Vera Pizzeria

The best cocktails in town; pricey but worth it, 2 of them will have me good'n'drunk. The downside is that if it's busy, it's very difficult to get at the bar and get your drink order in, and you can wait a while for them. You have to know what you're getting into. Another flaw is that I once saw Carl Paladino hangin' out with his way-too-young date and it was creepy.

OK, this has been a long time coming. A few weeks ago, I was with a group, and they really wanted to go to Vera. I was uncharacteristically pessimistic, as my last trip hadn't gone so well, and I had written as such. So when I walked in, I had set the bar pretty low. To my surprise, they not only passed it but hit the standard I had expected when I first visited.

First off, and I know this is going to sound crazy, was the bread. It was vastly better. I know it's strange to talk about, but when you're working on a drink and your food still hasn't come, it's all you really have to occupy yourself. Remembering last time, taking some was a bit of a last resort yet to my surprise it was...good. It won't blow you out of the water, but there was a proper amount of salt to help the crumb, and it had a nice crust. Should this be rote for all restaurants? Maybe, but it does counter a problem I had mentioned before.
I kept my drink choices as douche free as I could, and was rewarded with a very tasty concoction reminiscent of a margarita (of the non-frozen mix variety). I will repeat that while the drinks are very tasty, they are indeed small, especially when you factor in the big block of ice they drop in and also that as a result, the going rate for a small, non-nightclub place in Buffalo is fairly high. Worth it? It depends on how much you like to pay for a drink.

In spite of the heat, people at my table wanted soups. Still waiting for my pizza, and starting to get hungry now, I sampled a little and found that I rather liked it. Their creamy spinach soup was like drinking...well, really good creamed spinach. There's nothing wrong with appealing to flavors that people like, and make them comfortable and think of home, and they did it in an elegant and refined way. The cheese plate they brought out was pretty good, if unspectacular.

When the pizzas came, I had stuck with a simple pizza margherita, and I am very glad that I did. It was pretty good, though I wish they had added a touch more cheese. I know that it's supposed to be minimalist, hell that's why I picked it, but I think just a little more would have prevented the wide swaths of ok sauce with that very nice crust. When all ingredients were present, it sang. I will repeat my earlier opinion here: go simple here. The blue cheese, pear and caramelized onion pizza (from one person at my table) still was stacking sweet on sweet on sweet.

In the end, I had to write this because pretty much everything I had that night either addressed, or circumvented my complaints from the last visit. Did I, knowing their weaknesses, play into their strengths? Maybe. Did a few things really surprise me and show marked improvement?  Absolutely. I stand by the things I said in my last review, even if I was a bit of a douche at times while writing in, but isn't the whole point of reviewing something so people know what the best and worst things about a place, of knowing what to do to maximize the fun for your dollar? In the end, one thing stayed the same above all else: The best things I had that night were simply prepared, with a few simple ingredients, and there is NOTHING wrong with that, as long as they are of high quality.

I don't think I'll ever jump for joy at coming here, but it's a very solid option for a night out.

Had a pretty good time here w/some friends around Xmas '12. Haven't had the food at all. VERY crowded that night.

Kinda disappointed to find them closed on 7/6/13, they were out on vacation. Couldn't have known they'd be really, I was in Bflo on vacation.