Gabriel's Gate — Restaurant in Buffalo

2024 update: Of course, when visiting Buffalo, I had to come get some wings from Gabriel's gate. We were a party of 6 so we called and made sure there was room for us. The lady on the phone said there was plenty of room (no wait). We arrived less than 10 minutes later, and a person named Conner tells us it will be an hour and 45 minute wait. Of course, we are confused because we called 10 minutes before. Also, there are very clearly several empty tables (it's a Tuesday night). We let Conner know we are happy to sit separately as two parties of 3, and he says in that case it will be 45 minutes. He states that he can't sit groups of 3 at the 4tops. So we say we would be willing to do 4 people at a 4top and two at the bar, and he says we can't do that either. (Not sure why, there was 3 seats at the bar). Meanwhile, a group of 3 comes in behind us and gets sat at one of the 4tops that he said couldn't have 3 people at. Conner states this is because they were a party of 3 and we are a party of 6. We remind Conner that we are willing to sit 3 and 3 OR 4 at the 4top table and 2 at the bar. My mother asks to speak to a manager because this isn't right (very calmly, I might add). We called ahead, and if the other party of 3 behind us can sit at a 4top, surely we can as well. Conner told us there is no manager and that all the staff there are equal. So my mom goes to try and talk to another employee about the situation. Meanwhile Conner comes over to me and says "We are going to get your guys seated at separate tables, but im just going to wait for that lady to calm down before we seat you" and gestures to my mom who is calmly talking to the other waitress. The other waitress says absolutely we can sit 3 and 3 and seats us immediately. I told the other waitress what Conner said about waiting to seat us until my mom calms down (she was talking to my mom so she knew my mom was calm) and she said that he was wrong and that he can't talk to people like that. She said she would speak to Conner about how he talks to people. We asked our waiter if the waitress that said she would talk to Conner had any authority over him, and he said no, they are equals. Our waiter was fantastic, and so was the food, but the place desperately needs to be overseen by management. The place did appear cleaner this time, and the booths were at a standard level of comfort. I don't know if I would visit again, despite these being my favorite hot wings in Buffalo. I tried not to let Conner ruin our night, but the lack of management to oversee the servers is also a real problem. With all that trouble and Conner being rude about my mother, I would have appreciated a free appetizer or something, but that's probably something only management can do, and they were not on site.

Previous review from 2020: The wings were really good, probably my favorite hot wings in Buffalo. If you like tender saucy wings these are for you. If you go for more dry crunchy wings this is not the place for you. The french onion soup was amazing despite it coming out warm, not hot. The cheese was solid because it wasn't hot enough, but it was still one of the best french onion soups I've ever had. We got the "gate" sandwich, which was HUGE and delicious and a cheeseburger. The burger patty was VERY good. The fries were good but nothing special. My only complaint is the price is high for the place. With the reviews and the price, I thought it would be like a relativity nice restaurant, but it's really just a bar with good food. The place was not clean (dusty dirty) and the decor was tacky. The booths are horribly uncomfortable. I would not go there again to dine in, but I would probably sit at the bar and have wings and a beer if I was...

TL;DR - The food and service at this place is AWESOME. And this place probably has the best wings in Buffalo. The whole ambiance is also awesome, but also part of the problem. But this place is a must visit!

Full Review: So my friends and I decided we'd come to Buffalo, NY to have wings in the place where they were (allegedly) conceived. We had 3 places to visit. But with the weather, our visit was cut down to Anchor Bar and Gabriel's Gate. Gabriel's Gate was our second stop. We arrived when Gabriel's Gate was PACKED. There wasn't any room to move around and we were huddled together for about 30 minutes waiting to get seated. This is my only real "complaint" that there just wasn't enough room for how popular this place apparently is. So me and my friends were awkwardly ducking patrons and wait staff and probably invading the "personal bubbles" of strangers while waiting for a table to open. But the staff was polite every time I saw them ask someone to move, which was A LOT. And the host was also a very personable guy. Clearly he has the patience of a saint.

Side note: I really dig the decor of this place.

Anyway, we got seated by the outside window in a booth. The waitress was also swamped, but she came to order in a timely fashion given her workload. And she was pleasant on every visit.

But the real shoutout goes to the food Gabriel's Gate has. My table sampled the French Onion Soup crock, and it was love from the first bite. We can see why it's the first thing on the menu. The bread inside the soup underneath a blanket of melted cheese over the crock was a nice touch. The poutine is the best that I've had ever. Granted, I'm not from Canada where poutine is common. But the portion was HUGE for the price. I ordered it for myself and offered to share with the table, who all had some. But even after sharing and really going at it, I couldn't finish it. And we had onion rings that were fried to perfection.

But the main reason we came there was for the Wings. My friends and I are wing connoisseurs and 5 time "Hot Ones Challenge" successful participants, so we know our wings. And the actual quality of the meat was fantastic. The wing sizes/wing meat quality were on-par with Anchor Bar. But the sauce that Gabriel's gate uses is more flavorful. We oped for the "medium" and "hot" Buffalo Sauces. And the sauces clearly had more flavor worked in than Anchor Bar did.

So if you're like us trying to find the best Buffalo Chicken Wing in Buffalo, Gabriel's Gate slightly nudges out Anchor Bar. I'll write a separate review of Anchor Bar, but it's really a matter of Sauce Quality. Gabriel's gate is more flavorful. Anchor Bar is good too but you can tell that the sauces are really more geared to more sensitive palates.

Even if you're not looking to eat Chicken Wings, though, Gabriel's Gate exceeded expectations in food quality and service. It would be nice if the place was bigger. But on the other hand, it may lose some of it's charm if it was.

But do give Gabriel's Gate a visit if your in...

Our 2023 family summer vacation wrapped up in Niagara Falls last week, and the drive home sent us through Buffalo, NY namesake of one of my favorite foods, the buffalo wing. There was no chance I was driving through Buffalo without stopping for wings, and although they were invented at the Anchor Bar, it gets pretty rough reviews these days. So after a bit of research, I decided we should try out Gabriel’s Gate.

The building that houses Gabriel’s Gate dates back to 1864 and the atmosphere is anything but modern. My table had a strong lean to it, enough that I wasn’t sure my wings were going to stay on the table. Luckily they did.

The food here is more than wings, with burgers, sandwiches, pasta, and steaks. I ordered a Cottage Street, their version of beef on weck. If you don’t already know, beef on weck is another Buffalo specialty food, a roast beef sandwich served on a bun topped with salt and caraway seeds called a kummelweck roll. It comes with chips, but I upgraded to onion rings. I particularly liked the salty bun especially with some horseradish on the beef. And the onion rings were a good call, nice and thick with good batter.

But we didn’t come for roast beef, we came for chicken and that’s what matters most. So what’s the verdict? Well, these are really great wings. They are the perfect size. They are both crispy and meaty. And the sauce, we ordered “hot”, was spicy but with great flavor. Still I was hoping for something magical, a bite that would make me think, “Now I know what a buffalo wing should be!” That didn’t happen. So it’s not that these aren’t great wings, it’s just that there are great wings outside of Buffalo too, ones that I don’t have to drive eight hours to eat.

My son, who wouldn’t eat a buffalo wing if you offered him a million dollars, got grilled cheese and french fries. They make a damn near perfect grilled cheese at Gabriel’s Gate, and I do encourage you to get your kid to order one, assuming they won’t eat buffalo wings either. Here’s why: you can steal some from them and rub it around in the left over wing sauce and have some of the best grilled cheese you could ever hope to enjoy. And that was my final bite at...