Beef on weck, judged the Buffalo way.
If you searched best beef on weck in Buffalo, you already know the argument never ends. Here is what the sandwich is supposed to be, how ours is built, and where to find it: slow-roasted beef on a kimmelweck roll with horseradish cream sauce and au jus, on the menu every night the kitchen runs at 3151 Main Street.
How to judge one
Three things, in this order.
The roll
Weck is short for kummelweck: a kaiser roll crusted with coarse salt and caraway seed. The sandwich is named after its bread, which tells you where the priorities are. No salt on top, no caraway, no weck.
The beef
Roast beef, sliced thin and piled rather than slabbed, so it folds. Grey roast beef is a different and sadder sandwich; the salt on the roll is there to bring mild, pink beef into focus.
The jus and the horseradish
Au jus for dipping, quickly, not for drowning. Horseradish applied with more confidence than visitors expect. A beef on weck that has been swum through its jus has thrown away the only part that makes it a weck.
Ours, tonight
The Buffalo sandwiches, side by side.
A tavern sandwich
It belongs next to a pint at nine at night.
A beef on weck was a bar sandwich before it was a lunch item, and the salt on the roll is the reason you want a beer about four bites in. Ours sits in a saloon with fourteen taps, Buffalo-brewed beer among them, and a bar that pours until midnight midweek and 2am Thursday through Saturday. The kitchen stops at 10pm, so order the sandwich before then and let the bar carry the rest.
It is also the sandwich to put in front of anyone visiting Buffalo for the first time. Wings they already understand. This is the one they cannot get at home, which is why it turns up in our guides to feeding visiting family near UB, planning a rehearsal dinner, and a Buffalo-flavored date night.
- Kitchen — Tue–Sat, 4–10pm
- Bar — until 12am Tue–Wed, 2am Thu–Sat
- For a crowd — the Buffalo favorites buffet on our banquet menu includes beef on weck alongside wings and baked ziti, for the retirement party or reunion where half the room grew up here
Salt · Caraway ·
Getting here
3151 Main Street, University Heights.
From Amherst & Williamsville
Main Street the entire way — through Williamsville, Snyder, and Eggertsville straight to our door. Ten to fifteen minutes, no highway required.
From Kenmore & Tonawanda
Kenmore Avenue across to Main and you are here in about ten minutes.
Without a car
The Metro Rail runs up Main Street; the LaSalle and University stations are both close. Dinner without a car is a real option on this stretch.
Straight answers
What people ask before they order one.
Is this the best beef on weck in Buffalo?
Nobody can award that title and we are not going to claim it. What we will say is what is on the plate: slow-roasted beef, a kimmelweck roll, horseradish cream sauce, and au jus, from a kitchen that also dry-ages its steaks. Come compare it with your favorite. That is how the argument is supposed to work.
What exactly is on it?
Exactly what the menu says: slow-roasted beef, Kimmelweck roll, horseradish cream sauce, au jus. If you want the horseradish sharper or on the side, ask your server what is possible that night.
Can I get one late?
Until the kitchen closes at 10pm, Tuesday through Saturday. The bar goes later, but bar hours and kitchen hours are different numbers in Buffalo, here included.
Is there a vegan version?
Not of the weck. The plant-based Buffalo sandwich here is the Vegan Stinger, a Buddha burger with vegan cheese, a garbanzo fritter, and hemp ranch, on the same menu as the beef.
While you're here
Win dinner for two, on the house.
Free Dinner for Two
Two people, dinner on us, at the table of your choosing — weck and a pint counts. Name and email is the whole entry. No purchase, no catch.
No purchase necessary. Must be 21+. One entry per person per drawing. Prize: dinner for two, approx. retail value $100. Void where prohibited. Drawings are held from time to time, on dates chosen in our sole discretion — there is no fixed or recurring drawing schedule. Winners are selected at random from all eligible entries on file at the time of the drawing, contacted by email, and announced (first name only) on Instagram. Winner status is not final until we have confirmed eligibility; if a potential winner cannot be reached, does not respond within 7 days, is found ineligible, or declines, the prize is forfeited and an alternate winner may be selected at random. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue this promotion at any time; entries remain eligible until a drawing is held or the promotion ends. By entering you agree to receive email from The New Steer — unsubscribe anytime. For everything in detail — the prize, eligibility, and how winners are chosen — read the full contest rules.
