Buffalo Rising is hosting an Oscar Party at Sample Restaurant on February 27th from 7:30pm until closing. The Academy Awards broadcast will be on Sample's large screen television. Attendees will enjoy free champagne and hors d'oeuvres during the show. With a red carpet and roaming photographer, this promises to be the coolest Oscar Party in Western New York. You can dress up or dress down - it's Allentown so be creative. Tickets are $18 and you can order yours online now.
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Alexa Marinos is a young professional who lives in downtown Cleveland. She likes concerts, dinner parties, shopping and living in the city. She also likes road trips so her and her friends decided to take a weekend trip to Buffalo. 
She had never been here before and reached out to the Convention and Visitors Bureau for guidance. They responded and helped her plan her weekend (and kudos to them for that service).  Alexa has graciously allowed us to

By Roma Mandzyk:

Perhaps it's the very discomfort of the climate that makes Ukrainians delight in the outdoors. There's nothing like a walk down the banks of the icy Dnieper River to make one crave the comfort of delicate pierogi.

On Friday, February 18 grab your ration cards and head down to the Ukrainian Social Club for a ritual of late winter: Pierogi Love Night. Come eat the dumplings that are street foods in Ukraine and in the other countries of Eastern Europe. Resident chef, Mrs. H will have the windows of Buffalo's oldest Ukrainian social club steamed up from

Who ever said beer and science wouldn't make a great combination?

The 3rd annual Beerology event will be taking place on April 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Buffalo Museum of Science. The event is a fundraiser for educational programming at the BMS and the Tifft Nature Preserve.  This event has sold out every year, and tickets are going like hotcakes, so all you beer-lovers better hustle!
 
The event will feature home-brewing demonstrations, presentations by local beer experts, and plenty of beer sampling possibilities.  So far, there are 18 beer vendors registered

Hyatt Regency Buffalo will play host to the Third Annual Farmer-Chef Conference on Monday, February, 21.
               
The theme this year is "Bridging the Farm to Table Gap" meaning all farmers, restaurateurs, and related professionals will gather and build awareness of Western New York's agricultural products, their quality, and accessibility to restaurants and the food industry in general.
               
"Using locally

Georgia's Queen of Southern cuisine will soon be heading for the Queen City to host her new touring production, "Paula Deen Live!"
          

By Nancy Cardillo:

Since its inception in 1911, Rotary Club of Buffalo has donated more than $1 million in charitable grants through the Buffalo Rotary Foundation to address poverty, hunger, health, illiteracy and the environment in Western New York. Organizations such as Cradle Beach; Food Bank of WNY; Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo; Goodwill Industries; Rotary Rink and the Frank Lloyd Wright Rowing Boathouse - just to name a few - have benefited from such grants.

One of the main ways the Foundation raises funds is through its annual fundraising event, Wines of

I've created a new word: "Acropolicious." It is used to describe the delicious Greek food I had last week, when a friend and I headed to Acropolis on Elmwood Avenue for the first time to have dinner. We were in the mood for someplace low-key, but not too casual. What we found was a great spot for a Friday night out.

The atmosphere inside the restaurant was very relaxing and inviting.  The blue interior, spot lighting, and simple décor gave it the feel of an upscale bistro.  Subtle details like the border of blue glass bottles along the ceiling and the full wall-sized chalkboard

If you didn't know any better, you might think that Sun is strictly an Asian Market. For those in 'the know' Sun has become a destination eatery serving up a variety of Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Korean dishes unlike no other place in the city. Upon entering, guests must navigate through aisles of Asian groceries before winding up at the elevated dining area towards the back. Once there, depending on the time of day of course, diners must first find an empty table - a task that is not necessarily easy considering the popularity of the place.

One look at the extensive menu provides the

Last January, we excitedly published our 2009 traffic review because we set a new record for traffic to our site. Well, we're excited again as we've broken that record. In 2010, BuffaloRising.com received 2,541,453 visits, a 10.5% increase over last year. Our unique visitors grew 19% from 2009 as we welcomed 915,288 unique visitors in 2010, up from 769,628 uniques in 2009. We also set a pageview record by serving up 5,580,300 pages.  
The source of our traffic has shifted

I don't know why it took me so long to get over to 99 Fast Food Restaurant on Bailey Avenue. Ever since the restaurant closed on Niagara Square, it has been (at least for me) out of sight, out of mind. The last time that 99 was featured on BRO was back in March of 2008... almost three years ago. At that time I made a note to try it - I wonder where that note went? It was a buddy at work who suggested that we indulge ourselves with a bowl of Phở earlier today... that's why I figured that I would resurface the article after eating such a delicious

As of the New Year, Buffalo has a great new tavern on its hands that will soon incorporate an unusual food into the mix. Owner Greg Rohall recently purchased the former Our Grill establishment on Amherst Street and has been busy turning it into a comfortable bar that is already attracting patrons from all over the city. How did he do that? He respected the integrity and character of Our Grill while tastefully incorporating elements from other Buffalo businesses that were not so lucky.

To step into Rohall's

There is a noticeable commercial absence on Elmwood Avenue now that Dolci has left the street. Located at the corner of Elmwood and Breckenridge, Dolci was a staple of Elmwood villagers in search of homemade baked goods and desserts. Even when I first heard the rumor that the bakery was packing up and moving, I didn't completely believe it - the business had been at the same corner for years and years.

It was only recently that Dolci opened a satellite location on Grant Street - a moved that apparently was partially designed to test the commerce waters of the deep West Side. Situated

Former NFL and future Hall of Fame Buffalo Bills receiver Andre Reed has been recognized as an "Over the Middle" receiver during his career.  Reed has decided to utilize his football reputation as a selling point for his very own signature all-purpose sauce, titled "Over the Middle."

Reed created this sauce with the intent of selling it and using the proceeds to help out the young people in his hometown, The Lehigh Valley, while also helping the local economy. For every bottle of "Over the Middle" sauce that is sold, fifty cents will be donated to The

We have some good news for the quick-service restaurateurs out there who are considering opening up a place in the Queen City.

Recently, QSR magazine and Pitney Bowes Business Insight conducted a survey of the top emerging restaurant markets in the country.  The results of the survey consisted of ranking the top 40 cities for restaurant expansion in the year 2011.  Not only was Buffalo among the cities listed, it just so happened to be at the top of its category.

The study broke the cities down into small-market, medium-market and large-market categories based

Blue Monk arrived on Elmwood this year.  And the Belgian beer oasis generated enormous buzz as the food, drink, location and proven management gave Buffalonians reason to cheer.  When Queenseyes broke the story that Mike Shatzel of Cole's would be opening Blue Monk in the fomer Merlin's location, BR commenters unanimously rejoiced.  And BR commenters rarely do anything unanimously. 

With 515 Facebook shares and more than 7,000 pageviews, the Blue Monk breaking news

After passing by this new West Side bakery numerous times, it took a 'shout out' from a BRO reader to get me to walk in. In the email, the reader told me that although the exterior of the building was not exactly eye-catching, the culinary delights on the inside were stellar. Upon closer inspection, I learned that there was indeed a bustling little bakery inside of the Ferry and Hoyt Convenience Store and Bakery (that's quite a name), that the residents in the neighborhood had started calling "La Panaderia". Before we go any further, I hope that the owner listens to the customers and renames the

As of the first of the year, the West Side will be home to a very substantial seafood market. Owner Michael Nguyen, along with his wife Chuyen, are in the midst of renovating a 2700 sq.' storefront into what will become a seafood lover's paradise. The market will feature frozen fish, canned fish, bottled fish sauce, packaged fish treats, hot fish meals, wrapped raw fish and will even showcase two flatscreen TVs set to broadcast menu items and specials, as well as seafood preparation tips and techniques. A third flatscreen will be dedicated to the soothing oceanic sights and sounds of a stunning

Interview with Carl Schmitter of Chateau Buffalo regarding his bottling and sales of hard cider:

BRO: I am aware that you make a Dancing Buffalo ice wine, but when did you decide to produce hard cider?
 
Carl Schmitter: I've been producing hard cider at Chateau Buffalo for four years now. The ice wine was actually an afterthought from making the hard cider. The ice wine is made from the same apples as the hard ciders.
 
For those who are not familiar with this type of cider, what can they expect?
 
We've been working

Here's hoping that everyone is having a merry holiday. On this Christmas day I wanted to share with you a fruitcake, as a slice of one was recently offered to me at Fiddleheads Restaurant and I felt that it was my traditional duty to pass it along. I can honestly say that in all my life, until now, I had never eaten a bite of the stuff. I had seen one sitting on top of my aunt's fridge once a long time ago, and have heard all of the gruesome gift-giving stories, but that has been the extent of my knowledge of fruitcake... and I liked it that way. It was only when Fiddleheads owner Kirstie Strusienski