Located in the North Buffalo area and close to both the Buffalo Zoo and the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, this restaurant has been satisfying customers since 1975. The warm interiors are adorned with cozy furnishings and are just perfect for the long conversations with your friends. Besides, you can celebrate your special events here as the restaurant offers rental facilities and services for the same.

The decor is not exactly upscale and the dress code is very informal, but the food in this North Buffalo restaurant is outstanding. Basically, it's a pizzeria with pasta, wings, subs and other munchies that will force you to loosen your belt a notch or two. It is an affordable blue-jeans joint—no pretentiousness here—a great place to bring the kids. Nearby attractions include Delaware Park, the Buffalo Zoological Gardens and the Anderson Gallery.

This warm and welcoming restaurant opened in 1995 and it offers no-holds barred Italian cuisine. They offer huge portions of traditional Italian dishes that feature interesting ingredients like tripe and lots of guanciale (cheek fat). To begin, there is antipasti as well as zuppa (soup) and homemade pastas which include lasagna, manicotti, ravioli and tortellini. Dinner entrees, which are served with either a salad or a side of pasta always add your choice of meat which could be veal, chicken or beef depending on the recipe. Some of their specialty pastas include pasta a la Amici, Sicilian calamari and the popular Carbonara. Their wine list features grapes from Italy, California, France, New Zealand, Australia as well as some local New York State wines.

This small, intimate restaurant, which opened in 1984, features Northern Italian cuisine. It is family-owned and operated by Nancy and Frank Grimaldi. Frank grew up in Italy as the son of two private chefs, and his skill in the kitchen has made San Marco one of the best Italian restaurants in the area. The restaurant is very elegant, especially the very intimate wine room which only has a few tables. Anything you order from the menu of Norther Italian classics is good, and the service is excellent to boot. Desserts include a chocolate soufflé served with hazelnut gelato.

late Ilio DiPaolo, a pro wrestler who immigrated to the United States from Italy in 1951. Hand-painted murals of Ilio’s hometown of Abruzzi and of the bay of Sorrento grace the walls of the dining room. In warmer weather dine outdoors in the courtyard, which also has a bocce court. Complete your meal with desserts like cannoli, tiramisu, spumoni and gelato. A banquet room seats up to 250 and off-site catering for up to 400 is available. Closing times vary, but the restaurant is open from Tuesday to Friday from 11:30, Saturday from 14:00 and Sunday from 13:00. -Christine A. Smyczynski

This restaurant has long been considered one of the best Italian restaurants in the Greater Buffalo Area. Among the house specialties are spaghetti carbonara, homemade rigatoni, chicken marsala and a Friday-only calamari dinner. Located in Getzville, close to SUNY at Buffalo North Campus, as well as the Buffalo Marriott Niagara Hotel, it claims local families and business people who go out of their way to dine here as tried and true customers.