Chase & Paulina

A restored Victorian mansion — Buffalo’s only AAA Four Diamond property. Twenty-four-hour butler service, evening cocktails, complimentary breakfast, valet parking. A room block is held under the code JaksonCrimmen; reservations by telephone.

A boutique downtown hotel with a hot-springs soaking pool, rooftop lounge, and a revolving bar at street level. Complimentary breakfast and valet.

An eighty-eight-room hotel inside the Richardson Olmsted Complex — an H. H. Richardson landmark on forty-two acres of Olmsted-designed grounds. A destination in its own right.

Buffalo Niagara International (BUF) is a twenty-minute drive from downtown. Toronto Pearson (YYZ) is a longer scenic option with a border crossing.

Free street parking is generous on weekends, and there is a lot at the rear of the Twentieth Century Club (no valet). For Friday’s welcome party, guests park at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 2131 Woodard Road — a short walk up the road from the house.

A women-owned French patisserie on the West Side. Croissants laminated with imported French butter, pain au chocolat, almond, and the famous coconut cream croissant. Walk-in only — arrive early.

A local single-origin roaster with a deliberately minimal menu — house chai, house syrups, whole-bean bags. The Elmwood Village shop occupies a pink Victorian duplex with a warm sunroom.

A fully restored 1937 Sterling Co. diner car in Larkinville. Mahogany trim, barrel-vaulted ceiling, porcelain enamel walls. Scratch breakfast and lunch: waffles, biscuits and gravy, mini donuts, fried-chicken sandwich. All-day mimosas. The room is half the reason to go.

Specialty avocado toasts, pour-over coffee, smoothies, overnight oats. Entirely vegetarian with gluten-free and nut-free options. A block from Swan Street Diner — a good pairing for mixed groups.

An all-day neighbourhood anchor — espresso and Butter Block pastries in the morning, sandwiches and small plates through the day, cocktails and wine at night. Pickled ramp tartine, jambon beurre, an excellent Caesar.

Texas low-and-slow BBQ fused with South Indian flavours, by James Beard–recognised chef Ryan Fernandez. Prime brisket, pork ribs, cardamom cornbread. Sunday brunch brings breakfast tacos and house-cured pastrami. Walk-in only.

Chef Martin Danilowicz’s intimate open kitchen with a menu that rotates every two or three weeks. Breakfast pizza, Korean short ribs with sesame noodles, caramel-apple waffles at Sunday brunch. Wood-fired clams and rotisserie duck for dinner. A floor-to-ceiling rooster mural by Chuck Tingley.

One of Buffalo’s oldest continuously operating taverns, opened in the 1940s. Long oak bar, brass fixtures, elevated comfort food — Maine lobster roll, truffle mushroom mac, short rib, house-made desserts daily.

Coastal Mediterranean — Italy, Spain, Greece — cooked on a Basque-style grill and coal oven. Saturday brunch is one of the best in the city: chilaquiles, baked eggs in coal-oven sauce, the croissant sandwich. Dinner is pansotti with burgundy truffle, fresh seafood, house-made pasta. Opened November 2025 in the former Pano’s space.

A candlelit New American kitchen and whiskey bar in Allentown. Seasonal small plates, an extensive whiskey list, late hours on Friday and Saturday. Reservations advised on Resy.

Coastal Italian in one of Buffalo’s most beautiful rooms — an 1880s Italianate mansion with white tablecloths, gold light fixtures, green velvet banquettes. Lobster Fra Diavolo, Veal Chop Saltimbocca, panzanella. Serious bar program; a second-floor speakeasy. The benchmark for Buffalo fine dining.

Recently reopened after a $230 million expansion. A 6,000-year collection with extraordinary depth in Abstract Expressionism and Pop — Picasso, Warhol, Pollock. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

A twenty-seven-year tradition along Olmsted’s Bidwell Parkway. Forty-plus producer-only vendors — spring strawberries and greens in June, BreadHive bread, Pasta Peddler pasta, Steamworks coffee, 21 Brix wine, Treehugger cider, Barrel + Brine ferments, flowers, hot food. Live music most weeks.

The revitalised heart of downtown at the terminus of the Erie Canal. Walk the boardwalk, rent a paddleboat, ride the historic carousel, or visit the Naval & Military Park next door.

The oldest state park in the country, twenty minutes north. Views of the American, Bridal Veil, and Horseshoe Falls. The Maid of the Mist and Cave of the Winds run seasonally — arrive early on summer weekends.