Christina Bishop, owner of Loud House Buffalo, details her choice to serve brunch six days a week, as well as her love for grits.
As if Western New York wasn't spoiled enough with superb restaurants, bars and cafés, we saw an influx of new choices on the scene in 2024.
Here's a look at some of the best food and drink spots that opened this year.
42 North at the Flats/Queen City Bistro
674 Main St.
42 North Brewing Company and Fat Bob's teamed on a new restaurant and bar in the Theatre District, bringing craft beer and appetizers to a pre-show and post-workday crowd in a bright, Art Deco-inspired atmosphere.
Amabel Provisions
1006 Elmwood Ave.
The Elmwood Village is now home to a proper cheese shop. Owners Julian Dell'Oso and Clayton Edison curate a rotating selection of cheeses and pantry items that you won't find anywhere else locally, along with a few choices of fresh deli sandwiches.
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Beacon Grille
185 Allen St.
Combining decades of kitchen and hospitality experience at some of the area's most popular restaurants, Amanda and Bruce Wieszala opened their dream restaurant in Allentown. Bruce Wieszala and his team cook farm-to-table foods over a wood-fired grill.
Blue Moon Tea
171 Walden Ave.
Bangladeshi American couple Amina Kaipat and Mohammed Islam are serving grab-and-go boba tea, smoothies, scratch-made baked goods and Bengali street food from their café inside the Buffalo Trade Center - a startup bazaar for Bangladeshi businesses on the East Side.
Chef BigWayne Jamaican Cuisine
1432 Niagara St.
Dwayne Fitzroy Jones, better known as Chef BigWayne, opened a restaurant inside the West Side Bazaar where he serves traditional Jamaican comfort foods, such as oxtail, jerk chicken, rasta pasta and festival bread.
Dalfonso's Italian Imports
445 Rhode Island St.
While traveling around Italy, Jeffrey Dalfonso fell in love with tiny delis, where the clientele swooped in for a quick espresso shot and one or two types of perfected sandwiches to grab on the go. He created his own version of a classic Italian deli on the West Side, where he serves just two rotating kind sandwiches - one loaded with meat and one without - each week.
The Dog & Pony Saloon
2115 Seneca St.
A trio of South Buffalo natives who have known each other since childhood opened a neighborhood tavern with an elevated food menu inspired by international cuisines from local chef Alex Diaczenko.
Drift Restaurant and Beach Lounge at Hideaway Bay Resort
42 Lake Ave., Silver Creek
Western New York natives Kevin Cullen and Christian Edie opened a lakeside resort, restaurant and beach kitchen that fully capitalizes on the area's abundant waterfront. Patrons can eat inside with expansive lake views or, during the summer, in a cabana directly on the beach.
Falafel House Bakery & Grill
1150 Hertel Ave.
A blend of Syrian, Palestinian and American food, from wings and smashburgers to shawarma and mini doughnut-shaped falafel, are on the menu here. The food is affordably priced with lots of healthy options.
It's Pierogi Time
2184 George Urban Blvd., Depew
Ukrainian immigrants Oleh and Yulia Pylyptsiv opened a takeout pierogi restaurant in a small roadside kitchen. They serve pierogi flavors from back home that they couldn't find in Buffalo grocery stores, such as pierogi filled with fruit or chicken liver, gizzards and hearts.
Johnny D's
2 Fountain Plaza
Veteran restaurateur Chris Harter revived the downtown Hyatt Regency's historic steakhouse restaurant, once home to the iconic E.B. Green's, and opened Johnny D's complete with steak dinners, cocktails and a live piano bar, along with some fresh twists, such as sushi and mocktails.
K-BBQ & Hot Pot
4224 Maple Road Suite 110, Amherst
At this DIY Korean barbecue and hot pot restaurant, cook a variety of meats and vegetables to your liking. Pay a flat rate for unlimited food (just make sure you eat everything on your plate) then boil and sear your ingredients at the table. It's ideal for diners who are ravenously hungry and find fun in cooking.
Kitchen Little
875 Elmwood Ave.
Cailee Januszkiewicz and Jennifer Madia turned their healthy meal prep catering business into a takeout restaurant by opening a location in the regal, high-ceilinged basement of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church. They serve nutritious breakfast and lunches.
Ladybird Deli + Bakery
6656 Gowanda State Road, Hamburg
Chef Ross Warhol and David Schutte, co-owners of Britesmith Brewing, opened a breakfast, lunch and coffee restaurant in the historic, renovated Water Valley Inn. Warhol is bringing his A-game to the restaurant's food menu, where you'll find loaded sandwiches, salads and fresh-baked desserts inspired by his family recipes.
Loud House Buffalo
1735 Hertel Ave.
Chef Taylor Bishop brought her North Carolina training and experience in Southern comfort food back home to Buffalo to open a restaurant with her sister, Christina Bishop. The sisters treat brunch as a delicious priority, not an afterthought. Get the grits - either classic or sweet potato - which is one of the restaurant's specialties.
Meet & Eat Charcuterie
799 Seneca St.
Kristen Cronyn opened a charcuterie restaurant and wine bar in Larkinville, where she serves complex boards that go beyond cheese and crackers both on-site and to-go. She also teaches classes on the art of the cheese board and wine pairings.
Nine & Night Thai Cuisine
414 Amherst St.
Htay Naing left the food halls at the West Side Bazaar and the SUNY Buffalo State student union to open his standalone restaurant in Black Rock, where he serves Thai noodles, curry, salad, rice and bubble tea.
No Fun Lo-Fi Bar
712 Elmwood Ave.
Tucked behind High Violet, No Fun Lo-Fi Bar became a popular late-night weekend spot this summer thanks to its chic dance floor, sprawling patio, packed DJ calendar and craft beverages.
Marta's Market
404 Main St., East Aurora
At Alex Finnerty's fast-casual Italian restaurant, he makes sandwiches and pasta inspired by his grandparents' recipes. He also serves European wine and local beer.
Papa's Pizza Oven and Legacy Sports Bar
1537 Union Road, West Seneca
Brian Carroll expanded his pizza empire to several locations throughout the Buffalo area this year, including a West Seneca restaurant that has a full bar. Carroll makes a classic, old-school Buffalo pie with both traditional tomato sauce and a sugary, sweet sauce.
Pizzeria Florian
650 Main St., East Aurora
Former Jay's Artisan Pizza owners Amanda Jones and Jay Langfelder opened a new pizzeria in East Aurora, where they serve pizza that pulls from both Italian and New York styles. There's also a full vegan pizza menu.
Prova @ The Plaza
40 Fountain Plaza
The team behind two popular downtown Buffalo restaurants, Marble + Rye and Fresh Catch Poke, collaborated to open a new breakfast and lunch café at Fountain Plaza to serve the downtown office crowd. The fast-casual spot serves quick Sicilian slices, healthy grain bowls and a full espresso menu.
Raha Coffee House
370 Amherst St.
The Yemeni coffee shop is a popular spot for college students given its proximity to SUNY Buffalo State and late hours. Co-owners Bassam Harhara and Abdulgawi Mohamed serve traditional Yemeni coffees, teas and pastries, such as a bulbous beehive bread filled with pockets of cream cheese and drizzled with honey.
Rosie's Handcrafted Ice Cream
488 W. Utica St.
Cassandra and Deacon Tasker expanded their popular, small-batch East Aurora ice cream shop by opening a second location on Buffalo's West Side. They produce ice cream at an on-site production facility, which patrons can watch while they sit at the ice cream shop's bar, eating ice cream and drinking wine.
Roseland's Atlas
492 Rhode Island St.
While Roseland's Atlas hasn't opened its dining room yet, it is open for takeout and delivery, serving an extensive menu of Italian favorites, including a dense porchetta sandwich and fettuccine with local Flat 12 mushrooms. The menu pays homage to the building's longtime, bygone Italian restaurant, Romanello's Roseland Restaurant.
Sofra Restaurant and Bakery
38 Patrick Lane, Depew
Sofra offers authentic Turkish food and desserts, including chef-recommended specialties such as beef kebab, stuffed grape leaves, cheesy pita bread, gyro wraps and tres leches cake.
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