Buffalo may be best known for its hot wings, thanks to the masterminds at Anchor Bar, but the city’s food scene goes far beyond a single bar app. It especially excels at unpretentious comfort foods, like Buffalo style pizza — pillowy, doughy crust with cup-and-char pepperoni (aka “grease pools”) — beef on weck: perfectly cooked, slow roasted beef on a kummelweck roll (coated generously with whole caraway seeds and salt), served with a side of pickles and horseradish (ideally from local vendor Broadway Market). Locals also celebrate the city’s cultural diversity through food, including the large Polish community, which serves some of the best pierogies in the Northeast.
Whether you’re visiting the city for the first time and don’t know where to start, or you’re a repeat customer seeking a different side of the dining scene, here are 15 restaurants to try the next time you’re in Buffalo.