I live in Buffalo. I like Buffalo. If you're coming, ask me questions, I'll answer. Food, drink, etc. | Page 2 | The Boneyard

I live in Buffalo. I like Buffalo. If you're coming, ask me questions, I'll answer. Food, drink, etc.

Buffalo is a great start for UCONN, remembering Uncle Cliffy.

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I'm going to be in Vegas this week/weekend but @upstater you have made me extremely jealous talking up Buffalo! I've always wanted to go, might propose going up for a Bills-Pats game to appease my Pats fan wife.
 
@August_West if you're making the trip, you have a landing spot!

I'm North of the city near UB but lived my whole life south of the city and have spent years in the city as well. So I can chip in with recommendations and hangs.
 
August_West said:
It is the worst 6 hour drive you could ever think of. I don't mind driving at all and can routinely peel off 13-14 hour days behind the wheel (in fact Im driving to Florida in April and will do 13 to S.C. before staying the night and finishing the last 6 the next morning) . There is just something about that interminable stretch of the NYS Thruway that makes me go out of my mind. For years my band was sent about twice a year on a Thursday-Saturday run hitting Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. The Sunday drive back from Buffalo always made me miserable. the 6 hours seemed like 12. I do like Buffalo itself though, not a bad place.
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Agreed, I like Buffalo itself; I just hate the drive.

Driving to Albany and taking the train is not bad, but I am a big fan of train travel. When I was in law school I would get a ton of work done on the train there and back.
 
Mr. French said:
@August_West if you're making the trip, you have a landing spot!

I'm North of the city near UB but lived my whole life south of the city and have spent years in the city as well. So I can chip in with recommendations and hangs.
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Oh we're hanging. Or I will sell you out to the inlaws ;-)
 
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upstater said:
There's a lot more to do near the Arena than there was the last time UConn was here in 2014.

In general, there's more to do all over town (and yes, Buffalo is a town).
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OK, if you go to Buffalo go to Duff's on Orchard Park and ask for the wings double dipped. If you are a J Tims fans, and I love J Tims, these guys may have it IMO.

Don't do Anchor Bar.
 
8893 said:
Agreed, I like Buffalo itself; I just hate the drive.

Driving to Albany and taking the train is not bad, but I am a big fan of train travel. When I was in law school I would get a ton of work done on the train there and back.
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I havent checked but what are flights like to Buffalo? My dad went to school at Niagara. I cant do Thursday but if we made it to Saturday. Would think about going, but like you, that drive is brutal, add snow or something and yeah..
 
8893 said:
Agreed, I like Buffalo itself; I just hate the drive.

Driving to Albany and taking the train is not bad, but I am a big fan of train travel. When I was in law school I would get a ton of work done on the train there and back.
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It's a rough drive, but anyone who has driven to Ohio and had to Cross Pennsylvania knows the misery of I-80.
 
Letsgohuskies11 said:
I havent checked but what are flights like to Buffalo? My dad went to school at Niagara. I cant do Thursday but if we made it to Saturday. Would think about going, but like you, that drive is brutal, add snow or something and yeah..
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There are no direct flights from Hartford and it looks like the fares start around $400 one way on Saturday.
 
upstater said:
There's a lot more to do near the Arena than there was the last time UConn was here in 2014.

In general, there's more to do all over town (and yes, Buffalo is a town).
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How many feet of snow are you expecting between now and game time?
 
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I'm seeing 50s and 60s this weekend ... and Thursday is St. Patty's Day which rivals many across the US here... so I'd expect decent weather and a pretty intense downtown, actually. Not the norm, lol.
 
ThabeetDown said:
I'm going to be in Vegas this week/weekend but @upstater you have made me extremely jealous talking up Buffalo! I've always wanted to go, might propose going up for a Bills-Pats game to appease my Pats fan wife.
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Being a Pats fan in Buffalo is brutal now. I was at the playoff game and in the middle of Patriots fans, a big fight broke out, among Bills fans!! And it spilled over into the Patrs fans. I always thought that Buffalo fans liked to fight out of frustration, but now that they're on top--it's even worse than before.

I can't even begin to describe the level of degeneracy at bills games.

Now--I'm totally against $1 billion going to the Bills for a new stadium, just absolutely ridiculous, but I imagine they'll raise ticket prices and limit the amount of seats, which may cut down on the absolute crapshow a Bills game is.
 
upstater said:
Haha, everyone has their favorites. Scwhebl's is overrated. I really think Charlie's is better even though it feels like going to eat at Checkers.
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Now that I'm north towns I eat Charlies way more often and I agree it's incredible ... I just shout out Schwebl's cuz that's a family tradition in the south towns.
 
Stinger92860 said:
How many feet of snow are you expecting between now and game time?
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Here's an underrated fact about Buffalo. It's along the river, not the lake. Which generally protects it from lake effect snow. I've been downtown under sunny skies and dry sidewalks, while it was snowing 6 feet just 4 or 5 miles to the south.

The Bills stadium is situated in a town along the lake well south of the city. I'm convinced that people get their ideas about Buffalo and snow because of Bills games.

But this town is pretty stupid in some respects. The private school bus company lot that contracts for every school district is located along the lake, so even though we sometimes get no snow in town and up north, those buses get snowed in and cause delays. Really stupid stuff.
 
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I have driven that stretch from Buffalo - East, and that stretch around Rochester and over, but most specifically after Syracuse, is the worst stretch of drive anywhere.
 
8893 said:
Yep. Driving across Pennsylvania on I-80 is my least-favorite drive in the country.
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that's the other one. Just did a CT to Michigan at the beginning of Covid because flying was banned by company at that early time. It exceeds the tedium of the NYS Thruway. But I'm just talking bad stuff on the East coast here. If we really want to dive into this subject I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska is bad enough that you start questioning whether life is actually worth living.
 
upstater said:
Being a Pats fan in Buffalo is brutal now. I was at the playoff game and in the middle of Patriots fans, a big fight broke out, among Bills fans!! And it spilled over into the Patrs fans. I always thought that Buffalo fans liked to fight out of frustration, but now that they're on top--it's even worse than before.

I can't even begin to describe the level of degeneracy at bills games.

Now--I'm totally against $1 billion going to the Bills for a new stadium, just absolutely ridiculous, but I imagine they'll raise ticket prices and limit the amount of seats, which may cut down on the absolute crapshow a Bills game is.
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OOOOF I forgot you're a Pats fan ...

There's tons of degenerates there, no question. But I think it gets a bit of a bad rap. Then again if you catch things on the right day or right time, you'd be hard pressed not to agree with your point. So I can't argue too much.
 
Mr. French said:
I'm seeing 50s and 60s this weekend ... and Thursday is St. Patty's Day which rivals many across the US here... so I'd expect decent weather and a pretty intense downtown, actually. Not the norm, lol.
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Forgot about this. Stay away from Buffalo, ugh

This will put a damper on a lot of things
 
upstater said:
Forgot about this. Stay away from Buffalo, ugh

This will put a damper on a lot of things
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Talking about degeneracy, the Bills crowd isn't even a fraction of the sheer insanity you'll encounter a few miles up the road during St. Patrick's Day with good weather. Don't allow anyone past Franklin/Tupper.
 
Mr. French said:
OOOOF I forgot you're a Pats fan ...

There's tons of degenerates there, no question. But I think it gets a bit of a bad rap. Then again if you catch things on the right day or right time, you'd be hard pressed not to agree with your point. So I can't argue too much.
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I've never been to another stadium where I see people peeing in the concourse. Maybe 1980s Foxboro?!?!
 
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August_West said:
If we really want to dive into this subject I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska is bad enough that you start questioning whether life is actually worth living.
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Done both of those, twice each way. By the time you get there you know what you're in for. PA is worse imo because it's always worse than you're expecting. On the way back you hit the PA border and you're like "Yeah, I'm almost home." Next think you know it's dark out and you're looking for a Knight's Inn.
 
upstater said:
Wing's in the city: Gabriel's Gate

Wings in the burbs: Duff's

Wing in East Aurora: Bar Bill
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upstater said:
I live 5 minutes from there and almost no one I know goes there, and we all wonder why those people push it so much. But maybe I should try. I know about the hype, but those who have tried it have shrugged. Gabriel's Gate is still the best place in the city. None of these places are worth going out of the way for, as long as you go to one of them. South of the city it's either Duff's or Bar Bill. East is a Duff's location. In the city it's Gabriel's Gate.
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Any opinion on Nine-Eleven Tavern?

It was closed on the day we were passing through en route to Niagara Falls, so ended up at southside Duff's, which was good not great.

Stopped at downtown Anchor on the way back to Seneca County. Better atmosphere, but again, not otherwise legendarily great.

My overall sense is that both Buffalo and Rochester have survived & right-sized over the past generation, benefitting additionally from milder winters.
 
August_West said:
that's the other one. Just did a CT to Michigan at the beginning of Covid because flying was banned by company at that early time. It exceeds the tedium of the NYS Thruway. But I'm just talking bad stuff on the East coast here. If we really want to dive into this subject I-80 through Iowa and Nebraska is bad enough that you start questioning whether life is actually worth living.
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When I moved from Boston to the Bay Area, I drove both of those stretches -- I-90 through NY and I-80 through the Plains.

The Thruway was tolerable mostly because we stopped a bunch to see people.

I-80 in Iowa and Nebraska was just sad. Fortunately, broke it up into two days -- Chicago to Lincoln, then Lincoln to Denver. Having Colorado to look forward to made it tolerable, but yikes that was desolate. And in January too.
 
Hans Sprungfeld said:
Any opinion on Nine-Eleven Tavern?

It was closed on the day we were passing through en route to Niagara Falls, so ended up at southside Duff's, which was good not great.

Stopped at downtown Anchor on the way back to Seneca County. Better atmosphere, but again, not otherwise legendarily great.

My overall sense is that both Buffalo and Rochester have survived & right-sized over the past generation, benefitting additionally from milder winters.
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I also have never eaten at 911 because it's a dive and I don't normally hang there so I usually get take out. But the word is it's super good.

I always do pizzerias honestly, but I'll say that Bar Bill (which now has a north location in Williamsville/Clarence) is consistently on point. I think Just Pizza and "The Now" In Hamburg are some of the best.

And Big Tree Inn, next to the Bills Stadium in Orchard Park, is not only a great spot to see some Bills legends some days but to me they're the best wings in town.
 
Mr. French said:
I have driven that stretch from Buffalo - East, and that stretch around Rochester and over, but most specifically after Syracuse, is the worst stretch of drive anywhere.
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I live in Rochester now (and formerly lived in Boston) and my wife's family is in Syracuse so I am very familiar with the Thruway in this area.

Between Albany and Syracuse there are some nice scenic stretches through hillier areas. Buffalo to Syracuse? Nope.
 
8893 said:
Yep. Driving across Pennsylvania on I-80 is my least-favorite drive in the country.
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I've made that drive probably 20 times between Chicago and CT., it's awful but the I-90 portion through Ohio/Indiana may be even worse. At least you have the mountains in Pennsylvania, it's not exactly The Rockies but at least it's something to look at besides the flat nothingness and cornfields of Ohio and Indiana.

The trip is just below the cutoff distance so I've done it nonstop every single time and there isn't even a place along the way you would want to stop for a night to break the trip up.
 
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