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.

Songs from the 1940s drift through the air inside Taste, a café whose hip, inviting interior is illuminated by lights salvaged from old factories and whose exterior is adorned with a steaming coffee cup statue. At a counter crafted from a repurposed bowling lane, baristas take orders for fragrant ciders and teas, steamy mochas, and dishes such as tiramisu french toast with mascarpone-espresso cream. Guests can also munch on gourmet sandwiches layered with smoked meats and cheeses or fresh tuna salad or order s'mores to prepare at their own tables.

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.

With its retro black-and-white-tiled floors and candy-colored blue and pink walls, it’s hard to believe that Scoops & More…Ice Cream & Treats opened in 2011 and not in the mid 1950s. This throwback ice-cream parlor sates sweet teeth with decadent Hershey’s ice cream packed into chocolate-dipped waffle cones or transformed into smooth and creamy milkshakes. Owners Donny and Brigitte stock their shop with the ingredients for other timeless treats, such as banana splits and root-beer floats, and amp up classic sundaes with belgian waffles and coffee cake. Open year-round, the shop warms up taste buds during the blustery months with mochas, hot chocolates, and even corn dogs and nachos.

Perkins began as a single humble Ohio pancake house in 1958. More than 50 years––and 440 national locations––later, each Perkins restaurant stays true to its roots by keeping those signature buttermilk pancakes the focal point of a 90-plus-item menu. Cooks layer the popular flapjacks in stacks of two, three, or even five and make the fluffy towers all the more tempting with toppings such as glazed strawberries, whipped cream, or flavored syrups. Breakfast favorites—including hearty omelets and country benedicts—are served all day, meaning kids and adults can order short stacks to accompany their jumbo-shrimp or steak dinner, instead of smuggling them in under a stovepipe hat. Unlike most other chain restaurants, Perkins also features in-store bakeries that churn out the shop's real fruit and cream pies, muffins, and chocolate-chip cookies.

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.