Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The City Tavern
(51 W. Chippewa St., 716/783-9212,
www.buffalocitytavern.com
,
9pm-4am Thurs.-Sat.) is everything you want in a downtown bar—good draft beer and at-
tentive bartenders, with a cool sidewalk area. It also has a large open-air patio for enjoying
summer evenings. For those who enjoy a smoke while drinking, this could be heaven.
Although the
Chocolate Bar
(114 W. Chippewa St., 716/332-0484,
www.originalchocolatebar.com
,
11am-midnight Mon.-Thurs., 11am-2am Fri.-Sat., 3pm-
midnight Sun.)isbotharestaurant andabar,forgetabouttheentrées. Focusonthedesserts
and the exotic chocolate drinks. Drinks are expensive, but worth it. The Dirty Girl ($12) is
a liquor milkshake that tastes like a Girl Scout Thin Mint. Martinis start at $10 and include
flavors such as Swedish fish, peanut butter cup and banana crème pie.
Close to Chippewa, but a world away, is the
Pearl Street Grill and Brewery
(76 Pearl
St., 716/856-2337,
www.pearlstreetgrill.com
,
11am-1am Mon.-Sat., noon-1am Sun.). The
best place to catch a summer sunset is on the New Orleans-style patio here, where you can
relax with a pint from the 16 original craft brews on tap. The vibe is casual, and the walls
feature enormous murals of life along the Erie Canal in the 1800s. Brewery tasting tours
($10) are offered daily at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm.
The best place for live music near the Chip Strip is the
Tudor Lounge
(335 Franklin
St., 716/885-9643, 1pm-2am daily). This unpretentious bar features live acts Thursday-
Saturday. The music is eclectic—blues, jam bands, metal—as is the clientele: college stu-
dents,bikers,hippies,andlocals.Theselectionofbeersissufficientandmoderatelypriced.
On the fringe of the entertainment district, inside an 1863 building, is an Irish tavern,
Eddie Brady's
(97 Genesee St., 716/854-7017, 10:30am-close daily). Stuck in the middle
of a sometimes-desolate downtown, it has the ambience of a neighborhood corner bar.
Checkoutthe1950sIroquoisBeersigns,vintagecashregister,andpictureofownerEddie's
grandfather above the bar. The eclectic jukebox features songs by Tony Bennett, Louis
Armstrong, and the Talking Heads. This charming tavern serves a working-class clientele
with moderately priced drinks and stick-to-your-ribs food, all cooked on a grill just behind
the bar. If your diet permits, try the “Fried Boloney” sandwich ($6).
