Buffalo Rising Online

wow that was fast. it doesnt look too bad, it defenately increased the density of that part of the street. now if only the hotel was built. imangine how great this block would look.

Here's a webcam that lets you view the exterior of Pano's 24/7: http://www.buffalowebcam.com/web/cam2

its an exciting look and completely took me by surprise.

I love the throwaway mention of the Atwater House in the last sentence. Oh, yeah, the house he neglected and tore down for dry wall and neon.

I second Andrew

I think that this looks awesome. All other things aside - you can support a thriving Buffalo business or you can cry over a demolished house - your choice. ;-) Great job Pano!

i didnt expect this... im impressed

I think it actually looks good. I like the sign, too. Big is good.

Pleasantly suprised. Looks great. Screams Toronto, Yorkville. Sign too. Good job, Pano!

Very cool. It is amazing that people will complain about this.

Very inviting and with an obvious touch of showmanship. How could we expect any different from Pano's? Expect this joint to be packed. EXCEPT for the naysayers and preservationists whe vowed never to step foot in PANO'S again!! Perhaps the Elmwood fanatics will see that perhaps there is something better than what they would like to hold on to ...oh ya..AT SOMEONE ELSE'S EXPENSE!!

The Building looks great, it gives the street and feeling of being alive and vibrant. I wasnt sold on it in the beginning with the two toned brick, but the awnings, lighting and sign, I dont think it could look better.

If you have complained about this you are insane......This building will attract praise and interest from people outside of the city visiting from now on

Much better than the Atwater house. However, the sign is obnoxious. People need to chill on this site. It is good to mix in the old with the new. Makes for a more dynamic environment. Area is much more vibrant now!

Good example of Pano living the American dream. He started with a little hut selling steak and eggs for $3.99 a plate 20 years ago and now this.

Congrats to Pano. Give the man some credit.

If it isn't mixed-use, built to the curb, with a bike rack, it just won't do!

orange building with black awnings and bathroom wall sconces...OMG its wonderful. Also HOUSE FOR SALE, Elmwood village.

I think it will be a great addition to Elmwood.. but it is a shame how little if any of the actual new construction is on the footprint of the former Atwater.. that's my plug, he got what he wanted... more parking. He could have built this and left he Atwater standing.

lolololol, how dramatic of Dave.

Ditto sbrof

Wow, talk about some hard feelings , judging by the negative posts and 1 stars to the good rational posts. The last sentence and the cry baby posts came 'this close' to making me no longer want to visit this site. Really guys, it actually looks great, dont go there, thats fine, but grow up, have some cheese with your whine, and get over it already. 1 star away...

Can we please hold the sentimental violin music about Pano's rise to success? Yes he runs a good business, and yes I wish him well, and yes, he did a stupid and unneccessary thing by tearing down the Atwater House. He could have expanded and enhanced his business without doing that. So, let's give him some credit, and also a little shame for sending out a loud signal that demolition by neglect is a good strategy for doing business in Buffalo.

These negative people and posts on here are annoying and pathetic....

amazing job Pano!! Congrats looks great

Looks great, kind of reminds me of some buildings in Boulder C.O. Yes it would have been cool to preserve or move (if Possible) the Atwater House, but I'm not really going to cry over this one. Can't wait to see it in person.

Looks great, kind of reminds me of some buildings in Boulder C.O. Yes it would have been cool to preserve or move (if Possible) the Atwater House, but I'm not really going to cry over this one. Can't wait to see it in person.

Damn you double post!

sure it is not something you would want on top of your christmas tree. It brings a strong descriptive quality to the street and i am mainly interested in how other projects can feed off it. There are enough resources to almost anticipate an even greater change for this neighborhood. perhaps an applebee's? j/k

I think anyone outside Buffalo would laugh over the "Atwater" house stink, and that people will not patronize this restaurant because of the loss of this "landmark."

"After what they did with the Atwater House, I will never set foot in there again." NOT TO WORRY...NOT MUCH OF A LOSS!

Great job! Looks awesome! mjman4...are you being sarcastic when you criticize Pano's business plan? Please say "yes".

Great job! Looks awesome! mjman4...are you being sarcastic when you criticize Pano's business plan? Please say "yes".

and to think...so many anti-development libs were against this, now we have a business/restaurant that turns heads, and will make visitors think twice before bashing Buffalo...like so many others said you can't save every building, and if tearing down an old house means new progress and business like this, embrace it.

If you are not for progress in Buffalo then you are against it. Great job Panos!

I don't think anyone here is against the progress of this structure from the little "cape cod" buidling which still sits out behind this. The bigger issue was the intentional neglect of a buidling to the point of saying it needs to come down for the expansion to only be replaced with 5 or 6 parking spots.

+1 for Elmwood when it could have been a +2. If you include the precident this sets for knocking down buildings for surface parking, this can easily become a big negative. The neighborhood needs a parking strategy as a whole, not on a buisness by buisness basis.

"If you are not for progress in Buffalo then you are against it" wow... the world isn't so black or white. There could have been development + preservation. I was never against Pano or his desire to expand his business. In fact I used to go there quite often. But if you look at the former building's footprint and compare it to where his expansion was planned, it is obvious that the 'need' to demolish the Atwater house isn't because it was in the way of this building but because it was in the way of his parking desires.

That brings up a different questions about urban neighborhoods and how to treat parking. Should parking be dealt with in the suburban model where each business acquires and controls its own parking. This is the model that has create Niagara Falls boulevard types of development and our current downtown. A downtown where 50+ percent of the land area is dedicated to parking but yet everyone still complains there isn't enough parking.

If cars are going to be the mode of transport by choice and policy, then parking needs to become an centrally planned land use. Otherwise everyone puts up their little fiefdoms of control and the very thing that created a vibrant urban neighborhood (its mixed uses and density) are in jeopardy because there isn't a plan for parking.

I blame the city \ Elmwood Village for refusing to take the initiative and coming up with a strategy that would bring in people (and their cars) into the EV without destroying what makes the city great.

My friends and I drove to Pano's all the time during college. Not once did we ever park in their parking lot. Not because it was full but because it was easier and more convenient to just park along a side street and walk. Never had to worry and get frustrated because someone's stupid Hummer is taking up 3 spots. I don't think we were the only ones that did that. You know what, we still went there, not a big deal. We need to learn as a culture that walking a block or two isn't some a horrible prospect that we must 'deal' with. Lord knows with approx 66.3% of our population over 20 is overweight or obese (CDC Stat) we could use the exercise. Maybe it is time to start designing our cities in a way that promotes (maybe even forces a little bit) a healthier lifestyle, instead of convenience (aka laziness).

Panos success has more to do with LOCATION than any other reason. The Elmwood strip is successful because it is NOT A BLAND SUBURBAN STRIP MALL. Tearing down a piece of the fabric that makes this street unique is like biting the hand that feeds you.

some practical questions about the pano's addition (i'm a recent grad of CC who's at ND for law school, fully intending to come back to Buffalo, last I saw it the front was covered in scaffolding)

whats the interior like now? same as before, or is it expanded into a 2-floor dining area? I'm hoping it expanded, I love Pano's especially on a Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon...it was always packed, so any expansion would be great!

its a little sad to see the patio dissappear for the summer, but much more practical and dnot too much of a detraction

p.s. can't wait to get back to buffalo for break in october! i'm missing real wings and labbatts!

The whole story of demoltion by neglect is amyth. I lived in that house in 1995-1998 (and agin in 2003-04)right after my father bought it and it was a dump before we bought it and a dump when we tore it down. the only time we "neglected" it was after the decision to tear it down was made in 2004. Obviously if you own a building that is vacant and you plan to tear it down you're not going to pour more money into it. we spent thousands on that building in the ten years we owned it.

As for the new building, please, give it a chance. it's not even done yet. And yes it looks very "new" and it "sticks out" .Guess why- IT IS NEW. Let a buffalo winter break it in a little. giveit a chance to age. to sink in. Remember at one time or another every buildind was new. Think of it as a new baseball mit. Also, it is no closer to the street than it was before and further than alot of our neighbors. The EVA was instumental in the design and about the only thing we chose was sign. Which by the way will not always be that bright. Its not neon it's LED. We lit it that bright initialy to draw attention to our reopening. Relax people it a restaurant. lets worry about the eastside, our schools system, the waterfront, job loss, ect. hope to see you all ,preservationists too, at the reopening.

The only reason one could say this building looks out of place, is by comparing it to the other buildings on the street. Living on the block, across the street in fact, seeing the new Pano's everyday, I have enjoyed watching it develop into quite an attractive building. Admittedly, when I first saw the faux brick walls without the awnings and lights, I was a little concerned. Seeing it all come together, the results are quite impressive. It looks like a successful business, in the heart of a blossoming city. One can only hope the other land owners in the area will take the steps to improve the curb appeal of their own properties. One only needs to look at the bright green stripe adorning the porch of the house across the street, to see what I am talking about. As for the sign, it is fresh, different, and engaging. Pano's, as a result of this expansion, will be able to provide more jobs, and bring more people to the Elmwood Strip which should be good for all of us. Thanks.

The population density of the Elmwood Village area is much lower than similar areas in other cities. Foot traffic created solely by the immediate neighborhood would not be enough to sustain the number of businesses that exist on Elmwood. In several of the other similar areas across the country you will find several parking ramps, similar to the one at Childrens Hospital, that enable more imported pedestrian traffic than when it is limited to on street parking. Adding the lots behind Avenue Pizza, and Coles, was a start, but more can be done. This is what happens when you have people living in doubles and single family homes instead of the apartment buildings you will find surrounding Elmwood Village like neighborhoods throughout the country. But you know what, I like my grass, and I like my garage. Cars were not the primary means of travel when Buffalo's street plan was created, and with all thats going on in the world, it would be nice if we could rely on them less in the future. People are what makes Elmwood thrive, the easier we make it for them to get here, the better off we are.

Giving up on the 24-7 food is the second best thing they did for the neighborhood, after the development. And as bhorvath was nice enough to quote Chuck D. from Public Enemy: "the survivors of species are not the strongest, or most intelligent, they are those most adaptable to change" - Chuck D. Pano's has changed from its beginnings, and the new look solidifies that change.

And Yes, I know who was really quoted. I thought bhorvath was funny and rolled with it.

This is a great project and I commend Pano's for doing it. For those of you whining about some dilapidated house that was torn down, who cares, it's addition by subtraction. Panos is beautifying the street, much like ciminelli wanted to do when he had plans to build a mixed-use hotel, which would have torn down one of the most ugly row of homes on the street. Interesting you drive by all of these homes now, and they're all for sale. I just will never understand why alot of you think these homes are important to keep in lieu of actual progress and significant private dollars being spent. As for the sign, I think it's great.

Wizard, No one could find parking for panos when it was half the size, of course they need a parking lot. People come from all over WNY to come to this place. Again, why?