Williamsville's 78 Degrees West: Familiar Location, So-So Food

Since Zetti's Pizza & Pasta lasted for only three months in an expansive Transit Road location before shutting down last December, the building's new occupant 78 Degrees West doesn't have much of a record to beat. But even though we...

Posted on March 12, 2010

Buffalo's 31 Club, A Classic Reborn With Style And Good Food

Reincarnating an old brand only makes sense when it was truly well-known and well-liked, and the Thirty One Club (aka 31 Club) fits that bill: from the 1940's to the 1980's, the restaurant at 31 North Johnson Park in Buffalo...

Posted on March 2, 2010

Restored, East Aurora's Roycroft Inn Reflects WNY's Potential

Buffalo has aged. Some of its buildings - particularly homes - have rotted and need to be removed. And there are good reasons to oppose efforts to preserve old structures merely for the sake of preservation. But there are some...

Posted on February 27, 2010

Hucklebuckets: Amherst's O Is Now An Oversized Sports Bar

There's no getting around the fact that Hucklebuckets is an odd name for a restaurant, though it sort of makes sense once you've actually visited the place. Formerly an upmarket Asian fusion restaurant called O Restaurant and Lounge, Amherst's Hucklebuckets...

Posted on February 19, 2010

At Elmwood's Nektar, Splendid Desserts Cap Pleasing Meals

On very rare occasion, a good meal ends so well that we find ourselves anxious to return again immediately, and this week, we had one of those experiences at Nektar on Elmwood in Buffalo. In brief, Nektar presents a familiar...

Posted on February 14, 2010

At Williamsville's Red Mill Inn, Age As An Asset And Challenge

Rarely do our editors' opinions diverge sharply on any facet of a review, but it happens, and this time, the subject is Williamsville's Red Mill Inn - a landmark on Main Street near Clarence. Once known as the Old Red...

Posted on January 25, 2010

WNY Classics: Otto's Restaurant and Bar in Cheektowaga

Curiosity is one of the driving forces behind the many hundreds of reviews we've written for Buffalo Chow - a willingness to give up weekly visits to old favorites in order to sample new restaurants and actually visit ones we've...

Posted on January 24, 2010

Quick Bites: Snyder Bar & Grill, Jojo Bistro + Chipotle Updates

Most of the time, we struggle to condense our thoughts about the restaurants we visit into something short enough for people to enjoy reading, but on occasion, we come across a place that we don't have a lot to say...

Posted on January 18, 2010

Next Door Bar & Grill: Wegmans Remolds Pittsford's Tastings

Since businesses know that artificial scarcity creates the perception of popularity, we're always a little skeptical when a brand new restaurant has a waiting list during its first or second weekend of operation. But then, the Next Door Bar &...

Posted on December 29, 2009

At Williamsville's Creekview, Good Food Near Glen Falls Park

If the three most important decisions a business owner can make are "location, location, location," as the old saying goes, the natural advantages enjoyed by Williamsville's Creekview Restaurant are obvious. While beautiful waterfalls at Glen Falls Park are only a...

Posted on December 28, 2009

A Strong Kitchen Helps Amaretto Bistro Shine In Williamsville

If you ever wondered how Western New York's needlessly endless construction projects - one-month jobs in California that take two years here - hurt our economy, a drive down Transit Road six months ago would have said it all. New...

Posted on December 20, 2009

Comfort Food + A Cozy Bar At Williamsville's Glen Park Tavern

Some restaurants are so filled with teens and twentysomethings that older patrons stay away; at others, such as the Glen Park Tavern in Williamsville, the average age is in the 50's, and younger diners may overhear - as we did...

Posted on December 17, 2009

Jojo Bistro: A Beautiful Bar And Smart Menu With Shaky Food

If you're the sort of person who is won over to a restaurant based more on its decor than its culinary merits, Jojo Bistro - a lower-priced sister restaurant to its immediate Sheridan Drive neighbor Black & Blue - is...

Posted on November 28, 2009

Quick Bites: Bar Louie, Gate House Grill + La Scala Ristorante

As we prepare for our next major food journey outside of Buffalo - details coming soon - we wanted to fill you in on a few of our recent restaurant visits inside Western New York. The places are very different...

Posted on November 10, 2009

Dave & Busters + Updates: Carmine's, SoupHerb, Quaker Steak

We're going to make our recent drought of articles up to you with something really special in November - we promise. But for now, another very busy past week has led us to assemble another wrap-up article, including one brief...

Posted on October 19, 2009

Verbena Grille: On The Upswing, Standing Out In Williamsville

Though we could say as much about many other restaurants, we really weren't sure what to expect as we headed to visit Williamsville's Verbena Grille. Located on the former site of Daffodil's on Maple Road, this place had apparently undergone...

Posted on September 16, 2009

A Flair For Presentation Helps Kenmore's Torches Glow

Even in Western New York, where the traditions of fine dining are now frequently relaxed to accommodate a more casual clientele, many patrons still have certain expectations for big-ticket meals. Starting in its parking lot, Kenmore's Torches ticks off most...

Posted on August 29, 2009

At Hayes Seafood Market, Fish is Unpretentious, Affordable

To understand the appeal of Hayes Seafood House in Clarence, begin by letting your mind's eye conjure up the image of a seafood entree at your favorite fancy restaurant. Then remove the fancy restaurant and its fancy servers, replace its...

Posted on August 27, 2009

A Simple Menu With Good Picks at Williamsville's Protocol

Only one thing is on our minds when we visit a restaurant: we hope to have a truly good or great meal. Unlike the average diner, who finds a handful of comfortable places to visit repeatedly, we so frequently eat...

Posted on August 23, 2009

Lake Effect Diner's Retro Curves, Neat Menu Merit A Visit

When you're sitting in the middle of something that looks like a diner - more specifically, a restaurant that calls itself a diner - the question, "what exactly is a diner?" doesn't normally come to mind. But as we closed...

Posted on August 15, 2009

Baklava Par Excellence At North Tonawanda's Granny's

To begin a review of any restaurant with a discussion of a dessert - let alone a fairly common one - may imply several things. It might suggest that the rest of the meal wasn't noteworthy. Or that the meal...

Posted on August 13, 2009

Rich Beers & Good Food at Williamsville's Buffalo Brewpub

Although the Buffalo Brewpub has been at its Main Street location near Transit for over 20 years, it was only in the last two that we started to visit - after all, Brennan's was almost across the street, and when...

Posted on August 7, 2009

Taste of Williamsville 2009: A French Debut & Elvis, Too

How often does a Western New York food festival include the debut of an as-yet-unopened restaurant? Where else do items such as fancy french fries and a Kobe Beef Hot Dog compete with fancy gazpachos and high-end seafood dishes to...

Posted on August 4, 2009

Taste of Clarence: Classic Cars & Varied American Foods

Thanks to what's quite possibly the weakest Internet presence of any of Western New York's Taste events - a very limited web page with no list of restaurants - we had virtually no idea what we'd actually be tasting at...

Posted on August 3, 2009

Wegmans, Part IV: Tastings & A Wegman's NY Liquor Shop

Last week, we told you about Pittsford, New York's "Wegmans of the Future" - a 140,000-square foot store with a fancy restaurant on one side, free mini-facials in its cosmetics department, and a Godiva chocolate shop up front. But we...

Posted on August 1, 2009

Taste of Lancaster: Local Foods, Two Blocks, No Tickets

By comparison with the ten-day Taste of Chicago, the two-day Taste of Buffalo, or even the one-day Taste of Williamsville, the Taste of Lancaster is small - as in, it occupies both sides of two blocks on one street. But...

Posted on August 1, 2009

Schwabl's, or, How Anthony Bourdain Got His Rusty Buffalo

Western New Yorkers know from experience what out-of-town TV crews are looking to film here: they show up when there's snowy weather, a football game, or the occasional tragedy like the crash of Continental 3407, but rarely if ever depict...

Posted on July 23, 2009

At Ellicottville Brewing Company, Novel Beers & Foods Mix

A piece of friendly advice: if you like beer, and you discover that a well-regarded local brewing company is operating both a full-service bar and a restaurant in its home town an hour away, don't think, just go. That's why...

Posted on July 20, 2009

Taste of Buffalo 2009 Guide, Pt. 1: American & Italian Food

If there's anything certain about the annual Taste of Buffalo, it's this: you're guaranteed to find plenty of American and Italian offerings to choose from, including everything from local favorites and Southern cooking to upscale items. This first part of...

Posted on July 12, 2009

At Curly's, Class & Caribbean Influences Lift Lackawanna

Of the many towns and cities in Western New York, Lackawanna isn't known for the size of its population or its abundance of restaurants, but one name stands out on its list: Curly's. Alternately known as Curly's Bar & Grill...

Posted on July 5, 2009

Frog Hair: Smart, Tasty Meals Hiding Behind A Golf Theme

July's annual Taste of Buffalo is bigger and better-known, but August's Taste of Williamsville actually introduced us to several suburban restaurants that we mightn't otherwise have visited. Chief among them was Frog Hair Grille and Golf, a Transit Road establishment...

Posted on July 3, 2009

Alton's, or, When Couples Disagree On Whether To Return

Even happily married couples know the feeling - there's always some restaurant that one person would gladly go back to, and the other's not so thrilled about. For us, Cheektowaga's Alton's Family Restaurant is the paradigm, an unquestionably homey American...

Posted on July 2, 2009

The Value Play, or, Filled Up For $15 a Head at Dandelion's

"Value play" is the phrase we've taken to using when we visit restaurants that aren't extraordinary on food quality, yet deliver such quantity for the dollar that they're hard to take issue with. Tucked away for decades behind a plaza...

Posted on June 24, 2009

Vintage WNY: Old Man River & King Condrell's Ice Cream

As years pass, restaurants disappear - it's just part of life. But some places are so locally beloved that they carry on for decades, even as their original owners tire of the grind. Tonawanda's Old Man River is one of...

Posted on June 23, 2009

Southern-Style Meats & Sides of Varying Quality: Fat Bob's

Some restaurant names are better than others at signaling the experience you're about to have inside. At Fat Bob's Smokehouse, patrons can't possibly be surprised to find a brief menu that consists almost exclusively of greasy, Southern-styled choices, or a...

Posted on June 16, 2009

Sample: Some Culinary Creativity in Super-Small Portions

Small dishes may well be the next big thing in restaurant dining, letting customers experience more during a meal while eating less of each item. China has dim sum, Spain has tapas, and Buffalo has a lot of... well, something...

Posted on June 15, 2009

In El Greko!, Williamsville Has a Homey New Greek Option

Some restaurants are worth rooting for. Williamsville's now-defunct Bravo! Italian Bistro - not to be confused with Cheektowaga's Bravo! Cucina Italiana - wasn't one of them, as the food sickened one of us, and we didn't mind when it closed....

Posted on June 13, 2009

Filling, Fair-Priced Irish & American Fare at Shannon Pub

As much as we enjoy The Irishman, we're glad that fans of Irish food have another good suburban option: located on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Tonawanda, Shannon Pub is a very strong American and Irish restaurant - one that takes...

Posted on June 9, 2009

Eat & Fly: Dining at Buffalo Niagara International Airport

Planning a visit to Western New York, or a trip outside the area? You might want to know what you can eat at the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, and we're here to help. Once very sparsely populated with dining establishments,...

Posted on June 5, 2009

Tantalus & Taste, or, Sometimes One Bad Visit Is Enough

As long-time readers of Buffalo Chow know, we generally prefer to visit a restaurant twice before rating it, but on occasion, we'll feel so lukewarm or disappointed after a first visit that we don't really want to return. This leaves...

Posted on May 30, 2009

Yes, It's a Chain, But Bonefish Grill Offers Seafood & Class

Chain restaurants aren't bad by nature, and over the past 10 years, certain upscale chains such as The Cheesecake Factory have demonstrated that patrons can benefit when smart people popularize winning formulas of decor, food quality, and pricing. Amherst's location...

Posted on May 29, 2009

From Modest Weck To Fancy Bisque, Eckl's Fills & Pleases

To describe the last seven days as our "too many cupcakes and roast beef sandwiches" week would be to wrongly suggest that we couldn't bear to eat one more. Of course not: we always have room for another beef on...

Posted on May 20, 2009

On A Park's Edge, Scharf's Bland German Is Slowly Fading

Since 1967, the German-American Scharf's Restaurant has been located at the end of a dead-end street in a residential neighborhood, sitting right on the edge of Buffalo's Schiller Park. Forty-two years later, the first thing we notice on the building...

Posted on May 20, 2009

Sugar Artistry at Muscoreil's, A Novelty at Village Desserts

Once in a while, we're thrilled to come across a truly "national-class" local restaurant - a place that stands out from the pack thanks to superb food quality and presentation. Muscoreil's Fine Desserts in North Tonawanda is amongst these Western...

Posted on May 18, 2009

At 141, Ulrich's Serves German Like A Spry 85-Year-Old

After serving customers for 141 years - over 100 years under the current name - it's not entirely surprising when a business celebrates another birthday. Yet given the physical and demographic changes wrought around Ulrich's Tavern at Ellicott and Virginia...

Posted on May 17, 2009

Universally Enticing Salads & Sandwiches at Globe Market

No matter how stuffed we were from our earlier lunch at Pano's, there was something about Elmwood Avenue's Globe Market that really intrigued us last Saturday - enough for us to stop by on Sunday to pick up a few...

Posted on April 26, 2009

Elmwood, II: Sweet Tooth, Beer Merchant & Globe Market

In the first part of our two-part visit to food and drink destinations on Buffalo's Elmwood Avenue, we started at the Burchfield Penney Art Center's Orion Cafe and made our way down to the Towne Restaurant. This part looks briefly...

Posted on April 21, 2009

For T.G.I. Friday's, Glory Days of Flair & Food, Fading Fast

Restaurant critics have ignored chain restaurants for years in favor of local ones, a practice so pervasive that the Association of Food Journalists warns new freelance reviewers to ask their publications in advance whether chains are off-limits. At Buffalo Chow,...

Posted on April 20, 2009

Elmwood, I: From Burchfield Penney to Towne Restaurant

Three and a half miles separate the Burchfield Penney Art Center and the end of Elmwood Avenue. We know this because what started as a Saturday morning mission to dine at the Center's Orion Cafe unexpectedly became our weekend quest...

Posted on April 19, 2009

After Upgrades, Pano's Demonstrates Elmwood's Potential

At one point, Pano's was the quintessential Elmwood restaurant, blending in with the bohemian street's numerous shabby chic shops and cafes, its open patio welcoming late-night snackers, early morning brunchers, and everyone inbetween. Today, months after completing a substantial, long-obstructed...

Posted on April 18, 2009