There is a specific dinner that happens near every large university, several times a year. A student, one or two parents, possibly a younger sibling being shown around, and occasionally a roommate whose family could not make the trip. Everybody is slightly tired. Somebody is paying who does not live here and has no idea where to go.
At UB this happens at move-in in late August, at family weekend in the autumn, around finals, and at graduation in May. Here is how to handle it.
Book, even when you think you do not need to
The four dates above are the four hardest nights of the year to walk into a restaurant near campus. Move-in weekend in particular catches people out, because it does not feel like an event — but several thousand families are all in the same few square miles doing the same thing on the same Saturday.
A week's notice is usually enough for a table of four or five. For anything larger, or for graduation, plan much further ahead — we have written separately about booking a graduation dinner, because May is a different order of difficulty.
What visiting parents actually want
Having watched a lot of these dinners, some patterns:
- They want to see where you actually live. A generic chain by the highway defeats the purpose. Somewhere in the neighborhood tells them more about your life here than the food does.
- They want to sit down properly. After a day of carrying boxes up three flights, a table with chairs and a server is the point.
- They want it to feel local. If they have flown in from out of state, this may be their only real Buffalo meal. Give them beef on weck or a fish fry rather than pasta they could get anywhere.
- They quietly want it to be reasonable. Most families visiting a state school are not looking for a tasting menu.
- They want to feed your friends. Almost every one of these dinners grows by at least one roommate. Assume it.
Nobody flies to Buffalo and hopes for chicken alfredo. Give them the weck.
Handling the logistics
Parking during big weekends is genuinely bad. Campus lots fill, street parking around the Heights tightens, and a rental car makes everything harder. The Metro Rail runs up Main Street and solves this cleanly — the line and the restaurants are co-located along this stretch, so family staying downtown can take the train up and nobody circles the block.
Time it earlier than you would for friends. Parents who drove five hours are not looking for a 9pm reservation. Six or seven o'clock, and everyone stays pleasant.
Warn the restaurant about dietary requirements when you book, not when you arrive. Somebody in the group will have one, and the difference between a heads-up and a surprise is significant on a busy night.
A prospective student being shown around is the entire subtext of a lot of these dinners. Somewhere with an actual kids' menu and staff who are not annoyed by a fourteen-year-old is worth more than the food rating — see our notes on taking kids out to eat in Buffalo.
Why we do fine at this
We are on Main Street minutes from South Campus, we have been feeding this neighborhood's families for a long time, and the room can absorb a party of nine without anybody standing awkwardly in a doorway. The menu covers the local specialties for visitors, beef on weck first among them, and has a full vegan section for whoever needs it.
If the group is larger than about twelve, we have private event space, which turns a loud dinner into a proper one. Details on the banquets page.
Otherwise just call ahead and we will hold you a table in our dining room. Six o'clock is a good idea.