Buffalo Rising Online

Dec 5th 2008, 3:15pm By queenseyes

Earlier this morning, the downtown business crowd was greeted to the fresh smell of coffee wafting from the front door of the historic Buehl building. We stopped into The 2nd Cup cafe later in the afternoon to check out the offerings and we're blown away by the interior space. I guess I never realized that the cafe was going to be fully utilizing all 4000 sq.' of space. The 2nd Cup is divided into two distinct areas - one for ordering and grabbing items to go, and a second room where customers can grab a table to relax.

We've been passing by the Buehl almost everyday in anticipation of finding the doors open (see back story). Today was our lucky day, and although we had already eaten a short time earlier, just getting to walk around the incredible transformation was all we could have asked for. The café’s owner, Kat Tyler, told me that she was overwhelmed by the number of lunchtime customers - many of them who worked in the area had been waiting for opening day. "We served over a hundred people at lunch," she said. "My staff did an incredible job, considering they are all in the midst of training. We were fortunate to not have one complaint, and people were all very patient since it was our first day."

If you're into architecture and appreciate an old building like The Buehl, you must head down to 36 Broadway to eat in this cafe. The wood floors, brick walls, and high ceilings are phenomenal. The front windows allow sunlight to creep into the restaurant, giving the rooms a mellow, soft glow. Of course there is nothing that compares to the magnificent facade of the Buehl building - after we walked away from the cafe, we had to turn around and stare at the commercial first floor for a bit. It was so odd to see the building fully operational after all of these years.

Here are some of the goodies that you will find at The 2nd Cup: Breakfast sandwiches, granola, oatmeal, bagels, waffles, sandwiches and wraps, soups, chili, turkey club, chicken/tuna salad, paninis, Julienne salad, chicken souvlaki, chicken Caesar, hummus, coffees/teas, fruit smoothies, milkshakes, cookies, banana pudding cake, red velvet cake, peach/apple cobbler, sweet potato pies... the list goes on, but those are a few of the items that caught my eye.

Thank you to The 2nd Cup for opting to open seven days a week! That means that there is another downtown cafe option to support whenever the urge arises.

The 2nd Cup | 36 Broadway | 716-840-0048

Mon-Fri 7am-5pm | Thursday 7am to 9pm | Saturday 7:30am-4pm | Sunday 10am-2pm

*All hours are general hours, and are subject to change.

*Now that there are a few new businesses and lofts moving into this part of downtown, there should be an effort to plant a few trees in the district. There are nearby tree plots that are empty and stretches of grass and sod that could benefit from some plantings. A few trees in the neighborhood would go a long way.