An Insider's Guide to Visiting Buffalo, New York

Buffalo, New York, the Queen city, is the largest city in New York state outside of the New York City metropolitan area. Buffalo, New York is most commonly known for Buffalo wings, The Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres. For those who remember the seventies it gained notoriety for it's snowstorms with the blizzard of 77. Buffalonians have told me that the snow drifts were so deep, buried cars were accidentally pushed into Lake Erie by the plows that worked day and night to dig out the city. Luckily, such snow storms are rare in Buffalo while the summers are always beautiful with many activities and festivals. Buffalonians are typically down to earth, friendly working class people with good values. I speak from personal experience as I grew up in nearby Niagara Falls, New York, went to the State College University at Buffalo and have fond memories of many a summer there. Buffalo, New York is a great family friendly place to visit. The following information and tips includes some of the types of activities I hope to do with my family on future summer visits, as well as recommendations I have made to friends visiting the Queen city.

What to do, Where to eat and How to get there

1. Elmwood Avenue

A wonderful area of the city to visit, it's proximity to State College University at Buffalo gives this street vibrant and dynamic flavoring. There are numerous small artsy shops and several excellent cafes, diners, restaurants and bars. This is a great street for strolling, the surrounding area filled with beautiful, historic houses.

A few of the eateries I have frequented as one heads south (towards downtown) from the College:

Pano's Restaurant- Greek and American diner food. Very popular and with good reason; the food is great, tastes home-cooked and is moderately priced.

Bullfeather's- An upscale bar with great food and drink.

Jazmine- Good Thai cuisine.

The Spot Coffee- An excellent, very successful home grown coffee house that also offers some high quality desserts and cuisine.

Elmwood Avenue runs north to south and is found in the northwestern sector of the city. It is accessible from the 290 thruway (watch for signs). You can also get to Elmwood by going west on most street from Delaware (another interesting, more commercial avenue).

2. Albright Knox Art Gallery

Across the street from the College is the reknowned Albright Knox Art Gallery and Delaware Park. The Albright Knox showcases major artwork of several genres including pieces by Andy Warhol.

The entrance to the gallery is on Elmwood Avenue just south of the junction with the 198.

3. Delaware Park and the Buffalo Zoo

This large park has nice running and walking trails and a gold course. The Buffalo Zoo is located on the north east side of the park, and has many exhibits oriented towards families and children.

There is an exit for the zoo and the park off of thruway 198 just east of Elmwood.

4. Allentown

Allentown represents the Bohemian sector of the city and has an annual art festival.

It also has several good restaurants and bars and is found along Allen street between Elmwood and Delaware.

A couple of good restuarants here are:

The Towne- another popular Greek diner similar to Pano's on Elmwood.

Gabriel's Gate- a wonderful bar/restaurant with eclectic decorations. A good place to meet with friends or for a date, the food is very good. Although most eateries serve Buffalo wings in the Buffalo/Niagara region, this is where I have brought visitors new to the area as the wings are the best I have ever had (and that is quite a statement as I have feasted on chicken wings a la Buffalo style since childhood in a number of places).

Head towards downtown along either Elmwood or Delaware until Allen Street is reached.

5. Chippewa Street

Chippewa Street and some of the surrounding area is very busy and excellent for night life. There are also some good restaurants here. Certainly not for the kids but perfect for the night-life crowd.

The first Spot coffee house is located here. An excellent cafe, this is the business that helped revive some of downtown Buffalo, New York.

The downtown sections of Elmwood, Delaware and Main all provide access to Chippewa.

6. Lafayette Square

One of the best summer attractions of the Buffalo summer is the free concert every Thursday at the square.

Elmwood and Delaware Avenues end at Lafayette Square.

7. Buffalo Museum of Science

Like most museums, an interesting and most importantly, educational place to visit.

There is an exit for the museum along the Kensington expressway.

8. Hertel Avenue

Hertel Avenue in north Buffalo is another street with many shops, good restaurants and an interesting old style movie theater that mostly shows independent films; the North Park.

Hertel is accessible from Delaware Avenue.

9. Ethnic summer festivals

Buffalo is a city founded by immigrants. The Queen city takes advantage of the warm summer weather to host festivals highlighting some of the different ethnicities of Buffalo, New York.

10.The Friendship Festival

Buffalo, New York is a city that orders Canada. This muti-band summer concert demonstrates the friendship shared between the USA and Canada.

Where to stay

Buffalo, New York has a wide variety of accomodations to choose from.

Getting to Buffalo

Buffalo, New York can be accessed by bus, air, train and car. Although the bus station is in the downtown area, the airport and train station are found on the outskirts of the city. If driving, once the New York state thruway system is reached, there are many signs to Buffalo.

This summer, for an educational visit to a family oriented city, come to beautiful Buffalo, New York and experience true Buffalo wings in friendly upstate New York.

Sources

http://www.albrightknox.org

http://www.buffalozoo.org

http://www.allentownartfestival.com

http://www.sciencebuff.org

http://www.10best.com/Buffalo/annualEvents.html

http://www.visitbuffaloniagara.com/