BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Walk into The Place on Lexington Avenue in Buffalo and get swept away with holiday spirit.
"This time of year is the best time of year for us," says Jay McCarthy, owner of The Place. "We have people that make this a yearly ritual in coming to The Place."
The Place has been a Buffalo neighborhood institution since the 1940s. This time of year people pile in for the cozy atmosphere, great menu, and a taste of holiday cheer known as a Tom and Jerry.
"It's the holidays in a cup," says McCarthy, "Tom and Jerry is a brandy, rum, egg white, egg yolk, sugar, sugar, sugar, and more sugar drink, with spices and nutmeg," says McCarthy, who tells 7 News he sells "thousands" of the warm cocktail every year.
McCarthy says the Tom and Jerry cocktail is believed to date back to the early 1800s in London. The drink's origin stateside remains unclear, but it's been on the menu at The Place since it opened in 1941.
"This is something that has a long history in Buffalo, especially around the holidays," says Patrick Kaler, President and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara.
Kaler says Tom and Jerry's have become such a holiday tradition in Western New York that Visit Buffalo Niagara has created a "Tom and Jerry Trail", a list of dozens of establishments that make the drink.
"It speaks to the overall culinary history of our destination," says Kaler. "We have Sponge Candy, we have Beef of Weck, we have the wings, and we have the beverage Tom and Jerry."
And perhaps nowhere does a Tom and Jerry better than The Place, which serves up the boozy concoction in a mug that customers get to keep, with a design that changes each year.
"We start the process in May here," says McCarthy. "We go through the design process, we go through the ordering in June, we receive shipment in October, and we order thousands and thousands of mugs so that everyone can take a little bit of The Place home with them each day."
So if you are looking for a cup of cheer this holiday season you have plenty of options, but The Place is a great place to start.
"This is our time of year," says McCarthy.
