After posting “What’s The Remedy for the Downtown Blues,” Maura Crawford, owner of Coco Bar & Bistro, reached out to say that she could use some love from the Buffalo community. While she’s excited about Curtain Up! taking place, she’s been very concerned about an overall drop in business caused by the $60 million final phase of the Cars Sharing Main Street Project downtown and the $70 million Middle Main Streetscape Project extending north from Goodell Street to Kensington Avenue.
While her restaurant has remained open, traffic is way down due to Main Street being completely dug up.
“We look like a battle zone,” said Crawford. “Thankfully we have Curtain Up!, and next up we have Moules Fest (Monday, September 21 – Thursday, September 24). Typically these are events that give us a huge boost of business, but I’m really anxious because of the construction. It’s important that people know that just because there’s construction, people can still park on the street. Also, there’s free parking in the lot behind BestSelf across the street (corner of Washington and Carlton). The code to get in the lot is 3030#. We’re plowing through reconstruction project, but it hasn’t been easy. This is our 15th year in business, and has been the hardest so far. The street has been torn up, the trees are all gone… our entire block has been affected. We’re doing our best to hang in there!”
As for Moules Fest XXVIII, here’s how it works.
The festival is held twice a year. It usually takes place in late February/early March, and again in September. It’s an all-you-can-eat mussels festival inspired by old Parisian drinking establishments, and includes bottomless mussels served with rosemary frites (french fries) and a fresh baguette. The festival features around 10 unique mussel preparations, such as Thai Curry, Provençal, and Gorgonzola cream. There are also themed drink specials and live music from local artists.
Monday is almost booked up, so Crawford is hoping that people make reservations on the rest of the evenings. The live music line-up for those dinners is as follows:
- Tues: Tyler Wescott, EJ Koeppel, Jeremy Spindler
- Wed: Gypsy jazz guitarist Dean Gionis
- Thurs: Chanteuse Marcy Zicari
For more information on Coco and Moules Fest, visit their website and Instagram.
Coco Bar & Bistro | 888 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14202 | Phone: (716) 885-1885