Western New York’s Favorite Restaurants That Start With The Letter A

Coming up with a place to go out to eat isn't always easy, but you can make it a lot easier with this method that we came up with a couple of years ago.

As many stories do in Western New York, this story starts at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo.  It had been a while since any of us had been to the original Anchor Bar downtown, so a couple of us decided to go back and check it out.  It's right here in our own backyard, and instead of listening to everyone else's opinion about it, we thought we should rediscover it again and form our own.

We had a great time.  The wings were delicious, and as we sat there, we wondered why we didn't get together to do this more often. There were so many restaurants that we wanted to try (or to try again for the first time in a long time).  Why not do this every month?  We could pick a new place every time.  But how would we pick?

How did the Alphabet Trail get started?

We were already at a restaurant that started with the letter A. Why not continue right through the alphabet?  While we sat there, we pulled out our phones to find a list of places that started with the letter B.  We found one called Bellini and each week we did the same thing.  We are up to the letter T right now.  We're slowly eating our way through Western New York one restaurant at a time.

Extra rules to follow:

1. They don't have to be fancy restaurants.  In some cases, there were some that we wouldn't have normally splurged on, but dive bar types of restaurants can be just as fun

2. Be flexible.  If most people in the group want to try something that you've already been to, go back and help the rest of the group with what's good there.

3.  Be willing to try new places.  You won't like them all the same, but you might find a new favorite!

It's been a lot of fun, so I thought I'd make it a little easier for you to do the same thing if you wanted to try it this summer.  You can go month by month, week by week, or day by day.  I'll give you a list of restaurants that you can start with, and every week there will be a new list that starts with a different letter.  So let's start at the very beginning.

A list of restaurants in Buffalo that people love, whose names start with the letter A:

• Anchor Bar - Popular for their wings! (1047 Main St, Buffalo, NY 14209)
• Allen Burger Venture (ABV) - Popular for their gourmet burgers and craft brews (175 Allen St, Buffalo, NY 14201)
• Andersons - Popular for their roast beef sandwiches and custards (6 locations in Western New York)
• Acropolis OPA: Modern Greek and Mediterranean cuisine (5429 Main St, Williamsville, NY 14221)
• Alton's Restaurant - Family restaurant (2250 Walden Ave, Buffalo, NY 14225)
• Amici Ristorante - Traditional Italian favorites (2516 Elmwood Ave, Kenmore, NY 14217)
• Adolf's Old First Ward Tavern - Known for some of the best wings and beef on weck in Buffalo (555 South Park Ave, Buffalo, NY 14204)
• Andale Cantina - Mexican fare (6850 Main St Suite 2, Williamsville, NY 14221)
• Arriba Tortilla - Mexican fare (40 Riley Street in East Aurora)