Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Starting next Monday, Western New Yorkers will have the chance to explore the diverse tastes of the region with the opening of Fall Restaurant Week. This year's festivities begin on Oct. 23 and will extend through Sunday, Oct. 29 at more than 30 different restaurants across Erie County.
"We're really looking to expand the overall flavors that can be found in Buffalo," said Patrick Kaler, President and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara. "We have such wonderful staples in Buffalo with our overall food scene, but over the last few years, our food and culinary cuisine explosion has taken place with so many great flavors from around the world."
The fall edition of Buffalo Restaurant Week is coordinated by Visit Buffalo Niagara, in collaboration with the New York State Restaurant Association’s Western New York chapter. It is an invitation for visitors, local diners, and Canadian neighbors to spend the week trying new lunch and dinner offerings from local restaurants, taverns, bistros, diners and cafes.
"We do tavern food really, really well, so what Restaurant Week does is give my chefs and cooks an opportunity to get very creative with some fall flavors like squash. We're also featuring our sauerbraten and our potato pancakes for Oktoberfest," said Ellie Grenauer, co-owner of the Glen Park Tavern in Williamsville and d New York State Restaurant Association board member. 'But I think, for me, this new partnership with Visit Buffalo Niagara has really grown Restaurant Week's reach to the general public, which is awesome. Now all we need is more restaurants to sign on board. We do appreciate everything Visit Buffalo Niagara has brought to the table, and we're looking forward to another great Restaurant Week."
This fall's Restaurant Week will be a chance for several businesses to promote and share some specials and prix fixe menus that features classic foods of the season, along with dishes with international roots that help highlight the region’s global food scene.
"The best part about Local Restaurant Week, Buffalo Restaurant Week now, is that, yeah, it's terrific, it's wonderful to be able to celebrate the talent, the cuisine and the opportunities that we have here in Western New York, unlike anywhere else in the world. What you get to celebrate with Buffalo Restaurant Week now is the genuine hospitality, the Buffalo spirit, the people that come together," said Dan Garvey, general manager of the Roycroft Inn in East Aurora. "These restaurants that are, effectively, in competition, but also in union with one another. There isn't a restaurant out there, certainly not an independent restaurant, that wouldn't fight for his neighbor to find success. We find success through success, and success is coming through Buffalo Restaurant Week."
For the first time as part of Buffalo Restaurant Week, local businesses located at the Downtown Bazaar along Main Street in the City of Buffalo will be featured in the week's festivities. This includes businesses like Oralia (Mexican restaurant), Pattaya Street Food (Burmese restaurant), Abbyssinia Ethiopian Cuisine (Ethiopian restaurant), Nile River Restaurant (Sudanese restaurant) and Pinoy Boi (Filipino restaurant).
"When you talk about an awesome experience, that's what you're gonna be able to have here. We have five restaurants and a full wine and beer bar that you'll be able to choose samples from," said Carolynn Welch, executive director of the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI) and the Downtown Bazaar. "We just are so thrilled to be open now and have this great place for everyone to come dine, try our food and we're here to stay. So after Restaurant Week, please come in and check us out before your show with Shea's, your Sabres game, or on your lunch rush. We would love to have you, and we're just so thrilled to participate."
Interest in Restaurant Week remains high, with ads promoting the event on social media getting Visit Buffalo Niagara’s highest click through rates of the year. While the opening day of Restaurant Week is fast approaching, it's not too late for businesses to get in on the action.
"Visit Buffalo Niagara uses our overall marketing resources to put this on, where in the past, the restaurants would have to pay a fee to participate. But this is something that we are offering free to any and all Erie County restaurants. We're a non-membership-based organization, so we will welcome every and all restaurants to participate. Also, we utilize all of our resources that we have at Visit Buffalo, Niagara," Kaler said. "We have a huge social media fan base, if you will, on all four of the major platforms, and we'll be pushing those out through all of those platforms. We also have some advertising resources that we can put behind a local advertising campaign as well. It's not on the responsibility of the restaurants either to have to front money to participate. We welcome every restaurant to participate, because the more that we have, the better it is."
Any restaurant interested in participating in Fall Restaurant Week can sign up here: Buffalo Restaurant Week Fall 2023 Sign-Up