Upper West Side of Buffalo

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The Upper West Side is in Buffalo. blah blah blah

Understand

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• [Grant Street is] a bustling business district that has spent the last fifty years constantly reinventing itself: first as Little Italy, then with a Puerto Rican flavor, and finally, over the past ten years, as home to a multicultural rainbow of first-generation immigrant communities — Burmese, Vietnamese, Nepali, African, Arabian, and more — as well as a growing student presence fostered by nearby Buffalo State College.

History

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• Unbeknownst even to many locals, the West Side is one of the most historic areas of Buffalo: its history began in 1802 when the federal government constructed a 30-mile (48 km) Military Road north from here to Lewiston. In the years after the Revolution, tensions between the United States and Britain remained high — and in case of a British incursion from Canada, the Military Road would enable troops to move as needed between Fort Niagara and Fort Tompkins, which would soon be built near what is today the corner of Niagara and Hampshire Streets. Two years later, Peter Porter, a State Assemblyman from Canandaigua and a former associate of Buffalo's founder, Joseph Ellicott, began laying out a settlement on the large parcel of riverfront land he owned along Military Road about two miles (3.2 km) north of Buffalo; he named the incipient hamlet "Black Rock" after a ledge of dark limestone that jutted into the Niagara River just north of what is today the Peace Bridge. Much larger than the modern-day neighborhood of that name, Porter's Black Rock occupied essentially all of what is today the West Side, and the hub of it was today's Upper West Side - Niagara Street north of Ferry

• Between Upper and Lower Black Rock was the harbor, located at the mouth of Scajaquada Creek and dominated by a shipyard owned by Porter.

Peter Porter, the founder and easily the most prominent citizen of Black Rock, was a powerful politician on the state and national stages: he served in the New York State Assembly, the U.S. House of Representatives, and as Secretary of War under President John Quincy Adams.

The same year that Black Rock was officially incorporated as a village, the long-feared military confrontation along the Niagara River came to pass. The attempted American invasion of Canada that began the War of 1812 saw U.S. forces under General George McClure sack and loot the frontier villages of York (now Toronto) and Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake); in retaliation, before dawn on December 30, 1813, a British detachment crossed the river and landed in Black Rock, burning it to the ground then heading south to Buffalo to do the same. Though it was rebuilt quickly, Black Rock remained a battleground till the end of the war — Porter's shipyard did a brisk business building warships for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's fleet, and a second British incursion across the river was thwarted at the Battle of Scajaquada Creek Bridge in August 1814. The war ended in 1815, but things hardly quieted down: the always-heated rivalry between Black Rock and Buffalo took on a new urgency around 1816 when planning began for a huge canal linking the Hudson River and Lake Erie. It was understood that the Erie Canal would be a huge economic boon, opening up the West to large-scale settlement, and that it would begin at Albany — but the exact location of its western end had yet to be determined. Porter used his political connections to vigorously argue that Black Rock be selected over its rival. At first, its superior harbor — sheltered by Unity Island from the strong currents of the Niagara River — as well as the fact that two more miles (3 more km) of canal would need to be dug to reach Buffalo, seemed to give Black Rock the advantage. The successful launch from its harbor of the Walk-in-the-Water, the first steamboat on Lake Erie, further aided Black Rock's cause, but after a contingent of Buffalonians finally set about dredging the harbor there to a suitable depth, Buffalo was chosen in 1821 as the canal's terminus. When it opened in 1825, the Erie Canal passed through and beyond Black Rock; as a final insult, Black Rock even lost the rock formation that inspired its name: it lay in the path of the canal and had to be blasted away.

• Black Rock might have been able to soldier on independently in the shadow of its now-much larger neighbor, but the years after the canal's construction were exceptionally harsh: the Panic of 1837 laid waste to its economy (half its businesses failed) just when Black Rock was getting back on its feet again after a damaging windstorm a few years earlier. Moreover, when relief came to the village, it was at the expense of some of its independent spirit: the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad, the area's first, helped transform Upper Black Rock into an important center for milling and coopering — which, in turn, attracted throngs of German and Irish laborers — but, by the same token, inextricably bound its new economy to Buffalo's... a change to Buffalo's charter enabled it to annex Black Rock along with the remainder of the surrounding unincorporated township in 1853, ending its history as an independent village.

20c. decline & urban renewal - 190 & city cut off from waterfront

• it came about that what saved the West Side was its trademark ethnic diversity — which, along with cheap housing and a low cost of living, began to attract newly landed immigrants to the district. By 2003, when Dr. Myron Glick founded Jericho Road Ministries, an offshoot of his Upper West Side medical practice providing refugees assistance with food, housing, finances, literacy and education, Buffalo had overtaken New York City as the state's leading destination for new immigrants. At the same time, Buffalo State College was instrumental in helping small businesses sprout on Grant Street after student-oriented shops began being priced out of the increasingly tony Elmwood Village. In turn, this investment attracted that of urban pioneers as well as preservationist-minded business owners such as Prish Moran, the 2007 opening of whose coffee shop Sweet_ness 7 is widely seen as the single turning point that cemented Grant Street's arrival as Buffalo's newest hip neighborhood. The boom in property values that resulted from all this is still ongoing, and today the West Side, probably more than any other area of Buffalo, is truly rising from the ashes.

Talk

Spanish and immigrant languages

Get in and around

By car

I-190: passes along the length of the West Side riverfront but no exits in the UWS itself (you may notice driving down the highway that there is no Exit 10 - that was supposed to be W Ferry St, but never built). However, just on the other side of Scajaquada Creek in Black Rock, the 190 connects to the...

Scajaquada Expressway (NY 198) is a short highway that begins in Black Rock at Exit 11 of I-190, passing eastward through the West Side and North Buffalo and ending on the East Side at the Kensington Expressway. The Scajaquada's Grant Street exit makes for a convenient route to the Upper West Side's main business district. There's also a Niagara Street exit accessible to westbound traffic only.

Niagara and Grant Streets - main north-south thoroughfares.

Richmond Ave @ east end of district as Olmsted park system's UWS presence

East-west thoroughfares: West Ferry Street, Lafayette Avenue, West Delavan Avenue, Forest Avenue

The Grant Street business district is the only place on the West Side where on-street parking is ever hard to find. Parking meters are in place on Grant between West Delavan Avenue and West Ferry Street, as well as on West Ferry for half a block in either direction from Grant. They're in effect till 5PM every day except Sunday, at a rate of 50¢ per hour to a maximum of 2 hours. Additionally, though parking is free north of West Delavan, the 2-hour maximum rule on Grant extends as far as Potomac Avenue, except Sundays.

Car sharing

Members of Zipcar have access to their choice of three vehicles parked at Buffalo State College's Parking Lot G-22, opposite the Grant Street entrance to campus: a Honda Civic and a Ford Focus sedan are each available for a price of $7.50/hour or $69/day M-Th; $8.50/hour or $77/day F-Su, while a Ford Escape SUV goes for $8.50/hour or $77/day M-Th; $9.50/hour or $83/day F-Su. These rates all include fuel, insurance, and 180 free miles (about 290 free kilometers) per day.

By public transportation

Public transit in Buffalo and the surrounding area is provided by the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA). The NFTA Metro system encompasses a single-line light-rail rapid transit (LRRT) system and an extensive network of buses. The fare for a single trip on a bus or train is $2.00 regardless of length. No transfers are provided between buses or trains; travelers who will need to make multiple trips per day on public transit should consider purchasing an all-day pass for $5.00.

By bus

The Upper West Side is traversed by a number of NFTA Metro bus routes:

To and from downtown

NFTA Metro Bus #3 — Grant. Beginning at the city line at the corner of Tonawanda and Vulcan Streets, Bus #3 serves the Upper West Side via Grant Street, with service to Buffalo State College. Turning right on Hampshire Street, buses then pass into the Lower West Side to downtown.

NFTA Metro Bus #5 — Niagara-Kenmore. Beginning at the University Metro Rail Station, then via Niagara to downtown

NFTA Metro Bus #7 — Baynes-Richmond. Beginning at the Richardson-Olmsted Complex in the Elmwood Village, Bus #7 proceeds southward on Baynes Street through the Upper West Side, then turns on West Ferry Street and continues southward downtown via Richmond Avenue. Bus #7 does not run Saturdays, Sundays or holidays.

NFTA Metro Bus #40 — Buffalo-Niagara Falls. Beginning at the Portage Road Transit Center in Niagara Falls, Bus #40 proceeds through the West Side via Niagara Street same route as 5 but does not serve passengers whose trips are entirely south of Hertel Ave, ok if same verbiage as LWS article

Crosstown routes

NFTA Metro Bus #12 — Utica. Beginning at the corner of Niagara Street and Busti Avenue, eastbound buses on Route #12 head northward along Niagara Street, proceeding eastward through the Upper West Side via West Ferry Street. then turns south onto Richmond, ends @ University Metro Rail Station.

NFTA Metro Bus #26 — Delavan. Beginning at the corner of Niagara Street and West Delavan Avenue, eastbound buses on Route #26 proceed along West Delavan Avenue through the Upper West Side, ending at the Thruway Mall Transit Center in Cheektowaga. Westbound buses turn left from West Delavan to Herkimer Street, then proceed westward again via Lafayette Avenue and return to West Delavan via Niagara Street.

By Metro Rail

The Metro Rail runs along Main Street, far east of here. However, the Upper West Side is fairly easily accessible from the Delavan-Canisius College Metro Rail Station by way of NFTA Metro Bus #26. Those traveling to the West Side by both bus and subway are strongly advised to purchase a day pass for $5.00.

By bike

standard section lede; UWS is merely okay in terms of bikeability

replace the following verbiage Buffalo's oldest, largest, and best-known bike path is the Shoreline Trail, a multi-use trail that connects the Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna to Gratwick Park in North Tonawanda via the West Side waterfront, for a total distance of 22.6 miles (36.4 km). The Shoreline Trail passes into the Upper West Side at Niagara and Hampshire --> Broderick Park and Unity Island, well away from surface streets on this stretch, making for a pleasant two-wheeled getaway also the 0.4-mile (700 m) stretch along Busti Avenue and Niagara Street between Hampshire and West Ferry Streets is on-street, but the roadway boasts wide shoulders and sidewalks that provide a modicum of safety for cyclists. and asphalt paved. 15 mph/24 kph speed limit.

On-street bike infrastructure

• Richmond Avenue: "sharrows" (pavement markings on roads too narrow to accommodate dedicated bike lanes, indicating that drivers should be aware of bicyclists on the road) between Forest Avenue and Colonial Circle, then a dedicated bike lane on each side of the street from Colonial Circle south.

• Niagara Street - separated bike lanes coming soon

• Grant Street - sharrows from Forest Avenue south to Hampshire Street

• Forest Avenue - sharrows from Niagara Street to Richmond Avenue (from which point cyclists can continue eastward into the Elmwood Village via an off-street pathway)

• Hampshire Street - sharrows from Grant Street to the Shoreline Trail

Bike sharing

The Upper West Side has one Reddy Bikeshare rack, on the east side of Grant Street at the corner of Lafayette Avenue, in front of Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church and across the street diagonally from Sweet_ness 7.

On foot

Aside from the bike paths and waterfront trails listed above, paramount among pedestrian-friendly West Side areas are the bustling Grant-Ferry commercial strip with its vibrant multiethnic street culture. Visitors should be on guard after dark, though — for all its recent flourishing, the West Side remains one of the highest-crime areas of Buffalo, and when the sun goes down these streets take on a noticeably sketchy character. See the Stay safe section for more information.

See

Art

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• 1 Sugar City, 1239 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40). Sugar City is the loose arts collective that's been best known recently for their impromptu "guerrilla"-style art shows and performances that have popped up at various spots around town over the two-year interval between their departure from their former home on Wadsworth Street in Allentown and the grand opening of their new one in the Upper West Side. True to their usual nature, most of the renovation work at the new facility was performed by the seven "Sugar Citizens" themselves, but it wouldn't be exactly accurate to pin the "DIY" label on the collective: its community-based, participatory approach to art would be better described as "do it together". The exhibit space in Sugar City's front room is given over to those artists who cannot obtain space in more traditional galleries, with an aim of blurring the lines and redefining what is and is not considered art. There's probably no way to describe the exhibits you'll find here, other than to say these are the misfits of Buffalo's art scene whose creative output defies categorization, so expect the unexpected. 

Breweries

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• Resurgence Brewing, 1250 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 381-9868. Tours by appointment. With a moniker that pays tribute to the newfound ambition and vigor in Buffalo, Resurgence Brewery opened in June 2014 in the former Sterling Engine Company warehouse that's also home to the offices of Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. Though they've since moved most of their production to a much larger facility in the Old First Ward, the original location remains in operation brewing seasonal and limited-edition beers in small batches, as well as developing and testing new varieties in preparation for their introduction to the public. The tasting room and beer garden remain open as well. 

Outdoors

A typical sight at Broderick Park: anglers casting their lines into the waters of the upper Niagara River.

Parks

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• 2 Broderick Park, West end of W. Ferry St., access via Ferry Street Lift Bridge (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40). Broderick Park is a small waterfront green space located at the southern tip of Unity Island. This spot is historically important as one of Western New York's major crossing points into Canada for fugitive slaves travelling the Underground Railroad, as attested to by a prominent historical marker and the occasional historical reenactments that take place there. This was also the site from which the ferry service to Fort Erie, Ontario set off in the days before the Peace Bridge. Today, Broderick Park is a popular fishing spot where perch, yellow and northern pike, smallmouth bass, muskellunge, and other species native to the Niagara River are reeled in, and is also a haven for picnickers, sunbathers, and bicyclists who pass through the park along the Shoreline Trail. Amenities include a picnic shelter, as well as a newly constructed amphitheater, gardens, and interpretive exhibits. Broderick Park is also the northern terminus of the Bird Island Pier (see below).  

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3 Unity Island Park has occupied the north end of its namesake since 2004; it's popular for fishing and boasts an ample lawn perfect for picnickers.

Architecture

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• 4 Upper Black Rock Local Historic District. Comprising the buildings on either side of Niagara Street between Breckenridge Street and Lafayette Avenue, as well as the adjacent buildings to the west on Mason Street, this is a remarkably intact period streetscape that dates from the years between 1885 and 1915, when the Upper Rock was a buzzing industrial district at the crossroads of numerous methods of transportation — the old warehouses and factory buildings on the west side of the street back up directly onto the New York Central Railroad tracks and what was once the Erie Canal, while the east side of the street is characterized by houses and storefronts serving the working-class residents of the neighborhood. Some of the buildings you'll see in the Upper Black Rock Historic District are the former Sterling Engine Company (1246-1270 Niagara St.), built in 1907 and now redeveloped as the home of Resurgence Brewery, and the old Union Meeting House (44 Breckenridge St.), which predates all other buildings in the district as the oldest extant church building in Buffalo, erected in 1827. (updated Nov 2017)

Do

Festivals and events

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• Taste of Diversity. The Taste of Diversity has been held on Grant Street every summer since 2003 on varying dates, and has become the most popular street festival on the West Side, with almost 2,000 attendees gathering on the block between Lafayette and Auburn Avenues in the heart of the strip. As might be inferred from its title, what's celebrated at the Taste of Diversity are the delicious and vibrant cuisines of each of the West Side's vibrant ethnic communities. But don't mistake this for a clone of downtown's Taste of Buffalo: rather than the area's hoity-toitiest restaurants duking it out for prize money and publicity, the Taste of Diversity takes a decidedly more grassroots approach, where the food is prepared by smaller, more humble (but, it should be emphasized, equally delicious and arguably more authentic) neighborhood restaurants and food trucks, and where the goal is to celebrate the beauty of West Side's diversity — and perhaps more importantly, the fact that a united, cohesive community with an increasingly high quality of life has been forged out of these disparate elements. Festivities at the Taste of Diversity also comprise traditional music, dancing, and other events representing the full spectrum of the West Side's cultural rainbow. 

Live music

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• Gypsy Parlor, 376 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3 or 26), ☏ +1 716 551-0001. Grant-Ferry's live performance venue of choice. From indie rock bands and acoustic troubadours, to DJs spinning cutting-edge electronica, to big-band jazz, to such exotica as drum circles, belly-dancing and poetry slams, there's really no rhyme or reason to the array of local acts that take the stage at the Gypsy Parlor. Open-mic night is held every Tuesday at 8PM. 
• Sugar City, 1239 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40). Sugar City is back: after ballooning rents priced the venerable DIY arts collective out of their former headquarters in Allentown (now the home of PAUSA Art House), they reemerged in August 2014 in a new spot on what the Buffalo News has termed the "suddenly sexy 1200 block of Niagara Street", which is also home to the Resurgence Brewery. The performance space in the rear of Sugar City seats audiences of up to 170 — quite a bit bigger than the stage at their old digs — and plays host to a variety of local bands that run the indie gamut from hardcore punk to ambient noise to neo-garage rock. Theatrical productions, poetry readings, and other performances take place as well. As before, all shows at Sugar City are all ages and alcohol-free. 
• The Tabernacle, 211 Lafayette Ave. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 883-1738. A full calendar of rock, jazz, and acoustic performances await in the incomparable environs of the pub-cum-performance venue Prish Moran opened in 2018 next door to her iconic Sweet_ness 7 coffeeshop. A psychedelic interior covered with garish frescoes lends the Tabernacle a trippy, jittery vibe described in Step Out Buffalo as reminiscent of such long-gone '90s-era underground coffeeshops as Stimulance and Coffee &. (updated Dec 2018)

Miscellaneous

• 1 Gather & Game, 212 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 248-1883. W-Th 11AM-9PM, F-Sa 11AM-10PM, Su 11AM-3PM. A friendly venue for West Siders and others to do the two titular activities in a chilled-out, welcoming environment. At Gather & Game $3 per visit or a $25 annual membership buys you access to the vast library of store-owned games they offer on a "try-before-you-buy" basis (everything from classic board games like Monopoly to card games like Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh to RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons), plus there's a full schedule of game nights, tournaments and strategy classes, and of course, game sets for sale (including many that are not available anywhere else locally!) (updated Aug 2019)

Buy

Every shopping neighborhood in Buffalo seems to have its own specialty. On Elmwood it's the latest in trendy urban fashions, Allentown has art galleries galore, and Hertel Avenue is the place for antiques and home decor. As for Grant Street — well, if you're in the market for ethnic handicrafts or exotic foods and you can't find what you're looking for here, you're probably out of luck.

• 1 West Side Bazaar, 25 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 464-6389. Tu-Th 11AM-7PM, F-Sa 11AM-8PM. Inspired by the Malcolm Shabazz Market in Harlem and in keeping with the old tradition of large public markets like the East Side's Broadway Market that you could once find all over town, this central hub of the Grant Street's internationally-flavored business district is not only a business incubator helping newly landed immigrants on their way to successful entrepreneurship, but also a gathering place providing a friendly reminder of their native lands. At the West Side Bazaar you'll find an ample lineup of vendors selling ethnic fashions and crafts, as well as an International Kitchen of food stalls serving authentic cuisines from around the world. (updated Nov 2018)

The West Side Bazaar is the central hub of the Grant Street retail district: a business incubator where newly landed immigrants can work toward financial self-sufficiency, a shopping and dining destination for those in search of unique ethnic clothes, crafts and foods, and a multicultural gathering place for West Side residents.

• Gadget Bazaar. At the helm of Gadget Bazaar is Romala Rajendran, who came to Buffalo after fleeing the civil war in her home country of Sri Lanka along with her husband Sujakshan. What you'll find at the oddly named Gadget Bazaar are not the latest in electronic gizmos but rather a handpicked selection of South Asian- and Western-style clothing and accessories, with a range of brightly-colored, statement-making jewelry at the forefront. (updated Nov 2018)
• Gysma's African Style. Gysma Kueny moved to Buffalo in 2002 from war-torn South Sudan, and her eponymous Bazaar stall features a range of handmade goods imported from Africa: fashions and accessories such as artisan jewelry, handbags, and even scarves and gloves, shea butter and toiletries including black soap from Ghana, and a selection of crafts crowned by a line of miniature wooden figurines depicting African wildlife. Best of all, you're supporting a good cause: part of the profits go to fund a charitable initiative to promote education for South Sudanese girls. (updated Nov 2018)
• Julienne Boutique. Julienne Nyiranjishi's whole family are artisans — both those in Buffalo and back home in Rwanda — and it's their work that's for sale at Julienne's Boutique. Clothing, jewelry and accessories, traditional baskets, and postcards bedecked with beautiful African imagery are on offer, but the specialty here is handmade wooden carvings: from traditional bowls to statuettes to tableware. (updated Nov 2018)
• Macramé by Nadeen, ☏ +1 716 541-8824. Macramé may be a retro novelty in the U.S., but it's big in the Levant — and by the time Iraqi native Nadeen Youssef arrived in Buffalo in 2009, she'd already begun making a name for herself with her skill in the craft. At Macramé by Nadeen she offers a small but charming (and growing!) range of handmade goods including wall art, jewelry, and plant hangers, as well as special made-to-order items. (updated Nov 2018)
• Moonlady Arts & Crafts. The rear wall of the West Side Bazaar is given over to Ma Theint's sprawling collection of ethnic clothing, home decor, and (above all) artworks and Burmese handicrafts. Customers can peruse traditional tapestries, Buddhist religious items, drums and musical instruments, lacquerware, dolls and puppets, and scads of other items that serve Theint's mission of promoting appreciation of Burmese culture and the immigrant community in Buffalo. (updated Nov 2018)
• Once Upon a Time. The sign hanging above this Iraqi-owned Bazaar vendor advertises "crafts and clothes, home decor, and gifts from a variety of Middle Eastern countries". At the delightfully named Once Upon a Time, that can mean lots of different things: brightly colored flowing dresses, smart handbags, elegant wall tapestries festooned with Arabic calligraphy, even musical instruments. (updated Dec 2018)
• Zigma Naturals. Once a nurse in a government-run hospital in Myanmar, Raine Manuel is today hard at work selling a hodgepodge of different goods: half the inventory at Zigma Naturals is a line of all-natural skin care products, vitamin supplements, and toiletries for adults and children; the other half consists of casual clothing that's decidedly more Western in style than what's sold elsewhere in the West Side Bazaar (though lovely nonetheless). (updated Nov 2018)

Specialty foods

• 2 Bootleg Bucha, 1250 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40). Tu & Sa 11AM-5PM, W-5 11AM-7PM, Su 11AM-3PM. Buffalo's first kombucha brewery (a lightly carbonated, fermented tea native to East Asia with a wide array of purported health benefits; the owners will be only too happy to go over these for you) offers a rotating selection of about four dozen different varieties on tap, the most popular of which include ginger beer, carrot pineapple, and blueberry lavender. You can buy kombucha in disposable plastic bottles if you like, but Bootleg Bucha will also sell you a more environmentally friendly reusable glass bottle for $2, or you can even bring your own growler to fill. (updated Nov 2018)
• 3 Cookie, 1197 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 878-8821. M 10AM-4PM, Tu 10AM-5PM, W 9AM-5PM, Th-F 9AM-6PM, Sa 9AM-2PM. Owned and operated by Rich Products, the famous food products megacorporation headquartered across the street, the name of the game at Cookie is an ever-evolving menu of cookies, pastries, and other baked goods made exclusively with Rich brand ingredients. The interior is decked out like an old-school sweet shop, complete with classic black-and-white checkerboard floor and a huge glass display cooler packed with tempting treats — but the Cookie experience, in practice, is decidedly a grab-and-go affair (though if the single table-and-chairs setup happens to be free, they also pour hot coffee all day!) (updated Nov 2018)
• 4 5 Loaves Farm, 70 W. Delavan Ave. (Metro Bus 3, 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 803-9241. F 2-7PM, Jul-Aug. Since 2012, this farm on ten vacant Upper West Side lots has pursued its mission of promoting sustainable gardening as a way of providing neighborhood residents not only with fresh produce, but also vital education regarding healthy dietary choices. The food grown at 5 Loaves is disseminated mostly to local residents who've signed up for food shares through the Community-Supported Agriculture program, as well as to local restaurants, schools and food banks — but seasonal produce is also available at their farmhouse on West Delavan Avenue, open on Friday evenings in season. (updated Nov 2018)
• 5 Guercio & Sons, 254 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 882-7935. M-Sa 7AM-6PM. Guercio's history stretches back to 1961 — a time when Grant Street was the heart of a lively Italian-American neighborhood — and it remains today one of Buffalo's prime destinations for gourmet groceries, with both imports and locally produced items such as sliced bread from Luigi's Bakery and Anchor Bar brand wing sauce. When you're done marveling at the colorful produce and herbs stuffed in the carts on the sidewalk out front, come on inside and stroll through the fragrant corridors stocked with everything you could ever want from an Italian grocery store: canned goods, imported pasta, sliced-to-order Italian cold cuts, a dizzying array of fine olive oils, and more. (updated Nov 2018)
• 6 Lorigo's Meating Place, 185 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 885-3623. M-Sa 9AM-5PM. The corny puns come fast and furious: Lorigo's "Meating Place", so the slogan goes, is "Your Link to Quality". Indeed, since its opening in 1986, the specialty of the house at this real old-school butcher shop has always been homemade, family-recipe Italian sausage and meatballs. But times have changed on Grant Street, and so has Lorigo's: it's grown since then into a full-scale grocery market stocking a range of ethnic foods as diverse as the West Side itself: everything from Latino (including a full line of Goya products) to Caribbean to Somali to Southeast Asian. The aisles are jumbled and hard to navigate and the place often gets crowded, but that's part of the charm. (updated Nov 2018)
• 7 What's Pop-In' Gourmet Popcorn, 418 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 597-8129. W 3PM-7PM, Th-F noon-7PM. Call it a too-precious-by-half hipster indulgence if you want, but don't write off What's Pop-In' until you get your hands on a bag of the dill pickle popcorn that owner Stefan Coker churns out daily: one taste of it and you'll be an instant convert. Don't misunderstand, there are other varieties to choose from too — 23 total to be precise; from BBQ pineapple to black truffle to pizza to lemonade, it's clear why they call this guy the "flavor mastermind" — but trust us, start with the dill pickle. (updated Feb 2020)

Its huge variety of ethnic food stores, with ingredients available for practically every cuisine under the sun, is Grant-Ferry's major retail draw.

Asian/African groceries

• 8 African Market, 355 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 882-8786. Daily 6AM-6PM. Despite its name, the variety of imported foods offered here spans not only Africa, but the whole world. Though canned goods, spices, rice and other staples, and other miscellaneous groceries are sole here, the marquee item at the African Market is a wide variety of meats, many of which are halal or kosher — from everyday selections like beef and chicken to more unusual ones such as goat. A small selection of kitchenwares and ethnic clothing rounds out the stock. Best of all, unlike most small Grant Street businesses, the African Market boasts off-street parking: there's a small lot on the left side of the building, which is also where you'll find the main entrance. (updated Nov 2018)
• 9 All in One Global African Family Store, 83 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 436-9330. M-Th 9AM-9PM, F 9Am-5PM, Su 11AM-8PM. As its name attests, this entrant in the Upper West Side's extensive lineup of ethnic markets specializes in African goods — and as its name also attests, groceries aren't the be-all-end-all of the place. If you're hungry for African food, you've got the usual selection of staple starches such as dried beans, fufu flour, cornmeal, and rice (huge sacks of which are displayed in the front window), as well as copious other nonperishables and a smaller selection of meats and produce; if you're in the market for something else, how about a fine selection of chunky African jewelry, ethnic garb, toiletries, and housewares? (updated Feb 2020)
• 10 Asia Super Bazaar, 294 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 939-3210. Daily 9AM-9:30PM. This place bills itself as a specialty grocery selling "Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Burmese, Vietnamese, Nepali, Arabian, Somalian, African, Spanish, and American food and spices". But that's a bit of an exaggeration — the offerings here consist of a selection of South and East Asian packaged foods that's really nothing special by Grant Street standards, plus some convenience-store snacks, basic toiletries, and a smattering of toys, bedding, clothes and gifts. One strong point Asia Super Bazaar does boast is a large frozen food section containing some interesting exotic goodies. (updated Nov 2018)
• 11 Bungtla Asian Market, 540 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3 or 7), ☏ +1 716 768-2655. M-F 9AM-8PM, Sa 9AM-9PM. This shop takes its name from one of the most spectacular natural wonders of Myanmar's Chin State, and it's certainly indicative of the type of food you'll find there. Bungtla's aisles are stocked mainly with Southeast Asian staples such as rice and dried noodles, as well as snacks, dried vegetables, spices, and other nonperishables, but head for the pair of stand-up coolers on the far side of the store and you'll find a pretty good selection of fresh(-ish) produce. (updated Nov 2018)
• 12 Family Asian Grocery Store, 163 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 424-1489. Daily 9:30AM-9PM. June 2019 saw the debut of yet another in the parade of Southeast Asian specialty grocers on the West Side. The sign above the entrance to this Burmese-owned, matter-of-factly-named place advertises "international foods, vegetables, meats, fish, etc.", and the goods on the shelves are pretty much as advertised, though the promised meats and fish are in comparatively short supply. Really what distinguishes Family Asian Groceries from its competition is the store itself, which is brightly lit, impeccably clean, and well organized; also, the selection of ethnic produce is topnotch (albeit mostly found in coolers or freezer cases). (updated Feb 2020)
• 13 Golden Burma, 92 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 551-0175. Daily 9AM-7PM. Golden Burma serves the growing community of immigrants and refugees from that country that have settled on Buffalo's West Side with a wide range of Burmese groceries, including fresh seafood, meat and vegetables, as well as canned, packaged, and frozen foods. For fans of Southeast Asian cuisine, the perpetually crowded aisles of Golden Burma are an excellent place to find exotic and unusual products and ingredients that aren't available anywhere else in Buffalo. Pots, pans, woks, and miscellaneous kitchenware are also on offer. (updated Nov 2018)
• 14 Hatimy Market, 278 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 884-8836. M-Sa 9:30AM-7PM, Su 10AM-6PM. Mirroring the neighborhood in which it's located, diversity is the name of the game at this friendly food market. Hatimy Market's helpful staff, helmed by Somali-born UB nursing student Ali Mohamed, serves nearly all of the West Side's varied communities of immigrants with a maddeningly eclectic variety of groceries from Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the Arab world. Meats from beef and chicken to lamb and goat, many of them certified halal, are joined on the shelves by seafood, canned goods, rice, spices, and various and sundry food items. (updated Nov 2018)
• 15 Jomow International Market, 188 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 239-3474. Opens daily at 10AM, closing time flexible. Founded in 2010 under the name Marka Halal Market, this is yet another West Side destination for imported African and Arabian food. A variety of general groceries are stocked, but Jomow International Market's true claim to fame is its wide selection of halal meats, from beef and fish to goat and camel. (updated Nov 2018)
• 16 Kat Food Market, 287 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3 or 26), ☏ +1 716 259-9780. M-Sa 10AM-6:30PM. Founded in 2014, the name of the game at this ethnic grocery at the north end of the Grant-Ferry strip is African and Middle Eastern specialty foods: from staples like rice and fufu flour, to frozen foods, to a wide selection of fresh produce, meats and fish. A range of toiletry products and other daily essentials are also on offer. (updated Nov 2018)
• 17 Win Asian Market, 113 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 887-3908. M-Sa 9AM-8PM, Su 9AM-6PM. This place's small size and spartan interior belie an impressive variety of Burmese and other Southeast Asian grocery items that serve the culinary needs of the West Side's burgeoning community of immigrants and refugees. (updated Nov 2018)

Clothing and accessories

When it comes to cute, hip clothing boutiques, Grant Street is still a long way behind more established retail areas in Buffalo such as the Elmwood Village and Hertel Avenue. However, those in search of authentic, vibrantly-colored ethnic clothing and urban streetwear should be pleased with the offerings in the area.

• 18 Empire Kicks, 281 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3 or 12), ☏ +1 716 332-0820. Su-Th 10AM-9PM, F-Sa 10AM-10PM. High-fashion clothing with an urban flair is the stock in trade of Empire Kicks. An authorized retailer of Nike, Akoo, Timberland, Polo, Rocawear, and Reebok, this large store is located in a small plaza just off Grant Street. Empire Kicks is the place to go on the West Side for a wide range of authentic designer t-shirts, hoodies, jeans, and athletic shoes. Sports fans can choose from among the wide array of baseball caps and swag here, with all their favorite team logos on it. Empire Kicks also offers layaway. (updated Nov 2018)
• 19 Global Villages, 216 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 887-3889. M-Sa 7AM-9PM. Best described as a locally-based iteration of Ten Thousand Villages, Global Villages is where Rwanda-born Louise Sano sells a range of unique, hand-selected fashions and accessories, soaps and bath items, and fair-trade handicrafts from around the world. More interesting still is the book section, featuring a small range of literature primarily on African topics. Best of all, Sano prides herself on her extensive familiarity with her suppliers and their work, whether it be a traditional artisan in Kenya or Thailand, a local crafter on the West Side, or Sano herself, who designs much of the jewelry sold here. (updated Nov 2018)
• 20 Paloma Exchange, 363 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 436-7002. M-Sa 11AM-8PM, Su noon-6PM. If you're a fashion-conscious type with a flair for the retro, you know that scratching the vintage itch can sometimes come at a steep price. Not so at the Paloma Exchange, where the selection of secondhand men's and women's clothing and accessories is expertly curated by a repatriated local native who knows her stuff inside and out and includes a surprising abundance of souvenir-worthy Buffalo swag — and where prices undercut the competition by far. And the shopping environment couldn't be more trendy (or less "thrift store-ish"): floor-to-ceiling windows make for an airy ambience, the decor is understated yet stylish, changing rooms are ample in size, and the playlist of piped-in music is hipster heaven. (updated Feb 2020)
• 21 Positive Approach Press, 631 Fargo Ave. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 939-2632. M-F 9AM-4PM, Sa by appointment. Positive Approach Press works with customers to create custom-designed screen-printed t-shirts, sweatshirts, and even jackets and pants, handcrafted in-house by some of the best designers Western New York has to offer. The folks at Positive Approach offer great rates and even better turnaround times (less than seven days in most cases) and will also custom-design business cards, posters, wedding invitations, stationery, and other paper goods. (updated Oct 2019)
• 22 San-Bor Sports, 116 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 881-5922. M-F 10AM-6PM, Sa 10AM-5PM. For over forty years, through all the ups and downs of the surrounding neighborhood, San-Bor has been at locals' service in the realm of sporting goods — and even more than that, with a wide selection of sportswear. Here you'll find a wide gamut of athletic shoes (including Converse and Air Jordans), baseball caps, custom sports jerseys, jeans, and other casual urban streetwear — plus, in season, a range of bubble jackets, boots, and other cold-weather gear to see customers through the bleak Buffalo winters. If you want to really buy local, pick up a designer t-shirt from the Buffalo-based boutique label Stacks and Kicks. (updated Nov 2018)
• 23 Unique, 183 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 370-3594. Tu-F 11AM-2PM & 5PM-8PM, Sa noon-2PM & 5PM-8PM. From the outside it seems barely distingushable from the numerous other urban clothing boutiques to be found in the business districts of Buffalo's inner city, but Unique's name isn't all hype — among the designer labels that make appearances on the shelves are Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, and other big names. There's a well-rounded inventory of fashions for both women and men, but especially check out the selection of sneakers (priced at a flat rate of $100 a pair regardless of size) as well as designer shades. (updated Feb 2020)
• 24 Unity Traditional Clothes & Grocery, 85 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 398-6366. After a brief stint occupying a cramped space in the back corner of the West Side Bazaar, Unity Traditional Clothes moved in 2018 to its own storefront up the road apiece — and with the expansion of the retail space has come an expansion in the range of tems they sell. Owner Ezgiamn Aka still sells traditional garb from her native Eritrea and elsewhere in the Horn of Africa (bright colors and vibrant patterns abound, naturally) along with the same interesting selection of jewelry and accessories, but now a full range of African groceries is on hand as well. And if you're in need of custom alterations and tailoring, look no further! (updated Nov 2018)

Books

• 25 Rust Belt Books, 415 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 885-9535. M noon-6PM, Tu-W 10:30AM-6PM, Th-Sa 10:30AM-8PM, Su 11AM-5PM. One of Buffalo's best, and best-loved, secondhand bookstores, with an exhaustive selection of reading material of every genre — from old cookbooks to '70s music journalism to esoteric feminist essays to the classics of literature — and an enthusiastic and helpful staff and colorful clientele. More than that, Rust Belt Books' relentless devotion to the local community sees them playing host to a variety of community happenings, as well as poetry readings, plays and other special events. (updated Nov 2018)

Furniture and home decor

• 26 Priceless Home Decor, 118 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 436-2450. M-Sa noon-6PM. Whether you're looking for something for your living room, dining room, or bedroom, or in the market for new kitchen appliances, washer and dryer, TVs, or practically anything else for your home, furniture, appliance and home electronics emporium has you covered with aplomb. Both formal and casual styles are available, all united by a genuine class that may come as a surprise to those whose first impression is the rather humble exterior of the shop. (updated Nov 2018)

Music

• 27 Black Dots, 368 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 725-0010. M-Sa noon-8PM, Su noon-5PM. Black Dots' June 2013 opening in the basement of a Lafayette Avenue flat was so audacious in the face of steeply declining sales of tangible music that the Buffalo News devoted a lengthy article to it, and the fact that they've now expanded to a much larger location is more remarkable still. The store is named for the groundbreaking 1979 debut by D.C. punkers Bad Brains, and aptly so: Black Dots deals exclusively in new and used punk, hardcore, and indie releases on vinyl and cassette, as well as a selection of stickers, patches and band t-shirts. Even the hand-scrawled logo, reminiscent of an old-school concert flyer, screams "punk rock". (updated Nov 2018)
• 28 Sweet Sound Music, 257 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 882-4423. M-W 10AM-8PM, Th 10AM-9PM, F-Sa 10AM-10PM, Su noon-5PM. Since 2006, Luis Rodriguez has operated this small Grant Street record shop where the accent is on rap, R&B, reggae, soca, and Latin sounds, as well as racks of streetwear styled to match the hip-hop bent of the music. If you're interested in the Buffalo hip-hop scene, look no further: Sweet Sound stocks a wide selection of the latest releases by local rappers at prices that can't be beat. (updated Nov 2018)

Miscellaneous

• 29 Daddy's Plants, 1250 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 248-1358. W-Su 11AM-7PM. From exuberant local YouTube personalities to popular pop-up shop owners to the newest tenants of the buzzing Sterling Engine Company warehouse, Billy and Pat Sandora-Nastyn are two characters that Buffalo has come to know and love over the years. And with Daddy's Plants, they've gone into the horticulture business with their usual aplomb: if you're looking for a little greenery to spice up your home or office decor, they've got a wide selection (that goes double if you're thinking along the lines of succulents or other tropical plants) and the friendly customer service and knowledgeable plant-care expertise to go with. What they don't have, sadly, are low prices. (updated Feb 2020)
• 30 Maman Samy Wa Abondoki, 314 Hampshire St. (Metro Bus 3 or 12), ☏ +1 716 884-0671. M-F 9AM-9PM, Sa-Su 9AM-10PM. "100% African" is the motto that ties together the motley range of merchandise on offer here — a little bit of everything, from beauty supplies to groceries to a selection of secondhand clothes, DVDs, decorative items and other gifts. (updated Nov 2018)
• 31 Stitch Buffalo, 1215 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 495-9642. Tu & Th 1PM-4PM, F 9AM-4PM, Sa 10AM-2PM. Stitch Buffalo's main mission is to help refugee women develop economic, educational, and practical skills, and it does this by employing over 55 of them as skilled textile artisans who hand-stitch a variety of goods using the native colors, styles, and methods of their respective homelands. One thing they don't make is clothing, but stop by Stitch if you're in the market for an embroidered pin (peace signs and "Buffalove" are popular motifs), a hair clip, a felt elephant figurine, or the like. And if you'd rather DIY, check their website for the date of the next "Second Stitch" pop-up event, where surplus yarn, knitting needles and other supplies are sold. (updated Aug 2019)

Eat

This page uses the following price ranges for a typical meal for one, including soft drink:
Budget	Under $20
Mid-range	$20-$40
Splurge	Over $40

With the notable exception of the West Side Bazaar's International Kitchen, Grant Street's restaurant scene lags somewhat behind that of other West Side areas like Five Points and Riverside — oddly enough given that this is ground zero for the district's ethnic grocery stores. As a counterpoint, further west on Niagara Street you have Marco's, Santasiero's, and other holdovers from the West Side's days as Buffalo's Little Italy.

Budget

• 1 Boomerang's Bar & Grill, 995 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 833-0408. M-Th 11:30AM-9PM, F-Sa 11:30AM-10PM. While it's certainly not the West Side's most adventurous culinary experience, Boomerang's menu covers quite a lot of ground: between beef Stroganoff, BBQ spare ribs, sandwiches and burgers, pork chops with a variety of interesting toppings, and above all, a lengthy selection of Italian fare, there's no really succinct way to sum it up, except maybe "maddeningly eclectic". And the adage "the food's so good, you'll keep coming back" (hence the name of the place) holds true. Portions are huge and prices aren't, but it should be said that service is this place's Achilles heel: it's not so much bad as inconsistent, ranging wildly from warm and friendly to bitter and sarcastic. $10-25. (updated Dec 2018)
• 2 Gourmet Lao Foods, 643 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3), ☏ +1 716 882-4664. M-Th 11AM-9PM, F-Sa 11AM-10PM. Remember that brief, glorious window in time, around 2015, when Gourmet Lao Foods' West Side Bazaar location (see below) served full meals? Well, now you can head north on Grant Street to Campus Square and relive those halcyon days. Buffalo could hardly ask for a better (re-)introduction to Laotian cuisine: the menu is brief and sticks to the classics (khao poon soup, larb with your choice of chicken, pork or beef, etc.), which are executed in a way that neither compromises on authenticity nor gets overly creative and fusion-y. There's also a roster of Thai and Burmese dishes on offer that are equally as good (this includes a version of le peth salad that's a contender for the best in town). And in the place that introduced Buffalo to dok jok cookies, it hardly needs to be said that you should save room for dessert. $10-20. (updated Nov 2018)
• 3 Grant Street Bazaar, 68 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12). M-F 10AM-10PM, Sa 10AM-7PM, Su 9AM-7PM. The problem with the West Side Bazaar is one of supply and demand. They occupy a fairly small space, yet the pool of wannabe entrepreneurs among Buffalo's immigrant community is large and growing. By 2019, the waiting list was reputed to be years long. Enter Sue Chauhan, owner of Vineeta International Foods down the street, who took the bull by the horns with this similar small-business incubator. The Grant Street Bazaar boasts a cell phone shop and a small area devoted to brightly-colored ethnic fashions, but (wisely, given where West Side Bazaar customers tend to focus their attention) the food hall comprises the vast bulk of its space, with eight booths that run the gamut of international cuisines and an ambience that's decidedly grungier than the competition (though foodies know that's usually a mark of authenticity, and that's certainly the case here). Hungry visitors can choose from: (updated Mar 2020)

• Amilyah's, ☏ +1 716 939-3559. At the Grant Street Bazaar's resident purveyor of Middle Eastern food, you'll find wrap sandwiches, salads, loaded fries, and so on, but the real specialty of the house are the "New York style" platters, which bring to Buffalo an authentic taste of one of the Big Apple's most popular street foods: a heaping portion of finely chopped halal meat (choose from grilled marinated chicken, steak, lamb, or curry chicken) served over rice with French fries and a salad on the side, all topped with generous drizzles of two different sauces (Americanized takes on zabadi and harissa, respectively). Omar Muflahi is the man behind the counter, and he's one of the nicest fellows you could ever hope to meet; the restaurant is named after his young daughter. $10-15. (updated Mar 2020)
• Garden of Eden, ☏ +1 716 526-5952. Vegetarians and vegans of the world unite: at Garden of Eden you'll find specialties from cuisines the world over, all in meat-free versions, sharing space on the menu board. The procedure is similar to what you see in those fast-casual chains that have been popping up lately: start with your choice of base (plant-based mock chicken or beef, falafel, or mixed vegetables) and build your own salad, kebab bowl, or taco with your choice of toppings and dressings. African elements predominate among the à la carte selection of appetizers: mandazi and juba salads, veggie sambusa, molokhia, and the like. $10-20. (updated Mar 2020)
• Mogadishu Somali Food. W-M 9AM-6PM. Given their prominence among the West Side's patchwork of immigrant communities, it's surprising that it took so long for a Somali restaurant to show up in Buffalo. But Mogadishu makes up for lost time with, first of all, the best sambusa in town: the wrapper is light and puffy with just a slight hint of crispiness, the meat inside is perfectly seasoned, and as always, spicy green basbaas chili sauce comes on the side. The specialty of the house, though, is suqaar, a classic Somali dish of finely diced cubes of meat, lightly seasoned with cumin and pan-fried with onions and peppers; the version here comes in both beef and chicken iterations, served either with flat canjeero or thicker muufo bread (traditional at breakfast time) or over rice (the lunchtime way). Less adventurous palates can tuck into a plate of spaghetti with meat sauce, a dish that arrived in Somalia in the 20th century via its Italian colonizers. $10-15. (updated Mar 2020)
• Robin's Kitchen, ☏ +1 716 777-3068. It's not the most extensive menu you'll find in the Buffalo area, nor does it contain any obscure specialties you've never seen Stateside. But depending on what you order, Robin's Kitchen might be your source for the most authentic and delicious Indo-Pak food in Buffalo, all 100% halal. The menu presents a distinct hierarchy in terms of quality: at the top are the appetizers and finger foods (especially the samosa, which are flaky and bursting with flavor), below them the ever-changing selection of curries you'll see arranged in steam trays behind the glass display case (whose flavors are intricate but more subtle, and which are distinctively heavy on rice and light on meat), and at the bottom the bland if generously portioned rice-based dishes on the à la carte menu. $10-20. (updated Mar 2020)
• Taste of Sudan, ☏ +1 716 717-0152. Wherein South Sudanese food makes its return to Buffalo nearly a half-decade after Taste of Africa & Soul Food's brief sojourn at the West Side Bazaar. It's a cuisine that draws heavily from that of its neighbors: ful medames is an Egyptian import; sambusa come from South Asia by way of the Horn of Africa (Taste of Sudan's are not quite as good as the ones across the counter at Mogadishu, but they're still quite recommendable, with wrappers a bit firmer and flakier and meat that's more coarsely ground); the porridge-like staple asida bears more than a passing resemblance to the fufu consumed in West Africa. But these folks are at their best when working within the "stewed meat over a grain base" template (try lamb molokhia with rice for arguably the most authentically South Sudanese specialty on offer). Flavors are vibrant but not off-puttingly fiery, service comes with a smile of genuine appreciation, and portions are generous. $10-25. (updated Mar 2020)
• Thai Halal Food, ☏ +1 716 715-6457. Offering an abbreviated but well-executed (and, obviously, pork-free) selection of familiar Southeast Asian specialties in authentic iterations that, on the whole, tend to be more meat-heavy and less veggie-heavy than your average competitor. Most notably, these folks do not mess around when it comes to spice: if you've visited Thailand and had the real thing only to be underwhelmed by the blander fare at your local Thai restaurant back home, the basil beef (or chicken, or squid) with egg is your mouth-igniting solution. $10-15. (updated Mar 2020)
• West Side Grill, ☏ +1 716 777-9080. Another big way in which the Grant Street Bazaar differs from the West Side Bazaar is that it doesn't leave timid palates out in the cold: the menu at the West Side Grill proposes nothing more daunting than a slate of hot and cold submarine sandwiches, burgers, chicken wings and fingers, and French fries. Pretty much the only noteworthy thing about the delicious all-American comfort food they serve is the shockingly low prices you pay: if you're hungry, you can stuff yourself with a foot-long sub, a generous portion of fries, and a soft drink all for under $10. (updated Mar 2020)

• 4 Santasiero's, 1329 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 886-9197. Daily 11AM-10PM. A relic from the days when the West Side was Buffalo's "Little Italy", hearty family-style Italian meals have been served at Santasiero's for almost a century now. The Italian wedding soup is spectacular, and sandwiches and dishes such as chicken parmigiana are available, but Santasiero's is most famous for the heaping portions of pasta they serve along with legendary red sauce. Reasonable prices, too. $10-25. (updated Dec 2018)
• 5 Taquería Rancho La Delicias, 1516 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 882-2800. M-W 11AM-9PM, Th-Sa 11AM-10PM, Su 11AM-8PM. Rancho La Delicias serves not only what's almost inarguably the best Mexican food inside the city line — a brief but dazzlingly authentic menu of tacos and quesadillas in myriad varieties — but also, as a legacy of this location's former identity as Rancho's, Buffalo's first Venezuelan restaurant, a full menu of arepas served on naturally gluten-free fried cornbread, stuffed with your choice of rotisserie beef, shredded beef, chicken, or roast pork (those who've travelled to Venezuela and experienced the cuisine on its home turf say they can't tell the difference). $10-25. (updated Dec 2018)
• West Side Bazaar, 25 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 464-6389. Tu-Th 11AM-7PM, F 11AM-8PM. The West Side Bazaar's International Kitchen is the center of the universe for local fans of exotic international flavors: its food stalls serve a dizzying range of cuisines at unbeatable prices. Best of all: because the vendors are largely fresh-off-the-boat immigrants without much experience catering to the American palate, and because the clientele is largely hipster foodies looking for uncompromising culinary authenticity, you can be assured of a representation of these cuisines that's as accurate as you're likely to find anywhere in Buffalo. (updated Dec 2018)

• Abyssinia. Not the best Ethiopian food in Buffalo (that would be Fast 'N Tasty in Allentown), but the attention Abyssinia has gotten from such local media sources as the Buffalo News' "Cheap Eats" column is not unwarranted. The menu includes all the standards — kitfo, alitcha, the usual permutations of watt and tibs, et cetera — and is divided about evenly between meat-based and vegetarian dishes. If you're indecisive, go with a combo platter. The sambusa are so good you won't mind that they skimp on the chutney. Perhaps this place's only weakness is the injera: they skimp on that too (though you can ask for extra at no charge), and it lacks that slight vinegary tang. $5-15. (updated Dec 2018)
• 007 Chinese Food. A native of Myanmar, Maung Maung Saw draws on his experience as owner of a Chinese restaurant in Malaysia to craft the best and most authentic dim sum in Buffalo (not that there's much competition). The stars of the show at 007 are lo mai fan (balls of sticky rice mixed with stir-fried chicken and mushrooms, with sriracha sauce on the side for dipping), and of course, steamed shu mai stuffed with your choice of beef, chicken, or vegetables. Unless you're an exceptionally light eater, you won't be able to make a full meal out of what you get here, but this food works spectacularly as appetizers to accompany a main course from one of the Bazaar's other food vendors. $5-15. (updated Dec 2018)
• Kiosko Latino. The sole Western Hemisphere representative among the International Kitchen's vendors, Kiosko Latino's hybrid menu of Puerto Rican and Mexican cuisine is a mixed bag in more ways than one. Tacos, burritos, and the like are a minimalist and somewhat halfhearted stab at the "authentic Mexican street food" trend that swept the Buffalo restaurant world a few years back, but the Puerto Rican half of the menu is where this place really shines: the menu doesn't go far beyond the standards, but everything's got an extra kick of deliciousness (pollo guisado comes with a subtle tang thanks to the olives boiled in the broth, and flaky pastelillos are literally dripping with flavor) and is served with rice and beans and tostones on the side. $10-15. (updated Dec 2018)
• M Asian Halal Foods, ☏ +1 716 533-8558. Okay, so Indian food is not exactly hard to find in Buffalo, nor if there anything significantly more authentic about what this place serves relative to the competition. But if you've got a hankering for butter chicken, pakora, biryani, vegetarian and nonvegetarian samosas, or tandoori chicken, and you happen to be in the neighborhood, you'll find perfectly good (and 100% halal) iterations of those and more. In addition to the standards, M Asian's menu also boasts a few more offbeat items like chapli (savory patties of Indian-spiced ground chicken that come with a small salad on the side), and South Indian cuisine is represented by a fairly ample selection of dosas. $10-20. (updated Dec 2018)
• Nine & Night Bistro, ☏ +1 716 465-8892. M noon-6:30PM, Tu-Th 11AM-7PM, F 11AM-8PM, Sa 10AM-8PM. It's perhaps a testament to the singular nature of the West Side Bazaar that Nine & Night is its least "exotic" dining option. Though they can't hold a candle to Family Thai, the predecessor in this location within the International Kitchen (the tom yum soup is a flavorless disappointment; most of the yum salads, with the exception of the seafood one, are gone from the menu), these folks still serve a decent selection of Thai specialties where the emphasis is still on authenticity rather than pandering to the American palate. Service tends to be slow, so be patient. $5-15. (updated Dec 2018)
• Pattaya Street Food. Gourmet Lao Foods opened their own freestanding restaurant (see above) in 2018, but the West Side Bazaar stall where it all began remains in operation — albeit with a new name — serving delicious bubble teas, Laotian desserts (including dok jok, the crispy, coconut milk-infused cookie that they're most famous for). Plus, as if to make up for a weak point in most of the International Kitchen's other food stalls, Pattaya stocks a cooler with a full range of bottled soft drinks. Under $5. (updated Nov 2018)
• Rakhapura Shop. Rakhapura first made its name as the Bazaar's resident sushi purveyor, and you'll still find a selection of it in the cooler (albeit not as wide of one as the 30-plus varieties they used to carry). But nowadays, the menu has evolved into a somewhat haphazard but uniformly delicious slate of options from Myanmar's Rakhine State. The marquee item is salads, salads and more salads: a superlative iteration of le peth tea leaf salad, tomato salad that bests what Pwint War used to make, ginger salad, pennyroyal leaf salad. And if you're dreaming of a big bowl of soup to warm you on a cold winter day, the rakhaing mutee — a variation of classic Burmese mohinga with a garlicky chicken broth subbing for the usual base of conger eel — is tops. $5-15. (updated Dec 2018)
• Thang's Family Japanese Ramen. Like the folks who run the dim sum place around the corner, owner Kap Thang is a Myanmar native who worked as a chef in Malaysia before coming to the U.S., so naturally, there's a Burmese-fusion element to the menu here (seafood lovers will want to check out the tom yum ramen). But that's not the most unusual aspect of the experience at Thang's: the love-it-or-hate-it ingredient that all the soups have in common is smoked paprika. Perhaps the most objective thing you can say is it works better in some varieties than others (it cuts the acidic tang of the Korean kimchi ramen perfectly, but the flavor overpowers the spicy chicken ramen so utterly that the best analogy is chicken paprikash in soup form). $10-20. (updated Dec 2018)
• Wa Wa Asian Snacks. The word "snacks" is a misnomer — the menu has expanded greatly since the grand opening to encompass an eclectic range of full-size mains — but the rest of the name is accurate. At her eponymous West Side Bazaar eatery, Wa Wa Khiang enables you to eat your way from one end of Southeast Asia to the other: Burmese pork curry and mohinga, kanom jeen soup and som tum papaya salad from Thailand, Vietnamese banh mi that give the ones at Pho Dollar a run for their money (no mean feat), and even Hainanese chicken rice, the only place in Buffalo that serves this specialty of Singapore and Malaysia. Jack of all trades, master of none? Not by a long shot: this is the best food at the Bazaar, and that's saying something. $10-15. (updated Dec 2018)

Mid-range

• 6 Daniela, 387 Forest Ave. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 20), ☏ +1 716 235-8598. Tu-Th 11AM-8PM, F-Sa 11AM-10PM. When it comes to pizza in Buffalo, the recent diversification of local offerings has been good news for visitors who don't care for the ubiquitous local style — and another benchmark was reached with the 2019 opening of Daniela, where the specialty of the house is pinsa, a variant native to Rome with a thicker but airier crust and only a light spread of cheese on top. The most popular of the five signature selections seems to be the pinsa capricciosa topped with artichokes, olives, shiitake mushrooms and ham. If that's not to your liking, the menu is chock full of other upscale Italian specialties too (how about linguine carbonara or a dessert of house-made gelato?) Downsides include steep prices and thunderous piped-in music, which combined with the chatter of ample-sized mealtime crowds makes quite a din. $15-40. (updated Jun 2019)
• 7 Freddy J's BBQ, 195 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 551-0572. Daily 10AM-8PM. There's a tsunami of flavor packed inside the tiny, cramped space where Fred Daniel cooks up — with fresh ingredients sourced as often as possible from West Side neighbors like Guercio's — what some describe as the best barbecue in Buffalo. The recipes are as authentic and time-tested as it gets, yet Freddy also manages to incorporate subtle Creole, Caribbean, and hometown influences into his dishes: on the menu alongside classics like ribs and brisket is a take on jerk chicken where subtle but noticeable heat is alleviated by sides of yellow rice and "Honey Hush cornbread", and a Southern-style approximation of classic Buffalo fish fry: fried haddock with mac & cheese, green beans, and (once again) cornbread on the side. $15-30. (updated Dec 2018)
• Gypsy Parlor, 376 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 551-0001. M-Th & Sa 5PM-midnight, F 2:30PM-midnight, Su 4PM-midnight. Don't be confused by the red neon sign in the window that says "PSYCHIC READINGS" — this isn't that kind of gypsy parlor! This comfortable yet garishly decorated combination gastropub, bar, and performance venue is named and themed in an homage to owner Gabrielle Mattina's Roma ancestry, but the menu is a full-throated tribute to the multicultural diversity of the surrounding neighborhood. So-called "West Side Delicacies" include surprisingly authentic pastelillos, samosas, and a delicious banh mi poutine that would be right at home on the menu of the Allen St. Poutine Company. For those with more timid palates, mouth-watering half-pound burgers are the way to go: try the "Black Sheep" of peppercorn-crusted ground lamb topped with dijon & beet coleslaw. $15-30. (updated Dec 2018)
• 8 Marco's, 1085 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 882-5539. M-Th 11;30AM-9PM, F 11:30AM-10PM, Sa 5PM-10PM, Su 4PM-8:30PM. Nowadays, chef Marco Sciortino is better known for his eponymous chain of Italian delis, but this cozy old place on Niagara Street is where he first made his name. Marco's has all the no-frills ambience of a humble neighborhood bar, and the menu doesn't venture far beyond the usual red-sauce Italian standards (starters of antipasto salad, pasta fagioli, and stuffed banana peppers; veal and chicken served in marsala, parmigiana, piccata and florentine styles, pasta pomodoro, linguine with clam sauce), but don't let that fool you: this is creatively conceived, artfully executed food served in copious amounts for fair prices. Fans of spice might want to try the "Paesano Inferno", a fiery delight of hot Italian fennel sausage and sautéed hot peppers served over penne pasta. $15-35. (updated Dec 2018)
• 9 Pho Dollar, 322 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 768-0049. M-Th 11AM-10PM, F-Sa 11AM-midnight, Su 11AM-9PM. With a dazzling range of options including Buffalo's widest selection of pho, vermicelli bowls, stir-fried rice and noodle dishes, a slate of to-die-for banh mi sandwiches, and tasty bubble tea to wash it all down with, it's safe to say that Pho Dollar serves the best Vietnamese food in town. All this delicious ambrosia is served up in an ambience that is sleek if not exactly minimalist (it's a much larger and more upscale place than it looks like from the street!) by servers that are friendly and attentive without being intrusive. If you like it spicy, try the bún bò Huế soup: Pho Dollar is the only place in Buffalo that serves this specialty of central Vietnam, and they do so with aplomb. $15-30. (updated Dec 2018)
• 10 Restaurante Mi Isla, 74 Herkimer St. (Metro Bus 3, 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 768-1107. Tu-Th & Su 10AM-6PM, F-Sa 10AM-8PM. The "isla" in question is, of course, Puerto Rico, and you'll find the cuisine thereof well represented on the menu, especially if you like mofongo — the mashed-plantain dish is one of the harder-to-find boricua specialties in Buffalo, yet Restaurante Mi Isla serves about ten different varieties. Whether that or another item on the menu, prices are a bit hefty but so are the portions, and anyway you're getting in return some of the most authentic homestyle Puerto Rican food in town, with service to match, so don't feel guilty about splurging a little bit. About the only problem is the menu itself: it's written entirely in Spanish, so if you're a monolingual English-speaker, be prepared. $15-35. (updated Feb 2020)
• 11 Sports City Pizza Pub, 1407 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 871-8088. M-F 3PM-midnight, Sa-Su noon-midnight. The name of this friendly neighborhood bar and grill is apropos: pizza and wings is pretty much the beginning and end of the menu. The former has a crust that's a touch thinner than the usual local style, yet still crunchy and sturdy, and comes seasoned with a variety of toppings, à la Just Pizza. The latter are a good size and come in a variety of different flavors — classic Buffalo-style, of course, with varying degrees of spiciness to choose from, but also worth trying out are the Louisiana Cajun wings, deliciously seasoned with a dry rub of blended spices. For a nominal extra change, you can have your wings barbecued "on the pit" after they come out of the fryer, for an extra bit of char. $15-35. (updated Dec 2018)

Splurge

• 12 Roost, 1502 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 259-9306. W-Sa 11AM-10PM, Su 11AM-3PM. Located in the Crescendo building and named for the huge mural painting of a red rooster that's the centerpiece of the cavernous dining room, Roost is the newest restaurant from local chef Martin Danilowicz. He's well-known locally for the eclecticism of the menus he constructs, and Roost doesn't disappoint in that department. Small plates are the name of the game here, meant to be ordered in multiples and shared around the table tapas-style; offerings change weekly, but think in terms of bone marrow with bacon onion jam, beef carpaccio with cucumber, microgreens, and miso pineapple dressing, and fig and prosciutto pizza with smoked blue cheese (cooked in a rotating Mariana Forni wood-fired pizza oven, one of only two in the United States). $25-65. (updated Dec 2018)

Pizza

The following pizzerias are located in the Upper West Side. Those who are interested in pizza delivery (as opposed to pickup) might want to also check listings in adjacent districts; local pizzerias will often deliver to several different neighborhoods of the city.

• 13 La Nova, 371 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 881-3303. Su-Th 10AM-12:45AM, F-Sa 10AM-1:45AM. (updated Dec 2018)
• 14 Mister Pizza, 643 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3), ☏ +1 716 881-6500. Su-Th 9AM-midnight, F-Sa 9AM-1AM. (updated Aug 2019)

Groceries

• 15 Dollar General, 244 Forest Ave. (Metro Bus 3), ☏ +1 716 954-8261. Daily 8AM-10PM. 
• 16 Dollar General, 315 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 885-1740. Daily 8AM-9PM. 
• 17 Family Dollar, 492 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3 or 7), ☏ +1 716 882-7495. M-Sa 8AM-9PM, Su 9AM-9PM. 
• 18 Family Dollar, 265 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3 or 12), ☏ +1 716 883-4935. Daily 8AM-10PM. 
• 19 Save-a-Lot, 142 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 886-0022. Daily 8AM-8PM. 
• 20 Vineeta International Foods, 98 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 883-5020. M-Sa 9AM-8PM, Su 9AM-7PM. Let there be no understatement: Vineeta is the place to come on the West Side for an all-encompassing range of imported groceries from the Indian subcontinent, East and Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, including spices, curries and chutneys, frozen foods, packaged groceries, an impressive line of Goya products, a butcher section including a modest range of halal meats, as well as housewares, toiletries, and on and on. The sole sticking point is the produce section, which as often as not consists of an uninspiring range of past-their-prime vegetables, but things seem to be improving on this front lately. (updated Dec 2018)

Drink

section header - this is a rapidly growing bar scene

Sweet_ness 7 is not only a great place to enjoy coffee, baked goods, and other delights, it has also been key to the revitalization of its West Side neighborhood.

• 1 Albert's, 296 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12), ☏ +1 716 886-3642. "The Flavor of Old Times" is the slogan, and on a stretch of the West Side where the only constant lately has been change, Albert's is certainly a throwback to a different era. Albert's is an honest-to-goodness blue-collar gin mill serving cold beers and simple cocktails at cheap prices in a no-frills environment, along with a food menu highlighting classic Greek diner specialties and a renowned fish fry each Friday. (updated Dec 2018)
• 2 Free Street Tavern, 1469 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 424-1022. Although it dates back only to 2019 — and although the drink list is as heavy on craft microbrews as any other Buffalo-area watering hole these days — there's something very old-school about Free Street Tavern. That's very much by design: from the cozy dimensions of the place, to the exposed brick walls covered with old "Jimmy Griffin for Mayor" swag, to the hearty comfort-food menu, to its very name (an homage to childhood days spent at his grandma's house on the namesake Portland, Maine street), owner Joshua White is aiming to hit customers in the nostalgic feels with a chilled-out, carefree ambience. If beer isn't your drink of choice, check out the cocktail menu, which sticks to the classics but does so with skill and verve. (updated Feb 2020)
• 3 Gypsy Parlor, 376 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 551-0001. By comparison with the diversity of the West Side as a whole — and even of their own food menu and events calendar — the Gypsy Parlor's mood-lit, loungey barroom comes off as an anomaly, almost a throwback to the Grant Street of old. But if you want a break from the constant multicultural exploration, this might be just the place for you. Interesting specialty cocktails abound, the clear favorite among which is the "Gypsy Juice" (apricot, ginger, lemon and blackcurrant added to your choice of booze; the flavors complement each other a lot better than you’d think). (updated Dec 2018)
• 4 Resurgence Brewing, 1250 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 381-9868. The original location of this popular craft brewery boasts a German-style outdoor beer garden featuring homemade brews and light snacks, as well as bocce courts and a fire pit. In the winter, the operation moves to an indoor tap room with ample views over the brewhouse. (updated Nov 2018)
• Sports City Pizza Pub, 1407 Niagara St. (Metro Bus 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 871-8088. On the whole, Sports City Pizza Pub is a pretty good reflection of a neighborhood that's only just beginning its ascent: there are a few concessions to the hipster element (namely, two dozen or so craft brews on tap, an industrial-informed decor with snazzy but subdued colored LED lighting around and under the bar, and some moderately interesting specialty pizzas on the food menu), but at heart, this place is a good old-fashioned blue-collar neighborhood dive, and it lives up to its name with more than a dozen TV screens tuned to various sporting events. Bills and Sabres game days see a rowdy (but friendly) crowd gathered to cheer on the hometown teams. (updated Dec 2018)
• 5 The Tabernacle, 211 Lafayette Ave. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 883-1738. Step Out Buffalo described the Tabernacle as "an acid flashback", and as soon as you step inside, you'll understand why: pretty much every interior surface is covered with garishly colored, trippy frescoes, like a surrealist Sistine Chapel. The Tabernacle is Prish Moran's unconventional take on an Irish public house, with a range of drinks that's way more apropos than the decor: Guinness on tap crowns the beer list (otherwise populated with a sampling of local craft brews), and Scotch and Irish whiskeys dominate the selection of liquors. There's also a short menu of pub grub and a busy events schedule. (updated Dec 2018)

Coffee shops

• Tailored Tea & Coffee, 68 Grant St. (At the Grant Street Bazaar; Metro Bus 3, 7 or 12). M-F 10AM-10PM, Sa 10AM-7PM, Su 9AM-7PM. It's not only the namesake caffeinated libations that are on offer: Tailored Tea & Coffee affords Grant Street Bazaar customers the opportunity to relive their childhood breakfasts courtesy of pretty much every brand of sugary cereal you can imagine. $10-25. (updated Mar 2020)
• 6 Sweet_ness 7, 220 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 883-1738. M-F 7AM-9PM, Sa 8AM-9PM, Su 8AM-6PM. Since 2007, Prish Moran has operated her friendly old-world coffee shop in this beautiful and historic old Victorian building on Grant Street. Popular with artists, hipsters, and Buffalo State College students, Sweet_ness 7 serves fresh gourmet sandwiches, salads, soups, pizza, and pastry along with the coffee, and their breakfast is also very popular with locals. (updated Dec 2018)

Sleep

not here - where?

Connect

The 1 West Side Post Office is at 465 Grant St. on the Upper West Side.

nearest library? WiFi access?

Stay safe

Despite the fact that Buffalo's crime rate has fallen steadily since the 1990s, it is still higher than the national average for cities its size. The question of whether crime is more prevalent on the West Side or the East Side is very much an open one, but despite the official numbers which are roughly neck-and-neck, the latter is probably a bit more dangerous. On the one hand, the suspicion and mistrust of police that's pervasive on the East Side likely means that many crimes committed there go unreported; on the other hand, the fact that the West Side is being colonized by upwardly mobile young people eager to reclaim a formerly marginal neighborhood means that crimes are probably reported more consistently there than elsewhere.

Still, there's no denying that crime remains a serious problem on the West Side — especially on and around Grant Street between roughly Hampshire Street and Auburn Avenue.How serious the threat is depends very much on what time it is - if you're visiting Buffalo, by all means enjoy the sights and sounds of these vibrant districts, but a bit of common sense goes a long way. Make absolutely sure to keep your car locked and valuables out of sight, and keep a low profile in situations that don't feel right. Also, try to make yourself scarce after dark, especially if you're on foot — areas that seem friendly and vibrant by day can take on a more sinister character after the sun goes down. At the very least, stick to well-lit thoroughfares and keep your wits about you.

Niagara Street? elsewhere in the district?

Panhandling isn't nearly as big a problem around here as in other areas of Buffalo. You'll occasionally see a few of them making nuisances of themselves at the West Side Bazaar, but for now, this is the exception rather than the rule. As elsewhere in Buffalo, aggressive panhandling is almost unknown; if you don't want to give, a firm "no" almost always does the trick. - adapt so not identical verbiage to LWS

Cope

Hospitals

nearest?

Laundry and dry cleaning

• 2 Ferry Street Laundry, 277 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 3 or 12), ☏ +1 716 783-9898. Daily 8AM-9PM. 
• 3 The Laundry Spot, 584 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3 or 7), ☏ +1 716 884-2134. Daily 10AM-8PM, later on weekends (flexible). 

Places of worship

section header

Roman Catholic

• 4 Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary RC Church, 348 Dewitt St. (Metro Bus 3, 5 or 40), ☏ +1 716 882-2650. Mass Su 9AM, Sa 8AM & 4PM, M-F 8AM. Located on the Upper West Side, Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is where the Reverend Peter Hai Nguyen says Mass to Buffalo's Vietnamese immigrant community. 
• 5 Our Lady of Hope RC Church, 18 Greenwood Pl. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 885-2469. Mass Su 9AM & 11AM, Sa 4PM. Our Lady of Hope is the West Side's newest Catholic church, founded in 2009 as a merger of Annunciation (in whose handsome Gothic edifice the current congregation worships), Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Our Lady of Loretto parishes. Here, with the help of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Rev. Mitch Byeck ministers to a congregation that's ever-growing in size and diversity. 

Protestant

• 6 First United Methodist Church, 332 Baynes St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 885-6641. Services Su 11AM. If you're a Western New York history buff, sorry to say that this is not the same First Methodist Church that was founded in 1819 in what was then the Village of Black Rock and led for many years by the Reverend Glezen Fillmore, cousin of the former president Fillmore — it's actually an unrelated congregation that was founded in 1912 and so named because it was the only remaining Methodist Episcopal congregation in the city at the time. Nonetheless, if you're just looking for a pleasant faith experience, Pastor Scott Lamont Johnson continues to lead weekly services for a small but vibrant and welcoming flock in the austere but lovely skylit interior of this handsome stone church. (updated Jun 2016)
• 7 Grace Community Church, 175 Potomac Ave. (Metro Bus 3, 5, 26 or 40), ☏ +1 716 881-9888. Services Sa 6:30PM. With an innovative and community-based approach to ministry, Grace Community Church is a multiethnic Wesleyan congregation that seeks to "put the neighbor back in the 'hood". At the "House of Grace" on Potomac Avenue on the Upper West Side, Pastor Casper "Cap" Farrow not only preaches the word to his own flock, but also teams up with three other congregations to steward a wide gamut of community outreach programs. 

Hispanic Protestant

section header?

• 8 Iglesia Hispana Metodista Libre Nueva Visión, 168 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 883-2527. Services Su 1PM, Tu 7PM. A Free Methodist Church that serves Buffalo's Hispanic community, Nueva Visión was founded in 1996 by Pastor Miguel Carcaño, a native of the Dominican Republic who preached to a congregation that at first consisted of only a handful of people, but later grew to regularly overwhelm the Grant Street building it holds services in thanks to his tireless efforts in engaging the community, often on a door-to-door basis. 
• 9 Prince of Peace Christian Church (Iglesia Cristiana Príncipe de Paz), 190 Albany St. (Metro Bus 3, 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 844-8717. Services Su 10AM. This Hispanic Pentecostal congregation was founded in 1989 on the Upper West Side and features rousing bilingual services in the former home of the Normal Park Methodist Episcopal Church, led by a husband-and-wife team of pastors, Ángel and Midian Gauthier. 
• 10 Spanish Church of God (Iglesia de Dios Hispana Camino al Cielo), 168 Forest Ave. (Metro Bus 3, 5 or 40), ☏ +1 716 551-6441. Services Su 6:30PM; Tu, Th & F 7:30PM. Since 2010, the former home of the Forest Avenue Church of Christ — a pleasant wood-frame Tudor-style building erected in 1894 — has been a venue for energetic Pentecostal services held four times weekly in Spanish with Pastor Daniel Drohin at the helm. At the Spanish Church of God, there are frequent guest preachers, healing services, and special ministries aimed at the needs of men, women and children. (updated Mar 2017)

Black churches

• 11 All Nations House of Prayer, 104 W. Ferry St. (Metro Bus 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 462-6300. Services Su 11:30AM. The stout, red-brick Richardson Romanesque edifice that was once home to the West Avenue Presbyterian Church — a storied congregation of old whose roots stretch back to 1831 — was pressed into use in 2010 by pastors Sean and Tammi O'Brien as the home of the independent Pentecostal church they lead. In addition to joyous, energetic services attended by a congregation that's multiracial but majority African-American, All Nations hosts frequent revivals, youth-focused events, and other happenings. 

Jehovah's Witnesses

• 12 Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses (Salón del Reino de los Testigos de Jehová), 152 Albany St. (Metro Bus 3, 5, 12 or 40), ☏ +1 716 884-2114. Services Su 9:30AM & 3:30PM. 

Muslim

With a steady stream of incoming immigrants from the Horn of Africa (among other places), the West Side is a growing center of Muslim culture in Western New York.

• 13 Al-Khulafa Mosque, 215 Forest Ave. (Metro Bus 3, 5 or 40), ☏ +1 716 563-2741. This humble storefront mosque on an out-of-the-way stretch of Forest Avenue on the Upper West Side serves a largely African congregation. 
• 14 Masjid Bilal (Buffalo Islamic Community Center), 358 Grant St. (Metro Bus 3, 7 or 26), ☏ +1 716 534-8673. After nearly 20 years tending to the needs of the Upper West Side's burgeoning Muslim community from its former home on Potomac Avenue, in 2019 the Buffalo Islamic Community Center finally completed its move into this larger space down the block, where daily prayer services and Friday jum'a are conducted in Arabic and later translated into Somali and English. In addition to that, Masjid Bilal plays host to a wide range of other spiritual and educational activities as well. (updated Feb 2020)

Go next

Fort Erie, LWS, Black Rock, Elmwood Village