Parkside Candy - Buffalo, NY

Posted By Michael Stern on May 19, 2007 9:04 AM

Built in 1927, Parkside Candy of Buffalo is one of the prettiest ice cream parlors anywhere. It is an old fashioned candy factory specializing in salt water taffy, all day suckers, bon bons of every size and shape, and a spun molasses specialty known as sponge candy (or honeycombs), as well as a full repertoire of soda fountain specialties including dusty roads, rocky roads, tin roofs, egg creams, and peanut butter fudge banana splits.

Walk into this place and your nose fills with a liquorish cocoa butter aroma even before your eyes can focus on the stunning interior decor. In a grandiose oval room lined with classic columns and umbrella'd by a domed ceiling, candies are sold from a series of vending stations around the circumference. Soft background music and subtle indirect light create the reverential atmosphere of a fine art museum. In the center of the room, on a checked tiled floor, a group of wooden tables and chairs allow customers to contemplate the fine gastro¬nomic artistry of their creamsicle frappes, root beer floats, and maple nut sundaes.

You can even eat a meal. Breakfast on homemade muffins, stuffed croissants, French toast, or a Belgian waffle. At lunch, the sandwich list includes beef on weck as well as sentimentally-named sandwiches from days of yore such as the Windemere (roast beef and cheddar cheese) and The University ("More than a meal: ham, turkey, salami, Swiss cheese, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber slices").

Nice eats, but the good part is what comes from the soda fountain: floats, shakes, sodas, and coolers. The menu lists more than a dozen different sundaes, including "Mexican" (made with little peanuts) and out of this world bittersweet chocolate. Frappes; and the ice cream roster includes such doozies as bittersweet sinphony, fireball, death by chocolate, and muddy sneaker.

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Posted By Steve Bland on April 22, 2011 7:17 PM

You'll think you're in old-world Europe when you step into this charming spot. Everything we sampled was delicious but I have been dreaming of the sponge candy. Amazing!

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Sponge Candy

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Posted By CAREY COLOMB on October 26, 2010 10:55 AM

OMG! I remember this place so vividly! It's true, it is one of the prettiest places! It's like a step into another time! It is so worth a stop if you are in the area! The chocolate is like no other I have ever tasted...so creamy..so chocolaty! Try the sponge candy...it's a specialty however the truffles cannot be topped. And if you are there around Easter....by all means go there then!

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