In Buffalo, the crisp air can roll in without much notice and the glorious summer can abruptly feel like fall. Yesterday it was 87. Today it’s 63.

I’m ok with that though. It usually means football season has begun, fall beers are on the shelves, and our weekly food habits begin to shift. In our house we’re already starting our regular fall routine of making homemade sauce, chilis and stews. You know, the hearty foods to help bulk us up for the winter.

It also means our weekly quota of chuck roast and ground beef will increase exponentially. Cue Johnny’s Meats – quite possibly my favorite place out of them all on Hertel Ave.

Maybe its because they’ve been around for 60 years, or that my family has been customers for nearly as many. Maybe it’s the specialty italian sausage. It could be the old school look and feel of the meat market or the culinary knowledge of its butchers. It’s probably a little bit of everything that makes this place the best for meats in all of Buffalo, not just North Buffalo.

So stop in. Get the meat that will give your sauce the flavor you’re looking for. Ask them for some recommendations. Try something new. Like any great butcher shop, these guys know their meat, know what to use, when, how and why.

I can smell the sauce already. Enjoy! And of course, go Bills.