Sterling

I’ve been here a few times, but only ordered food once.
The craft beer selection is great (but let’s be honest, that doesn’t make you stand out anymore.)
The banana pepper mac and cheese was incredible, and comes in a huge portion. I ate about half of it, if that. The waitress said she’d only seen a few people finish an entire mac and cheese entrée. The duck fries are whatever. Arugula just doesn’t add anything to french fries, and I couldn’t taste the parm.
I give this place a ³⁄₅ because of the atmosphere. Maybe it’s just by chance the few times I’ve come in, but the few people I’ve tried to strike up a convo with were not friendly. I’m only 21, so I think that may be it. Seems like more of a late-​20s, early-​30s crowd. The short brunette bartender is also pretty unfriendly and has ignored me on more than one occasion.
I recently moved to North Buffalo from the Elmwood area and really miss it. I haven’t found a Hertel bar that I like nearly as much as Cole’s or Goodbar yet.

I come here all the time! Awesome food — there are constantly amazing mac n’ cheese specials, and new drinks to try. Great service — people are always friendly. And the atmosphere is great, especially in the summer when they open the front and side.

Went there this past Sunday afternoon, sat out in patio. I ordered a grilled salad with chicken on side, blue cheese & onions. My friend ordered the burger with crab cake. We were with our girlfriend & she ordered stuffed peppers… After about ¹⁰⁄₁₅ minutes our waitress comes over to let us know «she missed» the memo there’s no more stuffed peppers so she ordered chicken fingers instead… We waited a while for food, it was good. But the service sucked our waitress seemed a bit clueless, reminded me of phoebe from friends. I didn’t like eating out on patio with dogs with their owners!!! Overall it was just an okay experience

Food was took forever to come out. Ordered a medium well burger that came out charred and extra crispy. Also ordered the Rueben with no kraut and when it came half of the sandwich was kraut. Waitress immediately noticed after she brought it to the table and the kitchen staff remade it. When I bit into it the meat was freezing and I was confused because the cheese was melting and the tortilla was hot. Asked the waitress about it and she said it was supposed to be like that. Would not go back. They also had the X games on which was a high point but they didn’t have on subtitles so we couldn’t follow along closely.

I had an excellent meal here– the sterling salad and crab cakes. Beers and ciders on tap were great, I actually have a new favorite cider. It was a Sunday and they were seemingly the only place open so it was packed and we had quite a wait for our meal but I feel that has to be forgiven due to circumstance. Will definitely be back

I was so excited to try this place out. I got there with my boyfriend and we ordered drinks. The server didn’t come back for maybe another 20 minutes to take our food order. After that we waited an additional hour for our food. When I got my burger it was rock hard when I asked for medium rare and the Mac and cheese I got as a side was meh. I asked for hot sauce and the waitress continued to talk to other patrons and never brought it out for me. I wish this place was better. Great location and nice little patio. Sad.

I cannot hype this place enough.
From what I hear, the menu is relatively new and the place in general has been updated a lot. It is absolutely phenomenal.
I went with two gal pals. We ordered the regular Mac and cheese (this was better than Mooney’s, no joke), chicken fingers (best that I’ve ever had they were comparable to like, Tully’s tenders on steroids), stuffed hot peppers (could’ve been hotter, they definitely deseeded them), and the duck fries (not very ducky but they were fries so obviously yummy).
We all got a few beers and we each got a flight. They had a lot of selections to choose from. I would definitely come back if not solely for the Mac and cheese.
The service was pretty average, nothing over the top but the food made it so much better.
Complaint: the chair to table height ratio is strange, we felt like toddlers in the chairs because they were a bit low while the tables were a bit high.
Overall, fantastic experience and I’ll definitely be back!
X’s and O’s!
J

I’ve stopped in Sterling once for a drink with family and another time for dinner when all the other surrounding restaurants were full. I have to say, it’s exceeded my expectations!
I like what the new management has done with the interior, although the restrooms could use some serious updating. Bellying up to the bar has that great Buffalo-​dive feel and sitting at one of the several tables affords a little more private of an experience.
A couple weeks ago, my friend and I ate fish fries at the bar and threw back a couple beers from their thoughtful selection of draughts. The fish fries were nothing to complain about, although the cole slaw was missing some inspiration. Our service, provided by the hostess and a few bartenders, was excellent. I won’t overlook this spot next time!

Calling all aging hipsters! This is marketed to you and people who want the «feel» of a corner bar and don’t mind being duped and paying to much for beer to do so. If you used to be vegetarian and like dive bars but now you love flesh and secretly think dive bars are gross here is your place. This is essentially a chain restaurant. Boring, cliché and yet another garage door front monstrosity you see all over Hertel and Allentown. Maybe the 2 guys who separately own half the bar restaurants in buffalo long for NYC circa 2001? This place would fit right in on that fake street in the Walden Galleria parking lot lined w bar/​restaurants, being the characterture of a Brooklyn pub 15 yrs ago that it is.
Needless to say I was disappointed. It’s NOT A GASTROPUB. Not even close. No way there is a chef back there in the kitchen. The menu is a microwavable, grilled & deep fried time warp from NYC 10 – 15 yrs ago and so is the décor, chalkboards everywhere! Build the menu and pay cheap labor to assemble. It’s fancy fast food. Nothing is terrible. Nothing is great. The beer is so overpriced it’s insulting. Nothing you cant find anywhere else. If you don’t mind paying 80 bucks instead of fifty for dinner n drinks on a date it’s fine. If you don’t mind Applebee’s inspired McEveryPub décor, it’s fine.
I’ve tried several times to give «Sterling» because it’s in my neighborhood. They changed the name so it sounds like the legendary bar that used to be there, I think. The best food I had was the fish fry, it’s very good. So is the fish fry at 3 other places in walking distance though.
Head on down for a good enough experience.

Delicious Fish Fry!
This is one of the best fish fry (s) I have ever had! My only complaint was that the coleslaw was basic/​nothing special but that is totally ok because the french fries made up for it. I would definitely go here again for a fish fry!
Lastly they have a decent beer selection!

We waited 40 minutes for a lukewarm appetizer on a night where there were 3 other tables occupied. The hanger started to set in. Food was meh. Appetizer was underwhelming, my chicken and waffles had no flavor and were completely lacking the aioli that the menu said was supposed to be on it. My fiancé’s mac and cheese also left him feeling unimpressed. Not sure we will be back, and if we are it will only be for drinks.

I’ve admired the glorious patio seating of this place during the summer. They have beautiful huge garage style doors that open up the storefront during the warmer months and always seemed to be packed.
Went here for lunch and def wasn’t disappointed! I ordered the sterling burger. Came with hand cut fries. Super delicious! My friend ordered the pulled pork mac & cheese that was out of this world!
Tons of selections of beer.
The cook came out and talked to us and made sure everything was good! Super friendly! He told us they have live music several times throughout the week and that its usually poppin lol

Have yet to try the food but the drinks were great, friendly staff and fun environment. I love the location — perfect spot on Hertel and is walking distance to just about everywhere. I am looking forward to trying something new for dinner as I had heard the service is great. Gluten free lovers– they have beer options that taste great and are gluten-​free, another perk!

First I will say that the score has nothing to do with our server, Tonya. She was very friendly and attentive. She was running the bar and taking care of the table on her own.
The food was actually tasty, just a little overpriced. $ 5 for a side of fries is ridiculous, $ 10 for 3 chicken fingers is a little high too.
$ 13 for a burger and fries isn’t too bad, however my mother’s well done burger came out way too dark, very charred, almost burnt. The bun was burnt also. It was sent back and the next one was a little better, but way darker than it should be. Well done doesn’t equal charred. We were told it was the cook’s first night, but anyone with experience grilling should know how to cook a well done burger without burning it. The taste was good once you got past the charred outside. Hopefully management takes some interest in their new cook and makes sure he is well versed on the menu.
The place is clean, very open, and even with the two large glass garage doors it was a pleasant temperature.
I would say this is a place that is best for people looking for some beers and the game, maybe a bite to eat. If you’re looking to have some conversation I’d go elsewhere… the sound carries everywhere and it was very loud.
I can’t see coming back for dinner because it isn’t my choice for the kind of atmosphere I want. I could see stopping in for a drink and football if that was my thing. Hopefully the new owners can iron out the wrinkles and have a successful business.

I’ve come here a few times over the past few months as I live in the North Buffalo area and this is a relatively easy bar to get into on a nightly basis. The renovations that were completed after the sudden closing of Sterling Tavern were swift and significant. The restaurant/​bar area are now one in the same and there is no longer a wall separating the two. They also added a garage door that allows for patio seating in the late spring/​early summer.
I’ve mainly came here to drink their selection of craft draft from various areas of the country with nearly half coming from the Western New York area. The bartenders are very friendly and the owner/​manager (not sure which) is the man. He does not put up with BS from a-​hole customers and will let you know to your face that you are not welcome if you are being a blatant d-​bag. One time when i came here that had a live band playing which was a pleasant surprise and kept me there for much longer than I expected.
The food is the only area that I think is lacking here. I get that it’s a bar menu and isn’t very extensive, but there really isn’t too many options (possible expansion?). I ordered a sausage platter which came with 2 or 3 different sausage and your choice of 2 sides. The sausage was decent, but the sides were average at best. There was this mustard potato salad type thing which was basically home fries tossed in stone ground mustard. Not my cup of tea and I barely touched it.
I will continue coming back here for the bar, but I doubt I will order any food other than fries in the future.

We decided to stop in to try out the Sterling for Saturday lunch. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Since we went in the early afternoon, the restaurant and bar were both pretty empty. We sat ourselves and the bartender doubled as our waitress. There was one other table — a family with kids who enjoyed «playing» the piano. They weren’t there too long after we sat, so it didn’t get to the point of being more than mildly annoying, but it certainly could have if they were there longer! But I digress…
The space is well laid out, with the dining area and bar clearly defined. The décor was pretty cool — masculine and alcohol related antiques (punching bag, old advertisements, tools, beer tap handles, aforementioned piano, etc.). Overall, the ambiance was pretty cool.
The beer menu has a good variety of choices, both draft and bottle. The bartender/​waitress was able to provide good recommendations based off of our typical beer choices.
The menu is pretty much limited to appetizers, salads, mac & cheese, burgers and sausages, with a few other items. Which is fine by me — stick to what you know you’re good at.
I got the bacon jam burger, which comes with a fried egg on top and (I think fresh cut) fries. The egg was perfectly cooked for a burger topper — not too runny, but not over done. Although a little challenging to eat, it was really yummy! The other diners got the mac & cheese burger (very cheesy and tasty, but somewhat muddled flavors) and the sausage platter (enjoyed the variety of sausages and sauerkraut, but not the jalapeño slaw so much).
I would definitely come back for lunch, dinner or just the bar.

The Sterling is a pretty chill bar on Hertel. The atmosphere is more of an older crowd (late 20s and up), features several beers on tap, and a pretty decent food menu.
I went Wednesday night for Trivia Night with a couple friends. Saw that the special was «Chicken Parm Mac N’ Cheese» and I knew instantly that this place would probably get a good rating from me. The Mac was awesome. It was super tasty and was enough for 2. The beer list, although vast, was a little… odd? I didn’t really recognize many, if any of the beers they had listed. I just went with an IPA that the bartender suggested. It was good? I think? Beyond that, it did get rather loud in there at times… but I can see that not being an issue in the summer since they have what looks like a prime corner patio setup. The prices are ok. A little pricey, but pretty average for that area.
Go in confidence.

Each bite gets better … Seriously good– new chef and great eats. Sausage was unreal on flavor and on all out quality! These guys really do it right! Looking for dinner and a beverage — this place is your place! Sessional veggies were not out of a bag — sauerkraut laced with caraway seeds — sauces rocked and all seemed to be made with real ingredients! Loved it!

This place just isn’t all the way there yet. Another month of renovations would have made a big difference in my opinion. Here’s why: the patio, tables inside and actual bar look beautiful. Very new, modern and clean. However, there is little to no shelving behind the bar which makes it look sloppy. The liquors aren’t organized they are sort of just sitting on the counter area behind the bar. Also, their bathroom is pretty old and REALLY needs to be updated. It seems like a half ass job that needed more time to be completed. We were hungry when we came in but were told that the kitchen was closed. However, a huge sign over the woman’s toilet stated otherwise. It said the kitchen was open later than the bartenders told us and that they were keeping the same menu as the old sterling. Mixed messages here. Their beer selection was alright. Most of the bartenders were great, with the exception of one, who spoke a little too loudly when he whispered to the other bartender that he wants to get the heck out of here soon. Not really something the guests should be hearing. It ultimately made me uncomfortable so we closed our tab and left. I would come back and enjoy a beer outside but couldn’t see making this my usual place, nothing too special about it.

My husband and I stopped by on Wednesday evening around 6:30. We were lucky to grab the last 2 spots at the bar. They were busy but not packed.
They did such a great job renovating this place. It’s very open, bright and clean.
The bartenders were very friendly and helpful. We started with a couple draft beers, they have about 15 on draft. The selection was good, not great I would say. My husband had already tried almost all the beers they had on draft, so it was a little disappointing for him.
We asked to look at a menu, small but not simple. They had 2 burgers and 3 different sausages, along with a couple apps and sides. We did try the sausage and provolone appetizer. It was good, but nothing amazing. We intended on having dinner there, but nothing really caught our eye on the menu. I really didn’t feel like Wild Boar, Duck or Rabbit sausage, those were the 3 choices, and not feeling a burger.
I would definitely return for just drinks and maybe apps. They have the duck fries like Blue Monk. But as far as dinner, I don’t think so. So if you have a picky eater in your group, it may be hard for them to find something to eat.