The Lobby Bar

Wow, I’m surprised that Lobby Bar got such a low rating! I’ve come here at least 3 times for 2−4−1 specials and always had a great time, food and service! The Bar is gorgeous and pretty specious. I’ve ordered loaded tater totes on several occasions and they are to die for! Drink are delicious and quite generous. I’ll be definitely coming back again, again, and again…

I really like it here — love the décor and general style of the place. I am surprised it is not a bigger hit. I came here on a Saturday night at 9pm and our group of people were the only ones there. We had the shuffleboard to ourselves at least. Good beer list and drink selections.

We were looking for a relatively quiet place to meet for drinks on a Saturday night and we found exactly that. The Lobby Bar has a very classy old school feel without being pretentious and over the top.
The bartender was friendly and fun. The drinks are reasonably priced and plentiful. Without a cocktail or martini list the bartender was quite knowledgable and capable of mixing up some awesome drinks.
There are TVs for sporting events, LOTS of comfortable seating arrangements, and shuffle board!
We WILL be going back!

Great atmosphere, with classy, old school prohibition look. Have always had good encounters with the bartenders. I really think it’s a hidden gem in the bar/​lounge category, it’s off the beaten path from chippewa as well so you don’ t have to deal with any riff raff

To start, I really like Lobby Bar. I like the care they take in making the drinks, the old timey feel, and the aesthetic. Put this place in the West Village and it would thrive. But in Buffalo, far from walking distance to popular bars on Elmwood, not many people come. I went this past Friday with a group of my friends, and after 10 minutes, it was just us and another couple with whom we were playing shuffle board. Saturday at 10pm should at least have a few more people than that.
Aside from the location and lack of patrons, I had a Bulleit old fashioned, which was strong but to my liking. This place has so much potential, but just needs a stronger following.

A retro feel in a classic Buffalo building! I found myself downtown with some time to kill, so I stopped in to the Lobby Bar at the Statler Towers to look around. I was pleasantly surprised by the feel of the place. It has a feel of an old time bar, but was complemented by a modern aura about it. The drink selection was impressive, and I eased up to the bar as the bartender poured a Rusted Chain off the tap for me. I had intended to only stay for a few minutes, but I found myself totally absorbed by the feel of the place. Overall, a great place for a drink in the City Hall district; great drink selection, great atmosphere, and great conversation!

I’ve been to the Statler many times on Fridays for the past few months. I started going back when they had the free buffet catered by the Buffalo Chophouse down in Rendezvous, but I always ordered my drinks at the Lobby Bar. I really like the Lobby Bar. It feels very classy, but not over the top. I can wear jeans and nice shirt without feeling underdressed. Just recently, they added a 2-​for-​1 drink special during happy hour. For $ 5, getting two Sam Adams Summer Ale is certainly not a bad deal. I also had a bad tasting Rusty Chain once (it tasted sour and not right at all) and they gave me a different beer for free, which was nice.
Some weeks are crazy busy, and others are really dead. Overall, they do a good job with the drinks, and now that they have the drink special, it’s not that overpriced. They definitely lost a lot of business when they stopped the buffet, but I like going on Fridays, getting a drink, and hanging out while listening to my acquaintance Howard Goldman play the piano while socializing with my friend and some Buffalo socialites.
I’ve also seen Byron Brown here twice, so hey, you never know who you might run into.

I want to start off by saying that The Lobby Bar used to be one of my favorite places for Happy Hour. A year or so after it has opened — the place is now a complete disaster and I plan to never return.
Probably due to the fact that no one is coming to The Lobby Bar any longer, they started offering a new 2−4−1 Happy Hour drink special. Although this isn’t the most convenient bar to get to from my office, I felt like it was worth my time to check out this new special and to show support to a place that I used to love going to.
I was the first guest to arrive and I waited 10 minutes at the bar for the bartender and bar manager (I’m guessing) to arrive. The bartender was nice and polite and answered my questions in regards to what the drink special included. He then went to the bar manager to clarify his understanding and returned to tell me that any drink was qualified for the special, but you must take BOTH drinks at the SAME TIME. When I questioned the fact that I was going to have two martinis sitting in front of me and asked if I could have the second one made at a later time since I didn’t want it sitting there while I sipped my first drink, I was told by the bar manager that there was no option of doing that and that I always had the options of NOT taking the second drink or throwing it out. I then told him that I would wait to order until my companion arrived so that I we could decide upon a drink to order and I would drink one while she drank the other. The bar manager told me that this is also not an option and he implied that I was trying to take advantage of their special and that each customer must pay for a drink. I told him that my goal was to not have a drink sitting around and that we would both be paying for more than one drink.
I relented and let the bartender make my two martinis for me. I cashed out immediately and left a tip for the bartender. My friends arrive and place a couple of drink orders. They each get their two drinks put in front of them (thank god no one ordered draft beer… how nice to have one of those sitting around and getting stale because of their ridiculous rules). A bit later, the bar manager returns to tell me that I have not paid. I corrected him and once he confirmed that he was wrong by asking the bartender who I had already paid, he offered no apology.
It appears that The Lobby Bar, despite this new special, does not have an interest in building their client base. I will never return, and plan to tell everyone I know how much of a joke this place has become.
There are so many other options for us in suits to go after work for a quick drink. The Lobby Bar is nowhere on that list.

If I could give this place negative stars, I would. This is only for one reason – the male bartender that works almost every night.
I went with my boyfriend and parents on a special night out. The atmosphere is very cool – shuffleboard table, large couches and tvs with sports on. However, we approached the bar and I asked the bartender (who only had 3 other patrons at his bar) if he had any drink specials. He rolled his eyes and threw a menu my way. His exasperation for my very simple questions was palpable, to the point where I asked him if everything was alright. He shook my manhattan in a martini shaker when I asked for it on the rocks, which, as a bartender myself, I know is completely incorrect.
The food was BEYOND awful. We ordered bar chips, which were soggy. The shrimp tasted like thy pulled it from an aquarium in an alley outside, and the burger was passable at best.
My experience was so disheartening, I even asked for the manager, who didn’t seem to show any actual concern that his bartender was so rude and disengaging.
AVOID THIS PLACE LIKE THE PLAGUE.

The bar itself is beautiful and looks like a great. There are huge comfortable leather couches and other vintage looking furniture that is quite inviting and comfortable. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for the drinks.
We ordered cocktails from their cocktail menu, figuring that they would be especially good at making them. We went with their takes on a Manhattan and a Tom Collins. The Collins was terrible. The bartender squeezed the lemon in the palm of his hand and allowed the seeds to go in the drink. He also dumped sugar in it from a sufgar packet. The Manhattan was drinkable, but fairly watery. He did not seem to understand the concept of shakers. He would do thinks like pour the drink in half of a shaker and then swirreled the shaker around as if to stir it.
If you go, get beer!

The ideal happy hour joint for those of us lucky enough (tongue in cheek) to be stuck in suits all day. This is a classy bar and is the very definition of «lounge» bar. Large leather sofas, lots of intricate woodwork and ornate decorations. They also have an old-​school Foosball table with pewter playing pieces. The lighting is dark and intimate without being «creepy.»
On certain nights they have live music by a local musician who sounds just like Sinatra. I thought it was a recording until I saw him. Apparently he is well known in the community and often plays at weddings.
They also have free food for happy hour which usually consists of a cheese and cracker platter, fruits, mini subs and other finger foods.
Subtracting a star because their drinks are on the expensive side but that is expected when you come to a bar of this caliber. Also, the parking situation is horrendous. There is very little parking in this area of downtown. If you are feeling lazy, there is a valet service.

Inside the classy, newly remodeled Statler, The Lobby Bar is everything you’d expect. From the classy yet homey feel to the plush leather furniture, this place is every bit as impressive as the rest of the building it’s housed in. Featuring multiple TV screens above the bar, a shuffleboard, and the coolest foosball table I’ve ever seen (metal engraved lions and monkeys!), The Lobby Bar is a great place to do happy hour, hang out w/​friends, or just relax a little before dancing your butt off @ Rendezvous downstairs.