I truly do not understand these ratings. This restaurant is a must go if you are visiting and want to try buffalo food! However, you HAVE to get the spaghetti parm. I have never gotten anything else and never will, it's their most popular item! I definitely recommend their French onion soup when they have it too. The environment is nostalgic for me, a very welcome Italian feel. The spaghetti parm is absolutely ginormous and filling, so be prepared. I douse mine in the side sauce that comes with it as well. Definitely a buffalo staple! read more

Chef's Restaurant - Spaghetti Parm with Mushrooms - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

Food here is traditional Italian comfort food. Try their signature spaghetti parmigiana-it's legendary! Service here is very gracious. The ambiance is welcoming. There are some private rooms and two large dining areas. There's a bar too! Chef's has been around forever because they are really great at what they do. Keep up the good work! read more

Unbelievably good pasta, especially if it's parmed. We travel from Rochester just to eat here. Lunch portions are huge. The chicken parm and spaghetti parm are our favorites. Make sure you call for a reservation! read more

Chef's Restaurant - Spaghetti parm with meatball - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

See all

What can I say about Chef's other than it was spectacular!!!! I had the Spaghetti Parm which is their specialty dish and was not disappointed. The dish was huge and packed so full of flavor. Instant hit and I will be sure to go back every time I'm in Buffalo. Their linen napkins are actually bibs and with a plate of food like that I needed one. I rarely eat leftovers when I take them home, but I literally ate every last bite! The celebrity pictures on the walls let you know it's a Buffalo staple. read more

Chef's Restaurant - Spaghetti Parm - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

See all

The spaghetti parm and complimentary fresh bread are amazing! Phone ordering and drive thru pickup is very convenient.

Family Dinner 5/19/2022. I would honestly never eat here again, and this restaurant is highly overrated. The only thing that gave this review the second star was the friendliness of the staff, although they did take a long time to bring our initial drinks out. Bread dip 8/10. You can taste the olive oil more than I'd like. It would have been nice if they let the spices sit in it longer so that the flavors soak into the oil more. French Onion Soup 8/10. Good broth flavor, seasoned well. Probably the third best I've had. Stuffed banana peppers 1/10. Rating given by 3 separate people. 2 people say they have absolutely no flavor and need garlic and salt. I say it tastes very bland at first bite and then after a few seconds, nothing but spice. I tried 1 bite out of the middle of the pepper and my mouth was on fire after chewing for a second, it hurt so bad I had to spit it out, i felt like someone cut my tongue off for about 15 minutes and I actually started crying it hurt so bad. We had asked for some milk but it took so long to come to the table I resorted to butter for help. Calamari 7/10. Rating from 3 separate people. Too much breading. Kids Chicken tenders 1/10. Rating from 2 kids. They were difficult for the kids to bite. The 9 year old said he wished he would have ordered noodles with butter. Stuffed Shells 2/10. I got the large, the waitress said it comes with 5 shells, but I think I got 4. Super bland, the cheese was not very melty or gooey at all. It had barely any flavor. They definitely need to cook with salt. They also could have stuffed the shells a little bit more. Lasagna with 2 Food Truck Meatballs 0/10. My aunt ate literally one bite and that's all. She didn't like it. Pasta Pesto. 7/10??? Im just guessing on this rating. I tried a bite of this, but my fiancé put so much salt on it, on top of the salty pesto and it was very distracting from the actual taste of the dish. And I also waited too long to write the review so he doesn't remember much to help. read more

Chef's Restaurant - Large Pasta Pesto - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

See all

I LOVE Chef's !! EVERYTIME my nephew comes in from South Dakota, his Uncle has a big get together at Chef's. You get small portions for the price, but dang ,is their food delicious. I love the fresh Italian Bread they keep putting out. I could just eat that all night, but I won't. I ordered the Gnocchi with Marinara instead of sauce with meat. Omg ,it was delicious !!! I've never had that before ,but I will definitely be getting it again. For dessert, too many yummy choices, but oddly enough, I went with the Strawberry Cream Cake. Normally, I'm a chocolate person. The cake was good, but the piece that my in-law got, she gave me some & Idr the name of it, it was something Italian sounding though & that was heaven !! I'll be getting that the next time as well. Always good food & good times at Chef's !! read more

See all

I live coming here the food is always delicious and the staff has always been fantastic. I love sitting by their fish tank with a nice glass of wine! read more

See all

The lunch special is a great deal, it was salad an entree( about 5 choices to choose from), drink and sherbet for $17. The service was quick and I had no time getting back to work on time. Food was awesome as always. Only negative thing would say is the room I was sitting in had a mildew smell that bothered me for a bit but hoping it was just a combo of the weather and ac causing the smell. read more

I really hate leaving negative reviews, but our experience with Natalie, our waitress, was disappointing enough that it needs to be said. From the start, she seemed distracted and disengaged. Instead of checking in on us or making sure we had what we needed, she spent a good chunk of time folding napkins and venting--loudly--about her ex. On top of that, she was openly complaining about the restaurant and her job, which made things super uncomfortable. I get that everyone has bad days, but that kind of negativity and lack of professionalism doesn't belong in a dining experience. We came to enjoy a meal and ended up feeling like background noise to her personal drama. Definitely not the service we expected. read more

The food is always delicious, but this time our waitress left a lot to be desired. We arrived at 11:30, ordered our food with our drinks, ate and packed up by 12:15. We then waited 30 minutes before flagging down our waitress for the dessert and coffee included with our lunch specials. Once she came over, she stared at us like we were crazy, until I reminded her that we needed the rest of our meals and our check please. We then get the dessert, an ice cold, watery coffee, and no check. We eat our dessert and hold our tongue about the weird cup of liquid we got. Once we're done, she asks if we need anything else, to which we reply just the check please. She comes over 10 minutes later, takes our card, and then disappears. After another 10 minutes, we flag down a different waiter to ask him if he can grab our card. Our experience with our waitress completely negates the delicious lunch we had, and changed our opinions about coming there for lunch again in the future. read more

Visited Chef's today for the first time in years. It was for a funeral lunch so I didn't get a chance to look at their prices. Actually first time in one of their banquet rooms. The room was comfortable. The lunch was a buffet that included a salad, veggie tray, macaroni and sauce, meatballs, breaded chicken, and stuffed shells. The food was good even though I'm not a fan of their sauce. It's a little sweeter than I prefer. There was also coffee and cannolis. The cannolis were delicious. Only complain was the coffee. It was super weak. Service was good. I'd go back to try other menu items. No pictures today. 2022-72 read more

We don't eat in this restaurant normally because of the long wait and how packed and noisy it gets. We normally get the spaghetti parm to go, which is basically just spaghetti baked with cheese on top. Delicious, large, and consistent. read more

The spaghetti parm was absolutely the best pasta meal that I have ever eaten. It was very cheesy and the sauce was delicious! Service was great as well, and the photos of the celebrities on the walls provided a really cool atmosphere. read more

When you step into Chef's, it's like stepping back in time. The main attraction here is the spaghetti parm , which I got as the side to my eggplant parmesan. The sauce is sweet and delicious. The portions are large. The dish was good. My husband, who has had Chef's on his wishlist for some time, ordered the lasagna and was not disappointed. The side caesar salads were overpriced and subpar for what is served. The wine list is nice and I enjoyed the sparkling moscato. There is not much diversity, but no surprise there, it's Buffalo. The staff, server and customers are all very friendly. For lunch, two entries, two salads, two glasses of wine and sauce on the side set us back around $89.00 plus tip. Not the cheapest or best place in town, but now we can cross it off the bucket list. read more

See all

There are many restaurants in Western New York !last week we decided to go to Chefs Italian Restaurant! Believe it or not My husband and I have never eaten there !!What a great experience!!!When you walk in their are pictures of famous people not one or two pictures!!hundreds !! We sat down and they give everyone a white cotton apron with a chef on it !!! We had homemade ravioli (And Yes they were homemade!!!They were just like my Grandma's she was from Italy so it's hard to beat her fabulous ravioli!! They're were so many ravioli's are waiter David was wonderful I would definitely recommend Chefs I would make reservations Our friends bought me. the apron I was so surprised I will treasure the experience and my apron forever God Bless Debbie read more

Chef's Restaurant - Apron you can buy like I said I will treasure it forever - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

What is there left to say about Chef's that hasn't been said already? I had a nice experience here with family and look forward to coming back! I arrived around 5:50pm on a Thursday and parked in a Chef's parking lot across the street. The parking spaces themselves are tight but I didn't have much problem getting into the spot and was surprised to see quite a few spots open. I walked inside and made my way to the hostess station waiting on the three others joining me. One of us made a reservation for 6pm so when it came time and the others were a running a little behind, I walked up and was able to claim our table without issue. The dining room was very spacious but our table for four was on the small side, but we made it work. Our waitress was friendly and took care of our table well, nothing noteworthy or above and beyond, which is absolutely fine. I appreciated how she checked-in when it was right to and let us take our time and enjoy the meal and experience at Chef's. She took our drink order and gave us plenty of time to browse the menu but we all had a pretty good idea on what we were going to order so we were able to put in our food orders pretty quick. With how busy it was, all of our food came in a reasonably good amount of time - I never reached the point where I wondered where our food was. The warm, sliced bread with the herb dipping sauce and butter helped with curbing our appetites, along with an order of pizza rolls, which was enough for the four of us to have one roll and some Chef's sauce to dip into. For dinner, I ordered Chef's specialty - Spaghetti Parmesan! I ordered the small size and from the selection of meatballs, mushrooms, and sausage, I added a meatball on top, for a small fee. I was impressed with the portion size and presentation of my Spaghetti Parm, and I appreciated the cup of Chef's meat sauce on the side. The spaghetti was cooked perfectly and had the right balance of softness and being al dente - It was easy to cut and swirl onto my fork. Of course, the melted dome of mozzarella cheese on top was delicious and was something I didn't know I needed with spaghetti! There was a light amount of Chef's meat sauce mixed in with the spaghetti so if you really enjoy sauce, you'll make good use of the cup on the side. I like Chef's sauce, which tends to be sweeter than normal red sauce and, to me, doesn't seem as heavy/lingering on my breath and my stomach. The meatball on top was excellent as well, very easy to cut into with my fork and had a savory flavor without being spicy like meatballs can be sometimes. It also tasted fresh and homemade, no Rosina's frozen meatballs here! Now, the rest of my table ordered the same thing but chose the large size so they could have leftovers. I was very happy with the small size as with most Italian restaurants, they are VERY generous with portions. I ate my entire Spaghetti Parm and it sat incredibly well - Even a few hours later, I felt great and not bogged down like a lot of Italian food tends to, at least with me. I also thought the price for my Spaghetti Parm was pretty reasonable especially given with how much food I got. This was the second time I have been to Chef's, ever, and it's been over 20 years since my first time, so it was great to come back again. The staff were friendly and accommodating and the Spaghetti Parmesan has certainly earned a spot into the Buffalo food hall of fame! I definitely don't want to wait another +20 years to come back to have another Spaghetti Parm. read more

Chef's Restaurant - Spaghetti Parmesan (small) with a meatball [additonal small fee]: What a delicious dish! The dome of melted mozzarella is awesome - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

See all

Chefs! We just love it and comeback to celebrate life events. We love the atmosphere and the food. Always so consistently delicious. Staff are very friendly and accommodating. We just feel at home there. casual setting, reservations important. Families and young kids welcome. Grandma and Grampa too! Take out available . read more

Called ahead to request a table same day, visiting from out of town. The female that answered the phone was discourteous, brusque and rude. Her tone and attitude were as if I was calling a 5 table Michelin star restaurant on a Friday night; acting as if I were imposing on her by trying to reserve a table and absurd for thinking a reservation was possible. There aren't any issues with a restaurant being unable to accommodate a seating request, especially with short notice, but it should be handled with courtesy. If I owned a business and this was the way my front end handled customers, she'd be on the short list. read more

WoW! Just wow! Behind this classic, innocent looking facade lurks the ambiance of an old, belt busting menu and great staff! I was expecting a completely generic Italian dinner, but man was i wrong to assume. The place was adorned with photos of celebrities, presidents, sports heroes, businessmen, and the fresh hum activity from the servers. To be quite honest, it had the feel of the scene of The Godfather where micheal shot those guys down. The bread was wonderful . . Get the spaghetti parm...you will not be disappointed. I got the large, which was bigger than what i had in mind, but nonetheless i ate it all. Get the tiramisu, you're welcome! read more

Chef's Restaurant - Tiramisu - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

See all

Chef's is celebrating 10O years in business at the time of this review! Our group of 7 had a reservation for 6 pm on a Friday, this place was PACKED! Chef's has a huge no-frills dining area, very old school in every way.The atmosphere is casual and family-friendly. After placing our orders, the food arrived in about 45 minutes. The complimentary bread and pesto sauce was very much appreciated. I ordered the Pasta Pesto and one meatball. I did not care for the meatball, my grandson wound up eating and enjoying it. My pasta dish was ok. The menu specified pine nuts but there were no pine nuts in my pasta. The overall flavor was decent, portion was large, it was a little dry. Salad does not come with the meal. Overall I found the service and food to be decent, but would not likely go back unless chosen by a family member or friend. read more

Our dishes were top shelf for a 100 year old restaurant. Excellent Italian....service was everything you'd expect and then some. True Italian hospitality in a down home Italian restaurant. read more

See all

The spaghetti parm is amazing. My husband had chicken parm and he loved it. The sauce is sweet but not to sweet. The staff was very friendly and attentive. The only bad thing is the tables are small and very close togeyher. read more

A little more low key of a spot with a family atmosphere, Italian comfort food and a friendly staff. Had the spaghetti parm with the boneless chicken cacciatore and a nice glass of Chianti. If you're in Buffalo, gotta try it. read more

Chef's is a great local Italian cuisine restaurant! It's a casual atmosphere, and the service is attentive. I have been here a few times. I absolutely love theor meat sauce! I had gotten the small order of raviolis, and without question very delicious! And their complimentary bread and oil dip is on point! Their bread is so soft! What I also like about Chef's is there lights are not dim like some settings are. Therefore a more lively feeling! They have their own parking right across the street which is convenient for the location being in downtown. read more

Chef's Restaurant - Meat sauce ravioli - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

I'm a native Buffalonian and have only been to Chef's a couple times, and this past Tuesday was the second time. I went with my boyfriend's family to celebrate their grandfather's life. We had a separate room, so it was nice that we could hear the conversation and were in our own space. We had a large party. The service was great. I try to be gluten free as much as I possibly can. I was delighted to learn that Chef's has a great gluten free menu. Everyone was eating the bread, and smelling it and seeing it made me salivate, but obviously, I wasn't going to eat it. When I ordered my small spaghetti parm, gluten free, and a gluten free meatball, the waitress brought me a gluten free roll. I thought that was such a nice touch and I didn't ask for it. I really appreciated it. This small personal touch really added to the experience and raised this review to 5 stars. My boyfriend and I split the mixed salad, and it was good. It was made with iceberg, and I would have preferred romaine. It had a great mix of cold cuts, chickpeas and a tomato. I should have ordered the extra small spaghetti parm, because the small spaghetti park yielded about 3 additional meals. I don't know how anyone can order the large! The meatball was great. I highly recommend it and was so excited to have a gf meatball. read more

First time since The Pandemic Chef's is back 90% full and both banquet room in use (On Wednesday) Food is unchanged except the meatballs might be a tad better As always I took the Cannoli Excellent service from Lauren read more

Chef's Restaurant - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

Fantastic as always. Buffalo icon. Great service. Great staff. Great ambiance. Can't wait to go again. read more

The best Italian food I've ever had. The spaghetti parm is incredible and the service is great too.

Worth a trip to Buffalo. We wandered to Buffalo for a day away from Rochester--not sure what we were going to do, and opted on a whim to go for an early dinner. It was about 4:30 when we arrived on a Saturday and thought we were going to have to look elsewhere. They were booked up, and wouldn't be able to seat us until 6-then by luck the manager came and said she could accommodate a walk in. We are so happy they could, the food was good, service was very friendly, and our 3 year old really enjoyed the holiday decor. It is a bit loud, but that makes it that much more family friendly. The spaghetti parm is exactly what we were hoping for, cheesy, good sauce, maybe a little greasy at the end. My husband enjoyed the chicken parm as well. We would definitely return and recommend. read more

See all

9 years later since my last review, I thought an update was in order. The restaurant has now been renovated in the entrance area, and it looks much better--not as tight quarters when you're waiting for a table with other customers. Tonight, we called to reserve a table at 8:00pm and as soon as we walked in at that time, we were seated within a few minutes. Our server was very friendly and took care of us from start to finish. We ordered the Peroni Italian Beer, as well as a glass of Prosecco; both very refreshing. For dinner, we ordered the spaghetti Parm along with spaghetti Parm and meatballs. FYI, meat sauce is the default sauce for dishes. We had to wait about 30 minutes for them to cook the dishes up, which was a bit long. However, the meals were delicious, especially the chicken Parm that had a nice crispy breading. The spaghetti Parma were just perfect with all of the gooey cheese on top. The side of sauce was appreciated as I like putting it on the spaghetti. The meatballs weren't that flavorful to me, I expected more of an oregano or basil taste, instead of the bland one I got. They also weren't that warm. For dessert we ordered the White Chocolate Snowflake cake with raspberry filling. The icing was a bit hard, but still good. FYI, most of their dessert are from Dessert Deli, a local bakery in Buffalo. Overall, we had a really nice 2019 pre-Christmas dinner here and will certainly be back again soon. read more

See all

Made a reservation for dinner on a Monday evening, arrived at the scheduled time and was seated promptly. The restaurant was quite busy but we were greeted by our server after a brief delay. She took our drink orders and asked if we would like a basket of bread. We asked for bread and it was promptly served with butter and dipping oil. The bread was fresh and tasty. We ordered salads and parmed spaghetti which were served promptly. The cheese melted over the spaghetti was delicious and the salads were sizable and fresh. Our waitress packed up our leftovers, we declined dessert as we were very full. Overall a very good experience we will certainly repeat. read more

Chef's Restaurant - Dining - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

The food I had here wasnt seasoned well at all! This place had my stomach in knots! I was in pain after consuming the food here

Five out of Five. Literally a chefs kiss I mean the birth of spaghetti parm aka the BEST way to eat spaghetti the best Italian food in Buffalo. Amazing service along with the culture of the decoration and Italian music. Go here. NOW! Before it's too late read more

Food was amazing. Everything was delicious. Even the lunch portions were very generous and we couldn't finish them. They are not stingy with the cheese at all! The bread with olive oil was so good and I ate too much. Everything was delicious and I highly recommended this place! read more

See all

Food is good, filling, very well prepared, presented, classic, wonderful place. Could

Great prices, great food, great service. Came here on a Saturday around 2pm and even though the parking lot was full and the restaurant was busy, there were still plenty of tables. Service - They were well staffed and well organized. We were seated right away and our drinks came out quickly. Food - I was surprised that the entrees didn't come with a side salad or anything, but you do get free bread with a dipping oil. I liked that most entrees had the option to order either a small or large size. They also had a Gluten-free section on their menu as well. I ordered the large Irv Special which was spiral pasta in a red sauce, topped with a sautéed mushroom, onion, and peperoncini mixture. My husband got the large spaghetti parm with a side of 3 meatballs. Both of ours were very good and we left we enough leftovers for another meal. Overall we were both really impressed with the food quality and will definitely come back here again. read more

Chef's Restaurant - From parking lot - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

See all

Had Chef's a bunch of times as a catered meal, but this was my first time dining in. Went with some friends and I ordered the Spaghetti Parm and it was delicious! It comes as either small or large size. I had the large. It was sooooo cheesy and I added one meatball just to give it a whirl and that was definitely the right choice. Highly recommend getting this dish. My friend had the Chicken Francaise, which was a breaded chicken dish with lemon and butter. It wasn't as flavorful as I expected it to be (my friend let me have some). Our last buddy is gluten-free and she really enjoyed her spaghetti parm with gluten-free pasta and gluten-free meatballs. read more

Chef's Restaurant - Chicken Francaise - Italian Near Me - Buffalo, New York

See all

I had a reservation today that I was running late for and called to let them know and they were very kind about it. But after sitting in traffic for so long I called to just cancel and the woman on the phone asked the normal questions how many people and name and what time. And I had called maybe 5-7 minutes prior to let them know about running late but she gave an attitude about how I was late and cancelling. And after working in the restaurant industry for 5 years I know it's annoying having cancellations especially a little after the time but the attitude made me feel disrespected and it's sad because I love it there. read more

I attended an event at Chef's that was incredible. It was called "A Taste of Italy" and the location they featured was Sicily. The meal consisted of a four-course food and wine pairing. The first coast was an Arancini balled that was the size of a softball and stuffed with rice, ground beef, and peas, and sat in their red sauce. This was accompanied by a white Grillo wine. It was so good, and more than enough for one person. The second course was bucatini pasta with a red sardine sauce. This course was paired with a Merlot. The sardines were not overpowering and it was so good. I ended up having to take half home because I was already getting full. The third course was grilled swordfish with olives, capers, fresh lemon, and olive oil, with a side of fingerling potatoes. This course was paired with a Biano wine. Incredible, and even though I hate olives, the taste of them on the fish with the rest of the items was perfect. I also took half of the fish home. The last course was a cannoli, and I normally don't care for them, but these were perfect and very delicious. They also included warm homemade bread and coffee at the end. I can't wait for the next event in September, and highly recommend these events if you are a foody like me! read more

See all