Buffalo’s Best Kept Secret Is a 100-Year-Old Ice Cream Parlor That Makes You Feel Like You’re Stepping Back in Time

Come for the sundaes, stay for the architecture.

One of Buffalo’s oldest and most beloved candy stores came under new ownership in the 1980s almost by accident. Owner Phil Buffamonte and his brother Ron made a leap of faith to take over the historic Parkside Candy Shoppe space on a fateful day, and thanks to their dedication, the landmark celebrates more than 100 years in business.

Parkside Candy opened in 1919 by George Kaiser and his wife whose lifelong dream was to operate a neighborhood candy shop. Business was so successful the couple expanded to a brand new building in 1927 designed by local architect Morton Woolfe, the same building where Parkside Candy resides today. The company remained under its original ownership until Kaiser’s passing, when it was listed for sale and purchased by the Buffamontes.

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Prior to purchasing the historic candy shoppe, the Buffamonte family began their foray into the candy world in 1974 as a means to make some quick cash as two college students. The brothers purchased wholesale chocolate which they repackaged and sold at retailers in Snyder, NY during key holidays, especially Easter. Though it was meant to always be a side hustle, a sign in a window led them to becoming full-time business owners of one of the state’s oldest candy shops after seeing a for sale sign.

“My brother called me, and he was so excited, it felt like fate that he was driving by and saw the sign. I was hesitant about it, I was teaching and in grad school. My brother is more of the idea guy, and I’m more the finance guy, so I did some research on it, and talked to a couple of banks to learn about the financing. We were lucky to get an SBA loan to take over, and that was that,” said Buffamonte.

The store came with all of the original machines, some relics from the beginning of the candy store in the early 1900s. It included vacuum cookers for lollipops, a national starch machine used for the casting of creams, caramels and truffles, and an 18’ greer enrober used to coat chocolate candies and a 60’ enrober to cool the chocolates.

“When we took over it was very challenging because we had to learn to work the machines and there weren’t any recipes left behind on how to make candies at that level of volume, so it was a lot of trial and error,” said Buffamonte.

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Learning the art of sponge candy proved the most difficult. Sponge candy is a regional product beloved by the Western New York community, with a unique honeycomb texture created by adding baking soda to the sugar and corn syrup blend to create the airy and bubbly consistency.

The hard work - and many not so perfect batches of candy - paid off for the brothers. The shop is open year round serving ice cream and candy, with a majority of their sales going to Buffalo expats across the country as well as distributing to other candy stores, especially their old fashioned lollipops.

The scale of the candy factory is impressive, boasting 25,000 square feet of production space, six 300-lb chocolate melters and a machine that can wrap 80 pieces of candy per minute. The factory creates everything from truffles to nut clusters, 24 different flavors of old fashioned lollipops, molded chocolate pieces and even salt water taffy. The sponge candy remains their top seller, creating an impressive 400 pounds of it every day.

“In Western New York, like Buffalo and Rochester, people think it’s the greatest thing, but outside the area, people think it’s just another piece of candy,” said Buffamonte.

Parkside Candy is listed as an historic landmark both in New York State and nationally. The brothers completed several restorations over the years to return the shop to its original grandeur, and many of the original pieces are intact including the lighting fixtures, candy cases and the soda fountain.

“It was originally a challenge, and it still is a challenge, but it’s nice to see something that you built continue to be a successful operation,” said Buffamonte.

Parkside Candy is available in North Buffalo and consumers can also purchase items online for shipping, especially treats for Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas and of course Easter, or grab some at retail stores in Kenmore, Amherst and Cheektowaga.