Review Visit: August 8th, 2016 Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. I like to say that bar food is the best food, so when I am out and about exploring, I try to find pubs that have good reviews to eat at. With that train of thought in mind, The Buffalo came up on my radar one day after exploring Iowa. Having an empty belly that kept reminding me to get some food, I headed over to The Buffalo to see what they offered. Upon entering, I was greeted with the usual dim-lit bar scene. Nothing was too bright but nothing was too dark. It was the right mix of each. As for the bar itself, it was your typical bar with the usual decor that you see in most bars. What was unique about this place was the massive amount of writing on the ceiling. It seemed almost every ceiling tile had something scrawled on it. There may be a story to it, but it's not found on this out-of-towner. I ordered the The Western Bacon BBQ Burger with fries. I remember being disappointed in the small size of the burger but rather enjoying the taste of it and the fries. The small size of the burger was made up by the fries and I left with a mostly full belly and a smile on my face. Within reason, I am okay with smaller sizes if the flavor/quality blows me away. At some point during my visit, I noticed they sold those gimmicky pull tab lotto tickets. Being the sucker for a cheap thrill, I bought 2 for $1 or something like that. I won something like $0.50 and bought another pull tab.. which was a non-winner. Between the unique ceiling, tasty food, usual bar environment, and friendly customer service, I would have to say you won't be buffaloed by visiting this tavern. read more

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Great friendly local bar. They have great drink specials. The Gouda cheese curds are terrific. Will be back for sure.

Terrible at remembering to take photos because the food is too good. Best spot in town for wraps, burgers, bar food, and really anything. Don't let the dive bar feel confuse you, their kitchen is top notch. Never disappointed. read more

The Buffalo Tavern - Philly steak wrap - American Near Me - Burlington, Iowa

Amazing food good options my picky people here even ate it they really loved and enjoyed this food as well as me it was really good and amazing presentation read more

The food was incredible. Great chicken tenderloin. The service was friendly and helpful with suggestions. The inside was unique, really homey place. read more

This was my first time at the Burlington one Had blt Caesar wrap fries ice tea Actually was really good Waitress friendly Will go back I'm sure So to the owner chiefs fan From true bears fan Give 5 stars read more

I come home to Burlington once a year and the Buffalo is ALWAYS my stop for a tenderloin and an ice cold beer. Still has the same tavern vibe but the food is delicious. Heather is on point, super awesome waitress. Worth the stop! read more

Everything I've had at The Buffalo is amazing! Check out their specials--I'm sometimes surprised by the good deals. For instance, they have 2-for-1 drinks on Tuesday. MacKenzie is amazing! read more

Stopped here on our way through to try the food as this establishment is on the tenderloin trail this year. Walked in on Sunday at 5pm. We were told to sit as we pleased and were served drinks immediately. Breaded cauliflower was light and good breading without a heavy grease taste or over salted. Horseshoe tenderloin was tender and juicy. Peppers and topping accented cheese wonderfully My only complaint is food was only warm as the 2 waitresses were overwhelmed and I'm sure it was a little slow arriving at the table. This little pub with good food is a must try. read more

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We made the trip all the way to Burlington for stop #14 on "Conquer the Tenderlion Trail 2.0" at the Buffalo Tavern. This stop is originally a house converted into a bar. Parking was full off to the side as it seemed like a favorite local hangout. We ordered to-go and got our food rather quickly. This tenderloin was very large and but was also pounded out thinner than the rest. The edges started to curve wavy. The breading was a little greasy on this one, but the bun was very good. On the side was cheeseballs, which seemed to be velveeta and we all decided to pass on those. read more

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Was pretty excited for the "BIG ASS Cheesesteak" Picked it up and it was a normal size hoagie bun with the tiniest portion of burnt meat. Basically just paid for bread. read more

I dont know if I have higher expectations coming from Chicago but this place was okay. A few good and a few bad.. just A-Ok. Driving up to this location, the reviews didnt really mention it was in a bar. Nothing on the outside made it look like a decent family dinner place. But I do have to give it to the staff, showing up with a group of 6 during dinner wasnt fun but they sat us down right away. The place was a little busy but there seems to be crammed inside of this joint. The staff was running around like chickens without their heads. We were introduced and given menus but waited a while to order our foods. Then they hid for a while until it was time to see if anyone wanted refills. Overall, the staff was A-ok as well. I guess showing up at 6pm is a decent time. We were by the phones so I heard the wait times for carry out go from 20 minutes to almost 1 hour wait. The food were okay. Appetizers were appropriate sized. However, the real food had huge portions for their prices. I will have to give them a star for that. I would be impressed if you were still hungry after eating a entree. Fries were crispy but a little better than your typical bar fries. They had a coating on it which gave it a nice crunch and flavor. The buffalo sauce had a little kick to it. The blue cheese sauce was delicious. I am not from this area so I am not sure how it compared to the locals. But to me, this did not seem like family place. It is a bar with better food than you expect from a bar. The portions were huge with reasonable-to-even-cheap-food. The service was friendly but be ready to be waiting. Overall, I may return to this location but it is nothing I will miss if I do not. read more

As we were headed home today we decided to try a restaurant that was new to us. Buffalo Tavern is a stop I highly recommend. The wait staff was friendly and on top of their game. We started with cheddar cheese balls...best we have had! Main course was their breaded tenderloin with French fries. We decided to split the meal and they provided an extra bun for us. This tenderloin is by far the best. It is thick, crispy, not greasy, seasoned perfectly, and not a shred of fat or grizzle. A+ all around for this eatery. They also had bogo drinks today! Who doesn't love that?! read more

Everybody else got burgers and what not, I got the loaded nachos. If my damn coworkers didnt eat so fast I would have been able to enjoy this more. Not a ding on the restaurant. My nachos were good but i wish I would have gotten a burger. Thats a ding on me. read more

We were here for the Pork Tenderloin Tour Beer was cold and the tenderloin was excellent Friendly service with down home ambiance read more

Good food, cold beer. Waitress was great about accommodating my request to make a nacho special into a salad and was really nice about it! And it turned out delicious! read more

Great place, excellent staff couldn't recommend more. Their drinks are fairly prized and their food is as well. Good portions gor what your paying and couldn't taste better. Dim, charming grill and bar. They've got alot of great art and niknacs on the walls. read more

we had the fried Pickles, hot wings, and chicken strips w/ French fries. All very good! Great spot! read more

The Buffalo Tavern - Great wings!!! very tasty! - American Near Me - Burlington, Iowa

This is a nice little Sports bar and grill. My brother got a tenderloin smothered in jalapeños and he was stuffed! I got the daily special which was a taco, you could tell it was hot and fresh out of the fryer. The shell was nice and crisp but when I picked it up it snapped and all the meat fell out:/ it was tasty I'll give them that! The pico was delicious but when I asked for hot sauce they game Tabasco, come on! Haha but I'll come back for sure. They have a decent cocktail list, and a lot of food to choose from. read more

The Buffalo Tavern - American Near Me - Burlington, Iowa

Stopped by for lunch. The beer was cold, the food tasted & the service friendly. What more could we want. We tried the tenderloin sandwich ( recommended to us as an Iowa "must have") & it was delicious. Huge, so come hungry. It was a nice relaxed atmosphere with friendly folks. Seemed like a local spot but they treated us tourists like their own. The menu had a nice variety of sandwiches, salads, burgers & wings and, as u said, the beer was cold. read more

Was excited to get Taco's from their Monmouth location today. Was terrible and tomatoes tasted old as shit! Shells was burnt and fell apart! Definitely won't be back! read more

Great food and service! It was New Years. Only confusion was the nachos were potato wedges and the menus says steak fries. Food was great! Nice little place to eat read more

Great wings and very friendly staff. The tenderloin I'd also very good as is the prime rib when they have it.

My wife and I stopped at The Buffalo Tavern on a Sunday afternoon for a late lunch as we were in town to visit some friends who just had a baby. We looked on Yelp and saw this as 4.6 Stars. We drove-up and then drove on by as we were not sure it was the place as it looked a little rough. We ultimately decided to go in. The seating was wide open so we decided to sit at a high top in the bar area. One of the bartenders came over to our table. She could not have been nicer, more pleasant or more helpful. She suggested their tenderloin and their blue cheese burger with bacon paired with either fries or onion rings. The waitress said they are a Top 5 tenderloin and that they make their own blue cheese. We love good tenderloins and I love blue cheese. The tenderloin came out. It looked good not huge, great color and not overly breaded. Tenderloin - Great meat ratio not much filler, but my wife found two tiny bone fragments in her sandwich. Not a big deal for us however that just means they grind their meat versus pounding out a butterflied piece of pork tenderloin. The sandwich did not have much flavor. It could use more seasoning. It is pork after all. Finally, the meat was a little too thin which can make the meat too dry. If they watch their grind for bones, season the meat and the dredging, it will be a good sandwich. Onion Rings - These are a flat no for me. They brought out four onion rings and they were all as 1 1/2" thick of breading. I do not care for that much breading because you have to be sure to cook it all the way through. When they came out their color was too light which should be the first indication that they are not cooked. When I cut into one, the breading was uncooked. They did have big pieces of onion, but the onion was all but raw. This was a fail. French Fries - My wife ordered the fries. Nothing special here and fries done well can be special. The interesting thing is they skimped on the fries. We were like of all things to skimp on, "Why would you skimp on fries?" Blue Cheese Burger - The burger was cooked as asked to medium rare. It came out very juicy, but unfortunately the bun did not hold up to the juice. The bottom bun was falling apart as I picked it up for the first bite. Again not much flavor to the meat. Typically, hamburger only needs salt and pepper. The blue cheese was ordinary. It was not allowed to age to develop any depth of flavor. The burger did not include any of the normal additions with burgers such as pickles, onions, tomatoes or lettuce. I am not sure why. All it was included with the tenderloin however. This would be a nice place to watch football or baseball. The food is average to above average, but the good news is the want to be better. If they take their food more seriously and serve their beer a few degrees colder, it could be good. read more

Usually great food tonight my tenderloin was full of salt had to take breading off to eat it and french fries were very greasy I was disappointed read more

I'm really sad, because the Buffalo Tavern used to be excellent. I'm not sure what happened in the last 5-7 years that it's started to slide down hill a bit. I used to love the food here. It was one of my favorites lunch spots. On my last visit, however, I was super disappointed. They threw out a new waitress with very little training onto the floor. Poor girl had no idea what she was doing and the one male waiter was being a jerk to her the whole time. I could tell she was holding back tears. The food was so-so. I got the Big A$$ Motherclucker. It was big alright, with two giant overcooked fried chicken breasts and very little sauce. It was all breading and it just fell off and was super dry. They forgot the blue cheese and the fries had a bunch of dark black, I'm assuming burnt, pieces of who knows what, and the bun was honestly a soggy unnecessary addition to the plate. Had there been even a little bit of time and thought put into the making of the food, it could've been a hundred times better. And goodness sake, don't throw me waitresses to the wolves. Learn to train properly, and teach the waiters courtesy when helping the newbies. read more

Amazing food and ridiculous portion sizes, especially for the low price. Available via DoorDash too, which is excellent!

This place is a little gem. Amazing nachos with curly fries and great beer selection. If you live here or you're rolling thru, worth a stop.

Ordered Two Wraps an appetizer and a drink. Received the appetizer after 40 minutes, never received the wraps. Walked out, left cash to cover what we actually did receive. Will not return and live two minutes away. read more

Was in to visit a friend who is on the RAGBRAI Ride. This came up is a highly recommended restaurant. My friend was hungry for some beef and was very impressed with the hamburger which about was about a 1/2 pound. I had Buffalo wings which were a bit too sweet and sloppy and had been deep fat fried 1st with a batter. I asked to have a vegetable with it like carrots or celery and the only thing they had was broccoli which they brought out steamed. Not exactly what I was expecting. However, they did bring out some fresh broccoli and ranch dressing for dipping afterwards. I was just a little used to having it the way it was originally done in Buffalo New York read more

Have always loved going to the buff for lunch. It's been a long time since my best friend and I got to have lunch there. It'll never be the same since her passing January 2021. FU COVID read more

It's kind of a hole in the wall. The food is decent at least but I definitely would not consider this place kid friendly

Great tenderloins. Not impressed with the additional fees for carry out service. Weirdest fee I've ever seen.

I had the blue cheese burger and fries, cooked perfectly! Fries were done just right also. Service was spot on.

Prime rib was Devine! Reuben was super! Service was prompt! No fault to the establishment it became crowded this evening. We had a wonderful dinner! Go again yes. read more

Great neighborhood bar. Its got personality and great food too. The staff is always attentive.

Good food and substantial portions! Pleasant wait staff and chef/cook. The latter was very eager to prepare our selection as requested. The ambience is relaxed and bright. read more

The food is good, but the supposed kitchen manager is not customer friendly. Charged 3,50 to swap mashed potatoes for fries, and would not reason with us about it read more

I have never eaten a better tenderloin in my life. Delicious is an understatement. The prices are very reasonable.

Super friendly waitress. Awesome "big ass" tenderloin. The fries were lightly battered and crispy. We will be eating here again!