Michael’s Town Shanty

Upon entering there was no sign to indicate if you should seat yourself or wait. Another person was also standing there wondering. Finally I walked around and found the 1 and only waitress and asked her. She said just sit anywhere and we did. Two issues, one service and one food. I had the polish platter and the sausage was very good but the potato pancake and perogies were just ok. My guest thought her beef stroganoff was not cooked enough.
Now the service. There was only one person handling the bar and all the tables. That is right one person was both bartender and waitress for the whole bar and restaurant. While she tried to be polite is was obvious she was overwhelmed. We asked her why she was along and she said someone called in and that this happens all the time. What put the nail in the coffin as to why we would not be back was the owner/​manager (not sure his status). He came in and sat at the bar talking on his phone. Completely ignored the frantic waitress and the long waiting guests. He then got some money out of the register and left. If the management/​owner is going to treat his staff like that (refusing to help) and not care about customers waiting for service I will not be back at his business.

My first time here, and it was great!
The restaurant is kinda small, when you walk in they have a few tables in the dining area, and few more by the bar. The prices are very reasonable and the food was good and the service was very good.
I ordered one of their lunch special which was a philly burger with salad and chips and a pickle. It was only 4.99 .
You can’t go wrong! i would def recommend trying it. I will definitely be back soon!

Without a doubt, one of the best Fish Fries in WNY. The also have clams at $ 3.99 a dozen. Service could not have been better. Mixed drink prices a little high at $ 4.25.

WHAT A GREAT SURPRISE! Stopped in for the first time late this afternoon after a busy day to order some take out, sat at the bar for a beer and some clams, if you’re a calm nut like I am you can’t beat the price and they were fresh and ice cold, I WILL be back for some more very soon. We ordered a Shanty cake and a couple of burgers everything was FANTASTIC! Looking forward to trying some dinners in the near future. Glad after reading the reviews that I finally stopped and found this little gem.

Are you:
Kinda broke?
Really hungry?
Not watching your weight?
A little dirty?
This is the place for you! The town shanty has been on the corner of Harlem and Clinton for a million years. You can eat, drink, play quick draw, and meet some real great folks for pennies on the dollar. Their prices cannot be beat. But the thing is, they kinda take it too far. Like I wonder if they have too many items on their menu and because of that their food is compromised? We had $ 3.99 steamed clams but they were dirty, sandy and rubbery. The french onion soup was great but, really, U can’t fuck up FOS. Our entrees were drenched in sauce with butter and cheese which is usually my dream scenario, but I took away from the actual meal. What really made me lose
My boner was the use of artificial crab meat. I cannot. I can’t. Please just don’t even add crab then. Skip the crab all together.
Great place. Great prices and service. Fast and speedy delivery. Food a little ehhhhhhhhh. Too much. Like an eager teenager.

My husband and I went for the Polish buffet last weekend. The food was horrible. The sweet and sour cabbage was none like this polish girl had ever tasted. It was like a coleslaw mix with sugar and flour. The fresh Polish sausage was any thing but fresh. It was rubbery tiny inch pieces that tasted old. The breaded chicken you could not even make out what it was and was mostly bones. The stuffed cabbage tasted sour. So out of this whole buffet I only ate the lazy pierogi which was OK. And the cheese pierogi and all for only $ 29.00 for us both won’t do that again

I tell people in the area I know that they need to eat here. The owner, from what I hear was a head chef at a top tier restaurant in the area, who wanted to open his own place. The food is great, the prices are very reasonable, and the service is great too!

This is a provisional review since we have only eaten here once. My wife had a fish fry, which I sampled and was very good. It was beer battered but the batter was light. I wished I had ordered the fish fry.
I had a reg’lar old Club Sandwich that was acceptable. I wouldn’t get that here again but it did have a good amount of turkey on it.
The service was very good and our meals came out pronto, and this was on a busy Friday night. Kudos to the staff. And the prices are great.
I would have probably given four stars but they serve those fake French Fries with the weird coating on the outside and mashed potatoes inside. I can’t stand those, I would rather eat potato chips. In fact, I would rather eat my own toenails. Those phony processed «fries» are a huge pet peeve of mine, I think they should be illegal.
We will visit again and if it’s good again, I’ll up my rating to four stars despite those french fries.

For real… my new favorite restaurant. Not «fine» dining of course, just reasonably priced, excellently prepared comfort food.
I had eaten here years ago and decided to try it again because of all the advertising Michael’s has been doing. Liked the food before and I absolutely love it now.
My last two visits were take out. Hubby gets the fish fry which is beer battered and enormous. My daughter has had the Shanty burger as well as the Rodeo Wrap. I believe her intent is to try all the burgers/​sammies on the menu. She has been all smiles since we’ve been getting take out from Michael’s.which is odd because she is a very strange/​picky pain in the butt eater.
I have the Pierogi platter, which is technically not on the menu however they will put it together for you. 3 pierogis, real mashed spuds and 2 side salads. The pierogi’s are delightful! I’m guessing they are using Ellie’s Deli as their supplier since Ellie’s is right around the corner. And an absolute «must try» on the menu is the Shanty Cake!
The Shanty cake… a gift from a higher power. It is a potato pancake, a large one, layered with carmelized onions (these babies were really carmelized and super good), bacon, sour cream and cheese. An eating epiphany! I didn’t know what to expect when I read the description however one bite had me sold. I know next time I get two cakes — I’m not that much into sharing.
Lovely dining establishment. Very reasonable prices and very good food.