By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
With about a dozen or so locations over the decade-and-a-half the national chain was represented in Western New York, Red Barn was one of Buffalo’s more popular fast-food joints in the 1970s.
When the store opened across Main Street from the UB South Campus (in a building that is now a Subway restaurant), an ad invited readers to “discover what’s new in delicious top quality food, big helpings, quick self-service, and unbelievably modest prices.”
Known for hamburgers like the “Big Barney” and the “Barnbuster,” Red Barn also served up fried chicken by the bucket or barrel.
The remaining Buffalo stores closed in the early ’80s and the last Red Barns in the country closed in 1988.
Several former locations in the Buffalo area retain the trademarked barn-like shape of the franchise’s logo.
A butcher shop is located in the former Kensington Avenue location in Snyder, and there’s a sporting goods store inside the former Sheridan Drive location in Tonawanda next to Ted’s Hot Dogs.
