New Sophia's was built to last a generation

How Sam Doherty decided family was more important than money, and a community benefits

Sophia’s chicken souvlaki breakfast is made with chicken tenders, not chicken breast, for superior moisture retention.

The new Sophia’s has two parking lots, and both were filled with customer cars. The covered patio was crowded with groups waiting for their call to table.

Circling the block, I couldn’t find a space. 

I was thrilled.

This restaurant critic reads all the telemetry, not just the data on the table. A line of people willing to loiter before handing over money is a sign of robust health. It signifies a place that’s earned a reputation for surefire satisfaction. A restaurant with a draw strong enough to overpower the modern consumer’s desire for immediate satisfaction is a restaurant with a future.

Sophia’s is a third-generation Greek-American diner, started in 1981 by Sophia Ananiadis, and now operated by son Sam Doherty. Her brother Peter Ananiadis owns Nick’s Place on Amherst Street, and nephew Nick has Nick’s Express, on Elmwood Avenue. All three places feature bread made by Nick’s father, in white, wheat and rye.

Especially since Guy Fieri put the “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” stamp of approval on Sophias, it’s been one of the rare Buffalo restaurants where customers will wait outside to get in, even in winter. Fed up with the limits of its building, Doherty spent years looking for the next-generation Sophia’s space.

Sophia’s moneymaker status brought invitations to move into the limelight on Elmwood Avenue, and take the essential Greek diner status once held by Pano’s. To do that would have meant signing a lease, and a leased property only passes its value to the landlord. Doherty could go big downtown, but at lease’s end, Sophia’s would have made more money for the landlord than Doherty’s family.

“I could have made a lot of money,” Doherty said, “but I wanted a legacy for my children.”

Sam Doherty in July, trying to see past the dust to the opening. He used the 12-inch sliding compound miter saw to cut trim.