Coffee & Treats in Cheektowaga

Two classic American dessert institutions join dulcet forces at Dairy Queen and Orange Julius, where frozen treats, and fruit drinks attack palates with a one-two punch of comforting delight. Classic Blizzards swirl in all manner of candy combinations, whereas the Orange Julius revels in the decadent simplicity of citrus.

Vin-Chet Pastry Shop, founded in 1946, provides a plethora of high-quality, delicious baked treats to eager icing lovers. The luxurious almond ring, a Danish coffee cake infused with almond paste, iced, and then covered with toasted almonds ($8.95), provides a delicious start to the day or an unconventional token of eternal devotion. Snag a cake (starting at $9.50) to add a sweet touch to special events, or take home a gluten-free pizza ($15.95) for a dinner companion that gives you unconditional love. Customers who savor sweet sensations can delight in a variety of pies, from traditional windowsill apple to blueberry and lemon-meringue.

For more than 25 years, Cookie Expressions has been expressing its love for fresh baked goods by whipping up artful cookie arrangements for tons of occasions. Woo the goodwill of sweetheart bosses or bossy sweethearts on October 16 with a six long-stem cookie bouquet, featuring a half-dozen chocolate-chip cookies, dressed in their fanciest red cellophane evening wraps, and arranged with baby's breath and a fern to resemble a box of roses ($33.95). Any number of the get well soon bouquets ($32.95–$42.95) will help rally hospital-bound loved ones to quickly regain the use of their jaw, while the soda glass bouquet ($33.95) also can be used to toast to their speedy recovery.

Linda Battaglia arrives at her bakery every morning at 7:30. She could sleep in, but then she wouldn't have time to roll every cannoli shell by hand, fill them with freshly made ricotta, and prepare the other 50 to 75 traditional items she and her team bake fresh daily. These recipes extend a legacy set forth more than 40 years ago by Romano Leonardi, who passed the eatery on to Linda and her mother in 2000. These Old World baked goods and techniques have earned a loyal following in the community and profiles on the WKBW morning news.

A bright glow spreads across the bakery's glass cases lined with cream and ricotta puffs, napoleons, and mousse-filled éclairs made that very day. The cookie selection includes fig and chocolate-ball varieties and almond and anise biscotti, all of which can be shipped across the country. Clients can work with the bakers to design a specialty wedding cake topped with newlywed figurines dancing, holding hands, or folding one another's laundry.

Genga Ponnampalam wanted to make it easier for people to eat healthy food, so after a long stint as a computer programmer, he founded Go Veggies—a vegetarian and vegan outfit that culls local produce and morphs it into hearty dishes, some of which hail from his native Sri Lanka. At farmers markets, grocery stores, and a café space, he and his staff delight taste buds with healthy cuisine that’s good for the environment, like carpooling or bikepooling to work. They also positively impact the community by composting their food waste and recycling their packaging.

Sweet Tooth is a bakery devoted to making all of its treats from scratch in-house each day. With a vast panoply of baked goods and desserts to choose from, squealing sweet teeth can be easily sated. Celebrate another year of gravity functioning properly with a dozen chocolate chip cookies ($10), subdue your sour attitude with a slice of lemon pound cake ($2), or pick up a pint of ice cream ($4.90) for an on-the-go frozen fix during your next marathon. Other Sweet Tooth stomach-satisfiers include chocolate cakes ($26+), thick milkshakes ($7.95), and brownies ($2.25 each). Writers weary from all-night conversations with their typewriters can recharge with a large coffee ($1.50), a double cappuccino ($3.50), or a double espresso ($2.75), made with real Italian espresso beans. Step into Sweet Tooth’s quaint quarters and reward yourself for being yourself with a deluge of decadent desserts.

At The Buffalo Cakery, founder and baked goods guru Justina Adams leads a team that exudes not only passion for its work, but passion for its city, as well. Both are on display six days per week, when the shop opens its doors to help satisfy sweets cravings with cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and more. For special events, the shop’s bakers and artists join forces to design personalized centerpieces, with a multitude of cake flavors, fillings, and icings available in a seemingly endless number of cakey combinations.