Pan American Grill & Brewery

Beautiful venue, variable service and downright iffy product quality. Good place for groups who want to keep it simple, relatively cheap and foodie free. Suggest the rum and coke.

The menu is limited and the food is nothing to write about.
Nothing impressed me except the location.

This review is based on the beer, i have not eaten here.
We came here before and after a holiday party at Bourbon & Butter. the bartending staff was quick and helpful. I got the Lacawanna brew that was super good! I ended up getting one of their t-​shirts actually and i love it! This place is also HUGE, great for large groups! The bar does close at midnight, it is a hotel so they are not open as late as most bars. i was a bit disappointed about that but it made sense.

Amazing — Ask for Molly and buy a T-​Shirt! A definite Buffalo institution. Get the BLT and The Western. When in doubt, Molly will have the answer…

Wow, Pan American Grill & Brewery certainly has inconsistent ratings on Unilocal.Here’s my two cents: dined here on a Friday evening (yesterday) with my Aunt. We were around the corner at the WNY Book Arts Center and were looking to grab a bite to eat. Knowing of all the magnificent renovations at the Hotel Lafayette, I suggested we head that way. Arriving and seeing crowds of people (presumably for holiday parties) we went to the Pan American Grill & Brewery. Unfortunately we went in through the hotel entrance and had to find our way through a maze of people to find the hostess stand.
Once we made it we were seated quickly at a high table in the bar area. Our waitress was very nice and recommended us a beer. Although the exact name of it slips my mind, we ordered it because it was similar to Blue Moon (citrus-​y in nature). I enjoyed it! In terms of the menu, it was fairly extensive ranging from wings, hot peppers, poutine, duck confit, to salads, sandwiches, flatbreads, steaks, etc. Appetizers to entrees there was quite a variety.
Having already ate some food at the Book Arts Center we opted to share a flatbread… The caprese flatbread to be exact. Our waitress acknowledged the length of time it took for one flatbread to come out which I appreciated. However, I thought the flatbread was lukewarm. The mozzarella cheese was unevenly distributed. One slice had an entire slice of cheese while another slice had none. The cheese wasn’t melted either. Oh well. The flatbread was average.
Even so, I will give Pan American Grill & Brewery four stars for the atmosphere/​environment. Even with the Sabres game on and being in the bar area we were still able to have an enjoyable conversation. Temperature was great even though we were near the main entrance. Bathrooms were a hike (up the stairs?!). Good service. Great company! Will give it another shot if I’m in the area in the future.

I was planning on a unique and special night to invite my groomsmen to join the wedding party and I chose Pan-​Am Grill because of the character of the premises. I love the historical charm of the building.
My previous visits have impressed me with the unique menu and craft brews. However, tonight’s service has been outstanding. After arrival the friendly hostess inquired about my evening and talked with the manager on duty. They went out of the way to welcome my guests and congratulated me on my wedding. The manager even bought the first round for us.
The food and service is excellent and would highly recommend your next meal or outing at this culturally Buffalo establishment.

This resturant is really fancy. We had them cater breakfast to us a few times at my job. The breakfast pizza’s and and regular pizza’s are both great! Also, the prices are not too high either.
We had a catered holiday event here too and the banquet hall venue was just BEAUTIFUL. Lovely, cozy, music… and maxing food and great service! Will def love to come back!!!

I don’t even want to give Pan Am one star! We went downtown for a nice Saturday afternoon lunch and had the worst experience in a restaurant our my lives.
Our server was rude and just plain horrible — starting from attempting to take our order HER WAY to when we all got up after speaking to the manager [he was apologetic, but that ship sailed]. I won’t bore you with all of the issues from not getting our appetizer, getting the drink order completely incorrect and not getting the correct food, but none of it was her fault as she told us quite rudely. We ended up leaving the food that was actually correct [2 out of the 5 orders] on the table and walking out after speaking to the manager.
We have never had an experience like this before in a restaurant and we go out to dinner
A LOT!
There are too many good restaurants in Buffalo to put up with a server like that. It’s too bad one person can ruin an entire meal/​experience.
The day was salvaged thanks to BaDa Bing. We had a fantastic server, a great meal and a great time! I would highly recommend it there!!!
We ended up going to BaDa Bing and had a fantastic server, a great meal and a great time. Would highly recommend it! Our girls afternoon out was salvaged and saved thanks to our server from BaDa Bing!

Had the French dip last night, so incredible. Only thing, I wish there was more horseradish crème as the menu stated. There was very minimal. Maybe even some extra on the side for next time.
We were at a private event, and our bartender matt was fabulous! I’d give him 5+ stars!

First time visit, for happy hour (and maybe dinner). At first, I was wowed by the historical venue… then my mood was tempered by a limited liquor selection and 1970s rock music, a combination which is unbecoming to this place/​space. The menu was perplexing and disorganized, too many words – I don’t want to read all that. Menu pretends to be eclectic (duck confit and whatevs pizza), but whatever. One cocktail, and decided to go elsewhere for dinner. The Lafayette Hotel is a landmark, current owner/​leadership/​management needs to do better than this.

I went here a couple of years ago for a meal, but I do not recall much of it other than ordering a burger and a peach Bellini (odd combination, but sometimes I just go for whatever sounds good).
More recently, I came here for drinks with 3 of my friends after the Taste of Buffalo. We sat at the bar at first, but moved over to the couches that are by the fireplace. It was very comfortable seating, and it was nice to be able to just sit and chat without other patrons around. We did come at a non-​busy time (around 7 on a Sunday), so I am not sure how busy it can get at peak hours.

The best way to describe Pan Am is with a football reference — Archie Manning was the first but Peyton is the winner.
Pan Am is affiliated with Pearl Street, but damn if it isn’t a better beer, better food, better location and better service.

The great architecture and ambiance is wasted with sub-​par food. Stop by for a drink before going elsewhere for dinner as atleast you’d EXPECT your drink to be cold. Wendys has a better burger, properly cooked with flavor.

Stopped by Pan-​American on a Sunday and the atmosphere had a real Sunday late afternoon feel.
Service wasn’t the best but wasn’t the worst I’ve ever had either. Two of us wanted the Ham Banh Mi sandwich but they were out of it.
Ordered a Cucumber Refresher from the cocktail list and the drink was delicious. Probably the best part of the visit and keeping this review from being a 2-​Star.
We also ordered the loaded/​poutine fries as an appetizer and the group enjoyed those. As a meal ordered their meat lovers flat-​bread. I didn’t have a huge appetite and this portion was the right size.
Something that really bugged me was that our receipt had 3 «up-​charges» listed under our 3 cocktails. No one at our table had any specific liquor requests but under the Gin cocktail we were charged an up-​charge for Bombay when we didn’t specifically ask for it and the cocktail was to be made with Hendricks gin. We were also charged for an up-​charge for a Manhattan that was supposed to be made with Buffalo Trace and was made with a different bourbon.
Portions were good. Food was just above average. Service not the best. Weird unexplained up-​charges.

Let’s face it, the food, beer, and liquor in this place are terrible. I don’t know what else to say about it, except that pearl street treats Pan American like a disowned child.
I live a few floors above this beast, and frequent it often enough to know some basic rules:
If you’re going to order a beer, get a bottle of Blue Light. The bottle is important. Two or three home made beers here will give you quite the hang over, and I doubt it is the alcohol content. They don’t offer any other beers other that what they make and ye olde Blue. I wonder if they would move more beer if they just went to Flying Bison, or even Resurgence, and said «hey, lets team up».
Rule two, maybe bring your own food? Next time I head down to the restaurant I’ll stuff a sandwich in my pocket in order to avoid the inevitable stomach ache. That meat lovers flat bread will put you down for the night. Ugh. I feel sorry for the guy who gets it before a Sabres/​Bisons game. Honey, hold my beer while IIIIII UHHHHHOHHHH GODDDD, gimmie the keys.
What really makes me mad is that I live here. I want this to be a fun place my friends and family will be like, «hey, lets go there! It’s great!» What rather happens is someone asks me what I should order, I say lets go somewhere else. Maybe it’s time we give this place to someone who deserves it. Now I’m just guessing but Pearl Street has to be losing money here.

This is a lunch review.
A colleague and I met here for a business lunch. For this purpose Pan American Grill & Brewery was the perfect venue — Not loud, quick service, and solid food.
The key with any lunch during the work day is quick service. Both of us had afternoon appointments. The hostess quickly sat us, provided menus, and took our drink order. Very shortly after the waitress came and asked us if we were ready to order, or required more time. We ordered and within 10 minutes our food was served.
I ordered the Herbed Turkey Focaccia. This is a sliced turkey served on toasted focaccia with smoked bacon, greens, tomato, horseradish cheddar, and mayo. A very nice sandwich accompanied with house chips with Cajun seasoning. Everything was very fresh and the size was adequate for lunch. I really enjoyed the house chips.
Unfortunately because it was a business lunch I never tried the beer, but if it is anything similar to their sister restaurant (Pearl Street Grill) I’m sure I didn’t miss much.
We were able to pay our check quickly and were on our way. Four stars for decent lunch food and quick service. Recommended for the downtown worker looking for a good lunch option.

It was a good visit! My hubby and I stopped in during the Witches Ball on Halloween and ordered beers at the bar. The bartenders were really cool and quick on their feet, if you catch my meaning. My husband and I tried their in house brews. I got the Theodore Red and really enjoyed it! I drained that cup in probably record time, to be honest, it might have been the best Irish Red I’ve ever tasted. My husband got the Trainwreck which was a little off that day, but whatever, to no fault of Pan American’s own.
Their menu looks pretty good, but I’m not ready to rush in again any time soon. I’m definitely keeping it in mind for out of towners when I want to show off the Downtown, because the inside of Pan American is incredibly cool! I’m impressed!

This is a really cool brewery/​bar spot located adjacent to the Hotel Lafeyette and operated by the same people who own the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery.
The atmosphere is really great inside with a long wooden bar, wooden booths, Teddy Roosevelt’s trophy room complete with a couch and fireplace and a large dining room attached.
I recently took a tour of their brewing facility through the Buffalo History Tours company. The tour was led by Joel Dombrowski, who runs Buffalo History Tours, and also included a visit to many different rooms and spaces in the Hotel Lafeyette. If you really want to get up close and personal with the Pan American Brewery and the Hotel Lafeyette definitely do this tour. Its called the Hotel Lafeyette tour on their website.
Let me get to the beer choices here. They have a lot of great options, many of which I’ve at least sampled. Their signature house brew is the Roosevelt Red brew which was decent, but I personally found it to be a tad overly bitter. If you are more of a light beer person I recommend you skip that one and head for the City of Light brew which was one of my favorites here. The beer you must try while here is the Saison. As Joel explained on our tour, this is a very unique brew that is allowed to ferment over a long period of time in a wooden oak barrel that once held wine. As a result, the beer picks up a wine like flavor with a very subtle essence of oak. It was an awesome brew and one of the most unique beers I’ve ever tried! Don’t miss it!
As for the food, I can’t comment too much on that since I usually come here for the great craft beer. However, I have ordered several appetizers from their menu and I can attest that their Buffalo chicken dip is a good choice as are their Red Stag BBQ flavored wings.

The spicy asian wings were good! Next time I’ll ask for extra crispy. The fries are good and the terminiator beer was great. Cristy the bartender was friendly and a great host. Sorry if I spelled Cristy wrong. OH! THEY HAD NO PROBLEM WITH BUFFALO BEER WEEK LIKE THE PEARL STREET DID.

Stayed at the hotel and it was a tad chilly outside =D so I thought eating here was a good option.
The food was mediocre. See attached for the partially cooked chicken.
The beers are decent; apparently they brew their own beer.
Service was off; everyone seemed aloof. The bartender disappeared for about 10 minutes then came back and reeked of cigarette smoke.
Pan American Grill… for when it’s really really cold outside and you’re stuck in the hotel.