Water Valley Inn

Good place for a ‘Buffalo” Fish Fry with the usual large portions. You never know what special dish of the day will be offered-​maybe Meat loaf prepared with 5 different toppings to choose from on top like Swiss cheese and mushrooms to spinach, or try their Beef Burgundy over noodles if it’s offered. YUM, that dish was my unforgettable favorite! Soups all seem to be homemade. Hubby is a steak and potato guy. His appetite is happy & satisfied here. The restaurant is a local, older establishment, a tiny place that fills up fast. Tables are very close together and can feel a little claustrophobic but well worth the visit for the food.

I have lived in Atlanta since 1985 and was raised in Eden, New York just 10 minutes away from the Water Valley Inn. WVI offers some of the very best Western New York comfort food. The must haves on the menu are the fish fry and the Beef on «Weck». Plan on getting there early if you are doing a Western New York tradition of eating a fish fry on a Friday night.
Service is as friendly and hometown as you could imagine. Two fellow travelers and I stopped late one night for a very quick bite only 20 minutes before closing (I had been talking about WVI all darn day) and was convinced by the owner to stay and enjoy ourselves «Don’t Rush» he said. He offered the full menu and full bar. We were the only people in the place.
If you are a «travel foodie» WVI is a must for what makes us feel good about eating and supporting a family owned restaurant.

A must try! Lunch was amazing. I ordered the rueben on white with provolone. Wow! Thick slice sliced corned beef that melted in my mouth along with a healthy topping of sauerkraut. The fries were awesome too. The waitress was very attentive and friendly… I am very full right now. Might need a nap but I have to return to work.

What happened? Downhill all the way. Fish fry was disgusting, wet stinky fish. Ribs were warm at best and served with a coating of tomato soup on top. Forget it!

We went here last week for dinner. We had stir fry and another seafood dish. It is VERY quaint and the atmosphere was nice. BUT my pet peeve is when the cost of a pasta or rice dish is almost $ 20 and the portion size is equivalent to a 3 year olds. I feel like I’m getting ripped off. Come on… 4 little tiny pieces of chicken in my stir fry? Ridiculous!

I had the chopped sirloin with real mashed potatoes like mom use to make. My husband had a Reuben which I had a hard time limiting myself to just a taste. My new favorite restaurant!!!

You could drive right by the Water Valley Inn, given its somewhat nondescript appearance. That would be a mistake, because the food, service, and atmosphere are really outstanding.
The place dates back to about 1890, and feels like it might have been a stagecoach stop. The owner was the chef this afternoon, and she prepared a delectable chicken soup with moderate chicken-​wing seasoning. Entrees included a broiled haddock sandwich and a Caesar salad served with grilled salmon (which, with a little rearranging, made for an excellent salmon filet with a substantial side salad). Both were very good, served hot and fresh (no evidence of freezer dryness in either fish).
We had a stroke of good luck: on a snowy February Monday afternoon, the dining room was pretty much ours alone. Our friendly server gave us a mini-​tour after the meal, showing us the antique server’s clock by the kitchen, and trying out the antique call buttons on the wall at many dining room tables.
(Note: other reviews have mentioned the fish fry. It might be terrific, but I’m not a fan of fried fish.)
I’ll return to try the dinner menu. But if you get there before then, try it for yourself. It’s worth checking out.

Sorry but NO, NO, NO! I’m sure some of the specials in other reviews were good but we have awful food. The seafood platter was almost inedible. 2 of us had and we agree. NO color or flavor. Cheap fish we think was MICROWAVED! The steak was nice looking, done right but tasteless! 2 had that and agreed, meat-​eaters that didn’t finish. The Salisbury steak… really? You couldn’t make it there? It was a frozen pre-​made patty that is already cooked so it’s microwaved. They can’t cook it to your liking so it’s overcooked and tastes like… you know. Sooo disappointed, took family there from out of town. It would have been better to go to a chain restaurant.
I will say it’s cute old fashioned place and the service was VERY good. Not her fault.

Ah, Water Valley Inn. This was the first I had my first Fish Fry ever in Buffalo, NY. My friend took me here after raving about how good the fish fry was. I said yes lets go check it out. But he warned me, the patrons at this restaurant is a little on the older side. I said, really how much older can the patrons be at a restaurant with good fish fry. We get there finally and its located on a highway that looks pretty non discript.
There is a large parking lot on the right side of the building when your looking at it. We park and we enter the restaurant. The restaurant actually looks like its its part of someones house? From what I can tell, there is actually people that live upstairs. When you first enter the place, you notice the bar on the left and have the wait staff ask you how any people are in your group. If you have a large group, it may take a few minutes to get you seated, but since it was just me and my friend Mark, seating was fairly quick.
When we finally get seated, its in the corner behind a wall. The place is pretty much packed seat to seat and not a lot of room for movement. It actually feels like a fire hazard on how close the tables were. You pretty much can hear all the conversations that go on within a 5 foot radius from your table.
I sit down and look around and man the patrons at the restaurant look like they were all AARP /​Senior citizens. I honestly felt I was one of the youngest people in there. The only younger person in there was young 10 year old that was eating with his family and grand parents. So it dawned on me, the restaurant is filled with a lot of senior citizens ready to croak. Its kinda funny but scary at the same time.
So now, the food, Mark, gets the bacon wrapped scallops and I get the fish fry.
Granted, this was my first fish fry and it was amazing. The portions i got was fairly large /​big. Marks dish was awesome too. His portion was amazingly big. The fish was nice and moist and flakey. I had a sample of his scallops and it was yummy too. The bacon goes well with it i might add.
Over all, if you get past the older senior citizens patrons, this place actually serves pretty awesome food. I will for sure be back and bring your grandma and grandpa here, they will fit right at home.
P. s. not sure whats up with that big step right when you enter the restaurant, i almost didn’t gauge it properly and almost fell. I could only imagine someone that is in their 70s going up that step.

Unpretentious little place with great food. Family atmosphere. Great sandwiches, cheery and welcoming waitstaff. I keep going back every time I’m in the area.

Once again it was other Unilocalers that nudged me in the direction of this establishment. I was with friends coming back from a trip to the Fall Festival in Ellicottville and wanted to go somewhere for more home style fare. After consulting my Unilocal help, we landed at the Water Valley Inn. Very much the old school hotel set-up…small bar as you walk in… nice guy grabs a few menus and takes you into the no frills dining area and you feel like you’re going to see Aunt Bea come out of the kitchen and yell for Opie & Andy to come in for supper. Our server was being assisted by the man who seated us and had the rooms under control. The Caesar salad with chicken was nicely presented but I thought it odd that it had slices of tomato on it… I have never had nor have ever seen a Caesar salad with tomatoes. The Rueben was juicy and nicely stacked with all the necessary Rueben stuff. The burgers were top contenders for flavor in the burger battles… I skipped the roll and went for sautéed onions and mushrooms and received a tasty and sizable portion to jazz up my meat. The only snafoodle came when two of us were served quite a few minutes after the first two entrees were dropped of. Upon receiving the other two entrees I realized why… we got the fresh fries and the fries that came on the other persons plate were «refried»…yuk! I tried to get her to send them back but she refused… they should have never been brought out in the first place and our server never mentioned the amount left on the plate when clearing the table.
Would I eat there again? Yes, but only if Aunt Bea does a better job with the fries.

I love prime rib and this place has the best I have had in a very long time! It is roasted THEN grilled! Fabulous! Two dinners plus drinks came to 50 dollars. I would eat here again!!!

Oh Unilocal,how I hate you!
Okay, I don’t hate you, but I really do dislike the fact that you will not allow me to award stars in ½ increments. This, unfortunate fact, often leaves me with a dilemma. Do I inflate the grade by a half star and thereby give the establishment a higher rating than they deserve, or do I punish them… what to do? Usually, I chose the former and that’s what I did for this establishment.
The Water Valley Inn is a beautiful, old restaurant. It has been in operation for generations and deservedly so!
This being a Friday, my dining partner and I chose to have the fish fry. Another in our party ordered the shrimp cocktail appetizer as their entrée. Our fish fry was quite tasty, of a medium size (as fish fries go), and was served nice and hot. It was served with a decent helping of French fries.
The wait staff was very friendly and attentive, they really added to the dining experience. I really have to applauder those who work in the front of the house who continue to give smiles and go about their business with a great attitude even toward the end of a busy Friday evening. I know it isn’t easy!
It has been years since the last that I visited this establishment… my friend Ken used to bartend there on Saturdays. After this recent visit, I know that I will be returning on a regular basis.
What would I like to see them do differently on my next visit?
— If I order the fish fry, I will ask the waitress to, please, not put the fish on top of the French fries. Let’s face it, NOBODY likes soggy fries, unless that which is making them soggy happens to be gravy… which in that case is awesome! If that which is making ones fries soggy happens to be a combination of the steam created by the fish and the fries along with the natural water that is trapped by the batter, then that is decidedly somewhat less than awesome.
— French fries should be golden brown and crispy, rather than the light yellow as served. I will request my fries well-​done next time.
— Shrimp cocktail should not «need» the cocktail sauce to provide it with taste. The sauce should provide an enhancement to the smells and flavours rather than seek to mask those which one might find undesirable. The shrimp, in this case, had a bit of a fishy smell so it was sent back to be rinsed again. In the end, a generous dollop of Frank’s Hot Sauce made the dish more palatable. Also, we generally thought that size was underwhelming given the price point for this dish. I know, a plea for larger shrimp… irony.
Finally, my dining partner insists that this restaurant is a solid three stars. That being said, it is not her review and if she would like to make her opinion count she will need to open her own account :)

This place really doesn’t need a review as it is a long time running restaurant that has great homemade food and an old time atmosphere. I have had several of the sandwiches, including the battered fish which is my favorite. The french onion soup is delicious. They bring out a bread and cracker basket which I think is something kind of old fashioned and nice. They have specials that are quite unique and change often. What I find incredible is that they make their own desserts in house. The pies are amazing and they always seem to have many varieties. I have always had great service except for once.