Merge

Merge is innovative, delicious, sustainable food at its finest. We had an excellent experience at Merge, and enjoyed two delicious meals served by one of the lovely owners herself. We would love to come back and share another meal when there is live music.

Great place for anyone with dietary restrictions (vegan, gluten free, vegetarian) or just looking for a place to eat healthy. The vibe is very welcoming and unique. I really like the little areas raised up near the window with 4 tops in them. Service was excellent. The menu is predominately geared towards the vegetarian crowd, but there are a handful of meat options on there. Cocktails were very good, nice beer selections and good wine list. They make outstanding vegan/​gluten free deserts as well. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a unique dining experience with quality food and a menu that goes beyond chicken wings, steak & mashed, eggplant parm, and molten lava cakes.

Disappointed! May be I was just unlucky. We were waiting for our food and server forever!!! Their coffee machine is broken as well as juicer. My friend ordered fish and I ordered the maple chicken. I have to say they cook very tasty side dish. But fish was tasteless and there were human hair in chicken dish. They gave me another dish for free but it took me 30 min to get server respond me. If I can give you any suggestion that would be only order veg dish there and preparing enough time to dinning there. Good luck

VERRRY disappointing meal. Lukewarm, overpriced, zero ambience in smaller room off the main room. Meal was 50−50…shrimp risotto was very good, Thai soup good (but lukewarm temp). The bad 50% was the wings appetizer & chicken.
I love Tofu and had heard the tofu wings were excellent — WRONG — they were terrible! Wings tasted like cardboard drowned in sauce. Absolutely awful.
The other disappointment was the chicken — WAAAAAAY overpriced for mediocre, almost tasteless maple chicken. If you eat at Merge, whatever you do, DO NOT EAT THE TOFU WINGS OR Maple Chicken… just awful. Surprising that a restaurant would serve such substandard food.
We ate at Merge on Saturday April 30. What a disappointing way to spend an anniversary dinner.

Food was great! Was Hard to get a drink.

Merge– an unpretentious gem in the city of Buffalo that serves up locally sourced food in an artsy building.
The menu is small and unique with many healthy options including vegan, gluten free, and WNY based options. The cheese is from First Light Creamery which is a big selling point.
We ordered two glasses of lemon ginger kombucha to get the night started and an appetizer of smothered sweet potato fries. The kombucha was as good as ever. The sweet potato fries were piled with lentils, spinach, and First Light’s Cheese Curds. They were rockin’. We split the Shrimp Risotto for our entrée. The shrimp came pan seared with basil and was topped with a tomato coriander jam. The risotto was accompanied with wild mushrooms. The entrée proved to be fantastic and we couldn’t get enough of it.
Overall: Great place to grab a healthy, locally sourced bite to eat. You pay a bit of a premium for the food but it’s worth it. We will be back. A-.

I look for the V and GF on menus as if my life depended on it (which it does, for the GF) and this place is SO ACCOMMODATING.
It has juuust about zero curb appeal; the building and front don’t give any hint as to how nice the restaurant is
and you walk in through curtains. Which is weird. But hey, to each their own.
The host was great at her job and seated us immediately at a cute little table. We had a minute to look at the menus before the server came over and poured water for us. She was sweet and told us the specials before giving us a few more minutes to look at the menus. She did a great job throughout the meal: perfect timing.
We had vegan/​gluten free mac n cheese (amazeballs and probably enough food for a meal on its own), loaded vegan sweet potato fries, a beet salad, and a poached pear salad between us.
Basically, get all of the foods.
I’m definitely coming back. Maybe every day. Maybe this will be the reason I go broke.
Join me!
OH AND they had live music; a guy playing bass and piano on a keyboard and a girl playing the sax. They were wonderful, whoever they were. Never heard a name.

I was so excited to finally try this place!
You walk in and are greeted by an Egyptian feel with these cloth curtains you walk through once you get inside the door. They have charming lanterns hanging up, dim lighting. It’s perfect.
This specific night, we got there around 8pm on a Saturday night. There were 2 older gentleman playing the loveliest jazz music. A few of us went there for coffee, dessert and gal pal talk. The perfect setting!
The desserts were gluten and vegan friendly. Everything was delicious. From the peanut butter cheesecake to the apple crisp. It was divine!
I’m amped to check it out for an actual meal!

Good for gluten free, vegan and vegetarian options! The setting is casual with a hipster vibe. The restrooms are single rooms.
Food:
I tend to be one to ask for sauces on the side and to keep things more plain. I decided to go for the sea bass special as is and was throughly pleased with the dish. The pistachio encrusted layer on top was very satisfying. The kale sauce was a tad too butter for me, but was okay and the kale was fresh. The fingerling potatoes were a tad rubbery, but a nice side carb.
The butternut squash soup was good for a cool winter day, but nothing over the top fancy or powered with flavor.
Desert– the vegan peanut butter cheesecake was super delicious and tasted similar to real Cheesecake. Worth the extra calories.

First time to Merge. Being Vegan it is often difficult to find a variety when we go out to dinner. Not the case at Merge. My wife made reservations for my birthday tonight and I’m glad she did. I was impressed with the variety of vegan options on the menu. The food arrived in a timely manner and was absolutely delicious. Lots of flavor!
The atmosphere was casual but elegant at the same time. The staff was friendly and polite.
Although the meal was filling we couldn’t turn up the vegan peanut butter cheese cake. It was delicious.
The only downsides I had was that we hit a night that had no music. We’ll remedy that by visiting on an entertainment night next time. I also would have liked larger print on the menu. My cheaters weren’t enough in the dim lighting. After we ordered I saw the waitress give a magnifying glass to a guy at another table. Very accommodating.

best value happy hour in the city as far as i’m concerned. $ 5 appetizers and $ 5 drafts, $ 4 well drinks. great place to go after work and sit at the bar, grab a couple drinks and some seitan wings (favorite!), loaded sweet potato fries, delicious salads, etc.
i’m also a huge fan of their bbq tostadas! dinner can be a little bit pricier than i can regularly afford, but i like coming here when i want to go out for a nice dinner. i love that i can come here with my vegetarian friends and they can have something more than a salad or veggie burger. there’s something for everyone on this menu.

Lovely atmosphere and loved the menu for new years. A great place to know you have healthy options and delicious tastes– highly recommend risotto and wine/​champagne and a great place for a date!

This was my second time going to merge and it was fantastic. We had the smothered sweet potato fries with lentils and they were amazing. I could’ve eaten that for my main dish. Then I got the apple cider chicken with salt and vinegar potatoes and sautéed kale. Kale was okay… Not amazing but the chicken and potatoes was just the right flavors. Then for dessert Apple crisp! Vegan and gluten free with soy vanilla ice cream! Perfect (late) fall treat! Oats were amazing! Best apple crisp I have had in a while! Sorry mom!
I will definitely be back to Merge soon!

Merge has become something of a staple restaurant that deeply characterizes my Buffalo dining experience. I conceptualize it as a laid-​back and trendy dinner spot with a vegetarian twist that never fails to disappoint in terms of both ambiance and food.
The food is innovative and well-​prepared; seasonal changes in the menu reflect the tastes of the chefs and available local produce. Although I am neither vegetarian nor vegan, I enjoy trying the different veggie variations on classic dishes. That said, most meals are very heavy. Portion sizes appear small, but are extremely filling (and delicious). An appetizer split among a group and an individual entrée is more than enough food.
Customer service proves to be the most significant drawback to Merge as an establishment. I have been twice, and both times staff has been inattentive and not very personable. It’s tough to enjoy great food and a pleasant atmosphere when the service is mediocre at best. Even still, I find myself returning to Merge to indulge in the atmosphere and nostalgia for the good times I’ve had during prior visits.

Great experience all around. The food is tasty and fresh as they change their menu continually. The kale and peach salad came with this great light lemony dressing and candied pecans. The Buffalo chicken was good, but I think the black bean quinoa cakes were even better. Great selection of wines by the glass too.

Went to Merge for brunch on a whim after the Bidwell Farmer’s Market. We were pleasantly surprised with the menu, service and the space itself. I had the potato pancakes with turkey bacon, caramelized onions and two sunny side up eggs — the egg yolks were a bright pinkish yellow color and extremely fresh. My gf had the breakfast pizza with pesto — great light crust and pesto flavor. We split the parfait which was a new experience only being used to the supermarket ones in the produce section — very light and the berries /​granola were fresh and delicious. The waiter was friendly and knowledgeable and the space had a nice vibe to it. I’m no vegan, but it was nice to know where the ingredients were from and you could taste the quality. We wi be back

Frustration was my main emotion concluding my experience at Merge. Came in around 9 pm to place a take out order, so we headed to the bar to check out their menu. The place has an interesting vibe, dark lighting, pretty vases with flowers and candles on tables to set the mood. There is a big sign indicating guests to wait to be seated, which I appreciated because I hate when you have to guess whether or not you are supposed to seat yourselves. There was a stage in the dining area with band equipment, nobody was performing however, so I figured they must have just finished. There was also a separate small dining area on the right, away from the band and bar, so if you want a bit of separation from the bar and live music scene, that would be the area for you.
The bar is really small, it looks like a bar you would have in the basement of your home, four stools or so and then it curves a bit. There was a pretty brick fireplace behind the bar used for decoration, it brought a cozy feel to the place that I enjoyed. There were white christmas lights hanging behind the bar too, very much needed since the lighting throughout the place was really dark. I ordered the curried quinoa salad and added grilled chicken to it. I also asked for a side of lemon tahini because it sounded interesting. The person I was with ordered the vegan alfredo and he too, added grilled chicken to the dish. We also threw in an order of sweet potato fries. While we waited at the bar, we exchanged some friendly banter with the bartender who was nice. Our food came out pretty quickly, only took about 15 minutes or so. The bartender dropped our bill and we checked the to go bag. No sweet potato fries. We checked the bill to make sure they weren’t on there, they weren’t, the bartender forgot, no big deal, but we wanted them so we asked him to add an order, he did, and they came out in about 4 minutes. It was my understanding that Merge was a healthy place so I was surprised to hear that their sweet potato fries were twice fried, baked would have been so much better. We each sneaked a fry before leaving and they were pretty delicious.
It’s all downhill from here. I pulled out the two containers of food and before opening them, or being able to see what was inside, I immediately commented on how light the dishes were. I opened my quinoa salad and couldn’t believe what was inside. I could NOT believe this was a $ 13 salad. There was raw kale covering the bottom of the container and a VERY VERY small amount of quinoa pilaf with some apricots, almonds and sliced carrots. This was in NO way a quinoa salad. It looked more like a small side of kale with a scoop of quinoa. Luckily, they remembered to add the grilled chicken which is more than I can say for my boyfriends order, but I’ll get to that in a second. The grilled chicken was in small cubes and there was a small amount, however for only a $ 3 upcharge, I was okay with the portion. The lemon tahini dressing was not my cup of tea, it strangely got more tolerable with each bite, but it was a bit sour for me. I finished the salad and was starving and angry. Now lets talk about the Vegan Alfredo. $ 22 for the dish because he added grilled chicken. THERE WAS NO GRILLED CHICKEN. So not only were the sweet potato fries forgotten but we were also charged to add chicken and there was none. I could NOT believe the portion of the pasta. I wish so badly I had snapped a photo of the amount in the container. He ate the dish in five bites. FIVE. There was hardly anything in there. The pasta was a house made roasted red pepper fettuccini with radishes, onions in a cashew cream sauce. Don’t get me wrong, the flavor, on point, delicious. The portion, unacceptable for this price point. It was the size of an appetizer, IF THAT. The bread they gave on the side was also very soggy once we opened our food as there were no holes in the bread like there should have been to avoid sogginess. We were really disappointed to drop $ 50 plus tip on this experience because all we talked about afterwards was how quickly we wanted to get home and have a bowl of popcorn because we were still so hungry.

I’ve been wanting to try Merge for so long and I finally got my chance. I was so excited and it was even better than expected! Merge is like a mixture between a hip coffee house and a trendy restaurant. The feel is comfortable and warm, like you could relax here for hours. So many surprises here– theres a small stage and we got a front row seat of a 2-​man jazz performance, it was a beautiful compliment to the ambience. And this was on a Tuesday night! Another unexpected bonus, I didn’t realize they have quite the list of specialty cocktails, which I love. From the local art on the walls to the pretty cloth menus, this place certainly cares about attention to detail
I’m new to the world of vegetarian/​vegan foods but I’ve been learning and trying to experience more so Merge was perfect. While I’m not vegetarian, I have been searching for more local, organic produce and meats. The menu lists the farms where the foods come from, all of which are in New York, which is nice to see.
The cocktails were great and I know they are a little more complex than your average drink, however, we found ourselves waiting around for them longer than you’d think. We had the vegan flatbread appetizer; spinach, artichoke, banana pepper and cashew cheese. It was delicious, even as a cheese-​lover the vegan substitution did not disappoint. I had a house salad because I wanted to try the «Green Goddess» dressing. It was simple, but good. They had a great special list– I got the roasted red pepper, sweet pea and shrimp risotto cakes with lemon pepper cream sauce and sautéed kale. I was nervous about the cream sauce, I wasn’t in the mood for anything too heavy, but it was perfect. Just a light touch and didn’t overwhelm the dish. The small bed of kale was a nice as well, providing a contrasting texture to the crispy cakes. The ambience and music was so nice I just didn’t want to leave. so I got dessert and coffee! The apple cranberry cobbler — salty caramel sauce, homemade vanilla ice cream. Pretty much just a traditional cobbler but delicious. Maybe next time I’ll try one of their more unique desserts.
I’m glad there are options for all, even those looking for a non-​vegetarian meal. It’s romantic but not too much where you couldn’t also have a casual meal with a friend. Overall, I loved Merge! I can’t wait to go back.

I can’t say enough how much I enjoy Merge. From their signature cocktails, the cool interior, their tireless promoting of all things local, everything; Merge is just a concept I can get behind!
My husband and I went in for local restaurant week (at least for this particular visit). We were sat, got our drinks, and placed our order in good time. It was really wonderful because we were able to just sit and talk, and we could hear each other easily. There was a local musician playing in the other room doing an acoustic set on his classical guitar, so it was nice to hear him in the background (and of course we left him a tip, too).
The food was incredible! My mushroom bourginon with truffle mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach was perfect; a variety of textures that made for a great mouth feel experience. My husband’s swordfish was fresh and cooked perfectly, and the spicy lime cream sauce complimented it very well.
We ordered dessert too: a carrot cupcake and gluten free oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Again, the food was amazing! Everything was delicious and we had a wonderful time.
I definitely recommend Merge at any point! It’s a great place to sit and relax, have a drink, and eat delicious, clean, nutritious food!

I went to merge with a small group of friends and it was an overall fantastic dinner! The décor is really cute and has a homey feel. Also, the jazz musicians playing really added to the mood during dinner.
I had the Moroccan chickpea cake with pumpkin curry sauce. The overall flavoring and mix of foods was just fantastic. The pumpkin curry was perfect for the fall weather. It also came with asparagus that was perfectly cooked. The chickpea cake was just delicious, unlike anything I’ve ever had. The spices were added perfectly the the cake and curry. They have so many unique dishes that I feel you cannot find anywhere else in Buffalo. The service was very good as well.