Desiderio’s

Definitely the place to go for good Italian Food. Tasty sauce. Generous servings Always taking extra home for another meal. There personal pizzas are excellent with the thin crust.

As a rule, I don’t give out 5 stars often unless the food or service are exceptional. In the case of Desiderio’s Lancaster Ale House, I can gladly inform you that they have exceeded in both categories on both counts on multiple occasions.
Your major spoiler alert here is that I wrote bar, club and restaurant reviews professionally for three different reputable newspapers for over a decade. That being said, I first crossed the threshold at Desiderio’s in 2004 shortly after I moved to Lancaster. In a lot of respects, I have never left.
The owners’ (Jay and Bob) personal attention and genuine care for every… single…patron who comes in is so unbelievable that I have no comparable experience to gauge it by. Jay (the front of the house) checks on every table himself (when he’s not orchestrating the dinner theater portion of the building) and asks for feedback from diners. At the same time, Bob (the back of the house) puts the finishing touches on some pretty spectacular signature dishes and makes sure that they’re cooked per the order, plated in a way that’s appealing to the eye and portioned sensibly.
This front of the house/​back of the house dynamic between brothers Jay and Bob is a delicate balance that I have NEVER SEEN elsewhere in Buffalo, and I can assure you without a doubt that I have been to almost every bar, restaurant, dive, watering hole, greasy spoon, diner and upscale eatery in Western New York. This level of care, service and attention to detail is something that should be recognized, shared and rewarded. When I see it, I try and tell as many people as I can in he hopes that a) the business where it originated from can thrive and continue to do great work and b) the businesses that aren’t ‘there’ (for whatever reason) might realize why they got into the business in the first place or start working harder to achieve that high watermark.
If you check my other reviews on Unilocal,you’ll see that I don’t give everyone a favorable mention. My hope is that you’ll trust my intentions, which are sincere.
The food is amazing and I’ve had almost all of it. Fresh bread, homemade authentic soup, original hot sauces with their wings, a spot-​on (and generously cut) ribeye, reasonably priced hoagie platters, crispy and fresh fish fry, stuffed mushroom appetizers with a cheese blend that’s to die for… I could go on and on and on, but you get the picture.
And one last time, in the ten years that I’ve been frequenting Desiderio’s/Lancaster Alehouse, Jay gives every single person the care and attention that he would bestow to his own family. Not just me. Not just the high-​rollers or the well-​dressed. Every single person, every single time. I’ve seen it with my own eyes time and again.
Great food is worth telling a friend about. Great service brings you back. When you find both, it should be your obligation as a savvy consumer to shout it from the rooftops. Keep fighting the good fight and winning, Desi’s. You’ve got a fan for life.

My husband and I took my elderly parents for dinner and a live performance. The food choices were very good, with an Italian flavor. We enjoyed our homemade soup, and main course, Italian haddock. The dessert which was included was a small serving of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce. So that was not impressive at all. By far most impressive was the live performance. The actors were very professional and the performance was as good as any theater performance we had seen at Kavinoky theater, Lancaster Opera House, Irish Classical Theater… The set was professional, and very intimate. This is a real unique, family-​run and owned establishment. A real Buffalo treasure! There were no more than 30 in the dinning room. The owner, Jay came by to give us personal attention too. I would plan to see every performance they have playing.

I have been coming to this building since back in the day when it was Frederick’s Manor. My mom and her mother would come to Desiderio’s for fish fry Fridays. The staff was always so sweet and accommodating for my 90 some year old Busha (Polish Grandma). Grandma passed away last May and we had the after-​funeral meal here. Godmother Arlene just passed away a few weeks ago and we also had the meal here after the services. I appreciate this restaurant being so gracious and the service we receive is stellar. I am not too into the Lazy Pierogi but oh well. I urge the Buffalonians to come to Desiderio’s for their dinner theater! It is not just a post-​funeral option.
Na zdrowie!

My coworker and I headed to Lancaster Ale House/​Desiderios for lunch. It was definitely a different restaurant, with «interesting» décor, but the service was good and the food was delicious. We both started off with the Fagioli soup, which was exceptional! It was packed with beans and pasta and was a tad creamier than I’ve had before.
The menu seems to be a little more geared towards a dinner crowd, but they had nice selections of appetizers, entrees, pastas, salads and sandwiches. They also had all of their specials (which were quite abundant) written on chalk boards around the very large restaurant, which I thought was fun!
I ended up going with the Meatball Hoagie (was still hung up on my man friend craving a meatball sub on Saturday), but it was great! Large portion, three big meatballs, fresh Italian bread, mozzarella cheese and a side of marinara. Great for sauce junkies like myself.
My partner in crime got the Cajun burger, which was really good too he said! Very large portions, but… one issue was the sandwiches didn’t come with a side, not that we needed one, but yanno. Also, prices a little higher than we’re use to, but we also splurged on soup which we normally don’t do.
I would like to see this place at night while it’s «Desiderios Thertre», which our server was nice enough to give us a pamphlet, cause he said we looked like the type of people who would enjoy it. (Not sure what he was implying).
We were the ONLY people in the resturant, hate when that happens, so I’d like to take some time to give this place some credit.

I was the first customer when Desidario’s opened its doors just about ten years ago! I have been going there for dinner on average of at least once a week sometimes more all these years!!! The food is great. The stuffed banana peppers are to die for and I am a die hard traditional Italian dinner patron. They have the best meatballs in town, not frozen and definitely homemade. Died when they were talking about changing their name and the menu, but they kept the favorites and added more variety for those that want more American dinner offerings. Oh and I always can get a table even on the weekend just walking in! I think this is because it is a neighborhood best kept secret!!!

On the way back to Buffalo after seeing some theatre in Alden my friends and I were looking for a late night dinner. After stopping at a couple of places that only had bar food we were lucky enough to stop at Desiderios. We were able to order off the main menu even though they too had their share of bar food. I was worried to start with soup because of the late hour but took the risk. The Chicken Florentine soup was fabulous. It was hot and spiced perfectly and had a bit of a tomatoey base which I liked. I had the Raviolis. They were sautéed in olive oil and garlic with broccoli. My two other friends had the crispy chicken salad and Rigatoni Bolognese. the Chicken Salad was a bit spicy but he mellowed it out with the blue cheese. The Rigatoni Bolognese was rich and full of meat.
There is dinner theatre here too. I think I will be back. It is good to get out of the city and see what the rest of WNY is up to.