A brief Saturday visit to First Ward Buffalo. 10 days before St. Patrick’s day, the celebrations are already started. Green is the predominant color today in the First Ward. Buffalo is ranked pretty high relative to St. Patrick’s day celebrations, but are the cities that rank higher also celebrating 10 days in advance? Lots of runners are out and about having completed the annual Shamrock Run 8K race.
First stop was the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino – net profit: $19. It’s a nice, clean relatively small casino with slots, table games and nice facilities.
Second stop was one of our favorite bars: Ballyhoo’s on the corner of Michigan and South Park. It’s got the look and feel of a neighborhood bar, but has an amazing selection of bourbons and whiskeys. They have a wide selection of gins, vodka’s, etc, but bourbon and whisky line the shelves on the walls. Great house specialty mixed drinks like the New Orleans style Pimmstagram that I tried, and a nice selection of local, national, and international beers means this cool little bar has what you like. The food menu may seem limited, every main item in the form of a sausage, but the sandwiches are delicious, and the sides are fantastic.
Gene McCarthy’s Old First Ward Tavern on Hamburg Street is a must visit, but it was too crowded for us Saturday. The Barrel Factory across the street is evolving into something fantastic, and back up on South Park, Mazurek’s Bakery has been in business since 1933, and is well known for it’s awesome selection of breads. These three places are common stops for us, but not on this Saturday.
Our last stop for the day was in an awesome, must visit, coffee shop, the Undergrounds Coffee House and Roastery on the corner of South Park and Hamburg Street. A couple of latte’s and a scone as good as any you’ll find was the order of the day.
