Excellent espresso martinis. I had the fettuccine with scallops, scallops were very under cooked and very small in size. My companion had the gnocchi ragu, it was more like a shredded pot roast, it had great flavor but not considered a ragu. The best part was the peanut butter pie. Service was great, very attentive.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Susan Hogg
Had dinner at SZND last night and we had the most AMAZING time there. Everything we had was out of this world!!! The atmosphere is so intimate and the attention to details is crazy, from the back of the chairs matching the wallpaper, to the white martini glasses and the gold champagne flutes. Nicole, Nicole, Cheryl & Andrew are the most pleasant people. I encourage you to try this gem out, you will not be disappointed!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Mopar Mike
We chose SZND for our tenth anniversary dinner after several days of debating whether to try something new or stick with one of our tried-and-true favorites. The glowing reviews and upscale reputation eventually swayed us - unfortunately, it turned out to be a decision we regret.
To begin with, we noted our anniversary in the reservation - 10 years is an important milestone. We didn’t even get a simple “Happy Anniversary.” There was zero recognition of the occasion. Not a word.
That said, the atmosphere is charming, and our server was friendly and attentive. Cocktails were good enough, and the appetizers (crispy wontons and blackened artichoke hearts) were really nothing earth-shattering, but we did enjoy them. We started off hopeful.
But once the entrées arrived, things took a nosedive.
My dish - the short rib ragu — looked sparse and sad on arrival. It took up about one-quarter of the plate, with the rest of the plate smeared in some kind of unappetizing combination of sauce and grease. The gnocchi were practically inedible - hard, dense, and dry, instead of the light, pillowy texture they should have. For $34, I expected a satisfying, flavorful dish. I’ve had far better short ribs at Hilltop Restaurant and Bar, where the portions are generous, the meat is tender, and the price is much more reasonable.
My wife’s dish - halibut with puttanesca - was no better. While she enjoyed the sauce, the fish itself was overcooked and bone-dry. Honestly, she makes it better at home using frozen halibut from Sam’s Club, which is not something you expect to say after dropping this kind of money at a so-called upscale restaurant.
We expressed our disappointment, and to their credit, the staff offered to remake the meals. But at that point, it was already late, our plates were mostly untouched, and the moment was ruined. We weren’t interested in waiting around for another 20 to 30 minutes to maybe receive a better version of what we’d already lost confidence in. That simply isn’t a viable solution when the evening was meant to be special and relaxing.
Instead of a meaningful gesture or comping one of the unsatisfying entrées, they offered to take two cocktails off the bill or give us dessert. That felt like a token effort, not true hospitality. And bafflingly, they didn’t even offer to pack up our meals. Ok, sure, we didn’t love them, but why should we have to pay full price and not even be offered our leftovers?
In the end, SZND looked good on the surface and we had high hopes, but beyond the cute decor and solid starters, it was a huge letdown, especially for such a special night. We left feeling frustrated, hungry, and wishing we’d gone somewhere that values both food quality and customer experience. We won’t be back.
Michael France
We chose SZND for our tenth anniversary dinner after several days of debating whether to try something new or stick with one of our tried-and-true favorites. The glowing reviews and upscale reputation eventually swayed us - unfortunately, it turned out to be a decision we regret.
To begin with, we noted our anniversary in the reservation - 10 years is an important milestone. We didn’t even get a simple “Happy Anniversary.” There was zero recognition of the occasion. Not a word.
That said, the atmosphere is charming, and our server was friendly and attentive. Cocktails were good enough, and the appetizers (crispy wontons and blackened artichoke hearts) were really nothing earth-shattering, but we did enjoy them. We started off hopeful.
But once the entrées arrived, things took a nosedive.
My dish - the short rib ragu — looked sparse and sad on arrival. It took up about one-quarter of the plate, with the rest of the plate smeared in some kind of unappetizing combination of sauce and grease. The gnocchi were practically inedible - hard, dense, and dry, instead of the light, pillowy texture they should have. For $34, I expected a satisfying, flavorful dish. I’ve had far better short ribs at Hilltop Restaurant and Bar, where the portions are generous, the meat is tender, and the price is much more reasonable.
My wife’s dish - halibut with puttanesca - was no better. While she enjoyed the sauce, the fish itself was overcooked and bone-dry. Honestly, she makes it better at home using frozen halibut from Sam’s Club, which is not something you expect to say after dropping this kind of money at a so-called upscale restaurant.
We expressed our disappointment, and to their credit, the staff offered to remake the meals. But at that point, it was already late, our plates were mostly untouched, and the moment was ruined. We weren’t interested in waiting around for another 20 to 30 minutes to maybe receive a better version of what we’d already lost confidence in. That simply isn’t a viable solution when the evening was meant to be special and relaxing.
Instead of a meaningful gesture or comping one of the unsatisfying entrées, they offered to take two cocktails off the bill or give us dessert. That felt like a token effort, not true hospitality. And bafflingly, they didn’t even offer to pack up our meals. Ok, sure, we didn’t love them, but why should we have to pay full price and not even be offered our leftovers?
In the end, SZND looked good on the surface and we had high hopes, but beyond the cute decor and solid starters, it was a huge letdown, especially for such a special night. We left feeling frustrated, hungry, and wishing we’d gone somewhere that values both food quality and customer experience. We won’t be back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
Sonja Jensen-Schell
We go out to eat often. This place is the best place we’ve been to in several years. Four of us went out. We got appetizers, mains and desserts, and two drinks each for about $100 per person. Loved the artichokes and the bison ribs. The blue cheese on the bison ribs was next level. We all tasted each plate. The halibut with puttanesca sauce was my order. I both enjoyed it more and fell less nutritional guilt for it than most dining out options. The putanesca had a delicious tang without too much acid. Very well balanced flavor. My husband had the sea bass. It was perfectly cooked with a crisp outer coating, cooked through but still moist. Our friends had the chicken and the shrimp risotto. Again perfectly cooked with well balanced flavors. Desserts… again not cloyingly sweet but spot on with rich delightful flavors. We sampled several of the cocktails which were again… well balanced and delightful. It is clear that attention to flavor balance prevailed throughout the entire experience. This place is aptly named. It is worth noting that the service was also excellent and attentive. No stress about needing some gluten free options. Silverware replaced between courses and music at a volume that was atmospheric without making conversation difficult. I didn’t feel the tension that often comes from trying to talk over the ambient noise of a restaurant. 5 stars plus bonus. Don’t miss this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Jennifer Stockmeyer
Delicious Friday date night 💞😋 Can't wait to come back!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sarah
We wanted to love it. The space is cute and the service was wonderful, but the food seemed to miss the mark despite sounding appealing.
The espresso martini and baked Brie were good.
The short ribs with potato gnocchi - the short rib was tender and flavorful but the gnocchi was underdone and otherwise a bit bland.
The saffron risotto and shrimp - the shrimp was cooked perfectly and delicious. The risotto was also cooked well and creamy, but there was so much lemon it overpowered every other flavor, as well as making it unpleasantly acidic.
Im happy to drop money on a meal, but the food quality didn’t justify the price for me.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Yvette Snyder
You can park across the street in the bank lot.
Stopped out for our anniversary. The food was delicious, the service was great and the espresso martini is DELICIOUS. We will most definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Cannon Flowers
Coming from Dallas we are always encouraged to find a great restaurant in Buffalo. The food and service was excellent here. The only remarkable downside to this restaurant was poor decor (feels like a Home Goods Store) with air freshener and they actually had a TV going as though we were in a sports bar instead of an upscale restaurant. I asked one of the wait staff to turn off the TV and she told me that there were customers who are watching this TV.
We will recommend this restaurant for the food and kind service, but do not bring a special date here.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 4
Paul Kay
Quality ingredients, excellent wine and mixed drinks. Appetizer was fantastic, main dishes good, except pasta and risotto were under cooked.
Nice atmosphere and great service! The food was good but I will warn you that they charge a $15 fee if you want to share a large plate, even if you buy a bunch of appetizers and drinks with it. Not a fan of that and probably won’t be back because of this but if you are in favor of such a fee then it’s a great place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Matthew Byrnes
Go here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Roseann M. Kelly
So glad to discover Sznd. The food and cocktails were delicious. Good atmosphere and attentive wait staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Michael Battaglia
The food was very good. We got the tuna ceviche, calamari, octopus carpaccio, and blacked artichokes. The portions were generous and high quality. Prices are pretty reasonable considering the quality and quantity
Excellent espresso martinis. I had the fettuccine with scallops, scallops were very under cooked and very small in size. My companion had the gnocchi ragu, it was more like a shredded pot roast, it had great flavor but not considered a ragu. The best part was the peanut butter pie. Service was great, very attentive.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Had dinner at SZND last night and we had the most AMAZING time there. Everything we had was out of this world!!! The atmosphere is so intimate and the attention to details is crazy, from the back of the chairs matching the wallpaper, to the white martini glasses and the gold champagne flutes. Nicole, Nicole, Cheryl & Andrew are the most pleasant people. I encourage you to try this gem out, you will not be disappointed!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We chose SZND for our tenth anniversary dinner after several days of debating whether to try something new or stick with one of our tried-and-true favorites. The glowing reviews and upscale reputation eventually swayed us - unfortunately, it turned out to be a decision we regret. To begin with, we noted our anniversary in the reservation - 10 years is an important milestone. We didn’t even get a simple “Happy Anniversary.” There was zero recognition of the occasion. Not a word. That said, the atmosphere is charming, and our server was friendly and attentive. Cocktails were good enough, and the appetizers (crispy wontons and blackened artichoke hearts) were really nothing earth-shattering, but we did enjoy them. We started off hopeful. But once the entrées arrived, things took a nosedive. My dish - the short rib ragu — looked sparse and sad on arrival. It took up about one-quarter of the plate, with the rest of the plate smeared in some kind of unappetizing combination of sauce and grease. The gnocchi were practically inedible - hard, dense, and dry, instead of the light, pillowy texture they should have. For $34, I expected a satisfying, flavorful dish. I’ve had far better short ribs at Hilltop Restaurant and Bar, where the portions are generous, the meat is tender, and the price is much more reasonable. My wife’s dish - halibut with puttanesca - was no better. While she enjoyed the sauce, the fish itself was overcooked and bone-dry. Honestly, she makes it better at home using frozen halibut from Sam’s Club, which is not something you expect to say after dropping this kind of money at a so-called upscale restaurant. We expressed our disappointment, and to their credit, the staff offered to remake the meals. But at that point, it was already late, our plates were mostly untouched, and the moment was ruined. We weren’t interested in waiting around for another 20 to 30 minutes to maybe receive a better version of what we’d already lost confidence in. That simply isn’t a viable solution when the evening was meant to be special and relaxing. Instead of a meaningful gesture or comping one of the unsatisfying entrées, they offered to take two cocktails off the bill or give us dessert. That felt like a token effort, not true hospitality. And bafflingly, they didn’t even offer to pack up our meals. Ok, sure, we didn’t love them, but why should we have to pay full price and not even be offered our leftovers? In the end, SZND looked good on the surface and we had high hopes, but beyond the cute decor and solid starters, it was a huge letdown, especially for such a special night. We left feeling frustrated, hungry, and wishing we’d gone somewhere that values both food quality and customer experience. We won’t be back.
We chose SZND for our tenth anniversary dinner after several days of debating whether to try something new or stick with one of our tried-and-true favorites. The glowing reviews and upscale reputation eventually swayed us - unfortunately, it turned out to be a decision we regret.
To begin with, we noted our anniversary in the reservation - 10 years is an important milestone. We didn’t even get a simple “Happy Anniversary.” There was zero recognition of the occasion. Not a word.
That said, the atmosphere is charming, and our server was friendly and attentive. Cocktails were good enough, and the appetizers (crispy wontons and blackened artichoke hearts) were really nothing earth-shattering, but we did enjoy them. We started off hopeful.
But once the entrées arrived, things took a nosedive.
My dish - the short rib ragu — looked sparse and sad on arrival. It took up about one-quarter of the plate, with the rest of the plate smeared in some kind of unappetizing combination of sauce and grease. The gnocchi were practically inedible - hard, dense, and dry, instead of the light, pillowy texture they should have. For $34, I expected a satisfying, flavorful dish. I’ve had far better short ribs at Hilltop Restaurant and Bar, where the portions are generous, the meat is tender, and the price is much more reasonable.
My wife’s dish - halibut with puttanesca - was no better. While she enjoyed the sauce, the fish itself was overcooked and bone-dry. Honestly, she makes it better at home using frozen halibut from Sam’s Club, which is not something you expect to say after dropping this kind of money at a so-called upscale restaurant.
We expressed our disappointment, and to their credit, the staff offered to remake the meals. But at that point, it was already late, our plates were mostly untouched, and the moment was ruined. We weren’t interested in waiting around for another 20 to 30 minutes to maybe receive a better version of what we’d already lost confidence in. That simply isn’t a viable solution when the evening was meant to be special and relaxing.
Instead of a meaningful gesture or comping one of the unsatisfying entrées, they offered to take two cocktails off the bill or give us dessert. That felt like a token effort, not true hospitality. And bafflingly, they didn’t even offer to pack up our meals. Ok, sure, we didn’t love them, but why should we have to pay full price and not even be offered our leftovers?
In the end, SZND looked good on the surface and we had high hopes, but beyond the cute decor and solid starters, it was a huge letdown, especially for such a special night. We left feeling frustrated, hungry, and wishing we’d gone somewhere that values both food quality and customer experience. We won’t be back.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 3
We go out to eat often. This place is the best place we’ve been to in several years. Four of us went out. We got appetizers, mains and desserts, and two drinks each for about $100 per person. Loved the artichokes and the bison ribs. The blue cheese on the bison ribs was next level. We all tasted each plate. The halibut with puttanesca sauce was my order. I both enjoyed it more and fell less nutritional guilt for it than most dining out options. The putanesca had a delicious tang without too much acid. Very well balanced flavor. My husband had the sea bass. It was perfectly cooked with a crisp outer coating, cooked through but still moist. Our friends had the chicken and the shrimp risotto. Again perfectly cooked with well balanced flavors. Desserts… again not cloyingly sweet but spot on with rich delightful flavors. We sampled several of the cocktails which were again… well balanced and delightful. It is clear that attention to flavor balance prevailed throughout the entire experience. This place is aptly named. It is worth noting that the service was also excellent and attentive. No stress about needing some gluten free options. Silverware replaced between courses and music at a volume that was atmospheric without making conversation difficult. I didn’t feel the tension that often comes from trying to talk over the ambient noise of a restaurant. 5 stars plus bonus. Don’t miss this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Delicious Friday date night 💞😋
Can't wait to come back!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We wanted to love it. The space is cute and the service was wonderful, but the food seemed to miss the mark despite sounding appealing.
The espresso martini and baked Brie were good.
The short ribs with potato gnocchi - the short rib was tender and flavorful but the gnocchi was underdone and otherwise a bit bland.
The saffron risotto and shrimp - the shrimp was cooked perfectly and delicious. The risotto was also cooked well and creamy, but there was so much lemon it overpowered every other flavor, as well as making it unpleasantly acidic.
Im happy to drop money on a meal, but the food quality didn’t justify the price for me.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
You can park across the street in the bank lot.
Stopped out for our anniversary. The food was delicious, the service was great and the espresso martini is DELICIOUS. We will most definitely be back.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Coming from Dallas we are always encouraged to find a great restaurant in Buffalo. The food and service was excellent here. The only remarkable downside to this restaurant was poor decor (feels like a Home Goods Store) with air freshener and they actually had a TV going as though we were in a sports bar instead of an upscale restaurant. I asked one of the wait staff to turn off the TV and she told me that there were customers who are watching this TV.
We will recommend this restaurant for the food and kind service, but do not bring a special date here.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 4
Service: 4
Quality ingredients, excellent wine and mixed drinks. Appetizer was fantastic, main dishes good, except pasta and risotto were under cooked.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
Nice atmosphere and great service! The food was good but I will warn you that they charge a $15 fee if you want to share a large plate, even if you buy a bunch of appetizers and drinks with it. Not a fan of that and probably won’t be back because of this but if you are in favor of such a fee then it’s a great place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 4
Go here.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
So glad to discover Sznd. The food and cocktails were delicious. Good atmosphere and attentive wait staff.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The food was very good. We got the tuna ceviche, calamari, octopus carpaccio, and blacked artichokes. The portions were generous and high quality. Prices are pretty reasonable considering the quality and quantity
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tuna Ceviche, Peanut Butter Pie, Vietnamese Calamari, Octupus Carpaccio
Best pork chop I’ve ever had. Amazing service. 10/10 recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
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