Joe Fox

INIZIO is my favorite Italian Restaurant in Buffalo right now! They have outstanding homemade pasta. The best I'm aware of in Buffalo. The atmosphere is great and super contemporary Buffalo! The service is attentive and focused. Last easter, I had the Crispy Meaty Easter Lasagna and it was quite literally the best lasagna I've had in more than a decade! I love this place!!!!

+1

Adrianna Zullich

Warm ambience. Great service. Delicious food. The bread came out hot and crusty. The polenta especially was excellent, closest I’ve had to my Nonna’s. Everyone enjoyed their dishes. All the food was perfectly seasoned and felt good in my mouth (not exactly sure what I mean by this but the way I’d describe it). We were so comfortable we sat and chatted way past dessert. Eat at Inizio!!

Robin L

Update! Been here 3 times now & it’s just amazing every single time. Got the cacio e Pepe this time & it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had anywhere. Can’t wait to eat here again in 2 months! Been here twice the last couple of months & both times we had incredible food. We’d be here all the time if we lived in Buffalo. They seriously have the best bread ever. Every dish is amazing, so flavorful & seasoned perfectly. Friendly service & delicious drinks. Perfect for date night & special occasions!

+12

Wally Macdonald

My wife and I are no strangers to the restaurant scene. On the recommendation of a friend, we drove from Rochester to try this place out. This place is a small, cozy, and romantic restaurant. We were greeted by complementary Prosecco. The bread and butter was simply amazing. We had two pasta dishes that I have to say is probably some of the best pasta I’ve ever tasted. It was so good that we ordered a 3rd dish and split it. We had the Pepe, mushroom, and pesto dishes. Moving onto dessert. Two large warm chocolate chip cookies. To finish it off a nice house made limoncello. The service was perfect throughout the meal and I’m really cant say anything bad about the whole night. The only thing this place doesn’t have is outdoor seating. If you want a cheap place with big dishes this isn’t for you. If you want top notch service and a damn good meal for a small group or your significant other then look no further.

Angel Z (Angel)

My husband and I have found our new happy spot for fantastic Italian food. It's not just the amazing food that sets this cozy, yet classic and romantic restaurant far above the rest....No... the service can't be beat, from the moment you walk in the door they make you feel special, it's the best way I can describe it. Everyone works together in a seemless way making your evening as memorable as your meal. You will never feel rushed, no matter the amount of courses you order, and the servers have an almost psychic like ability to know exactly when to be at the table.

+9

Colin Gordon

I came here for a double date with friends on a Wednesday evening. I was immediately surprised by how crowded it was and I was thankful we made a reservation ahead of time! It took a little longer than expected to be seated but they made up for it by offering us complimentary sparkling water and a small glass of Prosecco for each of us. We ordered zucca ripieni and polenta & merguez from the small plates menu and both items were delicious. For our second course, everyone ordered a different home made pasta and we were all blown away by the flavors as well as the consistency of the pasta. My personal favorite was the cacio e pepe. The service was excellent and the atmosphere was very comfortable. Highly recommend!

Kevin Dao

We dined in on a rainy Saturday night. I would say we have an alright experience. We first ordered the beef carpaccio for an appetizer which was very tasty. We decided to order the pasta with duck special for our main course. It was not want we expected but it was okay. The duck was minced(?) and I was not a big fan of the texture. It felt very offputting despite it tasting fine. I was hoping for sliced duck pieces. There is orange juice that overpowers the dish and leaves the duck taste very subtle. The service was great. Our waitress was very friendly and checked in on us often. We received complementary wine as well. I liked the atmpsphere here. We got a table by the window and I enjoyed looking out onto elmwood st. The music playing was lively but not too loud to not be able to have a conversation. Overall, alright experience. The food was disappointing especially for the price but everything else was enjoyable. I'm not sure if I want to give this another shot. Maybe eventually.

Paige Dentice

The ambiance was delightful, and the staff was exceptionally attentive and accommodating. The homemade bread was truly remarkable. My cocktail was exceptionally crafted, and my husband thoroughly enjoyed his wine selection. We both opted for the crab dish, anticipating a subtle hint of lemon. However, the pasta appeared to have been cooked in an excessive amount of lemon juice, resulting in an overwhelming sweetness that resembled lemon candy. Despite this unexpected flavor, we savored every bite, as the crab and sauce were undeniably delicious. While the intense lemon flavor was not to our preference, we would gladly return to explore other dishes on the menu.

Brendan Murphy

It’s a good place to go for pasta, and a great place for a date. Cocktails are good, and the service is excellent. I will say, the cacio e pepe was more like an Alfredo (heavy garlic flavor, cream-based sauce), so not exactly traditional but still good. The pasta was perfectly cooked, but I thought it was a tad over-seasoned. Bread was excellent.

Lindsey R

We had reservation and arrived a bit early. Our table wasn’t ready, which was completely fine. We were told the bar was full, but that we could stand off to the side in the entry and someone would come take our drink order. The bartender who assisted us was lovely, and we enjoyed our drinks while we waited. While we waited a couple came in asking if they could sit at the bar and they were told that they were completely booked for the evening and that they couldn't sit at the bar or get dinner in a rude way. Once seated, our server came over without introducing themselves and immediately asked if we were ready to order, despite one person in our party not yet having arrived. After everyone was present, we ordered drinks and asked for a few minutes with the menu. The server returned several times asking if we were ready, which felt rushed, especially as we were catching up and reviewing a fairly involved menu. We ultimately ordered all of our courses at once and requested the meal be paced over three courses. Our first starters - olives, house-made pickles, anchovies, and fresh house-made cheese -were excellent. Second course we orded the mussels, and winter salad to share. The mussels were good, the salad was okay. The pasta courses were disappointing. The cacio e pepe was bland, overcooked, and lacked any real flavor. The mushroom pasta was similarly underwhelming, with no earthy notes. The butternut squash pasta was the standout among the mains. We had wine rather than cocktails; the Montepulciano was fine. There was a small mix-up with my second glass, but it was corrected promptly. However, around the hour-and-a-half mark, the service noticeably shifted. It became clear that the restaurant enforces a 90-minute table limit and books back-to-back seatings. Given that this was a three course meal and we spent over $300, the experience felt rushed and transactional. We skipped dessert entirely because we felt pushed out the door. Overall, while the appetizers were strong, the rushed service and underwhelming pasta made this a disappointing experience for the price point. Italian dining is typically meant to be relaxed and lingering, and this felt like the opposite. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t return because of this.

leostation Fact

What a disappointment. Party of five, first time checking it out. The appetizers were hanger steak bites (they were nice), strawberry salad (decent, pretty simple can be had anywhere) and bruschetta which were interesting and would recommend. The problem was in the cocktails, the main dishes, the desserts and the lack of decent service from our main waiter. He was inattentive to put it mildly. Two martinis (one dirty with olives, the other up with olives) and the second had no olives. The martinis themselves were poor. I don't know what happened but I've ordered the drink many times other places and this was just bad. The olives? Look at the picture. Absolutely disgusting. They tasted like they were bought from Tops (Mt Olive??) and had been sitting around for far too long. The mains were cacio e pepe with crab and steak which was recommended by the waiter. I should have known better. The noodles were done well, no doubt. The dish was so bland, the crab almost non-existent. Another member got mushroom gorgonzola with shrimp. The shrimp were tiny and sparse. The sauce was watery. The desserts were cookies and peach cheesecake. Please see photo for cheesecake. It tasted artificial and a complete embarrassment of a dessert. Italian restaurant without anything Italian on the dessert menu?? No tiramisu?? At least do what you have right. And nope, the cookies tasted like stale gas station fare. Won't be going back.

+3