Artvoice: Buffalo's #1 Newsweekly
Home Blogs Web Features Calendar Listings Artvoice TV Real Estate Classifieds Contact
Previous story: Five gift ideas for cool kids
Next story: Artvoice Holiday Advertiser Directory

You can't go home again, But you can still drink there...

As far as bar holidays go, the day before Thanksgiving is New Year’s Eve, St. Patrick’s Day, Dyngus Day, and Cinco De Mayo combined. Bar owners contend that they make more money during this holiday than any other, and a number of police officers concur that they have more problems on Thanksgiving Eve by comparison to similar alcohol-fueled frenzies.

Lounge lizards will tell you that there are a multitude of reasons for this. First of all, expatriates return home for some mandatory time with family who chose to stay in Buffalo. One can only handle so much of that, so after a few hours of unpacking and getting caught up on family dysfunctions, a stiff drink or 10 is in order. You also have to factor in the general nervous-breakdown-inducing stress monsoon that the onset of the holiday gantlet inspires. This all hits home on our already precarious psyches, our holiday credit card limits, and our capacity for patience once the week leading up to Thanksgiving rears its ugly head. Hence the day before Thanksgiving bash.

For the uninitiated, this holiday tends to be of a flavor whereby thirsty people stick close to home (and to the bars that were second homes). Fortunately, Buffalo is a town that is blessed with an abundance of great neighborhood haunts. In researching and writing this endeavor (asking random barflies and owners where the hot spots were over the course of the last two months), I tried my best to pick a small sampling of watering holes along the tectonic fault lines where problem drinking, alumni boozing, and holiday-related stress release unfold.

Forgive me if you disagree with the five picks I went with. You could honestly write a book about the cornucopia of great party bars in Buffalo.

Brenan's Bowery Bar

Brennan’s Bowery Bar

4401 Transit Road, Williamsville, 633- 9630

Having graduated from Amherst (which is right on the border of Williamsville), I knew Brennan’s to be a perfect example of what the pre-Thanksgiving booze horn of plenty is all about. Myself (and my two brothers) can count high school alumni by the dozens on any given weekend, the food is unbelievable, and, with or without bands, the crowd always approaches maximum occupancy. Despite extensive renovations to the bar (expanded), the concrete smoking and dining patio (newly constructed), and an already highly contested adjoining dining area, you might want to make reservations if you’re going to fill up your belly for a night of strong drink. Brennan’s packs them in at all ages and from all walks of life for this particular yearly ritual. People from Clarence, Clarence Center, Amherst, and Williamsville dog-pile into Brennan’s during the big drinking holidays.

This Year: Studio 54, a disco band, will performs from 8 pm. on. The bar features 19 draft beers on tap and 20 bottled beers starting at $3.50 a pint or a bottle. Well drinks will set you back $3.75 or more.

Caputi’s Sheridan Pub

2351 Sheridan Drive, Tonawanda, 836-9758

Much like Brennan’s, Caputi’s is a a neighborhood hangout that’s right on the cusp of the Kenmore/Tonawanda border with a wealth of pool tables, dart boards, HDTVs with HD reception, solid pub grub, and no shortage of gorgeous single women of all shapes and sizes. Caputi’s features more than 20 bottled beers and six beers on tap (mostly from the Molson and Labatt families, which isn’t a detriment for most Buffalonians). The bar has been remodeled recently, and the management has branched into the liquor store business (further down the road at 3015 Sheridan Drive).

One note of extreme caution, though: Recruit a designated driver. This should be a given on any large drinking holiday, but Caputi’s is within striking distance of the Town of Tonawanda Police Department, and trust me when I say that they play for keeps. Either split money with your crew on a cab or draw straws for a DD, because those Tonawanda cops will take you out. It’s common knowledge that the police cruisers pick off Caputi’s customers from Caputi’s almost the instant they leave the parking lot, so don’t think that you’re going to be the one lucky drinker who gets away with it. You won’t.

This year: The Dave Constantino band (an exceptionally good blues band) will be performing 10pm-2am. The bar will open up a third room with an additional bar for the performance. They’ll also extend their happy hour specials for the event (two-for-one beers, well drinks two for $5).

Paige’s Grill & Bar

4725 Transit Road, Depew, 608-0172

Paige’s has a lot of great features working in their favor: a newly expanded wraparound bar in the lounge, twice the size of the original, a gorgeous patio, a separate dining room, daily party food specials, and one of the best locations a bar could occupy—right near the Thruway, on the main drag that is Transit Road. The bar fills for practically every Sabres and Bills game, and the place is notorious for being an after-concert nightcap bar after Thursdays in the Square wrap in summer, so the day before the turkey timer pops up is a no-brainer. Take-no-prisoners partygoers from Depew, Lancaster, Cheektowaga, and West Seneca have frequented this bar for more than a decade.

It should also be noted that the newer Paige’s Paradise Island—a much bigger building where special occasions and radio promotions have been hosted in the past—is accessible from the parking lot without having to make a left onto Transit Road, so if you show up too late and there’s not even standing room 10 feet from the bar, get more than a few “tickets to Paradise” free of charge.

This Year: Happy hour specials, noon-7pm. Six draft beers and 18 bottles, along with well drinks starting at $2.75. Owner Brian Paige is expecting well over 500 people over the course of the evening, so if you want a spot along the rail, show up sooner rather than later.

223 Allen, aka The Old Pink

The Old Pink, properly named 223 Allen

223 Allen Street (obviously), Buffalo, 884-4338

Directly in the heart and soul of Allentown, there isn’t a traveled soul alive who hasn’t had a sketchy last-call hookup or a final debilitating nightcap at what used to be the Pink Flamingo, which was established in 1923. Young club kids who haven’t earned their wings are turned off by the place, which makes it that much more appealing to those of us who have put more than a few notches on our belts at a multitude of bars, pubs, and clubs.

Recently, the bar was courageous (or insane) enough to host a “Porn & Chicken Night,” which was shut down after a few weeks for reasons that needn’t be explained here. With dark red lighting, graffiti that spans decades, a natural cool, good food (especially their steak sandwiches), and crazy cheap drink prices and specials, this one is a slam dunk for any downtown native or visiting tourist who isn’t afraid of getting down, dirty, and outlandishly hammered.

This Year: $3 pints all day every day. Rolling rock split buckets, six for $5. Well drinks $3.25. Steak sandwich for $10. Longtime employee Jay McCarthy says it will be “madness everywhere all over again.”

Gene McCarthy’s Irish Pub

73 Hamburg Street, Buffalo, 846-3725

Established in 1963 by Eugene and his wife Mary, McCarthy’s was originally a hotel of sorts for longshoremen in Buffalo’s First Ward. They have a strong reputation for great food (including a prodigious Reuben, fish fries, beef on weck, and a gluten-free menu), live traditional Irish music, historical décor, and exceptional customer service.

This year: $2 bottles of beer, a free food buffet from 4pm to close, and a live band from 8pm to close.

A few closing rules for those new to the scene, the city or the major and magnificently intoxicating days on the calendar:

• Don’t spend the evening before Thanksgiving at a franchise restaurant. It’s tacky, hacky, cheesy, and completely uncalled for. Only soccer moms and people without taste or tact spend the big days out at these name-branded, homogenized lobotomy factories that pass for bars. As a rule, I don’t drink anywhere where the bartenders aren’t allowed to do a shot with me. In over a decade, this rule has served me well.

• Tip generously. As the holiday season approaches, remember that servers make more than half of their take-home pay from gratuities and just because they’re unreasonably busy doesn’t mean that you need to take it out on their cost of living. The majority of the bartenders, barbacks, and servers in this great city work their tails off to take care of everyone as fast as they can, and most of them do it with half a buzz on. Keep that in mind.

• Drive safely or get a designated driver. For the multitude of drinking holidays, you might as well paint a target on your car if you’re even considering driving drunk. I’m not going to tell you to drink responsibly because a)we’re Buffalonians, b)I drink heavily, and c)you probably will too if you’re out on the night before the Macy’s parade. Drink heavily, but don’t do anything stupid. New Year’s and Thanksgiving Eve are notorious for stupid bar fights, DWIs, alcohol poisoning, and other mishaps of all shapes and sizes, so go slightly over your limit, get home safely, pop some pills in preparation for the family love-in the day after, drink plenty of water, and stock the fridge with orange juice, energy drinks, or whatever it takes to stay conscious and cogent until the turkey kicks in.

• Enjoy your holiday (even if you’re in traction from the night before),


Artvoice Holiday Gift Guide: Think LocalAdvertiser DirectoryArtisans Bazaar
BooksDVDsFive IdeasThanksgiving EveThe Big Bird

blog comments powered by Disqus