Risa’s Restaurant

This location has not moved… still inside the M&T building on delaware. Cute deli with simple menu. .but all fresh, made to order ingredients. I had a veggie wrap on spinach torti

Why is Risa’s on my «Personal Upkeep» special Unilocal list you might ask???
It’s the chicken soup with matzo balls. A quart of this is the antidote to colds, flus, aches, pains and most importantly, the blues. Get it to go. Eat in front of television. Feel better.
Perfect fluffy matzo balls. Lite broth. Absolute delight.

I am only giving 1 star because i have to in order to post a review. It doesn’t even deserve that much. I have never in my life been served by someone more rude then the young girl working at the counter, Sara I believe. Her normal day to day bad attitude is obnoxious to say the least; however, she took it to a new low (even for her) today. She sassed back when I requested a special order and the other customers waiting noticed. When you are paying over $ 12.00 for a wrap and soup (which I think is overpriced for a lunch counter in downtown buffalo) you’d expect a little better service then she provides. I will never, never, be back. Risa seems to be a very nice woman and has made herself a pretty nice business, my suggestion is that she hire someone who owns a brush and has a better attitude.

A quaint Jewish deli that makes a great lunch. Prices are a little high, but you can get a nice soup and sandwich for around $ 6.50. Lunch for 3 of us was close to $ 30, which is a little steep but you can keep prices down by asking for tap water instead of getting bottled water (and not buying any cookies, like we did!).
The environment is nice, it’s inside a larger office building and it may be a little hard to find, but the seating is comfortable. You order at the register and they will bring out your food. I ordered the corn chowder soup and the liver sandwich, while my friends ordered a turkey wrap with mayo.
Let me say, the liver sandwich was not what I expected but delightfully delicious. Rather than being cooked liver meat, it was a version of pâté with blended liver made particularly well since it didn’t have any usual liver-​odor to it, which may be displeasing to some. Served on rye bread with some red onions (and I asked for horseradish), it was delightfully tangy with a melt in your mouth texture. Yum! The soup was perfect, the corn chowder being absolutely perfect in every way (except for the tiny cup it was served in!)
My dining companions thought the turkey sandwich was ordinary and after trying it I have to agree. If you come here, I recommend being a little adventurous and experimenting with things you don’t usually try. Getting out of your comfort zone with food will lead to great things!

This is a relatively little-​known Jewish deli in downtown Buffalo. It is just far enough from Main Street that it’s a little far to walk to, but if you work on Delaware, it’s probably ideal. If you have a car, there’s parking out back.
First problem: It’s hard to find. There’s a small sign in front of the building, but it has no street storefront. You actually have to walk to the back of the lobby of an office building to find it. Obviously, I prefer a restaurant with a street presence, but given the dearth of meal options in downtown Buffalo, one can’t be picky. When you enter the lobby, there is no sign of a restaurant, but trust me, it’s back there.
The space is very modern, contemporary, and spare. Not at all what you would expect from a traditional deli, but it’s a nice space washed by light from frosted glass windows in the rear. The space provides an odd contrast to the employees, who give off more of the older gruff to-​the-​point vibe I would stereotypically expect.
All those words above were just fluff. What we care about is the food, amiright? Alright, so the options are what you would expect from a Jewish deli, but there are tons of them. Pastrami, liver and onions, the whole bit. They have Dr. Brown’s sodas as well, which is nice touch. The prices, however, are pretty high for what you get. $ 8 bought me a small pastrami sandwich on rye and then another $ 1.75 got me a can of Dr, Brown’s Black Cherry. It’s hard for me to justify spending that much (definitely the price of a pop) so I will come here only sparingly. That said, the food was quite good, though I was still hungry after.
3 stars + 1 extra star for providing yumminess in the lunch food desert that is downtown Buffalo.