Enjoy authentic Mexican cuisine that is freshly prepared. Start out your meal with tortilla chips and freshly made salsa and wash it down with a margarita. Appetizers include dos taquilos, seafood nachos, and guacamole dip. Daily lunch specials are available Monday through Saturday from 11a to 3p. A variety of salads are available, along with vegetarian dishes. Entrees include fajitas, quesadillas, burritos, chimichangas, enchiladas, carnitas, and chalupas. They also have steak ranchero, steak and shrimp, and fish tacos. Save room for dessert, which includes traditional Mexican flan, crispy sopapillas, fried ice cream and churros.-Christine A. Smyczynski

This comfortable family-friendly restaurant which offers reasonably priced foods, was once an old German restaurant, bar and beer garden. The building which was built in 1910, served as a speakeasy during Prohibition in the 1920s and 1930s. It was named the Rose Garden when it first opened as a restaurant in 1939 because of the wild rose bushes that were growing around the building. The menu, which features home-style cooking, runs the gamut from subs to prime rib. Soup and desserts are homemade daily. Their fish fry features a ten to 12-ounce piece of fish, plus all homemade salads. During the summer, enjoy a clam bar, playing volleyball on their volleyball court, and live music on the weekends in the grove out back. The grove can also be rented for special events. -Christine A. Smyczynski

Ichiban House offers traditional Japanese entrees, such as tempura, teriyaki and noodles, along with hibachi meals and sushi. Items on the hibachi menu, cooked at a hibachi table to order, include soup, salad, vegetables and your choice of noodles or rice. Sushi and sashimi can be ordered a la carte or as entrees. Ichiban boasts the lowest sushi prices in town, with items that start at 99 cents. The servers present the dishes like artwork; they are almost too pretty to eat! Ichiban House also offers an all-you-can-eat buffet, along with a selection of domestic and imported wines and beer, including sake and plum wine. -Christine A. Smyczynski

This casual, family-friendly restaurant is the oldest brew pub in New York state. The Buffalo Brew Pub, which opened in 1986, offers 34 beers on tap. This includes several brewed in-house, as well as over two-dozen domestic and imported beers. As soon as you're seated, you'll be brought baskets of peanuts and fresh popcorn; feel free to toss the peanut shells on the black and white checkered floor. The menu offers an extensive selection of pub foods, including wings, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and wraps, along with more substantial fare like BBQ ribs, steak and prime rib. To remember your visit, Buffalo Brew Pup sells T-shirts, golf shirts, glasses and mugs emblazed with their logo. -Christine A. Smyczynski

Chef/owner Orazio Ippolito uses old-style cooking when he creates his Italian and American specialties from scratch. Appetizers include antipasto salad, parmesan garlic bread, stuffed artichoke and fried calamari. Some of the entrees include American dishes like steak, pork chops and fried liver, along with Italian specialties like chicken marsala, veal piccata, and shrimp and scallop alfredo. Of course there are many pasta dishes to choose from, including spaghetti, baked lasagna, stuffed shells, eggplant parmigiana and even tripe. Their pasta con vodka has been given the New York State Best Dish Award. Desserts include cannoli, spumoni, cheesecake, creme brulee and tiramisu. Lunch selections include salads, sandwiches, pasta, burgers and more. Their banquet room seats up to 135 for special events.-Christine A. Smyczynski

This restaurant and wine bar is located in a renovated older home, purported to be haunted, just a short walk from the center of the village of Williamsville. Pairings has an extensive wine list, as well as a long martini menu. Patrons can enjoy a variety of appetizers or partake in a full meal while sipping liquid libations. Some of the items on the appetizer menu include scallops wrapped in prosciutto, feta cheese dip, and chicken wings. Entrees include items like Cajun shrimp mac and cheese, spicy Caribbean jerk steak skewers, pumpkin ravioli, and citrus mahi-mahi. Dessert includes items like tiramisu.-Christine A. Smyczynski

This quaint restaurant specializes in old-world Polish, German, and European specialties. Start your dining experience with an appetizer, perhaps a single pierogi or potato pancake, or maybe the soup of the day. Entrees include selections like Frau Schlaubraten, godlike, and Heiglschnitzel. If you can't make up y our mind, try a Trappist sample platter, which includes one wurst, one pierogi, and one potato pancake. All entrees are served with a prosit chef salad, vegetables, sautéed apples and bread. Desserts, which are made in-house, include apple pie, cheesecake, and black forest chocolate mousse. - Christine A. Smyczynski

Since 1973, Mighty Taco has been serving up Mexican fast food to Western New York. With 16 locations throughout the Buffalo area, they are noted for their unusual radio and TV ads; many are parodies of current events. The menu offers tacos, including their signature Mighty Taco. Burritos include their Super Mighty Burrito, el Nino Burrito (which has a half-pound of ground beef) and the Buffito, buffalo-style chicken topped with blue cheese dressing. They also have salads, fajitas and roastitos, made with either marinated chicken or beef and topped with roasted peppers and onions. They also offer vegetarian and fish tacos. Desserts include empanadas or cookies. - Christine A. Smyczynski

This tiny, old-fashioned diner is operated by Charlie Roesch, who many consider to be the food ambassador of western New York. The regional favorite of beef on weck is why you come here. Freshly sliced roast beef comes served on a salt-encrusted kummelweck roll. It's actually the "weck" roll, a kaiser-like roll topped with Kosher salt and caraway seeds, that makes the sandwich. Often Charlie himself, wearing his trademark butchers apron and white hard hat, can be seen behind the counter carving the beef himself. During the warmer months, you can dine outdoors on picnic tables. He also provides efficient catering. - Christine A. Smyczynski

When you step into this upscale Thai and Vietnamese restaurant, you'll feel the stress melt away immediately. The classy ambiance includes soft music, muted colors and real cloth tablecloths and napkins. The food is excellent, with choices like Chicken Satay and Hot Basil. Beverages include Thai iced tea and Vietnamese coffee, which is so sweet, it could be considered a dessert. Lunch selections include steamed rice dishes like green curry and pad kapow, with your choice of meat, along with a selection of noodle and vegetable dishes. Some of the Vietnamese dishes include pho, mi xao don, bong cai and ana xao lang. Dessert includes homemade coconut, green tea or mango ice cream. - Christine A. Smyczynski