Permanently Closed - Rue Franklin Restaurant

Once again, Rue Franklin proves you can be the best restaurant in town for more than 40 years. Anyone who likes French or continental fine food, great ambience, an excellent wine list with knowledgeable staff to help you pick, and terrific presentation is missing a lot if you're not going to Rue Franklin regularly.

Rue Frankin is a lovely restaurant for celebrating a special event or for quiet, intimate dining. The food is excellent and the service is attentive and not rushed.

My husband and I had an amazing meal at the Rue. The food and wine were outstanding. We both enjoyed the foie gras as an appetizer, and had the halibut as our entrees. We loved how both dishes were prepared. This is our favorite restaurant in Buffalo!

Waiter was pretentious and not very efficient.

Wonderful, as usual. For each dish that my husband and I got, the combination of vegetables and meat or fish was creative and delightful. You never get just a hunk of meat or chicken with a pile of vegetables on the side; the vegetables are an integral part of the dish and are a large part of what give it its character. And that great bread is useful for sopping up the sauce!

my husband and i had a lovely dinner in every way possible. we have been to rue franklin several other times. each experience unique to rue franklin. we were seated on the patio alone. our waiter was polite, attentive, and friendly. we felt as if we were the only ones there with our own personal waiter. the ambiance far surpassed what we were expecting for our birthday date night.
each time we have been to rue franklin, the food has been consistently delicious, cooked exactly the way we want it.

Our favorite restaurant in WNY. Great food, ambiance & service! During most recent visit though, dinner took a very long time to come.

We are regulars here for good reason - Rue Franklin is one of THE BEST restaurants in Buffalo. Chef/owner is always around, complementing the fine food with excellent service. Our meal Friday night was one of the most memorable of all times - only regret was not being able to dine in the garden as it was too cold. Tres bien!

My Filet Migon was delicious! It was not prepared the way I requested (well done) however was presented med.Well which to my surprise was even better. I will change my preference from now on. Kudos to the chef!! Overall our dining experience was excellent. My husband ordered the duck which he enjoyed immensely. The salad was a bit pricey,nothing special about it as was dessert. Still, will recommend this restaurant to all my friends and family members. Looking forward to a return.

the food was excellent the service was a tad disappointing - overall average dining experience

The food, service, and ambience were wonderful. But we had to ask for bread, and they seemed to be out of a lot of things.

It's taken me 20 years to come to this restaurant and it was worth the wait. Plenty of lovely options but not too much. Unique menu, tasty drinks and really very nice service. I can't recall our server's name which is rare for me, (Eric or Dan) but he was relatively new and really friendly.

Food was great, but the service was slow, slow. Not the kind of nice leisurely slow - we were sitting at our table for at least 20 minutes after the main meal and prior to the dessert with absolutely nothing to consume - no one asked if we wanted more wine, the water glasses were empty, and the used dishes were just lying on the table in front of us. People who were seated after us had already left the restaurant while we waited for our server to return.

Waiter was fantastic, environment was quiet and welcoming. Definitely will return.

As it approaches 50 years, Rue Franklin is still by far the best restaurant in the Buffalo area for food, wine, and ambiance.

This is without a doubt our favorite restaurant in WNY. The food, service and atmosphere are always outstanding. You can actually carry on a conversation with your companion(s) without straining to hear them, which seems to be rather unusual these days. In the late spring & summer, there is a beautifully landscaped enclosed courtyard, where you can sit. This restaurant is really worth trying!

What a wonderful find in the heart of Allentown!
Ambiance was lovely, service excellent, and the food superb.

There is no other restaurant like rue franklin. On a world scale, it can stand quite on its own.

Rue Franklin is THE Buffalo restaurant that NEVER disappoints. The food is always pristine and subtly flavored. The service is universally excellent. The atmosphere is quiet and elegant. It has long been our first choice among all of Buffalo's restaurants.

Excellent food and service , nice wine list. Was not very busy on a wintry Saturday nite.

As a lifelong resident of Buffalo, Rue Franklin is known as one of the longest-standing iconic restaurants in the area. I had never been and wanted to try it at least once. Our group of 4 started at the bar. The bartender did a great job coming up with some creative drinks. But the bar area was quIte cold and never warmed up. When we moved to the main dining room the temperature was more comfortable. Our wait staff was very attentive and responsive. My soup was nowhere near as hot as it should have been, albeit delicious. Two of our entrees were also warm, not hot, which took a lot away from the experience. Very disappointing from a restaurant of this caliber. Also, I don't recall any background music and because there were so few patrons, we felt a little self-conscious about our noise level (we are prone to a lot of laughter). I thought as a whole the restaurant lacked the ambience I was anticipating, and the food, while very good, did not warrant the price, especially since it did not arrive at the table at an appropriate temperature. Been there, done that, no desire to go back.

This Buffalo standard for fine dining never fails to please. You simply can get better service, fresher food or more gracious ambiance.

Salmon was a disappointment. Desserts were not up to par. Waitress seemed disinterested.

One of our favorite spots for years, we drove from Niagara to Buffalo just to go to Rue.
(We were vacationing from Michigan).

It was a quiet week day night and everything was great. We really enjoyed the food and
had an excellent wait person. I asked for the duck to be medium instead of rare and it
was delicious. The short ribs were tender and wonderful. Plentiful portions with sides.
The desserts sounded really good, too, but we were too full to partake.

Limited wines by the glass, but both of our choices were very nice accompaniments for
our dinners.

Rue Franklin remains a restaurant we will definitely return to whenever we travel in this area!

Rue Franklin serves wonderful French meals. Even if you are a good cook, it would be difficult to create the French cooking provided by the Rue Franklin. The atmosphere provides the diner the feeling that you are eating in a meal in France. The Prix 3 specials from Tuesday to Thursday allows the diner to sample many dishes at a reasonable price.

As always, the food is really terrific. The menu, although small, changes often. The fixed price menu is very good value.

Although we are devout fans of the culinary expertise at "the rue", our dining experience Saturday evening was literally perfect! Our oysters were accompanied by a unique mignonette "gel" which because of its texture stayed atop of the oyster & complemented the fresh flavors. Never saw this type of prep before! First courses consisted of scallops with citrus & cauliflower purée and the mushroom bisque were both delicious. Pre-theatre diners opted for our first choice of entrees, as our service indicated, however our second choices were equally outstanding. I'm actually glad I tried the salmon, the ingredients & seasonings were nothing like I could ever make at home. Desserts are always spectacular and complete an enjoyable evening of fine cuisine and close friends. Service is always attentive.

The food as always was excellent....and the gravlax beyond excellent. It was also good to see that the service was so much improved.

Great place to celebrate Valentine's. service was exceptional, from matra di bartender and waitress. Food was excellent but pricey

Beautiful restaurant with a true European flair. Art work added another lovely dimension to the well appointed dining room.

Consistently excellent food. Best French restaurant in WNY. Romantic. Attentive service.

We truly enjoyed our Valentine dinner. We arrived on time for our reservation and were immediately seated. Service was perfect and the food was outstanding.
It is a fine dining experience and we will be back.

Over all the place is fantastic BUT the portions are just way too small for the very high prices. I'm all for food as art but shouldn't leave hungry after spending $150 per person!!!!

The whole experience was excellent! Met all of my expectations.

Quant restaurant, nice and small, great servers. Bar selection is limited to a certain kind of wine, real trained bartender not available, so limited on drink selection. Food quality was good.

Excellent service - spectacular food. We are so fortunate to have this gem of an establishment in our beautiful city.

Top quality, provides you what is to be expected in a true fine dining establishment that is the equivalent of what will be found in the most sophisticated cities. Service and preparation of food items stand out the most. Atmosphere and decor is sufficient if not exceptional. Coming from Rochester, there is nothing here that compares. Be prepared to open your wallet wider than usual (for western NY) and leaving with a smile.

We lived in Buffalo once upon a time many years ago and Rue Franklin was our favorite restaurant. The cuisine is as superb today as it was 20 years ago.

New Years Eve dinner so the menu was limited, however it was extensive enough. Four courses, all exquisitely prepared and well served. the food was excellent, the atmosphere was quiet and relaxing. a bit pricey but worth it, and acceptable for a holiday/special occasion. I would dine here again.

An outstanding multi-course fixed price New Year's Eve dinner.