Mac’s on Hertel

This remodel of «The Empire Grill» is swanky yet casual. The service is super friendly. And, the menu is quite complete with everything from starters to salads to sandwiches to flat breads to complete dinners.
My friend and I chose a couple of sandwiches… Beef on Weck for me and a Veggie Burger for her. Both were accompanied by the most amazingly delicious fries that I’ve ever had. Seriously… there was a mountain of ‘em, and we could not stop eating them (even though we became quite full). She really enjoyed her burger, but my beef was a bit on the tough side and my roll (while tasty) was not weck. Neither a salt crystal nor a caraway seed were anywhere to be seen. I’ll be back, but I’ll try something else.

From the minute you walk in the door, you feel welcome. Last Wednesday evening, a friend and I stopped in for dinner. We were greeted right away by the hostess and taken to a booth. Our server, I wish I knew her name to throw some major credit her way, was wonderful. Knowledgeable of the menu, friendly and right on top of everything. I am the annoying hot tea drinker and I never had to ask for a hot water refill.
I love going out to eat with my friend Patty. We always order to split so I get to try two menu items instead of one. I ordered the Brie & Bacon burger. Candied bacon, salt and vinegar onion rings, brie and a bourbon jam on a brioche bun. Wow! The sweet of the bacon combined with the perfectly light salt and vinegar of the onion rings was perfect. The burger itself had great flavor and was cooked perfect to the temp ordered.
Patty ordered the Shrimp Burger. It was a shrimp patty topped with a black bean, corn and goat cheese pico on a multi grain roll. This shrimp patty had so much flavor. The pieces of shrimp were huge! We could not decide what we liked better. Both burgers great in their own way. Both dinners were ordered with fries as our sides and we also agreed that they were not so great. They were quite a bit greasy for our liking. Neither of us had more than a couple but that didn’t mean we left hungry, the burgers were more than enough.
Overall a great experience, service and delicious main meal. I can’t wait until the sun is shining and the patio is open.

Mac’s is open late, so one night after getting drinks at Mes Que I tried it out. I ordered chicken fingers that were gluten free (covered in crushed Cornflakes instead of flour). They were made out of breast meat that hadn’t been ground up and I didn’t detect any globs of fat or cartilage like you get in some chicken fingers.
I would have really enjoyed them if they didn’t hurt to eat. The crunched Cornflakes destroy the inside of your mouth. I ended up bleeding a little and the roof of my mouth was sore for a couple days. It felt like I was assaulted by pizza rolls and Captain Crunch. Why didn’t I stop eating them? I was really hungry and they tasted good.
I used to have a lacrosse shirt that said «Pain is temporary, pride is forever.» Now I get it. Sometimes you have to push through the pain.
I may update my rating if I end up at Mac’s again. It definitely has potential, and I would have rated higher if I rated purely based on taste.
UPDATE: The manager of Mac’s messaged me today and told me the restaurant addressed the chicken finger issue. I will be back at some point to try them, and am glad that this is a place that cares about its customers.

Went last night with a group of 20+ people at 10 minutes to 10pm after an event and it was my first time going to Mac’s. The hours on the website state that they are open until 11pm so we figured we all could go and get food and some drinks as all of us were hungry.
As the first few of us got there and began to order we were told that the kitchen closed at 10pm. Bummed, we started thinking of where else to go. However, the bartenders spoke to the kitchen staff and they said they would stay for us! The rest of our group started showing up and food orders started piling up.
Just about everyone ordered something along with drinks and our food was out to us in 20 minutes or less at the bar. Some of the things we ordered were Macho Nachos, Cornflaked chicken fingers, chicken wings, poutine, Grilled peach flat bread, standard cheeseburgers and I ordered their Brie & Bacon Burger.
Every single person enjoyed their food and I never heard one person say anything bad about what came to us and we were sharing with each other. I really liked the Cornflaked chicken fingers and will be ordering them the next time I go. My Brie & Bacon Burger was amazing! Their burger beef blend of Angus beef, short rib, brisket and chuck is awesome! I always order burgers medium rare and it was cooked perfect. It came with natural cut fries that were also cooked perfect and crispy. The best part though of the burger was the candied bacon!
I was quite surprised with the level of service such a large group received at a hour before close and I will certainly be back with my family and friends in the near future.

I was pretty displeased with this place to say the least.
I came in with a group of 5 this past Saturday at 8 o’clock and they were able to seat us without a reservation, huge plus.
My boyfriend and i were the first to arrive and the hostess happily sat us before our entire party arrived. Our waiters name was Jordan, he was great… i could not have been happier with the service he gave us.
However service was SLOW, our first order of drinks took about 15 mins, clearly not Jordan’s fault. Every refill after that was again, 15 – 20 mins. Needless to say we were not happy. My one friend ordered the holiday Chi-​Tini and it was a huge fail, i recommend they 1. take it off the menu or 2. teach their bartender how to properly make it. It just tasted like a glass of cold half and half.
we ordered 3 apps, the potato skins, poutine, and the two dips that they offer together. Potato skins were the best of the three then the dips then the poutine… the poutine needed more gravy for the amount of fries that were in there the ratio was a bit off.
Next we ordered our food, my boyfriend and i both got the bacon and brie burger… i got mine cooked medium rare, his was cooked medium. I loved my burger but my boyfriend said his tasted dry so i mean take whatever side you wish!
My other two friends ordered caesar salads, one with chicken and one with salmon. They both did not like them. There was a ton of dressing on both, definitely not needed on a caesar salad. My friend said her salmon was 1. too small and 2. tasteless. The chicken was also cold as my other friend informed me.
Needless to say i just was not impessed with this place, i might come back to have a drink at the bar (they gave us a 5 dollar gift card for some reason) but i wont be back for the food unless its the burger.

This is a great new spot for a casual meal or meeting up with friends. I’m giving 4 stars based on the surprisingly delicious menu, and the value of the overall experience. The atmosphere is not necessarily cozy or terribly inviting, but they make up for it with tasty bites. A great place to take the kids, too.
I’ve been here twice for dinner in the last few months, and have had the chance to sample a few different dishes. The pot roast and short ribs are notably scrumptious, and are dishes I usually would not order from a non-​upscale restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised. The prosciutto arugula flatbread is also fantastic, as are the soft pretzels with dipping sauces.
A handsome beer list (both draft and bottles) round out the experience. I probably would not pick Mac’s for a date night out, as there are more cozy, trendy places out there, but this is a great place to take the family or out-​of-​town visitors to sample some great Buffalo comfort food.

My latest measure on deciding where to eat and what to eat, if I have the time to research it of course, is «if this restaurant were to close, what would I absolutely want to try before it’s gone for good?» In the case of Mac’s, a place I’ve wanted to try since Missy H posted the pic of that amazing looking house salad, I KNEW that I would always wonder how life could have been if I’d devoured said house salad. So, I knew I had to come here, order this salad, and move on with life.
And so I did.
My friend EGP and I both got that amazing looking salad and freaking DEVOURED them. EGP had beef on hers, I got chicken (probably an entire breast shredded — they did not skimp on the meat at all on either salad!). All of the bits and that amazing citrus dressing made the salad a complete standout. I want to eat this every day of my life! The presentation was also awesome!
We got the Double Dip to share, which was pretty good too.
I almost feel like Mac’s has a bit of an identity crisis though. Like, is it a sports bar? A diner-​type place? It’s beautiful inside and I think it could really go far with the whole North Buffalo theme, but I’m not sure I know quite how to categorize it. The sports thing though, eh. The gastro pub type thing, eh. I just think Mac’s could be even better if it really locked in it’s identity.
Just be careful that you pay attention to parking signs on the side street. We both inadvertently parked illegally and got parking tickets. :(That didn’t have an effect on this review because I think this place is cool and the food is awesome. BUT, we could have feasted like kings at BOSS for what we’ll each be paying once our tickets are processed. Damn!

Came here for the first time last night, not realizing there was a Sabres game, or that it would be blasting throughout the entire restaurant.
I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time. I finally made a date with a friend to come. I got to the restaurant early and went to the bar to grab a drink. There were 3 bartenders working but it still took 5 minutes for me to even get a cocktail menu. I ordered the Limeade. It was so strong! It had a lot of cherries and limes in it, yet just tasted like a vodka soda. Very weird. When my friend came, we ended up splitting the drink. She agreed that it was really strong and we only ended up drinking half of it.
As I said, the Sabres game was blasting throughout the entire restaurant. I wasn’t a fan of this because you had to shout to speak with people. Next time I come, I’ll make sure there isn’t a game. They should have it just playing in the bar area, not where people are eating. We could have sat outside but it was cold (plus, I knew we would have been forgotten if we were outside)
I ordered the chicken crispy rolls. They were delish! A bit spicy, but I always say I have no spice pallet. I ate 2 of them and took the rest home. They didn’t last past 9:00 PM because Brad loved them and ate the rest! He kept asking «what is this wrapped in?» I would definitely get them again!
My friend ate the corn soup. She really liked it and ate the entire thing.
The bill wasn’t too bad and came to about $ 30 per person including tip.
I would probably come back, but like I said, not a sports game night (which I know nights like that are pretty rare)

The ambiance was great and there was live music on this Friday evening. I had a strawberry mojito that was really good and potent — can’t complain about that! I had a free-​form chicken pot pie which is like pot pie filling soup but with a tasty pastry puff on top. It was incredible! My husband had a bacon brie burger which was AMAZING. So gooey and delicious. We’ll most certainly be back!

Mac’s on Hertel is definitely on the rise. I wish more restaurants on Hertel were this clean and modern.
I love a good family owned restaurant over chain ones. The food is always much better and tastes fresh. I have now gotten the bacon brie burger twice, but I sub for chicken… it is AMAZING. The owner even remembered my order :) Props to that!
My best friend also had her rehearsal dinner here, and it was perfect. They had all different types of appetizers to choose from, allowing everyone to have what they like. The Caesar salad is to die for, along with the flatbread pizza things and the wings were really good. They closed out the whole side of the bar for us and made sure the bar staff were ready for us, which they were. The portion sizes of the meals are just right, and the patio upstairs is a really good spot for relaxing. Its beautiful.
The menu is super cute, made to look like an old newspaper. The drinks are always correct and the management team seems to know their stuff. I wish them the best!

Mac’s on Hertel is awesome! I’ve been to Mac’s twice now and am still taken aback by the changes they made to what was once the Empire Grill. I love the door service and friendly service at the hostess desk. They have a great patio area and seating in the main dining area as well as upstairs. The bar is kind of overwhelming in size but that means there are also plenty of seats at the bar, too.
The menu is unique being printed on a newspaper but regardless, there is a variety of small plates, burgers, salads, flatbreads, and large plates plus a late night menu. Don’t be fooled though, there is no mac and cheese on this menu! The drink menu is also pretty extensive including a variety of beers, wines, and speciality cocktails. I have gotten the Blackened Ahi Tuna BLT twice because it’s just that good. Comprised of bacon, arugula, beefsteak tomato, avocado spread, roasted garlic, aioli on knotted challah roll this sandwich is melt in your mouth delicious. I also had the opportunity to try the chicken barbecue flat bread which was great and very filling.
Overall, excellent food, service, and company makes for a great new restaurant on Hertel Avenue, I can’t wait to come back to try the drinks!

Drinks are a too expensive for a restaurant in buffalo — $ 10 for a cocktail and $ 9 for pumpkin beer. Basically, you’re paying for all the new improvements to the building. The porch and heat lamps outside are really nice, but in my opinion, not worth spending $ 20 on a couple drinks. The food was good though — we had a buffalo chicken crunch rolls and clam chowder — I was pretty impressed with both. Bottom line, if you’re planning on checking this place out, order some food and go elsewhere for a drink.

I am so happy about Mac’s on Hertel! It is a beautiful new bar with a gorgeous upstairs patio. During the first few months of Mac’s being open, the wait for a table was hours long. I am thrilled about that! I love when new restaurants are successful. I had the pleasure of eating here a few weeks ago and the wait was definitely worth it!
The host was extremely friendly and welcomed us right away. We were seated upstairs on the stunning patio, overlooking Hertel. It was a gorgeous sunny day in Buffalo. The patio is decorated beautifully. There are hanging flower baskets, along the railings. The menus are so unique and creative. It is in newspaper form and has past and current events articles included. I love this! We ordered our drinks and looked over the newspaper :). I ordered a Summer Shandy because when it’s nice and summery outside, I feel it’s totally necessary!
We decided on ordering appetizers and waiting until we were done, to order entrees. I am grateful we waited. We ordered the Buffalo Chicken Crunch Rolls and the Macho Nachos, with chicken. Both were seriously tasty! The portions were ginormous. The nachos came out in a 9×13 pan! Very generous portions! I would definitely suggest sharing this with a large group. They were amazing. The Buffalo Chicken Crunch Rolls were my favorite. I will absolutely order these again. Probably every time! It is deep fried breading on the outside, similar to an egg roll. Chicken, mozzarella and smoked provolone on the inside. Honestly, so delicious!
I was peeking at the other tables plates around us and their food looked and smell amazing as well. I want to try everything! It’s also so fun to come here at night, just for some drinks.

This place is nothing special. Stopped in one night, for a very late dinner. They were on their late night menu at 11pm, which was very limited. They have a decent beer selection. The inside of the place is boring and plain. We said on the second floor patio which was nice.
For an App, we had spinach artichoke dip. This was the best part, even though it was not all that great.
I had a single order of BBQ wings. They were not good. The sauce was decent but the wings were chewy. If your you are going to try and sell wings in buffalo, you need to make sure they are spot on, common its buffalo.
My friend had some buffalo chicken rolls type thing. He said they were ok but nothing we would go back for.
The staff was nice an attentive.
Overall, I probably wont return to eat. Maybe, have a beer on the patio…

2 stars is all I can fairly offer this place and that’s because of their bar selection (beer) and friendly staff.
The bar is well stocked with a solid variety of draft beer– no complaints there.
The food was disappointing: the appetizers weren’t bad– nacho tray especially in size and taste. The Reuben was one of the smallest I’ve ever had– despite its name on the menu. My wife described her salad as «Meh.» Dessert: we saw someone order it from a distance and were mystified by the waitress’s description– a strawberry short cake donut! Awful. Tasted like a 2 day old Tops donut from the box that looks like an 18 wheeler covered in ready whip and strawberries.
I’d be VERY hesitant to return.

Great place for lunch! The patio upstairs is nice, looking over Hertel. As the afternoon goes on and the sun moved it is mostly in shade, I moved to catch the last bit of sunshine I could. They have a large summer drink list, looks like there’s something for everyone! Our waitress, Karissa, was awesome. Very sweet and helpful, asking if we wanted any recommendations and very understanding when we were slow to choose our orders. The menus are really different, newspaper style complete with articles about Buffalo. And they even offer to let you take your copy home!
Starting with appetizers, they have all your classics– wings, fingers, firecracker shrimp, flatbreads, dips. I didn’t order it but I LOVE that they have bison chip dip on the menu. a buffalo favorite but I’ve never seen it offered at a restaurant before! We got the firecracker shrimp, buffalo chicken crunch rolls and cheese sticks to start. I would have gotten a flat bread but we couldn’t agree on one (I’ll definitely be going back to try the one with prosciutto, arugula and goat cheese). The firecracker shrimp was yummy. the peppers and Thai glaze made them unique. The buffalo chicken crunch rolls were melt in your mouth cheesey and delicious. The cheese sticks were good but nothing too special. We were recommend them. I guess there was cheese not only inside but also in the breading. I LOVE cheese and everything cheese-​filled, but even this was too much for me.
The house salad is amazing. I love salads and try them almost everywhere I go. I’ll definitely be back to have this one again. I’m a sucker for avocados and they were perfect with the tomatoes, white cheddar, bacon, almonds and croutons. Nice dark leafy greens, beautiful presentation with the cucumber wrap. The salad was light and fresh with citrus vinaigrette dressing.
My friends liked their meals (grill cheese and soup and sausage sandwich, both with fries) but I know they were very full!
Overall, I definitely enjoyed my lunch. Not necessarily the most creative menu in the world, although the large plates had some different types of options so I’ll have to head back for dinner!

I have to say that there are very few restaurants in Buffalo that I honestly want to come back to. Mac’s is one of those places.
I’m going to admit something right off the bat — this is the type of place where you might have a different dining experience depending on time of day that you go and where you sit. Luckily, my girlfriend and I had quite possibly the best experience yesterday evening.
It was 5:30 on a Saturday. You go to a restaurant in Amherst this hour and it’s packed with 50+ year olds. In North Buffalo, the «younger crowd» (ie. myself) normally dine a little later. We asked to sit on the upper deck to enjoy the nice weather. Luckily there was one table for 2 left, and in the shade … nice Buffalo breeze, no sun in your eyes = great start to the meal.
The menu has something for everybody and priced $ 5-​$ 30. The Porchetta peaked my interest and I’m so very glad I got it. Crispy, yet tender chunks of pork belly with a fresh salsa verde compliment (see picture). The snap peas were sweet and compliment the earthy pork as well. The best surprise was the potato au gratin «lasagna» hunk — layers of perfectly cooked potato with a creamy ricotta (?). The potato was lacking spice so I hit it with a dose a black pepper.
I have to agree with other Unilocalers that a $ 10 drink for North Buffalo is a bit steep. I forgot what my bourbon sour specialty drink was called but it was made perfectly.
Overall, really good first visit and service was adequate (luckily we had an experienced server as opposed to the younger trainees walking around).
**UPDATE**
I’m super happy that I chose the «limited time only» Porchetta dinner because it is no longer on the menu. I’ll definitely need to get something different next time.

I live in North Buffalo and was super excited to see Mac’s build out this amazing, gorgeous, 2 story patio! It’s a nichey restaurant and I was super pumped!
When I got there on a Friday night at about 8:30, there was an hour and a half wait for dinner. It shouldn’t have been shocking, but I was surprised. I put my name on the list for 3 people for inside seating, which should have been seated faster, and my husband and I walked around the still open shops on Hertel while waiting for the third member of my party (on that note, I would check out Daisy’s DogHouse across the street).
We were seated sooner than the hour and half, and were sat in a somewhat descent spot next to the outdoor patio. It was a space where we could at least hear ourselves talk, and halfway through our meal we saw the floor to ceiling glass doors were opening to the outside, and we offered to move around so the door by us be opened too. It was nice to get that night air breezing in!
Our server was great and he brought us drinks and took our appetizer. Our table was going to split the buffalo chicken crispy rolls (I saw them pass and they made my mouth water), but unfortunately Mac’s had already sold out for the night. We got the Double Dip spreads which I were not disappointed about in the least: my husband doesn’t even like Spinach Artichoke dip and he was scooping it up like no tomorrow, while I was enamored with the Feta dip.
My husband got the Ahi Tuna BLT, our friend ordered the rotisserie chicken done right there in-​house, and I went for the house-​made veggie burger. The sandwiches were served with fries and house pickle, and the rotisserie chicken came with grilled asparagus and potatoes.
My husband loved his burger. He’s a picky fish eater and took a chance on Mac’s and it really paid off. He was really happy with his food. My friend raved about her chicken, sending our server back with compliments to the chef. I… maybe ate half my veggie white bean burger and tackled the fries. It had this strange spice to it that didn’t work, and the patty was so mushy it kept squeezing apart as I bit into the baguette bun. And it’s not that I don’t like spicy food: I was slowly nursing a Bloody Cesar (which was amazing, btw); there was just something not OK about their veggie burger. I personally liked the house pickle too, but one bite and my husband abandoned his, and our friend tried a bite and agreed she didn’t like it. But house made pickles as garnish compared to their dinners? No contest, it wasn’t enough to change their mind about how good the food was.
At 10 the music was cranked and it basically became a night club. Conveniently, we had just finished our dinner right about 10:15 and our server brought the check, which we immediately paid. My husband and our friend, who were sitting across from each other at a 4 seater table, couldn’t even hear each other anymore, so conversation was abandoned. We left as soon as we could.
Overall, I think myself and everyone else was expecting Empire Grille with a new menu. It’s definitely not Empire Grille. It’s a higher end pub that’s looking to serve some kind of clientele that doesn’t exist in Buffalo, but probably exists elsewhere. The food – excluding the veggie burger – is really good, or at least we were pleased. There needs to be some reworking for kitchen prep, but that’s to be expected in a new restaurant; I get it, no hate.
If Mac’s takes 1 piece of advice away from my well meaning review, it’s this: PLEASE keep the music low. Your place was crammed like a can of sardines and there was no reason to turn the bar area into a night club. People were still being seated to dine when the music was cranked, and no one enjoyed it. Maybe those at the bar, but no one else. People on the patio don’t need to hear the bar music, people in the dining areas don’t want to hear the bar music, and people at the bar don’t need another reason to encourage them to yell. If you can manage that, I would ask for nothing else, even better vegetarian or a few vegan items. Just turn down the music so we can talk at dinner, regardless the time :)

I went here for their grand opening on a Sunday night with three of my best friends and man friend.
They were offering $ 3 wells and domestic beers. The bar was busy but not packed. There are tables by the bar that I was told would be removed and replaced with tall bar tables during the later evening hours for more space. It’s cool that they have USB ports for charging your phone!
There was a nice openness about the place since they removed the giant obnoxious staircase. Heaters on both upper and lower patios when it’s cool.
We received a complimentary spinach and artichoke dip. I’m not sure if it was hotter when we first got it, but even cold it was decent. The chips were good. I’ll come back for dinner soon.

I attended their grand opening which was during off-​regular business hours. It’s probably not fair to judge much on this experience. However, that being said, first impressions:
The service was really great; everyone was super friendly and extremely hospitable. The door was held open for you upon entry and exit. When I asked for the location of the restrooms, I received an escort over to the area, not just a point in the general direction. Servers routinely checked the table to refill drinks; top notch in that department.
The event itself: opportunity missed. Whoever organized this was focused on red carpeting and spotlights. I expected to come in and see something, anything that promoted signature cocktails, their food, etc. — nothing. The special was $ 3 drinks, beer and well. There were some plates of appetizers that circulated but not until we were there for almost an hour. The first plate had some chicken fingers/​nuggets with an interesting batter. However, the chicken inside was dry. The second plate was a spinach and artichoke dip with these weak, too-​buttery tortilla chips. The dip itself was boring. It was the type of thing that you eat because it’s there and it’s not horrible but I wouldn’t order it myself.
I like what they’ve done with the place; looks nice. I’ll need to come back and order an actual menu item before forming a solid opinion.