O’Connells American Bistro

Went here for a comedy show and had a few drinks. Didn’t eat but it was more high end. Smelled good.
Too bad they closed.

Service = Snooty and not helpful, very pushy with the alcohol
Food = cold, undercooked, $ 40 steak came smeared with A1 sauce.
Menu = Print menu and website menu were wildly out of sync, we could hear other couples being told their selections were not available.
Me = Not going back unless the staff called to apologize for the bad experience.

I have never posted on Unilocal before, but this one deserves a review. My husband and I have never paid so much for such low quality food preparation. I had eaten here about a year and a half ago during restaurant week, and I was looking forward to introducing my husband to the place. What a disappointment. Our first hint was the «For Sale» sign out front. The «Hungarian hot peppers» had no heat (tasted like bell peppers), and the stuffing was cold in the middle. My husband thought he was ordering the linguine with clam sauce, but it turned out to be a predominantly bacon cream sauce. I ordered the lobster mac and cheese, which may have been ok had the rest of the meal not been so sub-​par and had the lobster not tasted questionable.
The upsides were the mixed drinks (Gincumber is great) and the service. We do not mind paying for a professionally prepared meal, but the $ 130 bill (BEFORE tip) was truly unreasonable. For anyone who may have eaten here in the past and is considering a repeat visit, don’t. There are too many fantastic restaurants in a 10 mile radius to waste you time and money here.

It was our forsttie at O’onells and we were not disppointed. The menu was extensive and exotic. I had the Mac and Cheese with Bacn, and the Tomato Soup, and both were delicious. The Ceaser Salad ordered by a friend was enormous. @ of mydining companions order the BIstro Burger and it must have ben over a lb of beef. The service was a little slow… there were large gaps of time between courses. Our server was knowledgeble on all of the dishes and was able to answer all of our questions. I would definitely recommend this beautiul place to anyon.

O’Connells has been a favorite of mine and my wife’s for several years. During the winter the restaurant closed it’s doors for a few days to remodel the interior, and released a new style of menu to accompany the reopening. The changes have all been great.
My wife’s «Last Meal on Earth» has made it’s way to the normal menu, Lobster Mac, with REAL hand picked lobster, and home made gnocchi in a delicious sauce topped with a gratin. Easily the most delicious mac and cheese anywhere in Buffalo, and those that claim a neighboring restaurant’s Buffalo Mac n Cheese haven’t tried this (and really, what are Goldfish doing in a fine dining restaurant?).
The new menu is adventurous, yet approachable. Most important, it’s affordable. We love going here on a week night, ordering 3 small plates and a few glasses of wine, having a wonderful dining experience, and spending far less than the food warrants.
And if you’re feeling adventurous, and hungry, the Chef prepares a 5 course tasting menu each night. Each course will come out and surprise you. We had some fantastic conch a few weeks ago, the most tender I’ve ever had, and it wasn’t pounded, or put through a tenderizer. A fantastic dish, and incredibly unexpected, especially in Buffalo… or is it Kenmore ;)
If you’ve never been to O’Connells, get there. If you’ve been there before, come back and see the new interior, and new menu. We love the reinvention, and think it’s a hidden gem, a little out of the way of the suburbs, and the city.

To describe the food at O’Connells in one word: DECADENCE! It was so good I actually felt my arteries clogging as I wolfed down my delicious dinner.
I actually went to O’Connells about six years ago when it first opened and I was not impressed. He had some great ideas with really nice ingredients, but it just did not come together, much like Blue Monk when it first opened. However, time and experience have certainly helped this restaurant find its niche by double downing on decadence… allow me to explain…
Poutine: a dish created by some silly French Canadians who came up with the brilliant idea to take french fries cover them with gravy and mix in some cheese curds. Chef O’Connell thought to himself how can I take this already ridiculously high caloric meal to the next level… elk bacon and a fried egg on top. I shared this dish at the bar with my girlfriend and a respected Doctor (unfortunately not a heart surgeon) and we all loved it. It was huge, the gravy was deep chocolate brown and rich, the french fries were hand cut, the elk bacon was smoky and in abundance, the cheese curds were so stringy and the fried egg was F U good. Total Food Porn! In Kenmore they say my arteries shrunk three sizes that day.
Chicken Cutlets Milanese with Argula: After speaking with the bartender and several bar denizens about how every Italian boy in WNY helped their mother make this dish when they were little I could not pass this one up. Now you’ve had this dish just about everywhere in Town… Carmelo’s and Left Bank probably had the best two. I can now say hands down O’Connells is the winner. So once again Chef O’Connell thought to himself how can I take this rediculously high caloric meal to the next level… top it with tasso ham (though it tasted more like proscuitto) and a sh*t load of melted triple cream brie. OMG this was ridiculously good. He actually marinates the chicken before he breads it creating a wonderfully flavorful chicken. The breading was so crispy and good and the arugula was very fresh. But the Brie… oh my, it actually brought a tear to my eye. Once again total Food Porn.
My girlfriend had double smoked bacon wrapped pork tenderloin over cheesy grits with roasted brussel spouts. Yeah, its as good as it sounds… but it was a bit dry. The Doc had bucatini with braised pork shoulder, mushrooms, tomatoes in a greasy broth (this was the weak meal of the night). The pork shoulder was really nice though.
Needless to say I am totally blown away by this restaurant. After my initial disappointment here I did not expect much. The bar has quite some depth with fine liquors, and the bartender had us rollin’ all night as we B.S.‘d with him throughout the course of the night.
Chef O’Connell knows quality ingredients and is not afraid to take a dish over the top to a point where it is almost ridiculous. His menu has a ton of dishes that I want to sample and I can not wait to come back. While my arteries will never be the same this is certainly a restaurant Buffalo should be proud to have. I do have one suggestion though, perhaps in place of mints on the way out a bowl of Lipitor would suffice?
With restaurants like this in town (along with our plethora of chicken wings and ridiculously good bar food), I have a new motto for Buffalo (with a nod to Austin): KEEP BUFFALO FAT! Try it on for size Byron Brown… take it for a walk. When foodies come rushing here you’ll thank me later. (I just want a cut on the merch)

Man I wish this place always had restaurant week type deals every day of the year. That’s 5 courses for 20 dollars! You just can’t beat that value! Everything I’ve had here ranging from soup, salad, foie gras, steak, pasta, desserts have all been outstanding. One of the places I’m going to miss about Buffalo.

I almost don’t want to review this place because I feel like I’ve found a steal in their Sunday BOGO that I don’t want them to take away if too many people start going to it. The place was entirely empty last night aside from a few customers at the bar. Sunday BOGO is on their a la carte menu only (at first I thought I could get away with highway robbery w/​BOGO of their 7 course tasting menu for $ 40). All entrees run from ~$ 20-​$ 56 with most in the $ 20 – 40 so basically you’re getting a high class meal for ~$ 20/​person.
They start with a flatbread and 2 sauces for spreading — a basil pesto and a roasted red pepper sauce. Both were tasty and I gobbled up the whole basket even though I wasn’t that hungry. We ordered the braised short rib and the rack of lamb and both plates were huge. Short rib fell right off the bone and the mashed potatoes were solid. The rack was a little rare on the edges even though we asked for medium rare but I thought the eggplant scramble on the side really stood out. Overall, we paid $ 25/​person — thievery.
Service was a little subpar considering we were the only table there. And just as a heads up, their website is supposedly under construction so the menu you see on there is inaccurate. But in all, the Sunday deal here is one I can see myself taking advantage of frequently. I just hope too many people beat me to it now and they take it away.

The deals here are so sick that I have no idea how the owners make any money. Sit at the bar and order 2 items from the bar menu and they buy you a bottle of wine, order two more items and yes… you get another bottle! The tasting menu is another killer deal, 7 courses for $ 40! WTF? The food here is some of the best in the city. My only criticism is it can be a little heavy handed. Meaning the chef relies a little too much on butter, cream, bacon, salt, truffle oil, and other things of that nature. The portions are hugh and well presented. Service was «O.K.» at the bar, but overall a great time out.

My husband and I ate here not long after this restaurant opened under it’s new name. It was by far, one of the best fine dining meals we’ve had. Right up there with Left Bank, Tempo and Fiamma. Service was good, but nothing to brag about. Our meals were well prepared and the presentation was nice. I had the pork roulades and my memory fails me of what my husband had, but there weren’t any complaints. We specifically enjoyed the crème brûlée cheese cake with raspberry sauce. To die for! I’ve never had anything as good anywhere else thus far. Overall, a fantastic dining experience worthy of five stars.

[The Restaurant Formerly Known As O’Connells Hourglass]
I have long lamented the lack of a french bistro in the Buff. So the reopening of the Hourglass as the recently redone and renamed O’Connells American Bistro made my tummy growl. It’s much brighter and has a v. open feel, though the atmosphere & menu still scream «spendy posh dining experience» and not «fun night of noshing at Pastis, drinking champers and being euro-​trashy».
The menu is divided into a couple of sections:
Hot plates – classic french appys, like onion soup, snails, etc.
Salads – Frisse aux lardons! Heaven pour moi. And other assorted salads, all in a v. reasonable $ 5-​$ 7 range.
Frenchie entrees – Steak frites, frenched chicken and other items I don’t quite recall, in a $ 22 – 30 range.
Meat – you can order some v. special cuts of meat. 18 oz massive center cut American Kobe Ribeye ($ 42), Filet ($ 38), some fancy pork chop and lamb imported from a fancy ranch in Colorado, etc. These are the SooperSpendy entrees
I had the Frisee (mais bien sur!) and the steak frites. Frissee was excellent, though the lardons were not exactly lardons but more like pieces of excellent bacon. The steak – flat iron – done perfectly rare and served with a size of truffle fries. I was not overwhelmed by the truffle-​ness of the fries, but they were thin cut yummy fries.
Hubby had the caesar salad (with, he says, better white anchovies than Tempo) and the aforementioned ribeye (rare). That was damn good as well, but he said he would have been just as happy with the steak frites (at $ 22 vs. $ 42). I thought it was buttery goodness steak.
Why, given all this bloody goodness and my love of the french food, the «minus one star»? The wine list. There is no excuse for having only 2 bottles of red wine in the $ 40 price range and only another two in the $ 50-​$ 60 range. We ended up having a $ 15 retail bottle of bordeaux for $ 55. I hate being ripped off on the wine list. HATE IT! There weren’t many french wines, either, and there can be some real finds in the various french regions.
I would also take a half-​star off for the service, as well, if I could. We asked the waiter to describe a bottle of wine for us. He gave some sort of general description, then came back 2 minutes to ask which wine we asked for. Um, the one you just described to us as being «soft, blah blah blah». I felt real confident about the wine after that. And at $ 55 a bottle – (THIS IS BUFFALO!) – you should be able to describe the wine with some sort of accuracy. It really pissed me off.
Dinner for two with the aforementioned bottle of wine – $ 142 (pre tip).

Alas, no croque-​monsieur on the lunch menu though I hear it’s been a special. Must return for lunch.