Osteria 166 — Restaurant in Buffalo

Wedding catering review:

Unfortunately this is tough because I would give their food 4 stars, but their bar 2 stars. Wedding food is wedding food at the end of the day to all of us. It was hot and flavorful enough, but for the price that they charge I expected more. They are more expensive than Rich’s but will never compare in terms of service and quality. For example, I expected their staff to check on us during dinner and grab us drinks but our DJ saw that we had only water to toast with for our speeches and went to the bar to grab us cocktails. We ordered the top shelf bar package and at the suggestion of the catering manager put menus on the bar that were supposed to reflect the inventory and help make it easier for guests to decide on their drinks since we were supposed to have a large variety of spirits and mixers. My husband ordered a crown and coke and our poor DJ had to break the news that crown wasn’t available and we had house whiskey. His signature cocktail was supposed to be made with makers mark and we then found out that wasn’t available either. So imagine in the middle of dinner when the bar has already been open for over an hour that we did not have the package that we paid for that we had to fend for ourselves to try and fix the situation. But it was already too late. The owner ran to the liquor store and replaced the missing bottles, but he didn’t display them properly and just threw them in the well so only people knew by word of mouth which was an absolutely poor decision on his part. I didn’t find this out until the day after or I would’ve made an announcement to the guests apologizing to them and acknowledged their mistake. Funnily enough, the week before the wedding I had a meeting with every single vendor except them. I asked the catering manager if one was necessary and she said no everything is going to be perfect. I trusted her because our communication had been so impeccable during the planning process, but they dropped the ball hard for me. I have no idea how it’s possible to make these mistakes when there was literally a banquet order and a timeline available through them that we set up together. If you’re considering them, proceed with caution because I would hate for another bride to feel the embarrassment that I feel about printing menus for a top shelf bar and the mixers and then not delivering it. They gave us a marginally small refund for the troubles. Truly no amount of money could replace the shame and disappointment. And what an easy fix it could’ve been if it was noticed before we had to notice it ourselves. It is absolutely baffling that the manager and owner were both on site with a copy of the banquet order and saw the menus on the bar and just didn’t correct their mistake. Truly shady and just an absolute embarrassment. My final complaint was that they told us it was time to cut the cake and we did but then I looked down and that there was no fork or plate on the dessert table whatsoever so we fed each other with our hands which was not the look I was going for. They were understaffed and underprepared and I could see it on the staff members faces the entire evening. It was very apparent they were in the weeds at almost all times. Before cocktail hour even began they called my maid of honor multiple times and it was obvious from that moment that they didn’t have it together. This hits hard when your food and bar is your biggest investment of the entire day. All of these mistakes added up to be a myriad of failures and I am sorely disappointed. I will never recommend them and working with them is my only regret of my entire wedding. Every other detail about our wedding was absolutely perfect. Things go wrong at weddings and I completely understand that but when it’s apparent that you don’t care enough to make an easy fix it is truly is mind blowing. Osteria please do better and provide your customers with what...

This place has been on my radar for years, but I never managed to get to this spot - until now!

This was a favorite dining place of a good friend of mine, so I thought she would be the best person to go with. We sat at the bar for an early dinner during the week, and we had such a lovely meal.

We had cocktails, two appetizers, an entree each, and dessert. We rolled out of there, and I took most of my entire pasta entree home because the apps were so big!

We started with the Coccoli, which is basically unsweetened zeppoli, served with warm melted cheese and prosciutto- these were to DIE for! I could have eaten this as an entree and left satisfied. The platter they are served on is big, and beautifully arranged.

Next, we split a Beet Salad, which had a good amount of toppings on it. Again, we could have stopped at this, but we did not! I ordered a short rib special, and my friend got the risotto of the day, which was sun-dried tomato. Both were delicious, and large portions.

Dessert was flourless chocolate cake with berries and vanilla ice cream- and it was as good as the rest of the meal!

The vibe is casual and warm, with beautiful touches like a wine crate covered column, and barrels. The prices were good- not overpriced, and everything was worth the cost. The service was wonderful- the man behind the bar was attentive but didn't crowd us or talk too much- we were left to enjoy our meal.

I can't wait to go back and have another meal. It's definitely...

I would absolutely recommend this place to anyone! The host was very helpful and friendly, and the waitress, although very busy taking care of so many customers, was right on top of things and so nice and helpful as well. Service in general was quite good. The food itself though...was AMAZING. This was a post - Valentine's Day dinner, just before going to Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder at Shea's, and it was the perfect date!

All of the food we tasted was so very good. When you are seated, they start with drinks and their in-house bread. The bread was very soft and fresh. The appetizers we chose were the risotto sticks and "The Carl", and both were so delicious! I could honestly make a meal out of those alone. Then for our main course, we chose the smoked pork belly carbonara, and the filleto with a side of alfredo pasta. The carbonara was so thick and flavorful, and everything was just right. She chose the filleto, and the two steaks were perfectly cooked, rich and delicious, and so tender they cut as if they were butter. All in all, the food was pretty fantastic.

I cannot wait to revisit, and hopefully bring some more friends to introduce to this great...