Waxlight Bar a Vin — Restaurant in Buffalo

My friend and I had reservations for 7pm. We arrived at 7:13, due to our uber being late and the roads being icy. We waited by the door for about 2 minutes before someone came up to us. My friend told the man who came up to us that we had reservations at 7pm. He looked at us in disbelief: “7pm?”….my friend apologized that we were a couple minutes behind. He said he had to go check to see if our table was still available since they only have a 15 minute grace period and it was a busy Friday night…mind you, it was only 7:16 by this point. Yes that is late, but nothing egregious. I worked in the service industry for years and if someone was ONE MINUTE past the 15 minute grace period- I would have the common sense to be hospitable enough to still seat them. Again, we showed up 2 minutes BEFORE the 15 minute grace period was over. Get off your high horses…really? One minute past that point and the table is gone? I feel like they messed up the reservation and gave our table away before we even arrived…but what do I know? Perhaps this was a case of overbooking.

After he told my friend and I our table was no longer available, he claimed that they sent her texts to see if she was still coming. My friend checked her texts- nothing. He said we could sit at the bar and wait to see if a table might open up. We said we’ll sit at the bar and asked him to let us know when something opened up. 45 minutes later, he finally came up to us at the bar and asked if we still wanted to sit at a table. He then also proceeded to accuse my friend of blocking the reservation notification texts and claimed that’s why she didn’t receive the texts? Like what? Why on earth would she block them from sending her a reservation reminder? Just take some accountability and try to amend the rest of the night, for Gods sake.

After we were finally sat, our server was very friendly. I have nothing but nice things to say about her. However, the pasta my friend ordered was disgustingly salty. It tasted like sea water. The server kindly took it back and offered for my friend to order something else, which she did. However by this point, it was already late and my friend’s new dish didn’t arrive for another 20 minutes. She ordered what I had, which was very good. While she did take the pasta off the bill (which was the correct thing to do, since my friend literally took one bite), they couldn’t be bothered to give her a free drink or dessert? Not that it’s expected, but you would think from how the rest of the night went, they may want to try to redeem themselves a bit? Nope.

There are a few others notes I could make, but I think I’ve gotten my point across. I hope management actually takes this review seriously. I’ve worked it restaurants so I know how it works when someone leaves a negative review (the staff making fun of that customer and doing nothing to improve the service or experience for future customers). For a place as pricey as Waxlight, you expect better service.

As a side note, the interior decor could also be improved upon, as it’s gives a tacky suburban aesthetic.

Best of...

Service was friendly and helpful, and also considerate of covid safety, although nobody in the restaurant or any of the staff were wearing masks, we were, and when the server approached to ask how the food was they stood back 6 ft so we didn't have to put our mask back on, which I thought was courteous. The atmosphere was very nice, plush velour chairs, lots of live plants, old fashioned ceiling fixtures and then an overall industrial feel to the restaurant with the walls and ceiling. Only complaints about the atmosphere are that the table was very small and there was terrible punk rock music playing the first 15 minutes we were there. We ordered four dishes, the smoked rice balls with olive and cheese, the root vegetable blanquette, a rutabaga with lemon sauce and Salisbury duck meatballs with mushrooms. We both enjoyed the smoked rice balls the best, great texture, great flavor, would definitely eat those again. My friend said the duck meatballs and mushrooms were great and he rated those four stars. The rutabaga was....meh. not much flavor to it and the menu said it was cooked overnight but it still wasn't soft. The lemon sauce that was on it had a decent flavor with a runny consistency. The root vegetable blanquette had a nice silky mouthfeel, but the flavor was lacking, quite bland. There's no salt or pepper on the tables either, which always feels to me like a display of arrogance. We both agreed that overall it's not a place we would likely go back to, especially considering the portion size and the price, small portions that are overpriced. I wouldn't mind that if it was higher quality organic food but it's not. I love that they have very creative dishes, but I think they're doing themselves a disservice with how the menu is presented, the average person would have to Google almost every dish on the menu because of how they choose to word the description of the dishes, only someone that was moderately knowledgeable about cuisine and culinary lingo would understand the details of each dish on the menu. That can come off as a bit pretentious, and I think they're going to lose some customers who are going to look at the menu, not understand it and not feel like being bothered with the task of googling what...

I cannot say enough about this place! My husband and I went here for a personal celebration and we were blown away! I would give this place 10 stars if i could! The cocktails were some of the best I’ve ever had. The service was top-notch and truly made our night that much more special. Our server, Lauren, from the moment we said hello until the end of our visit was beyond outstanding. She took time to explain different ingredients and flavor profiles of various dishes. She answered all of our questions with a breadth of knowledge, all while being kind and personable. She was just absolutely incredible from start to finish. The food? Omg OUT OF THIS WORLD DELICIOUS!!!!! Honestly I had some expectations but even those were blown away when I tasted the beef ribs, pork belly, pasta (pasta is made in house and you absolutely can tell that it is!) and hangar steak. You can taste the incredible attention that is put into the food at this restaurant and it’s hands down probably the most impressive restaurant I’ve ever been to in Buffalo. I simply cannot recommend this restaurant enough. Just the food alone makes it one of the best (actually it was my favorite place I’ve been to in a very very long time and I’d say it has to be my favorite fine dining spot now) but the gorgeous atmosphere of this place (interior design is exceptional), the service beyond phenomenal, the overall experience struck a chord and has left a lasting impression. This place really is that amazing- I don’t know that my review can even do it justice. We will be back with my in-laws and my sister and her husband as well. I honestly cannot wait to go...