yolo restaurant + lounge

we have been going to yolo for about 21/2 yrs. we have taken friends and enjoy the food and people. our last 3 anniversaries it's been great. justin and mike go out of their way to make you feel at home. i understand service everywhere can be bad at times but have only had 1 time here it was slow.

really good , service, and atmosphere. very reasonable prices too. great place for drinks, lunch, dinner, and brunch. they also have a nice outside area.

fish under cooked. fish came undercooked , mentioned it to server . said they would mention it to cook, they neither replaced it or took it off the bill.

dinner with friends. i recently had dinner at yolo with some lady friends of mine. most of us have never been here before and one of the ladies has been a few times so this is why we ate here because she said it was very good. the biggest complaint was the service. our waiter was terrible very unattentive wondering at times where he was and hardly came to our table. he seemed to have disappeared. the food was good had the $25.00 dollar special. we were just very disappointed in the service. we liked for the host when we were leaving but was nowhere to be found.

the mango chutney haddock has to be the best haddock recipe in all of western new york! you owe it to yourself to try it and decide for yourself. exemplary food, wine and service!

refused serviced. walked in at 4 and the place was empty. was told by the host that the restaurant was booked until 8 at night. almost positive they looked at our baby with us and refused us service.

birthday dinner. i was so excited to go to yolo, not because of it's unfortunate choice of name, or location (far out on transit road), but because of it's extensive gluten free menu.
i ordered the gf calamari as an appetizer as well as the bbq. the calamari was so rubbery, it was inedible. the menu states it is cooked in a butter sauce. it came in a moat of brownish liquid with no flavor. it was so bad, we had to send it back...something we try to never do. a few minutes later, the owner came out and apologized for our experience, and said he'd take it off the check, without us having to ask which was pleasant.
a little later, the rest of our food was delivered, the scallops and my husband had wings with fries. the scallops were only seared on one side! if they were seared on the other side, you couldn't tell as it did not have the nice, lightly browned, caramelized hue of being seared!
it seems as though the chef was trying to under cook the scallops because i said the calamari was overcooked, although i don't know this for sure, only that it wasn't seared on one side!
the manager did come back, as did the waitress to ask how the rest of our meal went, we just said "good" because there wasn't a whole lot to say and we didn't want to be rude.

on another note, my husband says the fries were very good and extra crispy, but i'd bet you wouldn't travel to a restaurant which is advertised as up-scale just to get "crispy" fries at a premium price. i cannot recommend yolo. such a shame because there are aren't an abundance of restaurants which cater to the gf population. i hope the chef takes this review and tries to better their methods. as a graduate of the culinary institute, i would have expected better.

party time!!!!!. if anyone is looking for an outstanding place to throw a party, yolo is it!!! the restauranteur, justin, is truly a class act. he worked with us from start to finish to help plan the food and specialty drinks menu, he accommodated our last minute changes, and had a wait staff that was out of this world. our guests all agreed that the food and drink was incredible and that party was among the best in years. if we were to do it all over again we wouldn't change a thing!

their lunch menu is a little ridiculous. the actual lamented sheet was at least 3 feet long and contained a little bit of everything. after spending some serious time looking at the list of options, we decided to try a couple sandwiches and an appetizer platter. the appetizer plater was pretty decent. their crab cake actually had a fair amount of crab inside and the mushrooms were fresh and had a nice bite. the steak sandwich was fatty (not in the good way) and over cooked but their ahi tuna sandwich was great. the fish was lightly seared on the outside and tasted great with chipotle mayo on top.

the food is okay, but the service is the slowest in wny. i have been to yolo twice. both times the place was empty, but it took over an hour to get the food. all we ordered were sandwiches or brunch food, nothing complex. the staff acted like it was normal to take an hour plus to get the food out. poor execution. not worth the wait.

another visit, another home run!. a great experience for sure. we took our friends out for dinner at yolo as they had never been. we frequently go for drinks and appetizers at the bar/lounge area and have always enjoyed the upscale atmosphere and great food. the dining experience with our friends was just as excellent. our waiter david was very attentive and helpful. the dinner selections were delicious. we started with the stuffed mushrooms, crab cakes, and calamari diavolo. i can’t speak for the others (although they were happy with their choices), but my main course of vegetable risotto with scallops was superb along with everything else! yolo is a must try while in the ne buffalo area in east amherst.

this place is awesome. the food is fantastic, on two separate visits i've gotten the maple chicken.... each time it's been outstanding!!!!! the atmosphere is great and the staff is very friendly. definitely make a reservation if you're coming as a group! our group of 6 had a reservation, we waited a bit for our food, but the manager bought us a round. the atmosphere, awesome food, and great staff made the wait time worth it! i recommend trying it out!!!

been here about 5 times. twice for food and three times just for drinks. it has never been my first choice and probably never will be.

food: a few diamonds in the rough. strawberry spinach salad with steak was a nice surprise. however, their "filet" was clearly not a filet, nor was it well cooked.

service: not memorable, but i am not paying for that level of attention at a place like this.

drinks/bar: interesting scene on the weekends. some pretty good beers in bottle and draft format. bartender was no knowledgable about how to make certain drinks which surprised me.

overall: like i said, not likely to be a first choice but not a bad place for a drink. i think the restaurant overall is trying to be something it is not. would pick dinner in the back room at rocco's for a similar experience/price

great time at a hidden buffalo gem!. my girlfriend and i had the best tuna and salmon ever! last night at yolo. the girl waiting on us was very personable and made us feel comfortable during our meal. the food did take a little while, but with all the different cocktails they had at the bar (basil patron = good stuff), we didnt mind all that much.
pecan pie to die for! , so she says
---will recommend to everyone!

50 - 50. went there for the first time back in march and it was great. after praising it to our friends, we decided to take them there just last week. the experience was extremely disappointing. from the horribly tasting draft beer (kegs may still be around since march or lines are not cleaned) to the bland special - just a real downer of an experience. one of the guests at the table stated their dish was extremely salty. did not feel that great the next day, no idea if it is related, but i will count it against them. the server was not so pleasant either. when i complained about the nasty tasting beer and questioned if it was what i ordered, she was strong willed that it was what i ordered and really did not believe the customer was right in this instance. manager came over and carried the same belief as the waitress - told me it was perfectly fine. i am no brew master, but i know what an ipa is and this was just way off from any drinkable beer. very questionable return for us.