April 8, 2024 was the first time in almost a century since Buffalo, New York experienced a total eclipse. And the next totality in Buffalo will not happen until 2144. (A total Eclipse will hit the continental US in 2044, but not in Buffalo). For such as special event, the whole city celebrated. Including the food industry.

Paula’s Donuts

Since it opened in 1996, Paula’s Donuts has become the most popular donut shop in Buffalo. And for good reason. Paula is renown for here big, delicious donuts.

Paula’s has several locations. I went to the one on Sheridan Drive in Tonawanda. Not too surprising, the place was packed. And many of them were from out of town, stopping by to get the full Buffalo experience. But it was a also a Sunday, and Paula’s is often busy then. Nevertheless, the line moved quickly, due to the large amount of staff on hand.

For the eclipse, Paula’s had two specialty donuts: the Eclipse Donut and the Galaxy Donut. I got two Eclipse and one Galaxy.

The Eclipse Donut was my favorite. It was a creamed filled donut with chocolate icing. Over that was more cream topped with a chocolate covered Oreo. It is a great design, perfectly capturing the look of totality. And it is great tasting. As is normal with Paula’s the donut was stuffed to the gills with a cream film. And the cookie on top was a bonus. Not overly sweet, this was donut perfection.

The Galaxy was a standard cruller donut with blue colored icing. The icing was very sweet. It went well with the cruller, but was a little too sweet for me.

Papa’s Popcorn

Papa’s Popcorn is a small popcorn stand in the suburb of Clarence. I was not aware of its existence, but when I head they had an Eclipse flavored popcorn I had to try it out.

Papa’s Popcorn was started by husband and wife team of Mike and Robin Sendlbeck.

When Mike ended his landscaping business, he bought a shed in a rural part of Clarence and setup a popcorn stand. Business has been booming since. I’m not sure when they opened, but they have been around since at least summer of 2018. But even though the business bears his name, Mike doesn’t even like popcorn. The stand is the fruit of Robin’s passion for popcorn.

They have about a dozen flavors of popcorn. These include perennial favorites such as Butter & Salt, Caramel, Kettle, and cheese (Orange or White Chedder). Specialty flavors include Buffalo Wing, Cold Brew, Dill Pickle, Cinnamon, and a tri-colored mix Go Bills! And, or course, Total Solar Eclipse.

The Total Solar Eclipse popcorn is coated with a black cherry flavor. The coating is quite dark, giving it a striking appearance. The flavor is just as striking, having a delectable cherry flavor. It is sweet, but not overly so. The coating is thick enough to give the popcorn substance. I loved it.

Having never been to Papa’s before, I decided to try their other flavors. I chose a combination bag called Papa’s Mix. It contains an intermingling of Chedder and Caramel popcorn. I liked both, but feel that they don’t go well together. The Eclipse is my favorite.

Blue Eyed Baker

East Aurora is a village about 25 minutes south of Buffalo. Historically, it is known for the Roycroft Community and as the birthplace of the toy company Fisher Price. Amongst the artisanal stores in the village today is the bakery Blue Eyed Baker. I made the trip to try their eclipse specials.

Blue Eyed Baker started in 2015 by chef Alexandra Robinson when she moved back to Buffalo. They didn’t have a store front until in 2020, when she opened a small shop in East Aurora. Recently, it moved a block away to a larger location on East Fillmore Ave. It is a little bit off the beaten path, but the locals know it well. Shortly after I got there, not longer after it opened, a long line formed.

Blue Eyed Baker has a plethora of baked goods, including macarons, cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, and cakes. I had a little bit of difficulty locating the eclipse specials (turns out they were sold out of one, an eclipse macaron), and ended up asking for help. The attendant happily helped me out, taking me to the cakes and describing the options.

The bakery has a selection of individually sized cakes. Among them was an eclipse special, the Galaxy cake. Exquisitely decorated, it was a yellow cake with blue icing, candy stars, and a macaron on top. I thought the macaron was evocative of an eclipse. But I’m not sure that was the intent, as their other cakes also have macarons on top. Regardless, the cake was superb. This was largely due to the icing. It was smooth, creamy, and slightly sweet. A perfect buttercream, the cake was smothered with it. Both the outer covering and the filling between layers was quite thick. The cake itself was good, but not exceptional. The star of the dish was the frosting.

As I was there at breakfast time, I decided to get a Farmers Breakfast Sandwich. It is an egg sandwich with sausage, cheese, and peppers. Served in either a bagel or a croissant, I chose the croissant. The sandwich was excellent. The ingredients were fresh and delicious. But my favorite part of the sandwich was the croissant. Rich and buttery, it was decadent!

I also ordered a lemon poppy scone, which I saved for later. I had it the next day, and it was still tender and flaky. It had a nice, mild lemon taste. Poppy seeds were sprinkled throughout, providing a savory contrast to the lemon. All in all, it’s a great scone.

WNY Empanadas

The North Tonawanda City Market is over 100 years old and, according to some, is the best Farmer’s Market in the country. Like many markets these days, it has a plethora of food vendors. One such vendor is WNY Empanadas. It was started in 2021 by two friends, David & Otto, selling Mexican food at Farmers Markets. Their two most popular items were Empanadas and Tamales. Focusing on them, they rebranded as WNY Empanadas. An Empananda is a small, crescent shaped pastry with a savory (typically meat) filling. The developed an eclipse themed specialty item based on a traditional Mexican dish.

But it wasn’t an empanada. It was a concha, which is a sweetbread. The Eclipse Concha looks stunning. It had a dark black shell which was made from corn husk ashes. The concha was stuffed with a custard. The custard was also used to circle the top, giving the bread an eclipse like appearance. The combination of flavors was remarkable. The black shell provided an earthy flavor that perfectly counterbalanced the subtly sweet bread. There was not a lot of custard, but that didn’t matter. The bread was the star of the dish.

Wegmans

Wegmans is the premiere grocery store in Western New York. It has achieved an almost iconic status. The store first opened in Rochester, NY in 1916, and has since spread throughout the northeast. The chain is still owned and operated by the Wegman family. Not to be left out, Wegmans had several eclipse specials.

I’m not sure what the full offerings were, as I shopped there the day after the eclipse. Only two eclipse themed items were left: cupcakes with the date of the eclipse on top, and a sun shaped cookie decorated with a face wearing eye glasses.

I was not interested in the cupcakes, but I decided to try a cookie. It was a standard shortbread cookie. I liked that it was soft and not crunchy. Flavor wise the cookie was not very sweet, but that was made up for with the icing which was extremely sweet. Together, they made for a tasty snack.

Frank’s Gourmet Hot Dogs

I’ve written about Frank’s Gourmet Hot Dogs before. Among the hot dog chains in the region, it stands out as the best. While they are known for their hot dogs, Frank’s also has very good burgers. While not well advertised, they were offering an Eclipse Burger.

The Eclipse Burger was a single patty cheese burger with onion crunch. What made it an Eclipse burger was the sauce: blueberry barbecue. Event though this was a bit of a gimmick, the burger was great. I liked the crunch that the onion crunch (thin, deep fried onions) gave it, and the flavor of the blueberry sauce. It was deep and rich and gave the burger an unique taste. You can’t go wrong with Frank’s.

Final Thoughts

These were far from the only places in Buffalo that offered eclipse theme food. The Drew Cerza, the “Wing King” developed an eclipse flavor of wings. But those had limited availability. Lake Effect Ice Cream also had a eclipse flavor, but you had to drive to Lockport to have some. And it sold out quickly. I very much would have liked to try it. Rosie’s Handcrafted Ice Cream also had a flavor. While they are in East Aurora close to the Blue Eyed Baker, Rosie’s is not open in the early morning. There were a few other places, see the Buffalo News for details. Did anyone else have Eclipse themed food? Where were they? Feel free to comment.