Black Rock Kitchen & Bar

I went on a Saturday night at 7pm. The restaurant was able to seat 8 of us with no problem. It was packed but not over crowded. The place was smaller than I originally thought but it’s very nice and unique. The food is a bit on the pricey side but you can tell the chef put some time on each dish. I had the sirloin steak and it was cooked just right. The menu is quite eclectic. The service was great. I loved the atmosphere. Good place to take a girl on a first date. The bar also has an interesting choice of drinks.

Had the pleasure of talking to the best bartender I’ve ever encountered. Good man.
Blueberry Mojito is to die for.
Cozy setting. Calm and laid back.
Amazing little place.

Outstanding food. Stopped by with my son for a quick dinner. We split the Reuben and knuckle sandwich. They were both outstanding! It was the first time my son had a Reuben and he is hooked.
The wait staff was quick and attentive. The only complaint is the noise level. It is a busy bar, don’t expect a quiet meal

Have been twice now and I always leave disappointed. As other reviewers suggest, drinks are excellent, but service is slow, and I have noticed that the chef seems to think throwing one or two trendy ingredients together is cooking. Cooking is at least as much about process, and cooking for a restaurant is also about timing. Things come out warm when they should be hot, mushy when they should be crispy, gummy when they should have some tooth to them. I was hoping they would mature, but a few years in they feel very much the same.

Love this place. They have great food and awesome drinks. The servers are fun and attentive and know the menu and drink menu very well.
Their specials are where it’s at. Everything we had, food and drink, was all great. And the outdoor seating area was beautiful.
If you haven’t been here yet check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

I’ve never had a bad experience at BRKB. My boyfriend brought me here on our first date and we still go here every year to celebrate. The seafood selection is always on point as is there extremely extensive drink menu. And don’t get me started on the brunch menu.
The bartenders do not skimp on the champagne in the Mimosas & I’ve heard the Bloody Mary’s are to die for. Get the donut holes! You can also make minor adjustments to many of the items, say if you’d like smoked salmon on your Egg Benny instead of Ham & the wait staff is happy to make the adjustment, no problem!
The service is always spectacular and it is a beautiful little spot. Parking is across the street & it’s pretty specific, so make sure to read the signs carefully.
BRKB is definitely our go-​to neighborhood restaurant.

Since BRK&B has a brand new menu, I thought this was a good time for me to finally write a review! I’ve been here several times now for brunch, dinner, or cocktails. This restaurant’s presence on Amherst has helped to bring life back to a fairly isolated part of the city. I’ve been a longtime fan of Mark Goldman’s other popular spot, Hardware, mostly for its environment, beer selection, and staff. BRK&B has much of the same attributes.
Last night I went to BRK&B for dinner with a party of six. We split gnocchi, some sort of sweet potato croquettes, and ratatouille to start. All of these appetizers, especially the croquettes, were great. I wish I could remember all the details of these dishes but I’d had a couple drinks and the new menu is not online yet.
I had an out-​of-​this-​world cauliflower dish with brussel sprouts and steak frites as an entrée. The other guests in my party ordered risotto, fish of the day, a ruben, and pork tenderloin. Everyone seemed to really enjoy their meals. My friend who had the ruben said it was not exactly what he was expecting, but 5 for 6 is not bad in my book.
Finally, we split chocolate mousse, apple pie, ice cream, and bananas foster for dessert. Needless to say, everyone was stuffed and satisfied.

I had an amazing dinner and experience here yesterday. We were seated outside in the «garage,» a beautiful rustic backyard area with a former garage filled with seating.
We ordered two perfect bourbon and lemonade «rocktails» and started off with meatballs. The meatballs came with spicy marinara and buttery toast to finish off the sauce.
We did end up waiting a little too long for the three meatballs but it wasn’t an issue, the backyard had a very relaxing vibe to it.
Shortly after our very friendly server brought out my crab cake BLT and my dudes steak sammy. The crab cake rivaled ones I had in Baltimore and the avocado and bacon made it a unique eat. The steak sandwich was enormous and cooked to order, you certainly can’t go wrong with that.
I wouldn’t return here if I was in a hurry but for a laid back, high quality weekend dinner I wouldn’t think twice.

Black Rock has become my favorite neighborhood place to while away a Sunday evening, sitting at the bar enjoying one of the various and sundry available cocktails (on and off the menu) while at turns chatting with Tony and reading a book.
It gets busy without being excessively loud, but the dining room is almost always virtually empty. Order something off the menu and you’ll understand why. I enjoy the Caesar salad and a couple other things (the fried chicken comes to mind) but for the most part dishes that sound great in theory come out just sort of meh. I don’t even remember most of what I’ve tried, because very little of it was in any way memorable.
Overall still a good spot to have a few drinks, improvements in the kitchen could bump it up to excellent.

As a bit of disclaimer, I’ve never actually eaten here properly as I’ve only been to the bar, but the two times I’ve been I’ve never been disappointed.
The first time I went a friend and I went around midnight on a whim and the place was mostly empty with the exception of people who worked in the kitchen and were getting off their shift I’d assume. Normally I’d feel incredibly awkward at this point but the bartender Pat came right up to us and was honestly so welcoming. He catered to all of our alcoholic whims and suggested some killer gin for us to try. We even got chatting about Game of Thrones, comic books, and a bunch of other nerdy things. Plus, one of the chefs brought us out cupcakes and lamb that they had left over for us to help finish off. It felt like one of those experiences that people only have in movies.
The best part is, the next time we went back (nearly a month or so later), the minute we walked in (around midnight again) Pat immediately recognized us and remembered our names solidifying him as my favorite bartender in all of Buffalo. Plus, he makes a killer gin martini.
So while I’ve never eaten here properly, I definitely recommend for the atmosphere, if not only for Pat the bartender.

Go somewhere else! I used to like this place until I encountered the owner. He spoke to a person at my table in a way that was unprofessional. Here is the situation: We were short a handful of people from out party of 20 and he tried to claim that he reserved the entire restaurant for us (untrue because there were already patrons there before we got there and BRK&B seats many more people than our party size). We only had the back corner of the outside patio. We didn’t even take up half the tables outside and many of the tables they didn’t reserve for us were untouched all night. BRK&B was half empty inside too. The owner said in front of the table, and I quote, «Maybe I should say this to you privately» and «How are you going to rectify this situation?» After a 2 minute scolding, he finally stopped because we all started to say we were uncomfortable and this was unprofessional. It was a slow, Wednesday night. On the bright side, we had a wonderful waitress. We asked her to cancel our orders since we didn’t want spit in our food and handed her a pile of cash for being so kind to us. I feel bad that she has to work for such a horrible man.

I’m updating this to a four strictly for brunch. I’ve been a half dozen times for brunch now and, aside from the first time, the wait was reasonable for service and food (we had reservations every time). The food is always excellent and the servers friendly. Nice variety of brunch options to please every taste, from the traditional (pancakes of the day) to the carnivorous (sausage on a cheddarmilk biscuit with fried egg and cheese) to more adventurous and lunch-​y fare.
I can’t go full five on this ’til I experience dinner a few more times. My first dinner experience was extremely underwhelming and turned me off the place for a bit, but their brunch has definitely made me a believer. This has become my special occasion/​date Sunday/​bring people from out of town place for brunch, hands down.

My girlfriend and I stopped in for a bite to eat after hearing some good things about the place. Either my friends played a horrible joke on me or there have been some big changes since they were here.
We drank water and ordered a salad and two sandwiches. I had the Asian Napa salad. After about 30min the salad came out (the place was half full, hardly what I would consider busy enough to warrant such a tardy arrival for a simple salad). First thing I noticed was the pittance of salad before me. I have had side salads that were more bountiful than this, and for half the price. So, not off to a great start. She ordered the curried chicken sandwich and I had the crab cake blt. Both came out about 5min after I was served my salad. Both sandwiches looked good. Unfortunately they taste didn’t match. Both were rather bland and forgetable. Not much to write about.
What did we pay for this less than ok culinary experience? $ 44.00. For a salad and two sandwiches! I am the kind of person that doesn’t mind spending money on great food. This however was ridiculous. I can’t say I would recommend this place to anyone nor do I think I will return to give it a second chance. Way too many other great places out there to try!
That being said, I hope that others have better experiences than we did!

A review from my brunch experience:
I had been wanting to visit Black Rock Kitchen & Bar for a while now. Well, when I woke up a couple Sundays ago, I decided to treat my mom to brunch. Since this was a rather last minute decision, I called to see if I needed reservations (I did) and whether any were available (there weren’t). However, the hostess informed me there is seating near the window as well as the bar and that it wouldn’t be a problem to order food there.
Off to the restaurant we went. The seats by the window were taken. As we were settling into our seats at the bar, the hostess informed us a table was available after all — yay! I’m just thankful they were able to accommodate us comfortably.
I went with the poached eggs over corned beef hash while my mom got the omelette of the week. I truly enjoyed the poached eggs although I don’t really have anything to compare them to as I had never had poached eggs before. Regardless, quite delicious and the hash was yummy as well.
We also enjoyed the mimosas when the clock struck noon!
Great experience, I hope to come back for dinner and drinks.

My girlfriend and I decided to try a new place instead of our usual. From my experience, the service was great! Very nice/​friendly waiters with a smiling face.
Appetizers: Crab cake was about $ 15. Small portion. Seasoning was okay. The lack of an appropriate sauce really really ruined it for me.
Entré: (~$ 22)I had the duck breast with rice. Rice was seriously under seasoned & very oily. Duck was juicy and tender but a tad bit undercooked for my taste.
–My girlfriend’s salmon (~$ 24) seems to be good. Then again, she likes salmon no matter the case.
Dessert: ($ 6) Some sort of brownie with nuts and marshmallows on top. It was warm but a bit too stiff. Again, poor experience.
We each had two drinks. Nothing to complain on the drinks other than the price.
Overall, the bill came out to be $ 120 before tips. Normally that’s a bit pricy but I wouldn’t mind if the food was to my satisfaction. Unfortunately, the food was very poor at best.
On the bright side: ambiance is great! Probably a place I’d come by for a drink or two.
I definitely need to go back to one of my regular places for ¹⁄₃ the price with much better food to cleanse the bitter experience from this restaurant.

Brunch review only:
Yum.
Creative take on regular fare like steak and eggs, pancakes, and french toast. They had a stuffed waffle/​pancake on the menu the day I went.
I went with a steak & eggs (served with homefries), while my fiancé opted for the simple $ 7 2 eggs, homefries and toast. We got a hot apple crisp of sorts to share for dessert. Everything was delicious. The steak was cooked perfectly medium rare and it was a nice cut. The eggs, bread, home fries — all amazing.
Service was prompt and professional too. We loved our experience here, will update review when we come back for dinner.

Great ambiance! What a great addition to the Amherst Street blooming area! What a different menu than anything I’ve seen before! Their patio is what every house in Buffalo should have with cheery white lights, tasteful decorations, comfy seating and outdoor kitchenette type area. I could eat here nightly!
Love this place!

I enjoy the atmosphere and the location (one of the only places in Black Rock to relax at a nice bar). But I just can’t get behind the prices in relation to the product. For about the same price at a restaurant of equal or better quality (i.e. Left Bank, Aroma, The Phoenix, Mother’s) I can get much tastier food.
The food here isn’t bad. But I keep expecting it to blow me away and it doesn’t.
I suppose what really insults me is the price of a glass of wine. The only Pinot Noir served by the glass is $ 11/​glass. It’s decent, but not the best Pinot I’ve had. $ 11 is absurd. You can get a whole bottle of decent wine at Tappo for $ 15 !!! Something isn’t adding up here.
To end on a positive note: the beer selection here is great. Lots of unique beers that you may not have seen anywhere else. No surprise, as they are owned by the same owners of Hardware, which also features an outstanding beer selection.

Shame on me for living so close and not exploring this place prior to yesterday! I heard about it. I read about. I just never venture past Wegmans on Amherst Street, so I forgot about it.
Well I am glad that my friend suggested this as our meeting grounds. We were unsure of the weather, so she said there is a patio if it’s nice, if not we can sit inside. I loved the atmosphere inside. There are shorter dining tables along the right wall, in the center are higher bar top tables, and there is a large, long bar on the left wall. There is also a cozy little bar nook in the front left window. The purple-​ish paint on the walls complements the paintings and decorations throughout. The only thing I was unimpressed with was the bathroom. It didn’t seem to be on the same caliber as the restaurant, and carried a musty, mildew odor that had me holding my breath the entire time I was in there.
When we arrived shortly after 6 pm it was not busy at all. Only 2 or 3 other tables were occupied, and there were a couple people at the bar. It was comfortable and roomy. By the time we left, it was packed! The whole place was practically filled. At that point it felt a little cramped because the tables were very small and in close proximity to one another.
They had a cocktail menu (or should I say a «rocktail» menu as they stated). All drinks on the menu were $ 9. Some looked enticing, but we opted for glasses of wine. The price on the glasses of wine varied, some were $ 6, and some were up to $ 11. My friend pointed out the fish tacos to me on the menu, and I couldn’t help but order them. Priced at $ 15, I was eager to try them, since Cantina Loco has my absolute favorite fish taco for only $ 6 and I wanted to compare. The menu describes the fish tacos as follows: three corn meal crusted ocean perch, pico de gallo, guacamole, and micro greens on a flour tortilla. I personally, would have placed the guacamole before the ocean perch in that description. Overall, they were «Ok». Too much guacamole (I had to scrape some off) and not enough fish. (Definitely not Cantina Loco’s fish tacos). And for $ 15, it was overpriced, and I was under whelmed. Honestly, I felt the majority of the menu was overpriced (as many other reviewers mentioned). However I am a sucker for the atmosphere, and there really isn’t anything like this comparable close by ( Unilocalers — tell me if I am wrong, so I can add it on my «go to» list).
The hostess was very friendly. The waiter was friendly as well; I just wish he would have checked on us more often. I had to flag him down when I wanted a second glass of wine (and that was after I was finished eating too). I can’t wait to return here for drinks and sit at the bar.

I have a lot of the same ups and downs as other reviewers. But the taste and quality of the food beat out the negatives.
The good stuff:
— Food was spot-​on and the specials were clearly based on what was fresh and seasonal that week
— The servers were really knowledgeable about their menu, which I appreciate
— If you don’t consider how cramped it became, the interior and atmosphere was great
— Magners! And a good beer list in addition
The «eh» stuff:
— Table was TINY. Uncomfortably tiny. I know seats is important for restaurants, but then they should consider putting less other «stuff» on the smaller square footage tables and having a coat rack somewhere to make some space
— Mixed drinks were too sweet and too pricey
— Weird neighborhood, but it was nice to go somewhere other than Elmwood and Hertel
BTW, if you’re visiting on a Friday or Saturday, you NEED a reservation.