La Tee Da

I have never heard of this restaurant until I had to have dinner with a friend of mine who was Vegan.
I highly suggest this place. The service staff was very friend and the ambiance was amazing. The restaurant has so much character.
Dine outside on the patio in the summer and it’s super cozy on the inside for the colder months.
The menu was creative and sophisticated but not overly sophisticated. It’s a great place to take a date. The food doesn’t come out too fast so you have time to enjoy a nice cocktail, talk and unwind.
The only thing I was surprised with was the menu had very limited options. I’m all for a smaller menu but there’s not too many options to choose from.
I would definitely go back.

This adorable family run restaurant is absolutely fabulous. Could be the best food in Buffalo. Homemade pastas, fresh fish, and the meatballs are fantastic. Highly recommend for dining alfresco on the patio this summer!

We went there in the early spring when the patio was still closed up for the season but I have heard good things. The inside of this restaurant is very cozy and has a wonderful inviting feel. The ambiance is quite nice and despite it being rather tight and cozy you feel very much at ease.
The menu is small but it seems that they do make what they offer very well. My wife and I both ordered specials and they were both very good. I glanced around at others plates and realized I need to go back and try a pasta bowl. It looked delicious.
The service was and attentive and the whole experience was quite enjoyable. We would and will return again as it is a great place for a date night.

I stopped in after 9 not realizing the kitchen had closed with multiple friends who were starving. Not only were we served amazing wine at a great price– but the chef offered to cook some pasta dishes that were Devine. I highly recommend This to anyone looking for the perfect date place

I wanted to love La Tee Da. I didn’t. The atmosphere was intimate, if a bit cramped. The wait staff was friendly and attentive. The meatball appetizer was the star of the meal. I wish I ordered this twice. Large portion, cooked perfectly with fresh shaved Parmesan cheese and served with a garlic bread slice. Delicious. My boyfriend was hoping for a steak, but there was no option on the menu so he chose the chicken. It was seasoned well, served with a tasty au jus. I chose the scallops served with risotto. The portion was much smaller than what I expected for the price (which according to the menu posted on their Facebook page 9 days ago, was inflated tonight for Valentine’s Day). I like a bit more of a sear on my scallops than what was presented, but the taste was there. I was more in awe as we left and the table next to us received their order of scallops with twice the risotto and much larger scallops than I received. What a bummer. Overall, the food was just OK. Unfortunately, just OK food, the tables being so close that you can hear the conversations to your left and right and the wobbly chair legs will keep me from returning. There are too many other places in Buffalo to choose from.

If I were a smarter man I would’ve spent more time at this restaurant last night, maybe even grabbed a table and had dinner instead of just dropping in for a couple drinks and an appetizer. However, everything was so good that I’m definitely going to go back and I imagine that 4-​star rating will be raised to a 5 when I do.
La Tee Da doesn’t look like much from the street: a simple black awning and a neon sign hanging in the window has the place blending into the Allentown background, but once you step inside it feels like you’re whisked away to a café on an Italian piazza just steps away from a clock tower, gelato stand and a fat guy signing opera for coin from tourists, which is how I imagine every Italian city all the time.
My wife and I just sat at the bar, had some wine and ordered the House Made Meatballs. They were delicious, but not even those wonderfully hand crafted balls of beef, bread crumbs and cheese (my favorite three food groups) could keep me from turning my head and checking out all the other happy patrons and all their great looking food.
DOWNSIDE: As most authentic Italian restaurants typically are, it’s pretty small and cramped inside. It’s not a big deal when you’re seated, but every time I stood up to use the bathroom I felt like I was G 1479b
argamel stomping menacingly through a Smurf village. If you’re the kind that’s eaten way too many la-​tee-​das or do-​si-​dos in your lifetime, just be careful when you’re moving around the restaurant so you don’t inadvertently knock over a server and smurf up someone’s meal.

Wonderful ambiance! Are on the patio out back, little tricky to find entrance through side parking lot. Meal delish! I had a pasta dish, my husband had the scallop special, both were wonderful. Very friendly service, small, quaint, great for a date. The patio is magical!

It’s been almost 2 years since my first review. It’s time for an update because this place is continuously deserving of 5 stars.
Something about La Tee Da feels almost magical. Okay, I know that’s cheesy, but bear with me. In the summer, you don’t walk in the front door. You have to somehow, intuitively know that the entrance is around the side and into the back patio. You cross the threshold into the small hostess area and under the large awning and you suddenly feel transported somewhere out of the city. I would say it is arguably the most romantic setting for a date in the downtown area.
The entire atmosphere on the back patio is mesmerizing. From the lights, to the chairs, to the white tablecloths. Even the bar, which has lots of available seats at happy hour.
They always have a homemade sangria during the summer months and it should not be missed if you enjoy sangria. Great beer list and friendly bartenders.
If you aren’t in the mood for a full meal, you can easily eat at the bar. In fact, there are usually patrons eating at the bar because they simply cannot pass up one of the delicious appetizers.
The food is consistently good here. Their famous, signature spinach balls remain one of the best appetizers in the entire city. Also a favorite among vegetarians (and omnivores like myself) is the eggplant wings. They taste just like chicken wings without the greasy, stringy aspects of actual wings.
In sum: La Tee Da is a wonderful little oasis in the otherwise grungy Allentown. It’s been a favorite of mine for many years and still never lets me down.

I decided to hit Pabu on a Wednesday to celebrate the end of the school year and take advantage of their all night happy hour. I am willing to admit that the food and service were excellent. My beef with their beef (skirt steak robato) and other items was the portion to price ratio was very low. Even at happy hour prices it was a splurge. We enjoyed the chicken forearm and skirt steak robato, hand rolls, gomae, eggplant, chicken wings and lotus root. $ 70 later we were done but still hungry. Went and grabbed a gelato at Vaccaros an b62
d all was well. Caveat emptor, y’all.

I went there for Valentine’s Day and they didn’t tell you until you got there that they had a set $ 55 menu. All of the options were different from their regular menu and none of them were delicious, my date and I are were very unhappy and they tried to rush us out the door

Had a really lovely meal here the other day.
Several items, such as the risotto of the day, are marked as being available vegan by request. Much appreciated.
For all the vegetarians out there — the eggplant wings are a must!
Very cute space, nice ambiance, and delicious food. Perfect place for a veg*ns and omnivores on a nice date.

Enough is enough.
If you come here once every 3 months, order only the meatballs and pasta, then it’s a fairly safe bet that you’ll walk away happy.
If you come here on a regular basis, there are serious issues with the consistency of the quality of the food coming out of the kitchen. In the past year, I have been here literally DOZENS of times. I have had overcooked shrimp, overcooked chicken, undercooked fish (several times). While I made sure to mention it to the waitress (the owner/“chef“‘s daughter) so that the kitchen would know (I was told by the daughter that the «chef» is vegan and doesn’t taste the food), I have only ever sent one dish back — because the fish was so close to raw that I felt uncomfortable eating it.
I come here often because it is right next door to my apartment, not because it is a good restaurant. In fact, I haven’t been back in several months — not since I sent the raw fish back and the waitress/​daughter was rude to me about it.
A little over a week ago, I met their new sous chef outside and struck up a brief conversation with him. He asked me to come back and give the kitchen another chance, so I did.
I went in tonight and took a seat at the bar. The usual bartender was missing but the daughter was working behind the bar. I asked for a glass of wine and the menu. The daughter looked at me and said to me very nastily «I don’t know why you come here. You don’t like the food.» I was shocked at how rude she was. When I ordered the salmon, she said «You always order the fish and you never like it.» I asked if the new sous could cook the salmon. She told me he was only making the pasta dishes and that her mother was cooking everything else, so no.
A few minutes later, a very rare piece of salmon was plated and in front of me. Of all the many times I have eaten salmon, I have never been served it rare to the point where it doesn’t flake. Instead of sending it back and causing a scene, I paid my tab and got up to leave.
When the daughter noticed I hadn’t tipped her (who would have???), she told me I was rude and not to come back.
$ 24 for an inedible, undercooked, 6 oz filet of salmon AND rude waitstaff?
Trust me, I won’t be back.

No matter the occasion I think this is one of the best restaurants in the Allentown area. It’s cute and intimate if you’re looking for a perfect date setting and at the same time they can be very accommodating for larger parties. The service is always excellent and whether sitting inside or on the back patio I’ve never been disappointed. Most recently went with a large group and we were able to try a little bit of everything. I’m partial to anything involving eggplant but everyone loved what they ordered (and what someone near them ordered as well). Hard to say a bad thing, but if I were it would be the same complaint as any restaurant on Allen… if you’re going on a weekend for a late dinner parking is always going to be a challenge. In this case though it is worth it!

Great food, excellent service and a trendy but relaxed atmosphere in a great neighborhood.

One of the best restaurant atmospheres in Buffalo. Food is vegan friendly and friendly to all other type of eaters. The family that owns the restaurant is great to everyone that walks through their doors and makes you feel at home. The Summer is the time to go when they open the amazing patio in the back. Beer and wine only so hold the liquor for later. Never had a bad meal, but they do run out of there specials quickly and kitchen can be slow at times.
Spinach Balls are what they are known for but I did not find anything to special about them, I would go for the Eggplant Wings over anything!

$ 10 for $ 20 deal? I’ll try it. The atmosphere was good, as was the food. The menus is a little limited and my friend was a bit disappointed because everything he wanted to order was a daily special on a different day, but what we ultimately decided on was delicious. It was nice to be able to enjoy some conversation and not have a million people creating a deafening roar. The setup is definitely conducive to enjoying company.

First time visiting Pabu, off of the H/​H menu, wings were fantastic and that punch drink that i had ohh so refreshing… I had three please dont judge, but this place of of the H/​H menu is pretty darn good.

I love the ambiance, the personal service and the coziness of this place. It’s not too big, with seating for around 20 – 40 people and a bar up front. The white linen and flowers at every table give this place a classy feel, while the artwork around the walls and lighting set the mood to be chic and modern. I enjoyed dining here quite a bit and our server, even on a busy Saturday night was very personable and charming. We bought a Unilocal Deal to try this place out and weren’t very hungry when coming here, so we decided to just order some appetizers and chill back.
We started off with a pot of their black loose leaf tea, which was brewed perfectly and full of flavor. Following the order with their eggplant wings and spinach balls, we were surprised when instead came out a plate of the peppers and spinach balls. The server apologized for the mistake and brought us out the eggplant wings and let us eat the peppers too. As it turns out, the peppers actually turned out to be our favorite dish out of the spinach balls and eggplant wings. It was nice and spicy and served on a plate full of tasty tomato /​marinara sauce and covered with cheese. Yum!
We finished all our appetizers and were absolutely stuffed. I recommend the peppers as opposed to either the eggplant wings or spinach balls (it’s also the more healthy version of the two apps), but as others have mentioned — anything you order here is guaranteed to be pretty delicious. We can’t wait to come back here for a full meal.

Please don’t let the outside of the place detour you as it did me for years. The food here is phenomenal so you really cant go wrong with any of the dishes that you choose. They have an excellent wine list that seems to pair well with everything.
The service here is one of the best in Buffalo. So much so that it makes me want to come back again and again with friends that have never been because it makes me look like some kinda high roller:)
What took me for a loop and completely blew me away was the beer menu. It’s crazy and completely unexpected. They cannot compete with Blue Monk but they have an extremely eclectic beer menu. Bottom line, you gotta go here!

I have always loved La Tee Da in the summer time. They have always had one of THE BEST patios in Buffalo and I love how accommodating they are to a gluten-​free and vegetarian diet. Although the latter of those two hasn’t change, the patio sure has. They have covered the entire patio in a large tent and added tacky chandeliers, which makes sense from a weather stand point, but it ruined the entire vibe for me. It feels like I am at a weird wedding reception. I miss the old patio, so much! Their food isn’t over the top by any means, never has been, but it is always good enough. Their spinach balls are definitely worth the trip!
Also, the kitchen service is slower than ever before. I know for a fact it wasn’t our server either, he was a friend of ours and he himself kept apologizing, explaining he didn’t know why it was taking so long. We had a table of 6 and even though we were in no rush at all, it took insanely long to get our food! We had an 8:30 reservation and did order appetizers and salad, but those took forever. We did not even get our main entrees until near 11pm. Again, we never complained or were in any rush, we were just enjoying each other’s company and chatting, but it still shouldn’t take that long. I was quite shocked. Between the patio losing it’s appeal, the slow service and the average food, I don’t think I will be heading back any time soon.

Its a real bummer when you realize you are starving, you’d love to grab a bite to eat somewhere with quality food, but every good restaurant’s kitchen is closed (besides a few). Last night my friends and I were starving after an event we attended and wanted to try Vera’s Pizzeria. Unfortunately, we got there one minute too late, and they were no longer serving food. It was 10 o’clock and our options were diminishing as we quickly left to find somewhere else to dine. Vera’s looked fun, and we’re going to have to go back there some night just for some drinks.
Anyways, on to La Tee Da! I called them and asked whether or not they were still serving food. The woman who answered was super sweet and told us that it was a slow night and they were about to close up, but that we should come on in, and it would be no problem for them to stay open. I felt kinda bad, but she insisted. This is an example of going the extra mile; rather than turning people away, they encouraged us to come on in.
It was all of our first times visiting La Tee Da a0bd
, and we did not know what to expect. I had always heard about it, but just never went there. I’ve probably walked by it 10 zillion times.
We were pleasantly surprised! The atmosphere is very intimate and has a cozy feeling. The walls are painted red, there are white lights strung up on the walls, and really cool artwork. The place settings on the tables were beautiful and colorful and included a vase of magenta gerber daisies and a candle.
We were greeted with smiles and got right down to business, ordering quickly. Our wine and apps came rapidly, and the eggplant wings were really good and vegetarian friendly! My friend ordered the curry lentil soup of the day which was fantastic. I got the four cheese lasagna with a spinach ball, and it was superb. We all cleaned our plates and left feeling satisfied. Everyone was extremely friendly and polite.
I can’t wait to go back again, especially in the summertime when they open up their patio. The host told us how wonderful it is, and how they do brunches there on sundays. They also have lots of vegetarian and vegan options which is always impressive!

I’ve never felt so at home in a restaurant/​bar full of strangers.
Through the power of Unilocal,I discovered this hidden gem while in town for business and I’m glad I talked my co-​worker into staying at the restaurant after we were nearly turned away for having no reservations. (hooray, bar seating)
I don’t know where to begin. The ambiance was great. The people were great. The service was great. And the food — WOW! You MUST try the spinach balls. I’d kill for the recipe, quite honestly.
We also tried the eggplant wings. As a vegetarian, I never eat anything with wing sauce, so I thought they were just ok. For my entrée I had the vegan caponata. This might sound cliché, but the sauce tasted just like what my mom used to make growing up — chock full of fresh vegetables and seasonings. It was really great. And a huge portion!
We were too stuffed for dessert, but the chocolate birthday cake that another party at the bar offered us looked delicious. Throughout our entire meal, the bartender was very attentive and the people seated around us were so friendly. I’ve never experienced such a friendly group (in a non creepy way), to be honest. (thanks for the shots, random strangers!)
I wish this restaurant were in my neighborhood. This is the kind of laid back place I like to hang out in and with such great food and service, what’s not to like?