The Best Restaurants in Western NY
While Buffalo’s culinary reputation rests largely on the spread of our wings around the world and the now common use of “Buffalo-style” to indicate a spicy experience ahead, the city is in fact a melting pot of diverse dishes, cuisines, and dining experiences. Old school restaurateurs who have been perfecting their menus for decades are being joined by a new generation of chefs (many of them former Buffalonians returning to their resurgent hometown) who are opening innovative restaurants that are re-defining dining in the city.
A variety of flavors
Alongside these re-pats are immigrants and refugees who are bringing a taste of places like Myanmar, Ethiopia, Cambodia and Iraq to the streets of Buffalo. If that’s not enough variety, the city has dozens of food trucks rolling around that serve everything from poutine to pierogi. Sure, come for the wings, but stay to sample one of the most dynamic food cities in the United States.
Sidelines Sports Bar and Grill
189 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14202
(716) 240-9392
Siena
4526 Main Street
Snyder, NY 14226
(716) 839-3108
Sinatra’s Restaurant
945 Kenmore Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14223
(716) 877-9419
Skoob’s Village Grille
50 Central Avenue
Lancaster, NY 14086
(716) 473-5675
Smokin’ Little Dinner
4870 Broadway
Depew, NY 14043
(716) 683-9248
Snyder Bar and Grill
2067 Kensington Avenue
Amherst, NY 14226
(716) 839-4846
Socotra Cafe
671 Ridge Avenue
Lackawanna, NY 14218
(716) 939-2778
Sofra Restaurant and Bakery
38 Patrick Lane
Depew, NY 14043
(716) 901-7200
SoHo Buffalo
64 West Chippewa Street
Buffalo, NY 14202
(716) 856-7646
Solé at Woodlawn Beach
3580 Lakeshore Road
Blasdell, NY 14219
(716) 824-3500
Sophia’s Restaurant
715 Military Road
Buffalo, NY 14216
(716) 447-9661
Sorrentino’s
5640 Main Street
Williamsville, NY 14221
(716) 633-2150
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Essex St. Pub
Essex St. Pub
Essex St. Pub opened in 1986 in a building dating to 1886. A jukebox and pool table bar, it’s a great spot for late night shenanigans and chowing on barbecue. Don’t miss the “Macky Joe,” a sloppy Joe with mac’n cheese on top.
530 Rhode Island St., Buffalo
essexstreetpub.com
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Eddie Brady’s Tavern
Eddie Brady’s Tavern
Eddie Brady’s Tavern is where gruff Irishmen, downtown law and finance types, and college good-times seekers collide. Of any Buffalo tavern, Brady’s feels truest to its pre-Prohibition saloon heritage. Among other nightly specials, Brady’s offers the city’s best turkey and gravy dinner—available on Mondays.
97 Genesee St., Buffalo
eddiebradys.com
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Arty’s Grill
Arty’s Grill
Arty’s is like walking into the East Buffalo of 1972. Polka is playing over the speakers and Polish import beers are cheap and free-flowing. Prepare yourself for stories from regulars of the old neighborhood, and their visions for a revived Central Terminal—Buffalo’s vacant, iconic train station, only steps away.
508 Peckham St., Buffalo
facebook.com/ArtysGrill
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Gene McCarthy’s
Gene McCarthy’s
My tough Irish grandmother wore out the same McCarthy’s barstools when she was my age, and I imagine this bar feeling much the same as it did then. Even as it’s evolved with the times—McCarthy’s is now a craft brewery with the best beer garden in town—it is still a working man’s tavern in the shadow of the grain elevators. The best Buffalo wings in town? Quite possibly.
73 Hamburg St., Buffalo
genemccarthys.com
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Rohall’s Corner
Rohall’s Corner
This Black Rock tavern is a museum-piece of the Streamline Moderne Style of the 1940s. The sweeping curves of the bar, ceiling, and even the lit glass block entryway communicate a city on the move. Few places are friendlier as a neighborhood gathering spot.
540 Amherst St., Buffalo
rohallscorner.com