OK, here's my advice:
1. Realize, Buffalo has a subway system. If you're staying in downtown or uptown hotels, there's a high probability that you will be within easy walking distance of the subway. This is the ideal way to go to the arena since the last stop is the arena, right at the harbor's edge. The subway rises above ground for the last 6 stops of downtown (about 2 miles) and you can get on for free when it's above ground.
Downtown bars near the arena:
1. Southern Tier Brewery restaurant, has a massive TV, 2 tiered viewing seating, will likely be jampacked. It's connected to Harbourside which is connected to the arena, so if you can get a seat, it's a good sports bar brewery. I would avoid because of the unlikelihood of finding a seat.
2. Union Pub, a classic sports bar, probably the most popular one for those who attend Sabres games or Bisons games (AAA baseball).
3. Pearl Street Brewery is the oldest of the "new" Buffalo breweries, and not quite up to snuff like the others. Place is 20+ years old. But the food is decent, and again, feels like a sports bar.
4. SATO Brewpub, Asian food and beers.
5. There are nearby places like the Draft Room and Cobblestone and Ballyhoo, but I've never been to any of them for drinking. Ballyhoo has reasonably priced food, but you can do better.
Midtown bars & restaurants I'd recommend:
1. Lafayette Brewpub: they get most of their beer from Pearl Street, but it's a much better atmosphere than Pearl Street Brewery.
2. Misuta Chow's: it's a barcade type place that looks like a Japanese fast food open air alley food stall, but indoors.
3. Hatchets & Hops: yes, throwing hatchets.
4. Mohawk Place & Electric Avenue: dive bars. Both are good dive bars.
5. Tappo Restaurant: it's a bar really, lots of people drinking, but they also do dinner. Food is mediocre but good, if that makes any sense. Reasonably priced big portions, the kind of place where spaghetti and meatballs is on the menu, and it is, well, spaghetti and meatballs. But not bad spaghetti and meatballs.
6. Dinosaur BBQ: very good!
AVOID: Deep South Taco. They done messed up the concept of tacos.
AVOID: Chippewa Street and nightclubs, unless you're under 25 years old and are comfortable with sleaze.
Theatre District & Allentown favorite spots (these places are further away from the subway, with only Founding Fathers on the verge of walkable).
1. Founding Fathers: maybe Buffalo's best bar; if you don't know any better, you might be put off by the politics theme, but it's a big hangout.
2. Gabriel's Gate: best buffalo wings in the city, good bar.
3. Old Pink: kind of a punk hipster institution, usually doesn't get rolling until 11 pm. Remember, Buffalo has New York City hours, closing time is 4 am.
4. Hardware: good place for a drink and food, reasonable.
5. Allen Burger Ventures: best burgers in town, restaurant pricing, $17.
Breweries:
1. Big Ditch is right downtown, so for those looking to get some good beer and then hop right onto the subway trolley, this is a good choice. They are the 3rd best brewery in town.
2. Community Beer Works: for my money, they make the best beers and if they were a little bigger, might be better known on the east coast. They are very good. Need a car to get there as they are on the west side very near the Peace Bridge to Canada.
3. Thin Man Brewery: highly recommended, they are a close #2 to Community. Make prize winning beers, and unlike Community they do have recognition. Located in Elmwood Village so a short car drive, 10 minutes from the arena, maybe less.
AVOID: Resurgence Brewing, some of the daffiest beer concepts around.
* Places to get good American and international beers on tap, almost all of these owned by the same guy, all serve food.
Colter Bay, Moor Room, Thin Man, Coles, Allen Burger Venture
Upscale restaurants (these are just my recommendations, you may want to avoid Buffalo Italian restaurants as they are, well, local Italian cuisine, but there are some very good ones):
1. Black Sheep, by far the best Buffalo restaurant, if you ask me. Limited hours, make reservations. The chef takes meat seriously. Eastern European ideas.
2. Dobutsu, Asian but it's changing over.
3. Las Puertas, fusion type Mexican food, really good Chef, not typical Mexican
4. Toutant: southern American cuisine, New Orleans, etc.
5. Waxlight Bar a Vin, never know what you'll get, it's a shared concept of rotating chefs from other restaurants trying experimental cooking
6. Hutch's restaurant: straight ahead American fare
More affordable than the above:
1. Roost: American and experimental cuisine
2. Mother's: American
3. Left Bank: American
4. Casa Azul: Mexican
A new place has opened up called Moriarty's Meats, and it has a lot of great reviews in a short time, haven't been. It's a butcher shop, with a cafe bar with limited hours, but apparently, you can't get a better sandwich anywhere in this world.
