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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Former UB student opens Eddie's Chophouse near South Campus

<p>Eddie’s Chophouse is the new kid on the block near UB's South Campus, serving up Cantonese style barbecue for those looking to try a new style of Chinese cuisine.</p>

Eddie’s Chophouse is the new kid on the block near UB's South Campus, serving up Cantonese style barbecue for those looking to try a new style of Chinese cuisine.

Eddie Liang is the son of a restaurant owner. Now, the UB alum is succeeding his father with a business of his own.

Eddie’s Chophouse opened on Main Street near South Campus on July 13 in what used to be Slice of Italy. The restaurant offers Chinese barbecue, a style of Chinese cuisine that is a collection of roasted meats that are hung in a Chinese smoker rather than an oven. The chicken and duck both have bones and are chopped before serving.

Liang believes that Chinese barbecue can thrive in the Buffalo area.

Though he was born and raised in New York City, Liang has resided in Buffalo since 2008 and said the city is like a second home to him. He graduated from UB in 2012 and attended UB’s Law School, but is taking time off to start his journey with Eddie’s Chophouse.

“My dad used to own a restaurant in Brooklyn so I always wanted to start a business of some kind,” Liang said. “I wanted to do this type of food because Buffalo has no other restaurant like this.”

The only spot available for Liang to start his business was near South Campus. At first, he wasn’t sure if the Cantonese barbecue would work. But Buffalonians have shown a lot of love for the food, Liang said.

“I like the concept of the restaurant,” said Mark Horgan, a senior chemistry major. “It’s traditional Chinese that you can find in Chinatown. You could walk down any street in Chinatown and be able to see ducks hanging from a glass window and a short menu.”

Horgan enjoyed the pork he had and said they give solid portion sizes for only about $5. But, he doesn’t think that the college students in the area are going to adapt to the concept of Cantonese Chinese barbecue.

Eddie’s Chophouse offers Cantonese barbecue over rice and over noodle soups – named the Rice Box and Noodle Bowl.

Other popular items on the menu that Liang said are surprisingly popular are dumplings and mint lemonade.

“We hand-make the dumplings every day,” Liang said. “It’s pork and a couple other ingredients wrapped in a thin dumpling wrap.”

Mitch Featherstone, a senior business major, tried Eddie’s Chophouse for the first time after moving back in from summer break.

“I got the duck noodle bowl but my favorite item is the pork rice box,” Featherstone said. “I definitely like the style of Eddie’s and it’s also great that it’s so close to where I live. The only thing I didn’t like about the duck noodle bowl were the bones.”

In comparison to other places Featherstone has eaten in Buffalo, he said Eddie’s Chophouse is relatively inexpensive. However, the other restaurants had more food options to offer to their customers.

Because of the popularity of its lemonade, Eddie’s Chophouse is running a promotion where checking in on Facebook will give you one small lemonade for free – an attempt to get the restaurant’s name out there.

Joesph Lycon, a sophomore business major, said he went to try Eddie’s Chophouse for the first time because of the free lemonade promotion.

“I ended up getting the crispy pork and regular pork combo with rice and a side of dumplings,” Lycon said. “The food was great but don’t get the soy sauce chicken because it is full of bones.”

Although Lycon hasn’t eaten in any other Chinese restaurants in Buffalo, he gives Eddie’s Chophouse an eight out of 10.

Liang wasn’t able to start up Eddie’s Chophouse on his own – he received help from business partners and his parents so he could find his way in the restaurant business.

“The people that work with me are friends working to help me be successful,” Liang said. “I hate asking for help but I had to make an exception for something like this.”

Dani Guglielmo is the assistant features editor and can be reached at dani.guglielmo@ubspectrum.com 

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