Buff's
When Buff’s opened in Canyon in 2018, it brought an old-school diner vibe to students and local families. The original building—the old Cope’s Coney Island on Fourth Avenue—had been a local fixture. Buff’s brought burgers and milkshakes back to the location.
Midway through 2022, new ownership took over in the form of Panhandle Restaurant Group, the locally owned parent company of Joe Taco and other local restaurants. PRG expanded the space to seat around 100, added a full bar, boosted the number of TVs and refocused the menu on local favorites.
The start of this year brought another change: breakfast all day, which got the attention of the community after the closure of Buenos Dias this past September.
The breakfast burritos have been popular for years. So are the chicken and waffles.
But don’t replace the burgers just yet. “The green chile cheeseburger’s my favorite,” says Nikki Dustman, general manager.
She’s been with Buff’s for four years and is a veteran of PRG operations. Dustman started with the company 20 years ago, working at Cattle Call on Interstate 40, then at Joe Daddy’s. After a stint in the Metroplex, she returned to the Texas Panhandle restaurant scene.
“Most of our stuff is handmade,” she says about Buff’s. “All our sauces are handmade. Everything is hand-battered. The fries are fresh-cut.”
And, like many of the region’s best burger restaurants, the buns at Buff’s come from local bakery The Bread Box.
That’s not the only local product. The fried pies on Buff’s menu—which serve as an amazing chaser for any burger—are produced by The Cake Company of Canyon, right down the street. “We try to stay local,” Dustman adds.
Many of the employees come from the nearby student population.
Meanwhile, Buff’s enjoys a regular stream of local families, and the smaller population means the regulars are easy to recognize. “We can get a lot of first-timers, though,” especially during the summer travel season.
The addition of the bar brought a major upgrade to the location, but locally, Buff’s is known more for its brunch cocktails and alcohol-to-go than as a destination for drowning any sorrows. “The mimosas and Bloody Marys are special on the weekends, so they get ordered quite a bit. We make our own Bloody Mary mix,” Dustman says.
New menu items include a club sandwich and chicken avocado BLT salad, which was a monthly special that got so much attention it was promoted to the regular menu.
Beyond the burgers and breakfast, Buff’s preserves the friendly atmosphere that residents love about Canyon: real food, family vibes and the local satisfaction of familiar faces.
2201 Fourth Ave., Canyon
806.655.2833
buffscanyon.com
