providence social

mediocre food with shabby service. we were a large party in a somewhat empty restaurant. food took much too long to come out and some food never arrived.

my friend and i had sunday brunch. we
we both agreed it was good not great but the atmosphere was nice as was a carafe of mamosa for $9. that will earn it a like ;)

good tapas restaurant (with plenty of room for improvement). upon entering we thought the decor was cool, very unique. seemed to be going for the industrial age or something. layout of the bar was nice, and the big windows into the dining area opened it up while providing a sound barrier for diners. the bartender was kind of rude when we walked in and asked about our reservation, responding "there's a hostess if you'll wait a minute". whatever, maybe a bad day, but all that needed to be said was "the hostess will be right with you".

after being sat by a server we browsed through the menus. drink lists were good, unique cocktails and an above average wine and beer selection. one thing to note is that for a tapas place the menu is very small. if your menu consists of small plates there should be more options than the 16 or so in my opinion. most good tapas places i've been to have upwards of 30.

the fries/breadstick thing brought to the table to start was straight up weird. cold shoestring french fries arent really a great substitute to bread, olives, etc... but ok. the tapas was very good with the exception of the beef on weck meatballs which were dry, and probably not prepared that day. everything else we definitely enjoyed. service was alright.

i'd like to check out the outdoor patio once it gets nice out, but unless they really impress me on my next visit i probably won't make this place one of my favorites in buffalo. as of this visit it's good, but there's plenty of places better.

on tuesday of local restaurant week, 5 yelpers met at providence social under the reservation ‘yelp buffalo book club’. when we planned this event the previous month while wrapping up our first book at toro, we completely forgot about lrw, but it actually worked out perfectly! providence social is a nice restaurant in a converted historical home on rhode island st just inside elmwood village. blessedly in this messy muck of a winter, providence social has their own parking lot directly across the street. the hostess sat us at a wrap-around booth so we could all hear each other discuss our book of the month: orphan train by christina baker kline.* i would love to discuss the book in further detail, but let’s just stick to providence social, shall we? we fit comfortably in the booth with room to spare, and could hear each other and our server fine. our server totally understood that we wanted to talk, so he gave us plenty of time to discuss our book, inserted himself into the conversation politely, and was all around enjoyable; we all really liked him. along with the attention of the busser and watching the other servers, it just looks like providence social has a really good crew on board, and i love seeing that! our server mentioned providence social’s cocktail menu (libations), and i had to take a look. each cocktail is $10, for good reason. ps definitely serves up some quality cocktails. their elmwood  caught my eye: absolut mandarin, aperol, hand pressed grapefruit juice and house-made sour? oh. yeah. my husband’s eye was drawn to the social sting (how do you do) made of cognac, creme de menthe, egg white, and ginger beer. the best news? providence social’s lrw specials went as such: choice of 3 featured plates or house-made desserts 20.15 add 22oz beer, or 2 beers, or 2 craft cocktails 30.15 or add 1 bottle of house wine 40.15 we could get 2 cocktails at essentially half price? uh, yeah, we snatched that deal up! i was a little uncertain about splitting a dinner

a secret gem on the west side of buffalo!!! great food and friendly service. have been there twice once for dinner and then for sunday brunch. both meals were amazing!!!

good spot. we were able to enjoy the pretty patio last summer. we tried not to be too loud. we were three couples. we had drinks, dinner and a couple of desserts. it came to $80/couple inc. tax & tip. food and service were good. i love eating out in the warm weather. not sure if patio will be open this coming summer :( have never been in winter.

they have upped their game.. great time 2 weeks ago; going again tonight. perfect service. lovely location - outside beautifully landscaped patio. creative and excellent food. four of us shared 6 terrific small plates. run, don't walk, to providence social.

good food & questionable management. i have dined with friends here on more than one occasion. the shroom stack , tomato bisque, and poblano peppers were all very good. one companion raved about the bone marrow. service at this place has been consistently "good" whether at the bar or enjoying a meal in the dining room. drink are way overpriced as others have mentioned. a friend and i ordered french gimlets with hendrick's gin one night and we were charged $14 a drink. this is not manhattan, people. it's the west side of buffalo. each time we have been in there the restaurant has not been very busy and neither has the bar. no wonder considering the exorbitant price of drinks. i love the atmosphere and art deco decor. understated and welcoming, yet sophisticated. i can't justify drinking here though, which is a shame.

providence "anti-social". went out for drinks with friends. overly priced for the specialty drinks we ordered and they were weak. restaurant seemed nice but was empty, so we hung out at the bar. the only thing colder than my drink was my service! don't appreciate the bartender who was on his phone texting all night and too busy to make his weak drinks. if you're in this part of town do yourself a favor and walk over to the left bank.

huge mistake!. i love supporting new local restaurants but i'm crying foul on this one! for the handful of patrons that were there on a weekend night the bar service was horribly slow, uneducated and perhaps could have used some classes on making basic drinks! we ordered food which sounded great but came overcomplicated with flavors and was served undercooked. the prices are too high for what is being dished out. i did like the lighting decor-very nyc knock-off. management needs to get it together or it wont even last as long as prime 490 did.

below average. it always amuses me when i read reviews of newer establishments. it’s so painfully obvious the ones that are “selfies” . i found providence social to be charming & quaint. the food was ok. the service was way below average. the cocktails were overpriced & tasteless and i’m being polite. if you’re going to charge $ 10 for a “specialty drink’ then it should be worthy of such a title. after trying 2 choices from their list and being disappointed i decided to switch to wine. it would have been nice if the bartender who also claimed he was a “ manager” had the ability to discern grape varietals and wine regions instead of just telling me that everything was “really good”. he also neglected us for most of the evening despite a relatively small crowd. i don’t ask for much when i go out. i respect people in the service industry a great deal and expect for them to respect their job as well. this place has potential but a shakeup of the bar and wait staff would go a long way.

sw

i had an amazing time and the food was delicious! i will definitely be back. all of the food was different and i love that the portions are small so that you can get a taste of everything! although the service standards are not consistent with the quality of the food. the fine dining atmosphere did not reflect the quality of service. my husband and i ordered 2 dishes we wanted brought out first which was the bone marrow and panko crusted goat cheese. the server brought out three other dishes we ordered and then the other server working that night came over to our table and pushed two tables together and brought out our remaining 6 dishes before we even began eating our appetizers. i asked the server before ordering how fast the food would come out and if it was possible to do the meal in courses. as this was my first time in i had no idea how the meal would go. he told me yes we will bring your appetizers out first and then follow with the remaining dishes. it was impossible to get to each dish while it was still warm. i would consider this server error and see it as a lack of communication between kitchen and front of the house employees. the restaurant had 4 tables and 2 servers and i waited 15 minutes to get coffee with my dessert. i was extremely excited to see bone marrow on the menu but when it arrived it was very dry and hard to scrape out. other than that the rest of the food was delicious! i cannot wait to go back and try the rest of the menu and get the pork belly that they sold out of! i love supporting local restaurants and will definitely give it another chance. as a server myself it is extremely important to be knowledgable of the menu items which the server i had was not.... thank god the chef can produce delicious food!!! i love the restaurant and i love what they did with the place!

amazing!. my friends and i had dinner friday night. we started off with a cocktail at the bar before being seated. the bartenders were so personable and attentive. one person in our party was running late and the hostess could not have been nicer. she was very patient and allowed us to stay at the bar until our guest arrived. the dinning room set up and décor was perfect. our waiter was not the best but very nice. he was not as attentive as we would have liked but got all our orders correct. the food was outstanding. we were actually able to compare it to tempo and hutches. it was delish! one thing i appreciated was that the manager (i think it was the manager) was walking around the entire night making sure everyone was satisfied and things were running smoothly. definitely will be a frequent patron here!

my friends and i had dinner here the other night and could not believe how beautiful this place is. great bar area separate from the dining room and a huge patio that in my opinion is the nicest in the city. we had a few drinks at the bar before we sat and the "head bartender" was a great host and very attentive to our needs. he graciously explained the cocktail menu and offered some great choices. for those of us who decided to go with wine were also pointed in the right direction to some fabulous house pour selections. when we finally sat for dinner the service lacked a bit. our server was wearing plaid slippers and seemed to be in a hurry and more interested in talking to the female staff members (who seemed uninterested..to say the least). the menu is great and offers many small plate options along with salads and entrees. we decided to sample the small plates and really enjoyed everything. this place is on the right track and with a few changes with the service can be a staple in the city for years to come.

social club. went for appetizers and drinks before the hockey game on friday. place was packed for happy hour. new owners really remodeled the place. rick martin memorabilia and old buffalo pictures decorate the restaurant along with stained glass windows of the buffalo skyline. unique square chandeliers with branch light lighting are in the dining room. large patio off the side of the restaurant with couches and chairs along with tables. it will be nice to use in the summer and warm weather. bar offers signature drinks besides wine and beer. i ordered a chenango which had tequila st. germain and a sprig of rosemary. delicious even though some people thought it was too strong. we ordered the beef carpaccio, oysters, duck nachos and portobello stack. all of the food was very good and enough to share with our party of 4. the beef carpaccio and the duck nachos were our favorite items. service was a little slow for only ordering appetizers. will have to come back for entrees when we aren't in such a rush.