The Twilight Room has opened on Virginia Place. The bar/restaurant still features much of the wonderful design appeal from Scarlet (the former establishment). It’s wide open, with lots of wood, and colorful-yet-subdued lighting. Actually, the name resembles the atmosphere to a T. It’s so nice to see this building come to life on Virginia Place. It adds so much to the energy that exists across the street with Mothers and Fat Bob’s.
The Twilight Room prides itself on its prohibition era cocktails. It also prides itself on partnerships with local food purveyors, including BreadHive, Nickel City Cheese & Mercantile, and Ashker’s. Because of its penchant for all-things prohibition era (very Buffalo these days) and local culinary partnerships, The Twilight Room bills itself as a “pro-Buffalo bar”.
Menu items at The Twilight Room include a charcuterie plate, poutine Italiano, The Sinatra (24 oz bone-in Rib-eye), Rosie’s Meatballs, seared sesame crusted ahi tuna, pan seared salmon and the Twilight Burger.
If you’ve never stepped foot into this building, it’s a real treat. The second floor dining area overlooks the first floor. At the same time, the first floor is just as nice as the floor above – there’s really no bad seat in the house.
The Twilight Room is comfortable, classic and atmospheric. The entranceway door is a secret book case that guests must pass through, which sets the stage for the dining and drinking experience ahead. If the door is shut, just look for the red book to open it.
Aside from the very cool secret library door, I also like the framed menu on the outside of the building. More restaurants in Buffalo should do this (big in NYC). Sometimes simply looking in the front window to see how many people are seated at the bar is just not enough to warrant a visit. And if someone tapes the menu to the window, it shows that they are probably not in it to win it anyways.
I’ll definitely be heading back to this place – especially now that they have house musicians playing on select nights. To me, paying attention to the sound and lighting goes a long way. There’s nothing worse than sitting under a bright light at a place when all of the rest of the details were considered. Typically, I will be the first to ask a bartender to lower the lighting. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. Fortunately, that will never be an issue at The Twilight Room. Low lighting, serious jazz, and a throwback atmosphere are all components that will help to establish a loyal crowd.
The Twilight Room | 26 Virginia Place | Buffalo, NY 14202 | (716) 882-7777 | Facebook | See cocktails | See menu