The Buffalo Tavern — Restaurant in Burlington

Review Date: August 8th, 2016

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I like to say that bar food is the best food, so when I am out and about exploring, I try to find pubs that have good reviews to eat at. With that train of thought in mind, The Buffalo came up on my radar one day after exploring Iowa. Having an empty belly that kept reminding me to get some food, I headed over to The Buffalo to see what they offered.

Upon entering, I was greeted with the usual dim-lit bar scene. Nothing was too bright but nothing was too dark. It was the right mix of each. As for the bar itself, it was your typical bar with the usual decor that you see in most bars. What was unique about this place was the massive amount of writing on the ceiling. It seemed almost every ceiling tile had something scrawled on it. There may be a story to it, but it’s not found on this out-of-towner.

I ordered the The Western Bacon BBQ Burger with fries. I remember being disappointed in the small size of the burger but rather enjoying the taste of it and the fries. The small size of the burger was made up by the fries and I left with a mostly full belly and a smile on my face. Within reason, I am okay with smaller sizes if the flavor/quality blows me away.

At some point during my visit, I noticed they sold those gimmicky pull tab lotto tickets. Being the sucker for a cheap thrill, I bought 2 for $1 or something like that. I won something like $0.50 and bought another pull tab.. which was a non-winner.

Between the unique ceiling, tasty food, usual bar environment, and friendly customer service, I would have to say you won’t be buffaloed by visiting...

Don't judge the cover

You can’t judge a book by it’s cover. The Buffalo Tavern proved that old saying true in a big way. Driving up and walking in if it weren’t for the reviews I’m not sure i’d have stayed. But immediately everything changed as our server was phenomenal. She walked us through the menu both based on our likes and her preferences. I’ve had servers do one or the other but this was the first one to do both. I’ll have to say not that it matters but don’t let the word tavern fool you this was some of the best service I’ve had in some time. We were told that if you stop there you have to have the tenderloin and they weren't kidding. I’ve had several of the so called best tenderloins in Iowa and this one topped them all. It was meaty and had the perfect breading and crunch. Yes it was huge like most Iowa tenderloins however The Buffalo Tavern had the bun to stand up to the meat, which is unlike most of the “other places” The onion rings were also very good what made them stand out was how mild the onions were, they did not over power the breading. We had a small order of the parmesan garlic buff bites (boneless wings) which were also fantastic can’t wait to try them again with the buffalo sauce and a little blue cheese. Can’t wait to try some of the...

Hey there,

I’m writing to vent about my experiences at Buffalo Tavern because they’ve been nothing short of a disaster. Time and time again, my orders have been messed up, and it’s getting ridiculous.

I ordered chicken, and what I got was a total nightmare. Not only was it raw inside, despite looking deep-fried outside, but there was a bunch of other stuff mixed in with it that looked like they just dumped a ton of sauce on it. Seriously, it was like they poured everything they had left in the kitchen onto my plate.

When I tried to address this with the manager, her response was just as frustrating. She said, “Oh, they probably just didn’t check the temp, and it was probably frozen when they fried it.” What kind of excuse is that? Then she offered me a gift card, but said she couldn’t do anything else since I ordered through the mobile app.

And let’s talk about the service. The staff has been rude, and they can’t even make a simple chilled shot of tequila right. It’s like this place has no standards at all.

To top it all off, the restroom situation is a mess—there’s only one toilet, and it’s dirty and sticky right in the back of the bar.

Honestly, this tavern needs some serious help. I don’t know what’s going on there, but it’s not okay.

Thanks...