Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The 2023 Buffalo Bills season officially gets started on Monday night, as they are in East Rutherford, New Jersey to take on the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium for an 8:15 p.m. kickoff.
As the Bills get set for opening kickoff to their season on Monday, many local bars and restaurants in Western New York are also ready to get the 2023 football season started with a bang.
"It's probably one of our favorite seasons," said Paul Santora, owner of Santora's Pizza Pub and Grill. "It's phenomenal that the Bills are where they are... we're just so stoked. It's such a happy time for us. We're glad that the team does so well, and everybody's so in tune to their performance. We're really excited about it."
"Buffalo has always been behind their sports teams, but when they're really good, they really get behind them. That's really what you see here," said Mike Mulé, owner of the Anchor Bar located on Maple Road in Amherst. "You just see a lot of energy, you see a lot of smiling faces, you hear a lot of 'Go Bills!' And that just keeps breeding more business."
When it comes to many of these local businesses in the region, the Bills season is a nice shot in the arm, especially when the team is playing at the high level they have been over the last several years.
"People do like to actually get out and watch the games together. When the team is doing well, the businesses do well. When the teams do not do well, you definitely see the effect in the local businesses," said Chris Ring, President of the Chippewa Alliance and co-owner of the Rec Room in Downtown Buffalo. "Right now, I think everybody's riding high, kind of riding the coattails of the past couple seasons, and everybody's expecting a big influx of business during the home and away games."
And when the Bills are playing well, it also makes them attractive for the national spotlight with games being featured in prime-time, as is the case Monday night and several other games on the 2023 schedule.
"The prime-time stuff certainly makes it a little bit different as well. It's not your average 1 o'clock game," Mulé said. "We've got a lot of Thursday night, Sunday night, Monday night games, so I think just based on the excitement of the team, we're going to anticipate a lot more volume than we've done in the past, especially being a lot of prime-time stuff."
For some businesses like Santora's, the football season in Buffalo is an extension of the active summer season, continuously bringing in business throughout the week and into the weekends.
"We do so well in the summer with our patio, and then we finish up or we slow down with the warm weather in the patio and we kick into this season, it's just an amazing transition from summer to football for us," Santora explained. "And not only just business wise, but just that overall family fun, great tailgating atmosphere that our two locations do right now. We really enjoy it. It does so much for our mental well being just to be able to keep going through the fall season."
For those who grew up in Western New York, it is not hard to be raised a fan of Buffalo sports, especially when it comes to the Bills. For several years, these businesses have thrived on not just the success of the Bills, but also just atmosphere and environment generated over the course of a season.
"It's definitely more of a community vibe. It's unique, I think, in a district that's made up of so many different bars and restaurants, the fact that everybody kind of comes together, puts some differences aside, and everybody works together for the common goal of obviously supporting the Bills, but creating new revenue streams, additional business for their businesses," Ring said. "I think it's just a cool way for the community to come together, using the Bills as that glue that kind of brings us together. We cheer them on, and at the same time, we can all increase our business and make a couple of bucks while we do it."
"You see the difference between when if the Sabres aren't good, the Bills aren't good, you see that, 'It is what it is,' type of thing. But when they're a good team and they're on a national level, and they're being talked about as one of the top teams in the league, you just see that excitement carryover from week-to-week. It's just energy," added Mulé.
When it comes to business preparations for the upcoming football season, establishments seem confident they are up to par and ready for what lies ahead.
"Gearing up staff-wise, we're in great shape. It's really now the first year that we're a true brewery at our two locations. It's really gearing up for our beer now, and making sure we're doing the right things and making sure we have the right supportive beer for the Buffalo season," Santora said. "That is really the little bit of a difference this year. We've done food for years, but now to be on the beer side and really be pushing that is really spectacular. It's a very rewarding part of the season for us.
"We have our 'IPALLEN', which every year has just gone so fantastic. And then this year, our brewer, Rob, he decided to do an 'IP-AY-ey-ey-ey'. It's a really cool secondary to our beer, amd it's so fun to have that kind of support. I don't know, it's hard to explain. All breweries in the area that do a Bills supported beer, it just feels like you're part of the team when you're doing things like that.
For Mulé, he knows he's pretty fortunate to have the University at Buffalo in his backyard to be adequately supported staff-wise. Heading into this upcoming season, he says it's about preparation for events like their Buffalo Fan Fest events being held at the Maple Road location.
"We've been doing this for over 100 days now, obviously we want this to be a great event. We're anticipating it's going to be, but as far as getting everything together, I think we're in a really good place," Mulé said. "We're really excited, anticipating a really good time. So nothing outrageous, but a little bit more preparation than your normal Monday."
Over the course of the 2023 Bills season, the Anchor Bar on Maple Road will be hosting a Buffalo Fan Fest event each game of the season. However, the Anchor Bar has partnered with the Buffalo Bills Alumni Foundation to help raise money and awareness for "Cure the Blue", a prostate cancer awareness program.
"Our idea is to throw a rally and a kickoff party to get a lot of people excited, and to raise some money for a great cause," said Mulé of Monday's event. "What we're looking to do is get people out, get them excited, bring them in for the Bills game against the Jets on Monday night, and ultimately have a whole bunch of things going on. Obviously, there's going to be a lot of alumni here, we're going to have a football toss, we're gonna have a cornhole challenge, we're going to have big screen TVs everywhere, all kinds of beer specials, food specials, and just kind of welcoming the city again. We're really trying to kick this thing off right, really trying to get this event going and get this season off to the right start by trying to raise some really good money for a really good cause."
Mulé adds the plan is to go through the entire 2023 season with some representation from the Buffalo Bills Foundation each week, ideally one or two guys, and continue to raise money for the cure, hoping it extends to the Super Bowl.
This Monday's Buffalo Fan Fest starts at 5 p.m. ET at the Maple Road location, and begins with ceremonies for tribute to first responders will be at 6 p.m. ET. Admission for this week's event, and every Fan Fast event this year is free.
Meanwhile, the Bills have officially announced the return of the popular Bills Block Party events for the 2023 season. These are open-air outdoor events along W. Chippewa Street with fans able to watch Bills games on a big screen TV, no matter the elements.
"We're happy that last year's events went really well, and the Bills wanted to partner up with us again to host these away game viewing parties down on Chippewa," Ring said. "Obviously, the season didn't go as well as everybody hoped last year, but everybody's pretty optimistic this year. We're just excited to kind of get out there and get the season started, and celebrate the Bills together."
There's a total six different participating bars and restaurants that people can choose from at the events, Each establishment hosts a number of food and drink specials throughout the game for Bills fans to enjoy.
"The Banshee Irish pub, D-Tour, 67 West, Soho, Rec Room, Buffalo Tap House are all taking part in it this year," Ring explained. "You'll have great food and drink specials basically from 6 p.m. on. There is no cover needed to get into the bars. You do have access available to get into all the bars."
Tickets are available for all six games hosted along Chippewa this year, and can be purchased at ChippewaBlockParty.com. General admission tickets are just $10, while VIP tickets are also available for $20.
"We have this game coming up Monday night with the Jets, VIP tables are sold out so it is just standing room, general admission tickets only," Ring said. "The next game we're doing is Sunday, Sept. 24, and you can see the rest of the games online at ChippewaBlockParty.com.
"The city is great to work with. With us shutting the street down, they're super supportive - the Mayor's Office - and the city has been super easy to work with to make these things happen. We're eager to get the party started this Monday, and get people back down on Chippewa and support the Bills."