A few more things popped into my head. For fast food Ted's (hot dogs many locations) Anderson's (roast beef on weck and custard) and Charlie the Butcher (beef on weck). Lebro's in Getzville is a casual restaurant with very good food. If you don't feel like tackling Wegman's, Dashs Market on Hopkins and Klein is a nice alternative. Smaller, more expensive except for the meats and fish which are nicely priced. Saturday night the Village of Williamsville is having "A Night in the Village" with all the shops open (usually closed at night) along with the restaurants and some live music. Pick up a free copy of the Amherst Bee (weekly). They're all over the place, roadside boxes, drug stores, etc.

I don't know about the one in Buffalo, since I'm from Syracuse, but Wegman's is the absolute best grocery store in the country!!! I moved to California 9 years ago, and I miss Wegman's almost as much as my family! :) There's nothing like the selection and the customer service, even in So. California!

KathyK, thx a mint for your detailed replies - exactly what I was looking for! I love local mags "best of" so I'll be sure to track down B-Spree; I hadn't heard of it.

Your listing is great as usually it's not too hard to find on-line reviews for top-end restaurants in a city, but the local gems are difficult to discover and more of what we'd enjoy on a day-to-day basis.

I was in town for a w/end before I moved, and headed to Hertel late Saturday afternoon - it was very quiet. We ate at Kosta's but given the listings, it seems like having Italian would have been a better choice for that area. Is the Hertel area considered "Little Italy" or is there somewhere else too?

We also made our obligatory visit to the Anchor Bar, and enjoyed wings & live jazz.

I'm looking forward to eating my way thru the region starting with tomorrow's breakfast!

Enjoy-la!

Welcome! Enjoy the nice weather we're having. Some other good local places-Original Pancake House on Main Street in Williamsville has great pancakes and omelets; Bagel Jays on Hopkins near Klein for bagels, tuna, deli stuff, etc. Good for breakfast or lunch. Soup-herb on sheridan in Williamsville (just a bit past the Wegmans) is a great lucnh spot; Pizza Plant (one on Transit, one on Main) has good and interesting pizza; for dine in chineese-Changs on Maple in Williamsville) or the Red Pepper (it might be called the Chili Pepper) also on Maple, but near the Blvd Mall have excellent Chineese food. For take out, my current favorite is Sun Garden, on North French, near Millersport. In the same plaza is the Amherst Ale House-good for bar food (burgers, sanwiches, salads, wings, etc) and watching sporting events., and a mexican restaurant, which I havent tried. Also, Jonny C's is a deli at Casey & Transit. Good sandwiches and soups. For wings: Grovers, La Porta's (pizzeria on Klein near Hopkins) has great wings and fingers, Bocce (try to open pit BBQ ones), Duffs (Sheridan and Millersport), Amherst Ale House, and Elmo's (a bar on Millersport near Campbell).
If you enjoy walking, biking or rollerblading, there are several nice parks. Amherst Bike Path (main entrance is North Forest, near Maple, Clarence Bike path (main entrance on Transit, across from Grovers, the place for hamburgers, Margaret Louise Bike path ( On Hopkins between Dodge and Klein) better for walking than biking or blading), Glen Park (in the village of Williamsville-scenic). Be careful about walking alone. I walk all of them, but I also do so with 3 dogs. Most are heavily used on weekends, but it's a lot sparser on weekdays.
For a fun field trip, go to East Aurora to see Vidlers, an old five and dime store there (its been expanded to many stores which adjoined it and has a huge inventory of neat stuff). theres some other cute shops there also, as well as Fisher Price's toy musuem and outlet store. Also, try going to Letchworth Park, which is less than 1 hour away and is beautiful in the fall.
You'll find lots to do and a great community of people.

Hi, Clam.

Hopefully, I can help you out. I live on a side street off of Hertel Avenue. The original “Little Italy” of Buffalo is no more. Like any other city, times have changed, neighborhoods have changed, etc. The west side was Italian and then some, but it is no longer. North Buffalo (Hertel Ave. area) was a secondary Italian neighborhood, and truly the only Italian neighborhood left.

Yes, there are a lot of Italian restaurants. And stores. Try Caruso’s for cheese, olive oil, and such. Johnny’s Meats for, well, meat!

Late Saturday is what I would call an “in-between” time. Weekend mornings are for browsing antique shops, having breakfast, or brunch in a café, or lunch. Evenings are for good dinners and bar hopping. Late afternoons are “down time.” Attending 4:00 or 5:00 mass is common.

Hertel Ave. is LOADED with restaurants and bars. Little Talia, Empire Grill, La Marina Seafood, Shadow Lounge and Martini Bar for good food, martinis, and live music. MT Pockets for steak sandwiches in a very local atmosphere (tin ceiling and Al Pacino pictures on the wall). Grandma Mora’s for Mexican. And the list goes on.

I just went back and realized that KathyK and Rachel have been talking to you and they offered great suggestions!!!!

Do NOT overlook Elmwood Village. My favorite neighborhood. And Allentown. All have wonderful houses and wonderful stores and great restaurants. A lot of Buffalonians (mostly suburbanites) don’t know the truly wonderful streets that exist throughout the city. Trust me (wink).

Buffalo is a little known secret. Architecture is it’s #1 attraction. Of course, you have to like architecture. If you’re interested, let me know. I won’t bore you with the details of what I like unless you are interested.

Anywhere you go, tell people you are from out of town. See what happens. You will be pleasantly surprised.

I hope I’ve helped. Welcome to Buffalo!

Buffalo Girl, excellent advice as usual.
We can always count on you.

I should have added that rachel also gives great advice on Buffalo info

Why, thank you, KathyK!!!!

klam, I'll add a few more things regarding Hertel Ave......

Friday & Saturday nights (especially Friday)are totally rockin' on Hertel Avenue. The bars and restaurants are full and people are walking the street.

There's also an old fashioned movie theater (The North Park).

Gramma Mora's, which I mentioned above, has great margaritas. Restaurant 1207 is a little local place with good breakfasts.

Marco's Italian deli has good sandwiches served in a little old storefront with creaky wooden floors. (I love places like that). There are a few tables in the back.

Gino's Italian bakery has great bread, old fashioned pizza, great pastries and cannolli. I'm not crazy about their Italian cookies. They load them with too much anise.

Let me know if I can be of further assistance! :-)

Wow, you guys are great - thx a mint for the fab postings and detailed recs!

Rachel, it's wonderful to hear of the activities to do too - have to work off all of that eating, you know...LOL! Actually my DH used to cycle a lot and we've talked about doing that again so your trails info is spot on.

BuffaloGirl, you've defintely helped! Your comments on neighborhoods are insightful to read.

And yes, I am a architecture fan - I drove thru Chicago on my way here and the one thing I stopped for was their River Architecture tour! I was excited to hear of the FLW buildings here and will definitely visit them.

Well, Buffalo is certainly a welcoming bunch!

Enjoy-la!

I'm so happy to hear that you like architecture.

I just toured the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Darwin Martin complex. It's still undergoing major renovations, but it is coming along fabulously. It's definitely worth a visit. You can take a tour on Saturdays for $15.00.

When you are ready for an architecture tour, please feel free to ask questions.

This should help get you started...

http://www.ah.bfn.org/a/bamname.html

Man... I have never been prouder of my fellow Buffalo Fodorite's than I am now after reading through the above posts... You guys are great and have covered just about everything... we are the City of Good Neighbors... Congrats!

Gary, I think it's time for a group hug!!! :-)

I wanted to wish <b> Merry Christmas!! Happy Holidays!! to BuffaloGirl, garyt22, KathyK, Rachel </b> and all others in the region. ((g))

Thx a mint for all your help in our move to this area including, literally, helping us choose in which community to live...LOL!

Your posts were so welcoming and we've had fun tasting/visiting your suggestions and exploring the local area. In fact, if things work out job-wise for us (we'll know within the next 2 months), we've decided to buy a house and stay here.

Best wishes for a wonderful 2008 to all of you!

Enjoy-la!

Merry Christmas to you, too, klam_chowder! What a nice surprise. I haven't been here in a while, and was happy to find this post!

Wow......you want to permanently live here? That's great! I hope it works out for you both.

Ditto on the wishes thing and glad to hear about your love of the area... spring and early summer will be here soon and may be the best thing about living around here! Best to all...

Hi klam chowder! I hope that you had a very Merry Christmas. I love to hear about what people new to Buffalo like and dislike about the area, so feel free to keep us updated on your experiences. And I hope that your job situations work out and you stay here, if that's what you want. Keep us posted.

Hi gang!

Been away from the boards for a while...Christmas'ing, travelling, and being sick!

I'm surprised the winter has been so mild so far. I'm very happy that we live north of Buffalo as I've heard that south of it has had some pretty good snowfalls already. In my condo complex, they removed the speedbumps in mid-autumn! I guess so they can plow the road but I'd never heard of such a thing...LOL!

KathyK, when I explore I always think of what I'd bring family/friends to if they came and visited! So far: Vidler's sprawl was a hoot to pick thru with some unique items. When we checked out, we chose a cashier who didn't have any customers. He was an older gent - turns out his dad/granddad started the place and he helps his nephew and niece run it now. It was lovely to chat with him.

City Hall has a great visual tour, and the Council Chambers were stunning. Standing on the open air observation deck at the top of the building was a fab way to see the city and get my bearings.

I might take my in-laws or mom to the Botanical Gardens if it was a rainy day. It was okay to poke thru but far from stellar.

The tour of FLW Martin House was spectacular - I even enjoyed their gift shop. I think this is a must see and look forward to touring Graycliff when spring arrives.

Of course, we spent a few weekends checking out Niagara Falls on both sides of the border. We much prefer the more park-like NY side! The Cave of the Winds had us soaked and laughing, we even preferred it to the Maid of the Mist.

We drove out to Pumpkinville (Great Valley) to get our &quot;Jack&quot; and I was delighted to discover a local maple syrup farmer with a booth there. I had no idea that maple syrup was made this far west. It will be nice to bring bottles back to family/friends.

Things I'm not so found of...the drivers who rush right thru amber and red lights - sometimes solid red lights - especially when there is someone clearly waiting to make a left. In other cities, those people would have been t-boned to death by now. I'm very careful when I make a left turn.

Also the Fisher Price Outlet didn't have as much as I thought they would, and I didn't find their prices discounted much either. I was surprised that most displays were not eye-level for children at the Toy Museum next door.

I'm finding my way around more easily now and feeling more like a resident, looking for local services such a place to get our muffler fixed!

Hope everyone has a great 2008!
Enjoy-la!

Hi Klam Chowder, It sounds like you've made a nice adjustment to life in the Buffalo area. Thanks for your last post. I know what you mean about the drivers, but I think we're much better here than in some other north east cities. Let us know if you end up staying and buying a house. And yes, you haven't quite seen a Buffalo snowstorm.

Hi klam_chowder!

I'm happy to hear your settling in. And I'm even happier that you liked City Hall. It is my favorite building in all of Buffalo! It's the largest city hall in the U.S. and considered to be an art deco masterpiece. It was built to be large, strong, and imposing to represent what Buffalo was at the time.

I'm sorry you weren't impressed with the botanical gardens. I rather like them (especially the Victorian glass building - don't know what it's called). But I don't really have anything to compare it to.

By chance did you visit Our Lady of Victory Basillica (just down the street from the botanical gardens in Lackawanna)? Even if you aren't Catholic or Christian, it is worth a visit. It is a masterpiece. Actually, there are tours of Buffalos churches. There are several masterpieces, most built by German, Italian, and Polish immigrants. They are spectacular but, unfortunately, closing down as neighborhoods and needs change.

The Frank Lloyd Wright Darwin Martin complex is something, isn't it? I can't wait for it to be finished. There are several other FLW homes in the same general area, but are all privately owned.

I understand your feelings about the driving. We are just starting to teach our 16 year old son how to drive, and I constantly point out to him the problems associated with left turns. I've been noticing more and more how cars go around the ones that are trying to make left hand turns and blowing thru the yellow and red lights. That honestly scares me more than anything as I teach my son to drive. I just hate it. What the heck is wrong with people?

Sorry for the long post. In case you can't tell, I love to talk about Buffalo architecture and neighborhoods. I'll leave the restaurant advice to KathyK (hi KathyK)!

If there's anything you want to know, just ask! And again, welcome to Buffalo!

Glad to hear you're settling in Klam. I'm sure you're looking forward to the Super Bowl. And Im' sure your loving the wind storm going on right now. Sounds like you've taken advantage of some of the nice things here. Have you taken advantage of some of the great theatre in the area? There really is alot and I've noticed UB is now bringing in national touring companies of Broadway shows, which used to be only done downtown at Sheas. When it gets this cold &amp; windy, sometimes its nice to hang out closer to home in the burbs.
I guess I must be so used to the driving here that I dont really notice it. when I lived in Pittsburgh, I thought they were nuts. And holy moly, how about the QEW and driving in Toronto.
Hey Buffalo folks-good new restaurant -The Falafal Bar on Sheridan Drive in Amherst. There's one in buffalo, and now this one. terrific middle eastern food. good prices too. Also, anyone tried Black &amp; Blue in Williamsville (also on sheridan). I've heard it is good. We're going later in the month with a dinner group.