The Best Rated Restaurant Shocks People In Western New York

TripAdvisor put together a list of the best restaurants in Buffalo and many people were shocked to see what topped the list.

When you think of the best restaurants in Buffalo, what do you think of?  Is it any of the incredible places to go for steaks?  Any of the restaurants where you can go an eat on the waterfront?  Maybe it's something more specific like a restaurant that only local people know about.

Our local restaurant scene in Buffalo is phenomenal.  We have incredible chefs and servers who really want to make sure you have the best dining experience possible.

What is TripAdvisor?

Trip Advisor is a website that was designed to help people who are from out of town to find the best places to visit when they go to a city.  For instance, if you're from Buffalo and you want to visit Boston, MA, where would you go for food, entertainment, and a place to stay?  You'd go to TripAdvisor to see what other people say.  What are the ratings like?  They've got a full community of people who love to give tips and reviews to make your stay even better.

TripAdvisor's top restaurants list

If you search for restaurants on TripAdvisor right now, you'll see their top list of restaurants to check out in Western New York. It was just updated in February and people were a little shocked by what they saw.  The list looks like this:

1. The Melting Pot, Cheektowaga, 400 reviews, 4.5 rating
2. Dick and Jenny’s, Grand Island, 298 reviews, 4.5 rating
3. Break’n Eggs Creperie, Williamsville, 313 reviews. 4.5 rating
4. Bacchus wine Bar & Restaurant, Buffalo, 391 reviews, 4.5 rating
5. Hutch’s, Buffalo, 408 reviews, 4.5 rating
6. Mulberry Italian Ristorante, Buffalo/Lackawanna, 1,037 reviews, 4.5 rating
7. Big Ditch Brewing Co., 351 reviews, 4.5 rating
8. The Left Bank, Buffalo, 704 reviews, 4.5 rating
9. Chef’s, Buffalo, 854 reviews, 4.0 rating
10. Lombardo Ristorante, Buffalo, 256 reviews, 4.5 rating

What's so shocking about that list?

People were simply shocked to see a chain restaurant at #1 on the list.  When most people think of the best restaurants in a city, they normally immediately think about a small locally owned restaurant.  Very rarely do they think of a restaurant that they can get in other cities.

This isn't to take away from the work that they do at The Melting Pot.  If you've ever eaten there, it's delicious.  The food is always fresh, and the servers are always incredibly kind and friendly when explaining how the menu works.  If you've never been there, it can be a little confusing as to what you get when you order, and how many people it feeds, and so on.

This isn't the first time a Melting Pot restaurant has topped a list in a city.  It happened in Orlando in 2022 and Pittsburgh in 2019 just to name a few.