Acqua Restaurant & Catering

Only reason I gave it a 3 star rating is because I called to make Valentine’s Day reservations and was informed the restaurant is closing.

I should have read reviews on this place we waited forever even though they had open tables the food was ok which was acceptable because the views are wonderful work on the service!

I’ve come here for a banquet and I did enjoy the food. The establishment has a nice sized room and the décor is very nice. The location is a bit unexpected but they do have a nice view of the lake. I would like to return here to dine alone and experience it then.

$ 8 drink prices are not worth their waterfront location. Slow Roll Buffalo chose it as a host for its 7÷27÷15 ride. It was revealed that they gouged the rollers on drink as we filled the joint with 200+ rollers for the after party.

James on the waterfront patio is amazing… he’s a nice guy! Social, friendly and a helluva pourer! !!! Great drinks and good food! Go find James and show him the luv!!!

One of the most less-​than-​mediocre meals I’ve had in Buffalo on a long time. Imagination not quite fulfilled. No flavor tomatoes. Uninspired combinations. Had high hopes for Acqua reinventing itself at this great riverfront venue. What a shame.

Horrible service, unprofessional kitchen staff. Waited 45 minutes, didn’t get drinks yet, walked out.

Review of catering only:
Acqua catered an event I attended recently (Winter 2015). The cheeses for happy hour were nice, although not remotely original, cheddar and the like. They had some terrific bread, but once that was gone only crackers came back out. The veggies were ok, although a little tired looking. The dip was in a huge pot with a ladle. Very small plates made this awkward.
Dinner was buffet style and not great. Only one kind of salad dressing offered, honey mustard I think which was waaaay too sweet, and you had to pour it out of a pitcher, awkward. The salad was not cut small enough either, making it hard to eat. We were given small plates for the dinner, which was interesting as people put salad under their pasta serving to fit it on the plate. The pasta was some sort of tube noodle with a cream sauce. OK, but on the colder side. The protein was turkey, it was sliced in front of us and tasted alright, although limited seasoning.
Their were servers walking around clearing plates and glasses. Some asked before they cleared. Others did not. My drink walked away twice. Since it was a cash bar, this was a little annoying.
I would not use this place to cater an event. I will come to the location for drinks, as the views are nice. But Id hesitate to try food after this catering experience.

We went for restaurant week, the food was exceptional, the service was slow, and our drinks were wrong, twice. We sat with empty drinks, aside from water, for most of the meal.
It wasn’t busy, many empty tables, and still our dinner lasted longer than 3 hours! Server was polite, but painfully slow. Would definitely eat there again, if I had a free day.

Restaurant Week. Food– very good; Service horrible. Ordered wine with my meal, never came. Bar backed up.

Who pays $ 10 for sliced Tomatoes and a piece of cheese? I can get that for 75 cents. I thought it was a salad when I read it in the menu. What a joke.

Everything but the view is lousy. I had the ceviche, what a disappointment. Drinks are weak. Service stinks. Other folks food was cold and mediocre. But it is the best view in Bflo of the river and sunset. Stop for a drink, skip supper.

So after seeing all the reviews I was definitely hesitant to come here. I don’t know if something recently changed but I thought the food was really good. 3 picky eaters were all very satisfied with their meals. I had the Japanese scallops. The plate is enormous which you can’t always say about scallops. The sesame type sauce was a nice change and really works for the dish. The other two people at the table had the lamb chops. The chops came out perfectly cooked. Only complaint would be that there could have been a few more potatoes on the side. All the meals seemed pretty reasonably priced especially when taking the venue into account. We sat out on the patio under the covered section since there was a chance of rain. The view is just amazing and really what brought the review up to 5 stars. I liked that even on the patio you got a table clothe so that you still feel like you are we a restaurant and not a picnic. Lastly the wine selection albeit small, is quite affordable. I won’t pretend to know wine so I’m more of a quantity over quality person so I loved that they had some pretty inexpensive offerings. I’m glad we still went and I am looking forward to return.

Came here for a shower. Beautiful scene. A shame that their food and service aren’t up to par

Checked out Acqua last night with my wife’s side of the family. The food was good, the rest of my experience was a bit sub-​par. Basically for what it is, I think you can check out better places. They need to up their game at prices they charge.
We sat on the patio which I was not a fan of as I had the sun on my back the whole dinner. Not restaurants fault there, but they could possibly find a way to provide a bit more shade for the tables, like have a screen to lower. We had water glasses on the table which mine had some black thing floating in it. Our server was nice and friendly though seemed a bit unsure of herself, which provided an impression of inexperience. No real gaffes from her though.
For drinks, they have no beer on draft and their bottle selection is minimal. I was able to order a Flying Bison Aviator Red, but my brother-​in-​law wanted a Corona, which they were out of. He asked for any other Mexican beer but after checking was told they had none in the restaurant. No big deal with all this, but if I am going to spend the money for an expensive meal, I’d like a better beer selection to go with it. Father-​in-​law ordered wine for the table and the glasses needed to be sent back because they had film all over them. Also wine was served at room temperature, which I can’t stand. I mean it was red wine so I am not expecting it chilled, but it should be served slight below room temp, at about 60 – 65 degrees. This stuff was over 70 for sure. Just don’t understand how a nice restaurant can’t get this right.
For food I had the Indian spiced lamb and my wife had the Thai curry scallops. Entrees were mostly in $ 25-​$ 30 range, but came with a chef appertif and salad, and mine had some potato and vegetable as well. We shared our dishes. Neither was overly spiced or over cooked. Good flavors. Nothing mind blowing but pretty solid.
Thanks to my Father-​in-​law for picking up the tab. But if I was buying I’d probably take my money elsewhere. At a $ 18-​$ 23 price range, I would have been a bit more happy with the meal. But for a place trying to be more upscale, I expect clean glasses, better beer selection, and wine served at proper temp. Clean a few things up and I’d go back.

I went here the other night for a House music party. I don’t drink and never went inside the dining hall so I can’t say what the food or drinks are like but I did like the atmosphere. The people/​dancers were generally professional, nice people.
The outside patio is really nice as it overlooks the Niagara River. The DJ was great and the owner seems like a really cool guy. I liked it better than say Chippewa downtown or the Hertel Avenue bars. I see a lot of other reviews on Unilocal that seem to knock the dining so maybe this is just a great place for dance parties? I had a great time. I’ll have to go back for more sometime.

Appalled!!! Went there tonight for a friends birthday. With a party of 10 and 600 $ tab you would think the service would match. Not the case! In college I use to work there when it was Harry’s. This place insults the history of the restaurant use to be. Over priced food terrible service, and a garbage bar. You you want to throw away your money let me know. I’ll take it.

Review of outside patio only:
I’m inclined to give this place five-​stars for a place to grab a drink on the water, but I feel that would be unfair considering I’ve never tried the food here. In fact, I’ve never even had a crazy cocktail here; I just came here for a House Music party on their patio this past Friday and was blown away by the views, environment setup and the easy-​going bartenders. Igloo Music organized quite a night and even on a rainy and murky night, hundreds of people came out to see a handful of DJs do their best to get people dancing to House music. It was fun.
Let me get back to the patio: beautiful fire lanterns, heaters, and multiple stories! The lower part is covered from the rain and makes for a great hang out spot along the Niagara River. You can see Canada across the river. If you venture upstairs (where the bathrooms are, so you’ll probably go there), there’s some fantastic lighting (if you go at night) and an even higher-​vantage point for some views. I can’t comment much on the food or drinks yet, but I’ll be back based on the patio alone. Beautiful.
Tl;dr: heated semi-​enclosed patio, beautiful views at night, fantastic place to show off our beautiful water front. Didn’t try the food, but the effort they put into building out the patio is admirable. Great decorations /​lighting, etc.

Why one star?
My cousins booked a 150 guest party for my aunt and uncle’s 50^th anniversary. This was arranged well in advance of the event date. Days before the event itself, my cousins were told that the party had been overbooked and that they could no longer accommodate them. The manager never even bothered to return their calls. This should never occur at a venue of this size and purported caliber.
Five stars for Acqua management for doing a great job at shooting the business in it’s own foot. The 150 party guests are made up of local area residents who are well-​established and have lived in the area for ages. They lost tens of thousands in potential clients.

Came here for a 6pm wedding. I’m sure in the summer when the sun sets at 9pm, this venue is gorgeous. In October when the sun sets at 6:30pm, the view of the water is lost from the banquet room. Cocktail hour started at 6pm so we really didn’t get to see much of «the view» before it was dark out.
Cocktail hour was okay– open bar, typical crudite and cheese and crackers, plus passed appetizers. I had some sort of Asian dumping that was tasty but it seemed like there wasn’t many trays being offered.
The meal was a stuffed chicken breast, florentine style (spinach and cheese). The chicken was dry but everything tasted okay. Was served with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes. All okay. Nothing remarkable. We didn’t get a choice, which was odd, but there are probably very few people who don’t like chicken.
The room was long and narrow with the dance floor at one end and the bar along the side of the room. Unless you’re at a table right next to the dance floor, you see none of the wedding traditions (cake cutting, dances, etc) but thankfully I could care less about that so it didn’t matter to me. It was a bit cramped with 25+ tables of 10 people too.
Overall this venue was okay. The bathrooms were decent. I think this would have been a better location for a summer wedding though. Meh.