The notion that Buffalo is a “chicken parmesan and Caesar salad” city is slowly losing its truth.

Sure, we’re still sans Halal or Iraqi cuisine—among several others, I’m sure—but a flourish of ethnic restaurants like Lucy Takeout (Ethiopian), Sun International (Burmese, among others) and even a tiny stand like Pure Peru has infused unfamiliar cuisine into a city with a rather conservative palate.

If you’ve been craving the spongy Ethiopian injera or the Burmese staple own no koksware, now’s your chance to do it all in one spot.

Buffalo’s Taste of Diversity, which runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Grant Street, will celebrate ethnic food and culture in a day-long festival. It’s free to attend. The entertainment ranges from Cuba’s Diaspora Drum Dance to Middle Eastern Sitar Jams to Bhutanese music and dance.

Thirteen food vendors, including two food trucks, will offer food for sale. For the complete list, go here.

While the Taste of Diversity runs Saturday only, Buffalo’s Greek Fest runs Friday 11 a.m. to midnight; Saturday 11 a.m. to midnight and Sunday noon to 9 p.m. at the Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation, 146 West Utica St., Buffalo. The admission cost is only $2.

From a food perspective, there are the usual Greek dishes that are available throughout Buffalo, particularly Elmwood, like souvlaki and gyros. More obscure options like pastitso, moussaka, tiropita and saganaki will be offered as well for the more daring eater. If you’re a Greek sweet-tooth, there’s a horde of pastries that I cannot pronounce like kataifi ek mek, koulourakia, kourambiedes, loukoumades and others.

With live Greek music, Greek folk dancing, church tours and cultural exhibits, too, you can be a better-looking version of Socrates this weekend. 

(Photo courtesy of Flickr / bencrowe)