Schwabl's — Restaurant in Town of West Seneca

Get ready to be nickel and dimed for the stupidest things…

2 waters, mozzarella sticks, 2 fish fries and one pop=$75

A four dollar up charge for German potato salad – not even a half a cup of it - instead of the crinkle cut fries that comes with your fish fry is insane. The waiter asked what I wanted as a side for my fish fry and gave me three options, sweet potato fries, which she told me there was an up charge for, German potato salad, which she did not say had upcharge and the fries. I opted for the potato salad unaware of the charge.

Wait staff ALWAYS makes customers aware of up charges and it should be written on the menu prior to side dish swap. They also charge 3.99 for a pop with no refills. The glass was filled 3/4 up with ice in a 6 ounce skinny glass is what you’ll get. When we were greeted by the waitress, we were asked what we wanted to drink. I wasn’t sure if I wanted an alcoholic beverage or a pop so I asked for just a water in the meantime while I was reviewing options. Never were we told that we were going to be given a bottle of water that was a charge of $1 so after she left to get the waters and I had time to review and open the menu i saw that it was written in there and I declined to purchase any further drinks and just sit with my one dollar bottle of water. Tap water I guess is bleeding them dry. lol

The German potato salad that I swapped my fries sustained a $4 upcharge- was overly seasoned and sour / subpar. The fish fry was overly crispy and smaller than any other local establishment in area. The fish fry came with a side of coleslaw too which was good. When everywhere else you will go you will get a Mac salad, potato salad, coleslaw, bread and a fish larger than your plate this place doesn’t. I will never dine here again. Make your customers aware of your abnormal up charging and policies. We also ordered mozzarella sticks because there is no kid menu- well that is $11 for 5/6 small sticks.

Nickel and dime guests all you want but make sure they are aware of these up charges. The wait staff should be telling you every time you’re up-charged for things that normally come with the meals or swaps and are standard at all other restaurants in Buffalo.

If you’re going to ask me for a drink prior to me even opening my menu make sure I’m aware that this water is not going to be tap and you’re going to charge me for it because nowhere in Buffalo do they actually charge for water at dinner unless it’s high class and this place...

Schwab's was honestly very delicious. I thought I should start with that one positive thing before moving on to the bad stuff. The food was great, very flavourful and perfectly made. The bad things sadly out way the good things. Their portion size wasn't the best for the astronomical price I had to pay. I ordered the special which was a roast beef on a specialty roll with 2 sides. The waitress who took our orders made it sound like I can choose any of the choices she listed without extra cost. She listed things such as french fries, mash potatoes, sweet potato fries and one other that I can't remember. I asked for mashed potatoes because I thought it would suit the type of food I was getting. I also ordered a "sweet tea" which strangely tasted a lot like Snapple with lemon. The tea was tiny, maybe around 6oz and they charged me $2.59 for it. Now, when the food came, it was amazing. Some of the best roast beef I've had in a long time but they gave me a small serving of mashed potatoes and coleslaw, which I also chose instead of pickled beets. I was eating a few coworkers and when it was time for us to get the check, the waitress just gave us one check without asking if we wanted it split or not so that was a whole process in of itself. Then comes the price, for my sandwich, small serving of mashed potatoes, same sized serving of coleslaw and 2 ice teas it came to be almost 26 bucks before a tip. Now when the waitress listed the different sides, she didn't mention anything about having to pay extra for them. My mashed potatoes were about 3 dollars extra while fries were free. That's a little rediculous.

Overall, great food but service and price will definitely keep me away from there. If you like old style restaurants and good food but are willing to pay a large premium for it then you should go but if you don't want to spend 50 dollars on a meal for 2 then I would rather go to Anderson's and get roast beef...

After all I heard about the history of this place, finally excited to have the opportunity to take my family there. Really I should give this 1 1/2 to two stars. Yes the atmosphere was interesting, inviting and casual. But we came for the renowned roast beef. Not particular myself because I am not a beef eater but my young men are. Our wait staff was not very attentive. We asked for glasses of water, she brought us Mayer bros. bottled water. We said that we didn't order this we would just like water. She dismissed my comment and said, "we get a good deal from Mayor bros. It's only a dollar per bottle." I was speechless. Onto the roast beef which three of our party ordered. First, who pays $10 for a roast beef that doesnt include fries or chips or any side? One of the parties wanted cheese with the sandwich of which we were charged not $1 but $2 with no warning. Like the server would usually say something like "that's an extra $2. The roast beef was good not exceptional but very good. I ordered a fish fry. It is very pricey for a fish fry in Buffalo. I was asked what sides would I like and then she proceeded to tell my the sides, "german potato salad, french, fries, sweet potato fries. I chose sweet potato fries. I did not know that she was going to charge me an extra $3 for the fries . Really?! (You dont inform your customers that there is an upcharge.? ) The fish was breaded, too brown on the outside and slightly underdone on the inside. ok, the pickled beets were good. But who pays $21 for a fish fry (not exceptional at all) in WNY? Apparantly, I do. So for the four of us ordering just roast beef and a fish fry we pay $75? not including the tip? There are SO MANY good places to eat in this area. Grovers, places on Hertel Avenue, Vizzis, Athena's fish fries and so many other reasonable locales why would I ever eat here again? The food wasn't even that good. Sorry. Learned my lesson...