Lasagna-enough to handle the hugest appetite-and the Greek chicken salad.

(photo: Rose Mattrey)

Curry’s has all the charms of a neighborhood bar—a homey, unpretentious atmosphere, friendy and familiar staff, affordable prices—with the unusual benefit of having good enough food for it to be a worthwhile destination in itself, even if you don’t live just around the corner. It’s home cooking, only better than you could actually cook at home. The service is excellent, and many of the staff have been here since the place opened in April 1995. Fred the bartender is an archetype of affable professionalism, and the crew of waitresses work together with the seamless ease that comes with long practice.

Curry’s is justifiably famous for its fish fries. Owner John Taylor was a cook here for years and bought the place from founder Pat Curry only a few years ago. He still works in the kitchen himself, and is adamant that fish fries should only be served once a week, as the oil used to fry them must be kept separate from any other fry oil and should be discarded after a single day’s use. Taylor is a man who is particular about his kitchen, and it shows. Almost all of the food is homemade.

We came in fairly late on a Friday night. The restaurant is not large and is usually packed from about five until eight on Fridays, because everyone knows this is the place for fish fries year round. We came in well after nine o’clock, and there were still a few tables enjoying their meals. The waitress recognized us, and chatted pleasantly with us. We ordered half-and-halfs—the less famous, lighter cousins of the black-and-tan—and started with an appetizer version of Curry’s specialty Dibble sandwich ($6.50). The Dibble, named for the regular who invented it, is homemade stuffed peppers smothered in mozarrella and sandwiched between pieces of garlic bread. The peppers’ stuffing is a savory cheese mixture, and the mozzarella serves to tame the heat of the peppers just enough to let the filling’s flavors shine.

Curry’s sits just at the border line of several neighborhoods. Kenmore, Tonawanda, and North Buffalo are all within a couple of blocks of the place. Directly across the street is St. Joseph’s Collegiate institute, a prestigious Catholic boys’ high school. There are blocks of apartment buildings just down the street, a senior housing complex nearby and winding little streets with charming, inner-suburban bungalows. All kinds of people live here, from young families to students to retirees, and so all kinds of people frequent Curry’s.

North Buffalo’s famous Italian festival is only a few blocks away on Hertel, and a restaurant here is held to fairly strict standards in its Italian food. So when I ordered the manicotti ($9.50), I knew I would not be disappointed. I was given a choice of topping it with Italian sausage or homemade meatballs, and chose the meatballs. They were excellent: not too crumbly, but not over-processed either. And the sauce was wonderful, a far cry from the sugary, acidic canned stuff many of the restaurants at this price point use. This sauce was obviously homemade, with real herbs, real onions, real flavor. I chose a house salad to start, but could also have chosen soup—the soups are homemade here, made fresh daily. They are not to be missed.

My guest ordered the fish fry ($8). Its fame is justified. Like the rest of the food here, the fish fry is nothing fancy, nothing out of the ordinary, but it embodies the Platonic ideal of the thing which it is. If one were to seek the quintessential example of a fish fry to preserve forever as the defining standard of how Buffalo fries its fish, it would be Curry’s. It comes with pasta salad and cole slaw and your choice of potato. My guest opted for the German potato salad, which was notable for its balance of flavors, neither too vinegary nor too bacon-fatty. The fish fry itself was a perfect specimen: Beer-battered, the huge fillet was fried to precisely the right degree of doneness, leaving the batter neither too hard nor too doughy, the fish cooked through but not dried out. Even the cole slaw and pasta salad were tastier than most.

We were offered dessert, of which they had the usual tempting selection—something chocolate, something apple-y, something peanut-buttery—but we were so stuffed from all the food we had eaten that we couldn’t fit another bite. It was a full meal, and yet the tab was still under $50, even after two drinks apiece.

Don’t just come for the fish fries, of course. Being a local, I’ve eaten many of the things on the menu and would be hard-pressed to name a favorite. Curry’s wings ($6.75) are huge, succulent and crispy—don’t miss the char-broiled BBQ wings ($6.95)—and they have a great selection of sandwiches and hoagies. I love their burger melt ($6.25), with its wonderful tender onions. They have huge dinner salads—the fiery, crisp Cajun chicken salad ($6.75) is as far as it is possible to get from the bland, boring salads that torment dieters. They have a number of fancier entrees to treat yourself to, including a chicken Francaise ($12.75) worthy of a gourmet restaurant, scallops Chardonnay ($14.75) and several tempting steaks, including a charbroiled New York strip for $16.50. Their wine selection is modest but palatable and the beer selection diversely crowd-pleasing, and the bar is well-stocked to make any cocktail you could think of wanting. They even have lunch specials: $7 for a sandwich and a side, with your drink included. It’s hard to beat that.

And don’t forget takeout—you can get anything on the menu to take with you. So even if you’re just passing through, there’s no excuse to miss out on this neighborhood treasure.