Amherst

Eat Grover's Bar & Grill

The building that houses Grover's Bar and Grill was built by U.S. President Grover Cleveland, a longtime Buffalo resident, as a private hunting lodge. As befits its name, the burgers served up here are truly presidential: not only are they 12 ounces (340 g) in size, easily shareable between two people, but many locals hold Grover's burgers to be the best in the area. The burger focus extends to other areas of the menu as well: Grover's cheeseburger soup has come to the attention of Food Network host Guy Fieri and his series, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Chicken wings and other bar foods round out the menu at Grover's. Come hungry, and expect a considerable wait for a table on busy nights—this place is popular. Cash only.

Eat Stockman's Tavern & Grove

Stockman's Tavern has been an institution in the hamlet of Swormville for generations; its first incarnation opened its doors in 1933. Though perhaps best known as a friendly, unpretentious neighborhood bar, the food served up at Stockman's is worthy of note as well: a full menu featuring the standard slate of bar foods tempered with local specialties such as beef on weck. Special events are frequently held during the warm months at the large and pleasant picnic grove to the rear of the restaurant, featuring a tiki bar that is a favorite of Stockman's loyal patrons.

Eat Almaza Grill

A standard Lebanese menu, with hummus, falafel, fattoush, tabbouleh, etc. perfectly competent yet nothing to write home about. The thing that makes Almaza Grill really stand out, though, is the chicken: spit-roasted in-house over charcoal, seasoned with an indelible blend of herbs and spices, then prepared into shawarma, shish taouk, or served on its own in half- and quarter-portions. You couldn't ask for friendlier service, either.

Eat Fresh Catch Poke Co.

It was here in January 2018 where the Buffalo area was introduced to the namesake Hawaiian specialty: for the uninitiated, poke in the most traditional sense is a sort of salad of diced raw fish dressed with a customizable range of native condiments and vegetable toppings, though Fresh Catch's Americanized definition is a bit looser with respect to the protein (grilled chicken and tofu are also available) and comes served on a veggie or grain base. The menu includes a wide variety of specialty bowls as well as a build-your-own option, the ingredients are all fresh and sustainably sourced, options for vegans or those on other restricted diets are numerous, and high-ish prices are offset by generous portions.

Eat Miss Hot Cafe

In the sort of quasi-Chinatown that's taken root between the two UB campuses, a common trope is restaurants with hybrid menus: American Chinese favorites for more timid palates and authentic "homestyle" cuisine catering to Asian students and adventurous townies. Sichuan pepper is the star ingredient on the latter half of the menu, and if you're an aficionado of that incomparable "mouth full of Chloraseptic spray" numbing sensation, you'll love this place: they use it liberally. While the food doesn't quite reach the rarefied heights of Quick One in Tonawanda, the ambience is several notches superior. Really good dim sum, too.

Eat Pizza Plant

Pizza Plant's huge menu encompasses a bevy of Italian and other specialties including a wide variety of deep-dish and New York-style pizzas, pasta dishes, sandwiches and wraps, and massive bread-bowl salads (including what in this author's opinion is the best Greek salad in the Buffalo area). The dish that put Pizza Plant on the map, however, is their "pods" — a sort of inside-out pizza consisting of a Zeppelin-shaped shell of dough that encloses cheese, pizza sauce and a variety of what might otherwise be pizza toppings. A beer snob's dream come true, Pizza Plant's bar features a wide selection of domestics and imports, a rotating lineup of microbrews, and of course, Inferno Pod Ale, produced exclusively for Pizza Plant by Buffalo's Flying Bison Brewing Company. Vegetarians, vegans and the gluten-free crowd are well cared for here: aside from the bread-bowl salads, options include vegetarian chili and stews, boneless soy "whings", gluten-free pasta and a selection of gluten-free beers, and soy cheese and sausage which can be substituted for the real deal on pizzas and pods for a nominal charge.

Eat Saigon Bangkok

As its name implies, Saigon Bangkok's specialty is a high-quality hybrid of Thai and Vietnamese cuisines, featuring traditional favorites as well as creative specialty dishes. Compared to the original location on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Tonawanda, Saigon Bangkok's Transit Road location is newer (opened in 2009) and has an ambience that is decidedly more upscale. Saigon Bangkok's spicy steak salad, Thai basil fried rice, and tom yum goong — the latter prepared with coconut milk in the broth, unlike many area Thai restaurants—are especially recommended by this author. A wide variety of teas are also available, as is a selection of beer and wine.

Eat 1280 China Taste

On the spectrum of Buffalo-area "homestyle" Chinese restaurants, with the spartan ambience and strict culinary authenticity of Quick One on one end and Miss Hot Cafe<nowiki>'</nowiki>s refined atmosphere and noticeably Americanized food on the other, 1280 China Taste falls right in the middle. The clientele is mostly students of Chinese descent — naturally enough given its location just off the UB campus — and while the specialty of the house purports to be Northern Chinese-style pancakes and dumplings, those are tucked in the back of the menu, with more assertively-flavored Sichuan fare taking center stage (the mala tang hotpot, a fiery, chili oil- and Sichuan pepper-infused broth full of vermicelli noodles and a variety of vegetables, fungi, and meats, is renowned). There are a few American Chinese dishes on the menu too, but there's no separate section dedicated to them, so it's up to you to figure out what's what.

Drink Stockman's Tavern & Grove