Tucked into Virginia Place, this busy bar and outstanding restaurant serves a full dinner menu 365 days a year, even on holidays, from 5 pm to 3 am. The bar is open 4 pm to 4 am. Good, fresh food is well prepared, and the wine list presents some exceptional values.

Mothers restaurant, owned by restaurateur Mark Supples, is located off the beaten path at 33 Virginia Place in the midst of the Allentown district. Mothers is a longstanding popular pub and restaurant for the upscale, professional crowd living and working in downtown Buffalo. It’s also a well known political haunt. During campaign season, it is not uncommon to find local politicians hosting fundraisers there or announcing their candidacies. The restaurant serves dinner seven nights a week and has a thriving bar business. And to Supples’ credit, Mothers serves dinner long into the night—a smart policy which favors a well-dressed nightclub audience.

It looked quiet the night we ventured out; that is, until we opened the door. To our surprise, in spite of it being a weeknight, we found a bustling bar and full dining room. In fact, we had not made reservations, which are recommended, so we did have a short wait for a table. In the meantime, we managed to find a seat at the bar and enjoy a cocktail before dinner.

The atmosphere is warm and relaxed, and the décor hints at its carriage-house history with post and beam décor supported by an interior structure of brick and stone. A skylight over the bar brightens the rooms during daylight hours. Tables are covered in linen and candlelight complements every table for the evening trade.

Once seated, we were presented with a copy of the menu as well as a copy of the nightly specials menu. I always think it’s a good idea to have a written specials menu. Verbal menus are inconvenient, especially if the list is long. You inevitably forget some of them or mix this dish with that sauce, and in a busy place like this, it just makes things easier on the server and the customer alike. On this particular evening, the specials list was long indeed. There were a half-dozen appetizers and as many entrées.

The main menu features appetizers such as steamed mussels with red curry and coconut milk broth or spaghetti squash with prosciutto, fresh sage and asiago cheese. Salads on the regular menu include a smoked Rainbow trout with bliss potatoes, red onion and spinach salad with mustard dill dressing. Entrées include pan seared bay scallops with spinach, red peppers and saffron cream over black fettuccine (squid ink makes the pasta black) or pork chops stuffed with blue cheese and walnuts, served with a port glaze and bacon braised cabbage.

Specials are even more intriguing. On this night, specials included two very interesting soups—curried shrimp and broccoli or tomato, sausage, and fennel. Appetizers and salads included freshly shucked Malpeque oysters on the half shell with cocktail and mignonette sauces or a salad of lump crab, avocado, and golden pineapple with sweet peppers and a citrus vinaigrette. Entrée specials included chicken and sweet potato enchiladas with chipotle pepper sauce, black beans and corn salsa, or grilled twin eight-ounce lamb chops rubbed with roasted garlic and cracked pepper, served over a tomato, cucumber, and feta cheese salad, tossed in oregano vinaigrette.

I started my dinner with a middle Eastern dipping platter consisting of hummus, tabbouleh and babaghanouj with marinated olives and grilled flatbread. My guest, Harvey, selected the chilled half Maine lobster and colossal shrimp cocktail. My Eastern dipping platter was very tasty. The seasoning and the spices were fresh and aromatic. It was such a nice way to enliven the palate. Harvey’s appetizer was really more than an appetizer. The lobster was probably three quarters of a pound of fresh chilled lobster served alongside two enormous prawns. He loved it.

Next we were served our soup and salad. I chose the curried shrimp and broccoli soup. Harvey went for the house salad with a pesto cream dressing. The soup was excellent. It had a great flavor, but was a little lean on the shrimp. The house salad was also good—a nice mix of greens and a satisfying, creamy dressing.

For our entrées, we both ordered off of the nightly specials menu. I chose the sautéed potato crusted Escolar filet served over a crawfish cream sauce. Harvey selected the grilled 18-ounce Angus ribeye, topped with Maytag blue cheese butter, served with potato and Swiss chard gratin. The Escolar was very good—moist, flaky and mild. The potato crust was nice and buttery and the crawfish cream sauce was fantastic.

Harv’s ribeye arrived cooked as ordered—Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is charred on the outside and very rare at the center. It came covered in a pool of creamy blue cheese butter and was served with a kind of potato Napoleon—layers of cheese, Swiss chard, and potato. He thoroughly enjoyed it.

Desserts are prepared by Pastry Chef Donna Majewski. I chose the banana cream pie. Harvey selected the carrot cake. The crust of the banana cream pie was light and flaky, the filling was sweet with plenty of fresh banana and was topped with fresh whipped cream. The carrot cake was dense cake with plenty of grated carrot and raisins and delicious cream cheese frosting. Both were delicious.

Service was attentive but not intrusive. I would, however, recommend making reservations on any night of the week. It is a popular place for the after-work crowd for both cocktails and dinner. The menu is elegant and appetizing, ranging from the traditional meatloaf dinner to the more exotic and complex items which appeal to a sophisticated palate.

Dinner prices range from $11.75 for the meatloaf dinner with garlic mashed potatoes and gravy to market prices for specials such as $24.50 for Angus ribeye.