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Buffalo's Southwest Cafe Brings 'Something New To The Area'

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By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 25, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - Talk about an odd career transition.

Just more than two years ago, Tom Mationg worked in the biotechnology field as a lipid chemist.

Today, he owns the recently opened Buffalo's Southwest Cafe on Post Oak Boulevard, off County Road 54 (Wesley Chapel Boulevard), just west of Interstate 75.

"Honestly, the whole company got released," Mationg said of his former employer. "The only other talent I had was eating. That's the truth."

Mationg said he also had harbored an ambition to own a business. So, he started researching restaurant franchise opportunities after the biotechnology job ended.

Driving through Atlanta one day, he passed by a brightly lit building he at first took for a small casino.

Instead, it was a Buffalo's.

"I looked them up online," he said. "I'd checked into all the major chains."

Obviously, Mationg liked what he saw.

The process of having a Buffalo's built in the heavily traveled section of south-central Pasco County began about two years ago.

The restaurant, which opened Jan. 14, is more than 7,000 square feet with a seating capacity of 272, including a banquet room that can seat about 60 and an outdoor patio built for 36. The building is surrounded by 92 parking spaces.

Mationg said there are more than 70 employees, mostly part time. Hours are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

So far, one of the most popular menu items has been chicken del rio: fire-broiled chicken breast topped with queso verde and salsa. It is served with Mexican rice and black beans.

The menu also features an array of steaks, chicken wings, soups and salads, appetizers such as Southwest egg rolls, and desserts like fried cheesecake, roasted apple sopapilla and the mesa brownie.

The decor is strictly Southwestern. Besides a large buffalo head on a wall near the entrance, there are buffalo hides, a horned skull, arrows, tomahawks and pictures of Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp and Billy the Kid.

Also covering the walls are 15 flat-screen televisions. Mationg said he wants to add a projection TV on the patio for next football season.

Mationg's is the fourth Buffalo's in Florida, according to the restaurant's Web site, www.buffaloscafe.com. The other locations are in Clermont, Coral Springs and Jacksonville.

"I wanted to bring something new to the area, not just the typical" restaurant, he said. "So far, business has been on par with what I expected."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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