James Anzalone wants his new West Side café pouring wine and serving pasta until 4 a.m. Buffalo's Planning Board has other ideas, recommending a 2 a.m. closing time instead for the space he's building inside the Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute at 462 Niagara St.
Anzalone plans to open Bodega Anzalone Food & Wine inside the cultural institute, which is still under construction on Buffalo's West Side, according to the Buffalo News. He has already signed a five-year lease for ground-floor space at the facility, Buffalo Business First reports. The institute is a $30 million project at the Niagara Street address.
The Planning Board recommended approval of Anzalone's application to the Common Council, but with limitations attached — chief among them, a 2 a.m. late closing time instead of the 4 a.m. hours he's requesting, per the newspaper's reporting. Anzalone said he hopes to employ two or three people late at night, and he argues the restrictions exceed the state liquor authority's boundaries while threatening to cost him money from lost sales between 2 and 4 a.m. He holds a full liquor license for the planned café.
A Separate Account of Trial Hours
A different account of a proposed tavern at the same 462 Niagara Street address describes a trial period with hours ending at midnight Sunday through Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, according to citizenportal.ai. That account differs from the Buffalo News's reporting of a 2 a.m. recommendation for Anzalone's café, and the discrepancy has not been resolved against the city's underlying record.
Cynthia Schwartz, vice chair of the Planning Board, said the board is not aware of anyone asking for later hours than what's been proposed. She said allowing late hours in a city neighborhood would be unfair to residents, and noted that businesses already operate under some restrictions. The board has required new restaurants and bars in residential neighborhoods to generally close by 2 a.m. for more than 20 years, with new neighborhood restaurants often closing at midnight or 1 a.m.
A Changed West Side, A Changed Buffalo
Niagara Council Member David Rivera said the West Side no longer has bars on every corner the way it once did.
The dispute lands amid a broader shift in how Buffalo regulates nightlife. City officials have adopted stricter policies over the past two decades covering live music, table bussing, trash and closing hours in or near residential neighborhoods, the Buffalo News reports, with officials framing their job as balancing business operations against protecting neighboring residents. Restaurants and bars open as late as 4 a.m. are now far fewer than in the past and are generally grandfathered establishments or located in commercial entertainment districts such as Chippewa, per the same account. Outdoor patios have become more common and have created new concerns, even as residents grow less tolerant of late-night noise from bars.
How Other Buffalo Venues Have Fared
Anzalone's case isn't without precedent elsewhere in the city. The Common Council approved a new Allentown restaurant with a conditional 4 a.m. closing time that will be reviewed after one year, according to the Buffalo News. Back in 2015, Buffalo Place endorsed closing times of 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights, with its directors approving the resolution by a 9-4 vote, as reported by Buffalo Rising. That group cited concern about drinking and driving under the existing 4 a.m. closing time and argued an earlier cutoff could benefit downtown residents and hoteliers.
More recently, tensions over nightlife hours have spilled into court. Chippewa bar Bottoms Up sued the city and the Common Council, alleging that new operating restrictions threatened a profitable event and the future of its business, according to WIVB. The station reports that city officials have intensified enforcement efforts in the Chippewa Entertainment District in recent months. That dispute involves Chippewa businesses specifically and doesn't establish that the same restrictions apply to Anzalone's Niagara Street proposal.
What's at Stake Under City Code
Buffalo's rules governing business operations fall under Chapter 131 of the city code, adopted in February 1998 and effective that March, according to the City of Buffalo Code via eCode360. The code requires covered businesses to obtain a nontransferable certificate of operation before operating in the city.
Anzalone's Background
Anzalone, a Buffalo native, spent 25 years in Napa Valley and a decade at Michelin-starred restaurants. He also owns an olive oil business. Bodega Anzalone Food & Wine is planned as a small, high-end café serving fresh food, wine and drinks.
Whether the Common Council ultimately sides with Anzalone's 4 a.m. ambitions or the Planning Board's 2 a.m. recommendation remains to be seen, and the record reviewed so far does not establish that the council has reached a final decision on the application.
