Buffalo, New York
Set your preconceived judgements aside and prepare to be pleasantly surprised by Buffalo. Which, to be fair to said preconceived judgements, does have that pesky unrelenting winter so if you have the choice, visit in the good six months. Over the last decade there have been a number of massive revitalization projects, through both public and private funding, that have changed the city drastically and breathed new life into institutions of the past.
STAY - Designed in the 1870s by the famed HH Richardson, the Richardson Hotel is one of the most storied structures in the US. The complex housed the state mental hospital for decades. It was registered as a historic landmark in 1973. It then sat abandoned from the mid 70s until the state finally pledged 100 million dollars in 2006 to start to bring the building back to life (nudged by a lawsuit from the Preservation Coalition of Buffalo). About one third of the campus is now the Richardson Hotel, owned and operated by a local developer. The appeal of the hotel is multi-faceted. The historic architecture is worth plenty. Most Buffalo hotels are downtown which is just not where I want to place myself for a weekend in Buffalo. The Richardson sits in the perfect location between Delaware Park (also where the AKG Museum is) and Elmwood Village. We stayed in a suite that was well designed with the perfect marriage of old and new. The lobby has a cozy bar, cafe, and restaurant - if you do find yourself there in the winter months and don’t feels like braving the cold, no one will judge a day spent indoors at the Richardson.
DO: Buffalo is jam packed with nature, art, design, and architecture. Plan your trip around a visit to the newly opened AKG Museum. Give yourself at least a couple of hours to explore. The architecture and art collection are equally impressive and the cafe is worth a stop as well.
From there wander over to Delaware Park, stroll around Hoyt Lake and land at the Terrace Restaurant overlooking the park for an afternoon cocktail.
Oh and in the Winter months the bike and sport shops around town rent snow shoes by the hour and Delaware Park is the perfect place for a snow shoe. Buffalo has put a lot of work into developing Canalside and the Outer Harbor as a waterfront park. My favorite part is the Nature Preserve which has a nice, peaceful path through it. There are a handful of great outdoorsy spots outside of the city that are well worth your time, and I encourage you to work at least one of them into the itinerary. Niagara Gorge hike (30 min north) - nowhere has better Fall Foliage, Eternal Flame Hike - awesome little hike, Bennett Beach (30 min south) - sand beach on Lake Erie.
SHOP: You have to see CooCooU in person to feel the magnitude of it. Michael has been collecting furniture for 40 years. It’s all housed in a warehouse on the west side, filled to the gills with every classic, hard to find, piece of furniture under the sun. I would call it an interactive, shopable, museum. Best of Buffalo and a beautiful mess. Frankly, the best furniture collection I have seen to date. Go.
There’s a few decent shops on Elmwood if you are bopping around town - Ró Home Store and Second Chic are the two I like best.
EAT: I owe a lot to these establishments, who kept hustling through the Covid years that I spent in Buffalo. First a shout out to Remedy House and Butter Block. Remedy House is the anchor of the Five Points Neighborhood and the beloved neighborhood gather with strong coffee, good breakfast and lunch bites and even cocktails for those long days where you want (read: need) a casual little end of day buzz. Across the street is Butter Block Bakery. Nothing hits quite like the pastries at Butter Block. It is possibly the most epic bakery of all time. Croissants, sweet and savory danishes, all so melty and perfect. Order a few pop-tarts to take home as those tend to last well for a few days (yes I put them in the toaster to warm the center). The best coffee in the Buff is at Tipico. They roast and supply coffee to tons of Buffalo establishments and their spot on Elmwood (a block from the Richardson Hotel) is great for Joe and breakfast sandwiches.
I have two favorite things to eat for dinner in Buffalo. One is the homemade pasta at Inizio and the other is the sushi at Kuni's. Those are firm. Ok also, really really good, is the pub food at Essex Street Pub which is a perfect dive bar with lots of soul. They smoke their meats out back and have a bunch of different pulled meat sandwiches smothered in good sauce. Left Bank is an old Buffalo favorite with a very nice outdoor patio, and I personally love ordering the tuna tartar and a flatbread. There’s a good area budding on Chandler Street by the train tracks where a few restaurants have popped up. The anchor of the area is Thin Man Brewery which shares the space with Tappo Pizza, down from that is the more highbrow Waxlight, which I am a fan of, and Tappo Day Club which is a swim club with a bar and restaurant is now over there too.
Las Puertas, while a bit fussy, is also really delicious and a good option for a special occasion or when you need a nice, proper night out. It’s Mexico City style Mexican food and there’s a lot of love put into every dish. Roost is also worth having on the list. People really love it there. I like it, they have a good brunch, slightly overrated and overpriced but perfectly good. Oh and one last tip, there’s a lowbrow Mexican restaurant on the west side called Taqueri Ranchos La Delicias. I really like their food. I wouldn’t add it to your list for a weekend in Buffalo, more a Tuesday Burrito after 400 days in Buffalo to shock your palette slightly. Or for lunch on a Sunday, that works too.
KNOW: Buffalo is not “Upstate” New York, it is Western New York - don’t call it upstate. The bridge to Canada is less than 5 miles from your stay in Buffalo. The areas across the border are nice to visit but it’s high time that Buffalo is not a pass-thru. The city has some of the best public art in the country - notice it! Delaware Park and the parkways of Elmwood Village were designed by famed landscape designer, Frederick Olmstead. The wide parkways, lakes, wooded hills and other Olmsted signature touches are a pivotal piece of the essence of Buffalo. Ok lastly, Summer is perfect, every day November thru April is cold and usually snowy. The remarkable thing about Winter in Buffalo, is that locals barely notice the weather. They wake up in the morning, pull out their snowcats (most don’t even bother with shovels), clear the snow, and move on with their day, completely unfazed. Tough does not even begin to describe Buffalonians and experiencing Buffalo in the winter is honestly sort of a thrill that puts some pep in your step!