Anchor Bar — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

I helped my brother and his girlfriend move to Buffalo since this is where she was born and raised. I work in Nashville and had clients recommend the Anchor Bar to me as the original wing place. I LOVE wings. It’s one of, if not my top favorite food. I was extremely excited to come to the Anchor Bar to try original Buffalo wings after a day of moving, an 8 hour drive and getting caught in the rain.

It may have been partially my fault for having such high expectations of what is, my guess, now a chain restaurant but I was really excited.

It was 3 of us at dinner on Sunday night around 8 pm. The restaurant didn’t seem too be too busy, but I didn’t care either way. I wanted wings. We waited for our table and then was seated.

I want to preface this with saying, I work in customer service and I’m very gracious when it comes to service workers. I try to give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they were short staffed last night, maybe our waitress was having an hard day, etc. Our waitress sat us, handed us menus, and after some time took our drink orders. The drinks came out on decent time. (Waters and a Diet Coke) our waitress was friendly and nice but overall, only checked on us maybe 2 times the entire 1/1.5 hours we were there. Once while bringing the food to ask if we needed anything else and then one other time to ask how things were. I didn’t need a refill at either time but did shortly after her asking if we needed anything else, but we didn’t see her again until the check came so that was disappointing.

On to the food. The absolute most disappointing part. I got the 20 piece original mild wings with fries and ranch. The ranch was pretty good. The fries were lukewarm at best and kind of hard. Misleading cuz they looked like they would be tasty but I’ve had better fries from fast food places. But the wings? The only thing keeping me alive during the drive from Kentucky to New York??? I could’ve cried at how subpar they were. Approximately half of my wings were semi covered in sauce, the rest of the sauce on the plate. I’m thinking “okay, that’s fine, I can use the sauce as dip as well” and I did. But jokes on me, the other half of the wings on my plate? BARREN. Merely a drop of sauce to be found on one or two. I was confused and disappointed. What happened to the sauce?? I used up the bit that was on the plate so now I’m just eating dry ass, fried (?) chicken wings. I’m starving as we only stopped for food once during the drive so I eat all but 4 of the wings. I take them back to the hotel with me and they’re still currently sitting in the mini fridge because what am I supposed to do??? I was SO excited and then SO let down.

I will say, the (presumable) manager came to check on us and I told him everything was good but that’s when we first got our food and he caught me knuckle deep in a sauced up wing. Nobody checked on us during my discovery of the lack of sauce because if they had I would’ve simply asked for more sauce. And it might’ve bumped the stars from 2 to 3.

TL;DR service was subpar but I give grace to service workers. I wish we would’ve been checked on more though. fries were lukewarm and dry and crunchy. I only ate a couple before giving them to my brother wings were only half semi sauced up and EXTREMLY disappointing ranch was a good consistency and flavor the pizza log rolls are pretty good (we shared them at the table) the celery was crisp and fresh the atmosphere was kinda cool, they had some arcade games and a lot of TVs but wasn’t overly loud or...

I went to this restaurant on last July 3rd. We reached Around 10:15 PM. The lady at the front desk she told me like oh we are short of a person in the kitchen so the food might be reaching to you late if you’re going to dining still we agreed to that and they have taken our order to like a chicken with the Honey garlic sauce. Food reach to us around after 11 I think I was so angry and I was about to write bad feedback on them but the food was tasty really testy I mean it. I asked again like what happened and why it is taking so much of time to serve at the table.They said that there is an accident happen to one of our kitchen guy so our manager took him to hospital so that is why it is delayed but that’s OK that happens so I understand so again I tried it yesterday fifth of July. I asked him can you make one spicy margarita. The waiter Mara asked me I don’t know what it is. Then I narrated her the receipt. There was one more lady she was also there, she understood what I meant exactly. Then she came up with spicy margarita. Believe me it was awesome. I just wish the glass would have been looking good. But it’s ok. Food as always it was awesome. I liked the boneless chicken it comes with 8 pieces and some fried potatoes on the side. But the drink and food are awesome. I requested them to give us table from other side of the bar to the side where the Karaoke/Djs are happening. They agreed. Once again Mara was awesome.

Bad:

The front desk people need to be trained properly. On 3rd of July she was our waiter she had no idea about the menu at all. Yesterday when I asked her to give us a table at the DJ side she told all we’re reserved where as they were not. The restroom need to be cleaned properly. Restroom situation...

Review: Anchor Bar, Buffalo

We recently visited the famous Anchor Bar in Buffalo, known as the original home of the legendary chicken wings. Since we are vegetarians, we decided to try their vegetable wings, which were made from cauliflower (Gobi). The dish tasted quite similar to Gobi Manchurian, a familiar Indo-Chinese favorite, and had a good balance of crunch and flavor. Though it was not exactly the traditional “wing” experience that the place is known for, it was still a satisfying vegetarian alternative for those who prefer to avoid meat.

The ambience of the restaurant was warm and lively, giving a classic Buffalo feel with its rustic décor, sports memorabilia, and casual dining setup. The crowd was cheerful, and the overall environment made the evening pleasant. However, our server seemed newly joined and was not fully aware of some menu details or ingredient information. She was polite and tried her best, but it was evident that she was still getting familiar with the place and the process. With more experience, she will surely handle things more confidently.

Despite this small hitch, the service was prompt, and the food was served hot and fresh. The drinks were well-prepared, and the staff was courteous overall. The restaurant’s reputation for chicken wings is clearly justified by the buzz around us, as many guests were relishing their signature sauces.

For vegetarians, Anchor Bar still offers a decent experience with its cauliflower wings and side dishes. If you’re visiting Buffalo and want to taste a piece of local food history in a friendly setting, this place is worth checking out.

Overall Rating: 4/5 – Great ambience, good food, friendly service, slight room for improvement in...