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The oxymoronic phrase “best buffet” has been on the questioning minds of some Friends of the Food Chain over the past few weeks. Most have been hard-pressed to name a single one that is consistently good at a good value. But based on the ever present stockpile of pierogi and golumpki that once filled my mom’s freezer, I was under the delusion that Polish food had a long shelf life, and that your standard Polish buffet was an exception to the commonsense maxim to stay away from a smorgasbord that has no line in front of it. I was a fan of the always bustling but now decommissioned Bobak’s, but the Food Chain’s Polish informant said there was really no such thing as a really good Polish stóÅ‚ szwedzki. That said, he does take his mom to Old Warsaw in Harwood Heights more than anywhere else. So we went to investigate.
All that said, the Polish informant says places like Old Warsaw are paradise for older Polish folks, who likely grew up in the old country eating nothing but potatoes and buttermilk, and maybe a scrap of meat on Easter. Perhaps consequently, Old Warsaw doesn’t keep late hours. But who knows what kind of shenanigans go down in the farthest corners of the Copernicus Room on a Friday night when the clock strikes nine? Reservations are required on Sundays, holidays, and Saturdays after seven, so those just might be the times to go.
