The Burning Buffalo Bar & Grill

TLDR Review - Burning Buffalo is the best bar on hertel if you like beer on tap and has the best burger on Hertel (I'll explain why below) along with a great regular menu and a wide variety of daily specials. The kitchen is open later than most places on Hertel (a plus for the late night crowd) and its telling when other bartenders on Hertel finish their night and come to Burning Buffalo to relax. On beer - when Burning Buffalo came to Hertel a year ago (replacing Shadow lounge) Seth & Nick clearly knew what Hertel was missing - a bar with a wide variety of beer taps where several constantly rotate for seasonals and special events as well as a wide bottle selection in the cooler. By committing to the idea of tap takeovers and rotating seasonals, they've ensured that locals will get their favorite staples as well as have the chance to always get something different. On Burgers - You cannot pick up a mountain of a burger with five hundred toppings and judge what makes a burger good. A good burger comes down to the 'mix' of beef in the patty - by using a blend of different cuts ground together you get the best of flavor and texture. Burning Buffalo (a proudly declared mix of aged tenderloin, ribeye and short rib) has taken what all of the high end burger bars in NYC have figured out and bring it to Buffalo - google Pat La Freida meats, Minetta Tavern, "The Black Label Burger" or the Serious Eats blog to see what I'm talking about - you'll find that using a better mix just makes a regular burger even with nothing but cheese (the garlic mayo is also outstanding). Bonus? They'll cook your burger how you like it, where some places cook them the same for everyone. For those even more into their burgers, you can get a wild game burger, which changes regularly. You can name the number of places in Buffalo that say what goes into their mix on a single hand, and that says something special. On the rest of the Menu - Seth, Nick & Chef Dustin have a standard pub offering of salads, sandwiches, chili along with the go-to wings or mac & cheese -but they've also included a daily menu of more elevated options you'll be hard pressed to find on Hertel - previous items like seared duck breast, grilled shark, tuna, scallops & risotto, pork cheek, conch fritters... the list goes on. So while you can get a beer & some wings during a football game (which you should!) Burning Buffalo also holds its own and then some with their daily specials compared to many of the more formal eateries on Hertel. Conch Fritters. Seriously. If you'e been to the Bahamas (or sourthern Florida) these are like the local "Buffalo Wings" to snack on with a beer. Just try to find another place in Buffalo that's gone out of the comfort zone and offered them on the menu, and when you struggle to do so, give Burning Buffalo a try.