When Indiana students both past and present arrive in Bloomington, there are a handful of places that immediately want to go for their first meal.
Whether it be stromboli from Nick’s, a pizza from Mother Bear’s, or a sub from Dagwood’s there are many places where students can get a meal that feels like home.
However, there is a specific place where all Hoosiers go to get world famous buffalo wings: BuffaLouie’s at The Gables.
The family friendly atmosphere, filled with Hoosier memorabilia at the can’t-miss location on Indiana Avenue is led by the larger-than-life Ed Schwartzman, who has run the restaurant with his wife Jaime since 2006.
In the nearly twenty years Schwartzman has been the boss at BuffaLouie’s, he has been able to serve Indiana legends like Yogi Ferrell and Christian Watford.
When Indiana Men’s Basketball needed a team meal before they went off to the NCAA Tournament in 2023, BuffaLouie’s was the place to go.
The relationship between Schwartzman and the university has been strong for many years now, but it was not until this summer that Schwartzman got the opportunity of a lifetime.
In a video released on July 20th, Schwartzman announced that BuffaLouie’s would sell their wings and burgers at Memorial Stadium during Indiana Football games starting in the fall.
“Wouldn’t I have to be crazy to say no to this?” Schwartzman said in an interview with TheHoosier. “We said yes almost immediately.”
Schwartzman always wanted to involve his restaurant at Indiana games, but he could not figure out the best way without spending a fortune.
None of this would be possible without the agreement between Indiana and Levy Restaurants, a food and beverage operator that attempts to connect fans with the hometown food in its concession stands.
“One of Levy’s standard operating procedures is to find a local business that they can put in the stadium,” Schwartzman said. “The thought that Levy, which is a four-billion-dollar company, is in my corner; how could I not be excited?”
In addition to the eight Hoosier home games at Memorial Stadium, BuffaLouie’s will have its own spot in Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall for every Men’s and Women’s Basketball game this season.
It’s a moment that a young Schwartzman, who attended his first Indiana Basketball game on December 28th, 1975, at Madison Square Garden against his then-favorite team, Saint John’s, could never have ever imagined.
“I vividly recall watching the Hoosiers taking layups and a ball goes off to the side and I passed the ball to Scott May or Quinn Buckner,” Schwartzman recollects of the memory from nearly 49 years ago. “If you wrote a script, you would say it's impossible, but it happened.”
Schwartzman takes an immense amount of pride in his restaurant and has always wanted it to get the recognition that he believes it deserves.
At the end of the month, the dream becomes a reality.
“For a variety of reasons, we’ve always just been a mom and pop.” Schwartzman said. “There is no reason, based on the quality of our food and consistency, that we can’t be that company that does the big things.”
Indiana’s season opener on August 31st against Florida International. Fans can expect to see Schwartzman interact with Hoosier fans at Memorial Stadium, the exact same way he does at BuffaLouie’s.
“We got work to do,” Schwartzman exclaimed. “But we are going to pull it off.”
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