Mr. Sizzle’s: What Actually Happened to the Beloved Restaurant that is Now Augie’s?

Casey and Chris Casas have had a crazy, terrifying, shocking, frustrating, and so many other adjectives road. They are the people who brought Mr. Sizzle's to Buffalo, a wildly popular burger joint... that suddenly and shockingly closed. In fact, it closed in the middle of a major expansion that was supposed to catapult Mr. Sizzel's brand in Western New York.

Casey and Chris ended up re-opening as Augie's in Buffalo and also Hamburg, which is very similar to the original Mr. Sizzle's, just under a new name. It is also named after their son, who needed a heart transplant through all of the rest of the drama that would end up closing Mr. Sizzel's and opening Augie's.

So what happened? Why did it close, and why the name change? It turns out, according to Casey and Chris Casas, it involves a shady developer, who they thought was a friend, trying to take everything they had while threatening them with taking away health insurance for their sick child. It all comes back to greed, in the end.

Now, this is the story that the Casases gave the Buffalo Happy Hour podcast. Is it true? That's for YOU to decide. I reached out to the other party involved, John Pantalena, a couple of days ago, looking for a comment, but I have not heard back. If I get his side of the story, I'll provide it. Pantalena settled the lawsuit between the two sides.

In the meantime, check out this incredible story about the end of Mrt. Sizzel's, but the beginning of Augie's. WARNING: This interview contains adult language.