 cheese-pasta classic.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Why locals love it: Buffalo's century-old spaghetti parm room on Seneca Street downtown, family-owned by Billittiers since 1923 and still a quiet local favorite.
Tip: Order the spaghetti parm and a glass of house red. Mid-week dinner is the easiest walk-in for the downtown room.
Ristorante Lombardo on Hertel Avenue is North Buffalo's Tuscan-influenced anchor, family-owned since 1975 with handmade pastas and a deep wine list.
Tappo Italian on Ellicott Street downtown is the Pegula family's Italian-American room, with handmade pastas, veal saltimbocca and an urban dining floor.
More cities are in research. Want spaghetti parm covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.