Penora’s Pizzeria

One of my favorite things that I love about living in Buffalo is the delicious pizza. There are so many great places to get pizza from. My husband and I decided to try a new place and picked Penora’s. The price was extremely reasonable and we felt like we were off to a great start. Unfortunately, the pizza was lacking. For the first time ever, I only felt the need to eat one slice. If we lived outside of Buffalo and tried Penora’s, we would probably be a little more impressed, but the competition in Buffalo is fierce.

I felt mislead and, dare I say it, betrayed when I recently sat down to try Penora’s pizza. My good ol’ buddies on Unilocal told me that Penora’s pizza is both delicious and inexpensive. The latter is certainly true, but the former… well, let’s just say I’ve had better.
There is a lot of promise in the recipe that Penora’s uses, however, this pizza is DOA (dirty old asparagus-​urine) if Penora’s doesn’t change their crust. The crust is dry and flavorless, and drags the rest of the pie down like a boat anchor tied to a flap-​jack on the surface of Jupiter. It was so bland that even a pizza maniac like myself that can normally not control my desire for pizza consumption, had no problem with eating a slice and calling it a night (or maybe I called Domino’s). Wipe some garlic butter on your crust, or stuff it with cheese, or shrimp scampi, or peanut butter for all I care, just make it more delicious somehow.
The food here is priced VERY fairly. In fact, the day I picked up my pizza the deal was a large cheese and pepperoni, 20 wings and a two-​liter of soda for $ 29.99. They even let us add banana peppers to half of it at no charge. That’s a good deal.
The bottom line is if you fix the crust issue and I’ll be glad to come back. But I’m not as stupid as I look and sound and my writings of reviews portray me on Unilocal (after all, I thought Jupiter had an actual surface like an idiot), so I won’t come back before then.

Pizza is my favorite food, next to some others, so I can be quite selective with where I get it from. I’ve had Penora’s in the past, and it was not good then so since that time, I was very hesitant about trying it again, however I did tonight and I was impressed.
I got a cheese and pepperoni pizza with an order of wings, half barbecue and have mild. The pizza was decent, not the best slice I’ve ever had but definitely not the worst. The wings were good, crispy, I liked em.
You can definitely tell it’s a local place where the Depew/​Lancaster residents come and hang out, especially the older crowd. They do serve beer, so if you are looking to eat in and grab a drink, there’s an option, however I would prefer to sit in the courtesy of my own home instead of looking out at Broadway, just saying.

Last week around 1pm I went into Penoras for a couple slices while working. There was one table eating and one worker behind the counter. She saw me but left me standing there without saying a word. Not long but a simple ‘be right with you’ would have been nice. I have gone to Penoras for years so I thought it was odd.
I ordered 2 slices and apologized for not having cash. The sign said minimum $ 5 order to use credit. My slices were exactly $ 5. They don’t take Amex which I get because the fees are high. I thought to myself if the slices do not total $ 5 I’ll order a sub too and have it for dinner.
Anyway she continued to act like I was bothering her. She asked if I wanted ‘the’ pop. I didn’t see a special with a pop so I said no thank you. She rang me out handed me my pizza and walked away. Not a thank you for coming or have a good day.
I won’t be going back with all the good pizza places in Lancaster. Guess we know why there was only one table and one employee working.

If no stars was an option I’d use it. They somehow mess up a medium chicken finger pizza so had to wait an extra 45 minutes and counting. In the mean time the manager is just running around like an idiot yelling at the staff and can’t figure out how to take calls. What a damn joke of a pizza place. Is the show boiling point back on?

Seeing the mixed reviews we decided to give this place a shot anyways. Mistake… Last night we ordered a full sheet pepperoni wings and a pop. We ordered at 11. It took them 58 minutes to get us the order. We called at 11:45. They were rude. Then knowing they close at midnight we called at 11:55. That guy we spoke with was rude to my husband. Ben told him that he had «great customer service.“The wings were dry and flavorless. Maybe they ran out of sauce. The pizza was ok. Hardly any sauce and the sauce had no flavor. Salty also. The delivery guy was great. He was nice. So all in all we won’t be ordering from here ever. Pizza Heist it is. Btw I could’ve walked there faster to get it.

Signed up on Unilocal mainly to right a review on how terrible the fish fry was. Ordered one 2 years ago and it was wet and soggy. The fish would just fall apart to the point you couldn’t eat it. The taste and texture was similar to eating a hard boiled egg, The mac salad looked a few days old and that cole slaw tasted very bland. Portions including the fish were small considering any other fish fry. I ended up throwing it out.
So jump to the present. Noticed the «Best Fish Fry in Town» flashing on their sign while looking across the street to Goodtymes and Little Margie’s and have a bit of a chuckle. Noticed Penora’s does cajun style so I say what the hell, maybe it was just a fluke… apparently not. Same terrible taste, barely any cajun seasoning on it to cover up the taste. I’m not a tartar sauce fan but I doused it in it but that was no help. Didn’t know you can screw up a fish fry but they found a way. Learned my lesson. I recommend spending the extra $ 2 bucks or so and get the Cajun broiled fish fry across the street at Goodtymes. Large portions and you will NOT be disappointed.
Also I’ve only been to Penora’s a handful of times but it seems like the employees are very disgruntled whether they are busy or not.

Possibly the worst pizza I’ve had. I always give a second chance to a disappointing meal before judging. Today was strike three for Penora’s. Their sweet peppers are canned and sour tasting mush, the mushrooms are salty canned bits of rubber, the crust was mostly raw and the cheese was barely melted slabs of something that tastes artificial. So there you have it: they don’t fire the pizza oven hot enough to cook the top of the dough or any of the sub standard canned ingredients on top of it. Pass this one by.

Their fish fry is absolutely fantastic. Pizza and wing specials are among the cheapest in the Depew/​Lancaster area and food is consistently good. I’ve always had a good experience whether dining in or eating out. They have become our new go to place whenever my coworkers and I decide to grab pizza for lunch.

I’ve been a customer here since I was a child. This review is based on the food, which is fabulous! Consistency is critical when earning my blessing for a good place to eat. The pizza is extremely rich, I find that the cheese is my favorite because it has that «fresh» taste to it, and it’s not too hard, but gooey and delicious. The sauce is not too sweet and earns its place as some of the best in the Lancaster area! The subs here are typical subs you would find anywhere else, there really isn’t a «wow» factor that separates them from the rest. When you come to penoras, I can say that it’s the same as I remember it when I was a kid, and that makes me a happy customer that will be coming here for years to come.

Used Groupon gift card and they would not let me charge the remaining balance on a credit card because it was for $ 5.00, luckily I had just enough cash on me to cover it or they would have been shoving the food where the sun don’t shine! :) It’s 2015… no1 has cash on them anymore besides my grandma and drug lords. Get with the time Penoras! Thankfully there’s PLENTY of other pizzerias in the area. K bye

Ordered two slices and was surprised that the slices were large instead of the usual X large they serve you in other pizza restaurants. The slices were uncooked as the bread below the sauce was mushy. I know because I make better pizza at home. The cheese was average and the sauce had no taste. I would not recommend because I rarely leave reviews and this had to get one.

I rarely give out 5 out of 5s, so take this rating as a hard 4. Great chicken wings complemented beautifully by consistently great customer service. I used to live in Lancaster, where there is an overabundance of pizzerias on practically every corner in the Village. Penora’s stood out due to their competitive pricing, good product and friendly demeanor. As a result, I ordered wings from them every week without fail.
Since moving to Clarence, I still make the drive to Penora’s on an almost weekly basis to order and pick up my double of chicken wings. At $ 15, they’re well under the local curve in price. No matter who rings me out (usually Gary), they always give me service with a smile and a personable chat along with recognition that I’m one of the regulars, which makes me feel appreciated and valued as a customer. This is what a good business is supposed to do. 90% of the businesses out there have forgotten this simple practice of taking care of your customers and acknowledging them with a little extra service beyond ‘Can I help you?’ and ‘Your total comes to…’. It’s a tiny thing, but it makes all the difference.
Penora’s uses a signature hot sauce that isn’t Frank’s and therefore is difficult to identify. I’ve considered bribing one of the cooks to find out what the brand is, but at $ 15 for a double order and service with a smile, I see no reason to cook my own. Their pizza and wing combo prices are also below the norm, and the pizza is very good as well. They’ve had a longstanding ‘free 2 liter of soda’ (yes, ‘SODA’, not ‘POP’) promotion when you order a large pizza and 20 wings that adds more bang for your buck.
They’re not skimpy with their toppings and they cook their pizza on the soft side, but that happens to be what I prefer. I’m not a fan of crispy crusts and I normally order double cheese with extra sauce, pepperoni and mushrooms, so the odds of that order coming out crispy are fairly slim for any restaurant.
Penora’s is as much of an institution in the Village Of Lancaster (and by extension Buffalo) as Desiderio’s, Frank’s Grill, The Fireside Inn and Eddie Ryan’s. Lancaster is spoiled with an overabundance of great restaurants. Now that I live in a nearby suburb, I know all too well the adage of not knowing what you’ve got until it’s gone. Try their food and tell them Tom sent you. The one-​two punch of great service and great food is not only something rare, but something that should be rewarded and reinforced. Area businesses could learn a lot from a pizzeria like Penora’s.

After many years of dinning at this Restauarant as a child and then as an adult with my own children, I was sadly disappointed by the cold, fatty and basically nasty meals we received yesterday!
What’s worse is when we brought it to the attention of the employees, they did nothing about the situation. We reached out to the manager & owners that same night to voice our valid concerns, but never received a call back. When I reached the owner tonight his statement was Fridays are busy nights, and poor food quality is apparently acceptable under those circumstances. There was no apology from the owner about the horrible food or lack of accountability for the staff failing to correct the situation, nor did he offer to replace the meals which were largely uneatable. Instead I was told you «Got Your Meals Didn’t You»
If this is how they treat customers of 30 plus years, why would anyone want to come back to this establishment let alone take the risk of swallowing the food and the nasty attitude that goes along with it!

This review is for the GRILLED SIRLOIN STEAK SALAD.
So I understand that you probably don’t want to order certain things from pizzerias but c’mon, then why put it on the menu. I ordered the Grilled Sirloin Steak salad. Here is what that consisted of: The white/​yellow parts of romaine lettuce and chopped up steak ums. THAT IS IT. And half the lettuce was inedible (white parts are way too bitter for me). Oh there was butter hot sauce and sour cream (!!!) on the side. This salad was a joke and makes me question a lot of other items on their menu.

Worst prime rib sandwich I ever had. Mine was over cooked and all fat, completely inedible. My son ordered the prime rib sub with the same results. They should be ashamed of them selves for trying to run such a lousy special. This is not the first time I have been less than happy with their food but it will be the last.

People would always come in here asking to borrow a writing implement. The very-​nice guy behind the counter would say «do you want a pen or a pencil?» Everyone got so sick of hearing the guy say «pen or a pencil?» that they started a massive petition, which got more than 132,845 signatures, which suggested that they change the name of the place to «Pen-​or-​a-​pencil Pizza». However the owner said he didn’t like the word Pencil much because he thought it suggested that he didn’t have much lead left in it. So that word was cut out, and the name «Penoras Pizza» came into being. True story. Honest. ;)
What to get: slices, don’t forget to sprinkle all the good herbs on it from the counter.
On my way home from a cancelled soccer game, despite having tons of leftovers at home, I clicked my «nearby» button on my Unilocal App, and saw this pizza place had pretty good reviews, so I thought I’d try it out. I had just stopped at Thai House to try and catch the end of the Unilocal CMYE but everyone had already gone home. So I consoled myself with some Pizza. I called ahead to see if they had slices — and they had tons.
Their slices (some of them!) looked fresh and hot, and sure enough, despite the fact that he didn’t heat it up for me, it did taste fresh and hot. The dough was very simple, very straightforward, but still good, and edible. The sauce wasn’t slathered on there, but it was nice. Lots of cheese, and a little pepperoni. In fact this was very much a «typical Buffalo slice» but a little thicker and doughier, similar in some ways to Imperial, Mattina’s, Blasdell and Franco’s. I have to say, it was a good one. In fact it was one of the better ones I’ve had.
Also the service was extremely friendly, and because the food was fresh (without even needing reheating, and I like my food piping hot so that’s impressive), and super cheap ($ 2.25 for a slice, tax included), this place manages to earn a 5.
I went back recently for a second go, and got the 2 slices + drink deal for $ 5.50. He kindly warned me they’d been sitting around for hours. Nobody usually does that. Well if these had been sitting around for hours, then I can’t imagine how much the fresh ones must cost because they were absolutely delicious… doughy… delightful… tasty.,. saucy… fresh-​tasting… Imperial-​esque, I might even say.
Buffalo has pretty amazing pizza, very unique to Buffalo and different to other cities… and this place is just one example. Give it a try, and enjoy the noms! Nomtastic!
BTW this place specializes in Fish Fry… both Weds and Fri, they serve it. I haven’t tried it but I’ve heard good stuffs about it yo.

It was a Friday night and we we’re really craving a fish fry.
We’re new to depew and and had not had the chance to try this place out. Margie’s wasn’t open yet, So, after hearing decent reviews about Penora we thought it would be a safe bet for our Friday night craving.
We were wrong. The beer batter the fish slid right out of the batter. The batter was okay but the fish tasted like soap.
It was disgusting.
I’ve have bad fish frys before, but nothing as terrible as this.
I would never, ever get it again. I probably will never go back to penora again. Fish frys are hard to screw up, and this a disgrace

So I’m basing my review on one pizza and would give it a 4.5 if I could. The stuffed pepper pizza is by far and wide there best pizza. I order this regularly and often for me and fellow co-​workers and its a fan favorite! Add pepperoni and sausage and you have (perhaps) one of the best (local) pies around!

Some background on myself: I’m from Syracuse. The pizza there is more NY style, which is what I prefer.
I ordered a large pie from Penoras with pep and onions. Overall was very pleased, especially with the price. It came to around 14 $ which is very reasonable. The pizza was thoroughly cooked, crunchy crust, plenty of toppings, & overall was not very greasy or heavy. The sauce was touted as «famous» however, I didn’t really notice it. This could be the Italian in me, but the sauce could have benefited from more garlic. When in doubt, throw some garlic up on it.
Would order again.