The best dive bar I have ever been to in any city, because of:
The name: It has several but was finally named by public consensus. (AKA: The Pink Flamingo, Allen Street Bar and Grill, The Pink). There is no sign on the door so to find it you just have to know.
The facade: Other paint jobs may be comparable, but never better.
Beer selection - more than adequate, although some nights I have to stick to bottles b/c the lines haven't been cleaned.
Darts and Pool - always open to all in a friendly atmosphere
The stories - my best and worst nights out always end at The Pink. Â The details are just inappropriate.
The steak - I've heard the rumors, but never had it myself. Supposedly its nips for a late-night meal. You heard me say this is a dive bar though, right?
The checkerboard floor.
As the smell of urine hits your face, you realize that inside of the Pink is the core of humanity - that which is deep inside all of us, waiting to come out in the dark, grimy recesses of the subconscious. Â Reduced to the bare humanity that comes at 3:30am in Buffalo, people interact in a new fashion here - disregarding class, race, and intoxication levels - for brief moments of ocular speculation and enjoyment. Â Grabbing the last beer of the night, the one you'll regret later, you join the frey and revel in the possibility of goodness coming from a building saturated in human waste.
Anyway, it's my definition and standard for dive bar. Â Be kind, be courteous, and enjoy your time there. Â Not for the weak willed, not a great place to go alone, and not really a place to go before 3am, but still it serves a function higher than most places can.
The Pink Flamingo. The Old Pink. Allen Street Bar and Grill. The place formerly known as "The Pink." Or my personal favorite, The Stink.
When those doors swing open and a waft of beer, sweat and vomit hit those nostrils, you'll know. You've arrived.
To call this place a dive bar would be an understatement. It is the prototype for which all dive bars should aspire to be. It is glorious. I once heard about the Pink, "everything you've heard is true." I loved it. It's true one typically doesn't venture into this establishment before say 1am, however anytime you go there will be folks there and amazing food. Yes, I said it, amazing food (for us carnivores). I always made fun of the people who ate there until I tried the steak sandwich and cheeseburger (not at the same time). Changed my life. My mouth is watering thinking about that cheeseburger right now.
There is also a terrific and eclectic mix of patrons and music always playing as well as an array of games including darts and pool. Beer and food, cheap and good. You can probably find ANYTHING you want or need in that joint. This is the place to end the night.
Bonus: Due to past incidents they're uber-strict with IDs so there's not any (conspicuous) annoying under-agers andddddd The ladies bathroom never has a line or runs out of toilet paper.
Dive bar heaven! Â Well the outside looks like something straight out of scary satanic carnival ride at an amusement park or traveling gypsy circus. Â The inside can be dark and dingy and it's very likely you will be stumbling in the door when you arrive and then out the door when you leave here.....or most likely due to the cheap drinks. Â The bar itself is one of the longest end to end I've ever encountered in Buffalo, and the red lighting above it gives it that perfect divey feel....kind if like being in a Submarine diving deeper and deeper into a dark abyss.
The place and crowd can be just as diverse as its music selection. And with all the Elvis pics and busts behind the bar, I'm a little surprised I haven't heard the King jamming away on any of my visits.
I brought some first timer suburbanite friends on a Allen Street bar hopping session the other night. Â I previewed the steak sandwich picture from Yelp and they immediately ordered up the famous steak sandwich (grill is open until 3 AM!). Â Every last bite was consumed by all with glorious delight, followed by two thumbs up and ear to ear smiles around the bar.
I like garbage bars, and garbage people, and I can handle just about as much character as you can toss at me and pinkys has character and garbage in spades. And, it's not often I get the urge to mouth off or toss a bottle at someone's head, but Pinky's got me there and it got me there fast. Walked in, sat down, couldn't see the taps because folks were in the way so I asked Pugsley (the short bald barman with the genetic disorder) what was on tap and he looked at me with disdain (thinking I'd imagine with great difficulty, "can't this asshole read?") and simply said, "we have whats on tap", and walked off to busy himself. Alright, I didn't ask for a martini made of unicorn blood, not a crazy question in a dark bar with a decent population. So yeah, alright dude, no problem, we'll play that game. So, I eyed the guy shamelessly hoping he'd at least take a drink order from me but nope, wouldn't look at or serve me. I've never been denied service at a bar before. With my pride a little tarnished and me wondering just how cool Buffalo cops might be to an out of town fireman I decided not to risk any mouthyness and tuck my tail and go. I'm sure this place will take pride in that, and it's no skin off my back, not my town and not my problem. I'll probably venture the place again if I'm ever in Buffalo, just for the challenge. But Buffalo is so damn depressing I don't know if I'll ever make it back.
Review Source:Great bartender who made one of the best hamburgers we've ever had, and a great steak sandwich, an 8oz steak with grilled peppers and onions, on a toasted sub roll. Â He apologized for the price of the steak (I think $12).
   Quiet on the Saturday afternoon when we went,  A couple bartender friends on the way to work, and 2 gentlemen from Belgium who were touring US architecture and had read about Old Pink on the internet.
   We sat at the bar and watched the US open.
   Divey in a college town sort of way early afternoon ......
Old pink is probably the best dive bar in Buffalo, NY hands down. This place is always a fun time with wacky people of different social groups. From Hipster to Gangster you see all types of people. What brings all these people together and get along? The answers easy...The atmosphere and history of the Pink. Drinks at great prices and is on the top of a large number of top 10 hook up bars in the city.
This place can get wild and there's a lot of things you wish you didn't see that you will see, i'll leave you to discover what that means ;). The General Manager (Matt) gets his hands in the mix when his staff is busy on the weekends. He's a great guy to know and will treat you well. The rest of the staff is just as nice, as well as attentive to the large crowds.
This bar is rarely dead, even on weekends. They also serve some pretty decent food here if you start getting the drunk munchies from the powerful drinks they give you. The place can fill up and you still don't feel the need to leave, you just stay and enjoy the show (or be a part of it). There's a DJ there on the weekends and the funny thing about Buffalo is that the jukebox has been broke for quite some time, and Buffalonians love this place so much they still voted it in for a nomination for "Best Jukebox in Buffalo" , it goes to show you the loyalty of their customer base when you can pull that off! Â If you can get your hands on the pool table, it's a nice little area to play some pool with your friends or significant other.
Basically, if you go to Buffalo this is the place to check out, one of the older well known treasures of Buffalo's drinking fame right here. Cheers and if you go tell Matt, that Mat said hi! :)
For the unitiated, a little dirt and danger in your food is a good thing. Sometimes your soul needs a night out, the body that carries it can bathe in purell later. A Steak sandwich from the Pink will remind you that you are alive. Don't look at it, don't worry about your dignity, just drop your face into it and enjoy (that is probably good advice for some other reviews but that's for another time). Good bartenders, a building that oozes so much character it might be sticking to your shoes. Best dive bar that should just keep on doing what it is doing and ignore the outside. Only place I've ever seen a dreadlocked college kid and woman somewhere south of 70 dance....to the Clash. Good bullshit free food, do it, go, now, you might hate yourself in the morning, but that's for later. Enjoy now
Review Source:The Old Pink is where its at for Happy Hour on Wednesdays. The steak sandwich is amazing. If you're feeling adventurous...try some fried bologna. Be nice to the bartenders and they will be nice to you.
This is the spot to be at 4 AM on friday or saturday (or any other day) if you are lonely and looking to canoodle. Its not an epic evening unless you end up at The Pink.
A friend of a friend recommended this bar to me when I first moved to Buffalo. Â Took the recommendation and went with a friend, and we were both utterly disgusted and embarrassed that this was the kind of place someone from Buffalo would want to show off to an out of town guest or new WNY citizen. Â The clientele and bar itself were disgusting, and we left without even finishing our drinks. Â Perhaps it's a great dive for true Allentown locals, but I would never ever take anyone here as a representation of the great things (I now know) Buffalo has to offer.
Review Source:If you have not been to The Pink, you must go. Â It might be best if you are a little tipsy, or should I say... hammered? Â But, yes. Â Go. Â The best dive in buffalo. Â Fun music, eccentric crowd. Â Haven't been here in while, but last time I went, I brought friends from Portland. Â They. loved. it. Â If you don't have fun, you are lame. Â ;)
Review Source:hands down, my favorite place for a night of debauchery. Â nothing good can come of a night that ends at this place, and i LOVE that.
old and thoroughly worn, this dive is an institution full of local character and life. Â the music is never pretentious and neither are the bartenders or patrons. Â whether its quiet or brimming, this is the best place to take a time out from life...
if you're lucky, you'll catch an opportunity for some of the best fresh cooked steak and chicken sandwiches to come off a grill in all of wny...
Annual pilgrimage back to Buffistan for wings, football, and beer.
On our way to an early lunch at Gabriel's Gate, we pass an old victorian house  painted up like some sort of satanic circus with a beer light on. We decide to check it out after our wings.
Highlights:
- It's 11:45AM, yet there are empty beer cans and dirty glasses strewn everywhere, apparently from the previous night.
-It's winter in Buffalo, and their heater is not working. It is freezing.
-We inquire about the jukebox to break up the incredibly awkward  silence of the cold, smelly bar. We're told it doesn't work, but a white-haired  man at the bar, wearing a homemade, hand-knit Buffalo Bills sweater (epic) volunteers to play some records out of the closet/DJ booth.
If you had told me he was gonna play a mix of bizarre 80's elecro, I'd have called you a liar.
-I order our party a pitcher of Molson and a screwdriver for the lady. I hand him a twenty and he gives me back fourteen. WTF?
-The men's room features a Ralph Wilson Stadium styled piss trough, and on this occasion there was a giant turd resting in/on the toilet.
-While shooting pool, we attract some unwanted attention. After some brief hellos and failed attempts at ignoring him:
Derelict Man: "Man if these walls could talk..." looks around nostalgically.
My Brother: "They'd probably say [makes indistinguishable drunk mumbling noises.]"
The man then appears to consider attacking my brother, but instead decides to leave, making lewd remarks to both my girlfriend AND my sister on the way out, for bonus points.
-I order a shot of Jameson for myself and the bartender joins me with a shot of Rumple Minze (yikes) claiming, "If I'm going to get fired today I may as well be drunk." Touche, sir.
He then tells me that the building was once the first bowling alley in Buffalo. A quick glance around would suggest that he's lying, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Lowlights:
-NONE!
So if you're in town for a game or just visiting, DO NOT miss out on The Stinky Pinky. Get there before noon, that's when the fun starts!
Three things that Pink  has going for it, right off the bat:
1) A phone booth, that works, and has a phone book. Where do you ever see that nowadays?
2) Delicious burgers. Seriously, that is probably one of the greatest burgers I have ever eaten. Had I not been so full I would have also tried the steak sandwich (it's a steak on bread--literally a steak sandwich).
3)The tunes were great.
I'm a sucker for dive bars. There is something about a dimly lit spot with loud music and questionable characters that make my little heart happy. Regulars planted solidly on their stools, chitchat with the bartenders, sports on the tv and pool being played over your shoulder. Dive bars are my cup o' tea. The Pink does not disappoint at all. Reasonably priced drinks, good food, pleasant company.
The only downside to this spot is that it's on Allen, which means parking can be poop. But if that is my only complaint? Then obviously they're doing alright.
It took the first UYE for me to finally get into this place. Â The steak sandwich ($10) is unlike any other I've had in my life. Â First off, it's made on a grill that's right behind the bar (CO poisoning, anyone?) and it took 15 minutes to make but it was well worth the wait. Â Other steak sandwiches, you think strips of steak or shaved like a Philly. Â Here, they don't mess around w/ that - a full slab of steak between a toasted sub roll piled with onions and peppers. Â You don't often get to eat steak like that b/c even when it's on a plate, you're fork/kniving it but there's something special about chowing down on a whole piece like that. Â The place is a little dingy and the TVs need serious updating, but there's a certain charm that goes w/ this place and I'd go back for the steak sandwich anytime.
Review Source:Now, I'd definitely been to The Pink before the Yelp happy hour. But usually I'd roll in, after having a few drinks, with a posse of friends around 2-3am. Wandering in here at 6pm just seemed weird but I was so excited to try the food that everyone raves about.
To be honest, this is not a place I'd order food from unless I got a recommendation. But the grill in there is 20 years old or something and the whole place smells of its charred delightfulness. I got a burger with cheese (regret not getting the peppers & onions) and it was damn good. I was so sad when I ate the last bite.
Even though there were some drink specials for the event, the regular happy hour prices were the bomb. Now I know where I'll be coming if I find myself in Allentown craving some meaty goodness off an awesome grill.
Man you gotta love The Old Pink, as it is dive bar perfection at its best. I mean it has been a mainstay in Allentown for years and hasn't changed a bit. I've finished up countless nights of drinking here and always run into a random someone I know but haven't seen in awhile when I do. Holiday times allows you to also meet your friends who are back visiting as they also are drawn to this buffalo staple for the last couple of hours of drinking when in town.
Last night might have been the first time I was here before the 1-2am mark and was only time I ate there. Went for the first ever Buffalo Yelp happy hour and they made for gracious hosts. The burger was amazing mainly due to it being cooked to perfection and then topped off with the most delicious onions and mushrooms (which the bartender was kind enough to let me know was due to them being soaked in Guinness in a slow cooker for 4-5 hours) They are famed for their steak sandwich, which after the burger I will make a point to go out of my way to try.
Thanks Yelp, I knew this was a great place to drink, but now know the food kicks ass as well.
Full disclosure: my brother DJs a monthly event here, so my experiences have been mostly shaped by his soundtrack and his buddies, all local 20somethings who come here for the cheap booze, the pool tables, the friendly bartenders and the chicken sandwiches.
Over time, I've come to realize that this place, known more commonly as The Old Pink or just "The Pink," isn't so much a dive as it is a living performance art piece evoking the The Idea of The Dive. It's self-aware about being the kind of place that serves PBR in a can and tasty steak sandwiches at 3am, without being too painfully self-conscious or self-righteous about it.
The Pink has been reviewed in glossy magazines and boasts giant green flames down the side, yet it still remains fairly under-the-radar, at least among non-locals (and even locals, if they're over 40). You'll almost never head here intentionally before 11pm, but you'll rarely end a proper night out in Buffalo without a beer here, either, at least if you're with the right people.
In it's category (dive bars), this would be a 4 star dive. It's dark. It's dirty. It has a giant grill in front of your eyes, and the drink prices are listed according to shot, straight, rocks, double. This tells you people come here on a mission, and I was surrounded by folks completely meeting that goal. I was there earlier in the night so it was a calm and mostly quiet place to enjoy a drink in your favorite dive atmosphere, whilst surrounded by both regulars and young kids occasionally hooting and hollering. I will return when needed to scratch the dive bar itch. Â
Ah yes, and I hear their sandwiches/burgers are amazing. Not sure if that's a drunk amazing or a sober amazing. We shall see.
This place is perfect. Â I came up from New Jersey for two nights, rolled in here after seeing the great Billy Joe Shaver at the overly bright and spiffy Sportsman. Â The just-paint-it-black punk rock interior of the Pink was just what the Dr. ordered... We pulled up next to a charming woman at the bar named "Molly". Â I was skeptical when she said it was "her bar", but damn it, I do believe it was, quite literally! Â She had a lot more hair than I do (which is saying something), and she bought us shots... so if she ended up with my skulls-and-spider-webs scarf (which I left there), she totally deserves it! Â Rock on, Molly and the Pink!
Review Source:I rolled drunk into Buffalo, NY for the first time in my adult life at 3AM on Saturday morning. My friend met me at the bus station and we took a cab immediately to the Pink. I was MARVELING about the fact that bars are open until 4am in Buffalo. We walked up to the Pink and I was immediately in love. The outside of the bar is a carnival for the eyes. Really creatively painted and there were a lot of people outside as you can't smoke inside of bars in NY state. (Absolutely amazing and wonderful.)
We walked in and the only thing I can compare it to is a weird dark basement. Low ceilings, pitch black inside. Just a random colored light here and there. Velvet Elvis painting. VELVET ELIVS PAINTING. The music was spot on albeit super super loud. We're talking can't make conversation loud. I said "I'm sorry, WHAT?" more in that first hour I was there then I may have ever in my life.
I went back there the next night, and while I was completely and unabashedly inebriated, it was that good of a time the second night. The bartender was attentive and the doorman bought me a shot.
I will most definitely be back here.
Even though I know I've royally increased my chances of catching an STD just by walking into this place, and I never really want to go, I still find myself there and never cease to have a good time. It's the dive of all dives. I've shut the place down, I've day drank there (THAT'S a sight), I've brought out-of-town friends there as part of my personal Buffalo tour, and I always run into a mix of good friends and scumbags. All under one roof. This is the type of place where, if you spend too much time there, you might find yourself contemplating what direction your life is going. But you'll always have an entertaining night.
Review Source:S'okay, I guess. Â
Took my out of town buddy out here for a little drink-aroo and the crowd was nice. Â A little hipster and one lady I held the door for said "Thanks, girl". Â Last time I was called "girl" it ended with "you'll be a woman soon" and then somebody named Vincent Vega came at me with a really big needle. Â Everything went black after that.
The bartender than night looked like a tired Conan O'Brien, so that was a perk! Â
Otherwise, the crowd was nice, not TOO out of control and the place had enough room so you don't feel like your playing elbow hockey with everyone else.
Two Blue Moons were $8 which is okay and parking on a weekend is a nightmare. Â Make sure you wear your most comfortable Cha-cha heels for the hike between the car, the bar, and Jim's Steakout down the street.
Proper dive bar. Killer NY strip steak sandwich and 2 bud bottles for $14. Locals are super friendly as is the surly-on-the-outside bartender. Stoked to have made you acquaintance 223.
Oh yeah, approached on my way in by a gentleman claiming to be the local "candy man". My kind of neighborhood bar. Easy drive back to BUF .
I make it my duty to go to as many dive bars across the states, and I'm glad I added this one to the list. Dirty, dark, cheap, great.
Bartender ruled and gave us a whole bunch of free booze.
I tend to ignore most of the other people that are in bars, but I found it weird that there was some type of bachelorette party going on in there - my memory is ridiculously horrible from that night - but I remember that my bf was getting a little creeped out.
I'll definitely be back.
The Pink is an Allen St. institution and is one of the great dive bars of America. Â This place has always been a late night bar destination and the crowd is diverse - guys in suits to guys with mohawks. Â
This bar is dark, dank and crammed from corner to corner with stickers and Elvis paraphernalia. Â The bar area smells and the bathrooms are only slightly upgraded from Trainspotting territory. Â Lots of late night drunken humor scribbled on the walls.
Drop something during a late night visit to the Pink and that shit is gone forever, say no more - I would only go after large bills and car keys. Â Still though, they do have some of the most amazing bar food. Â There is something odd and magical about the grill in the Pink - they do churn out one of the best steak sandwiches you'll ever find, not to mention hand cut grilled bologna sandwiches.
Bartenders are cool and good at what they do.  Music tends to lean towards punk but also they play a lot of indie  - I've always dug what they play.  Drinks are not unreasonably priced.  You haven't been out late night in Buffalo if at some point you haven't been through the Pink's doors.
I got stuck in Buffalo for an evening (emergency landing on NY - CHI flight) and ended up wandering in this joint after asking a regular ol' cab driver if there was a punk bar anywhere in town. Â Luckily, the cabbie had been a former regular at The Old Pink and dropped me off there. Â It was exactly what I had hoped for, though I wish they had a covered area to smoke under since it was pouring that night.
Review Source:OK- what's with the stupid new name?
I wouldn't enter this place now without rubber gloves, antiseptic wipes and non-skid shoes.... and couldn't stay long enough to risk using the facilities. That said, when I was 17 (legal age 21) and  Mohawks were in only their first come-back- this place was where it was at,
Now - I go to bed at 11pm and only drink in establishments that have children's menus.
Ohhh The "Pink"...
This is a place where you: will wander into after a night of drinking in Buffalo, might not want to drink directly from any of their glasses, the bathroom is likely to have at least a half inch of water covering the floor at any given moment, will meet a lot of idiots.
The bouncers are pricks, the bartenders are decent, and the crowd -- although they look like punks -- are nothing more than a bunch of pussies who happened to get a lot of piercings, tattoos, and give themselves some radical hairdo.
The Old Pink (223 Allen Street) is the best damn bar in America. Â The End.
OK, I'll elaborate.  This one time, single lane bowling alley, is a dark, smelly hole in the wall where you can get the best steak you've ever had in your life.  There's usually 70s punk rock (the good stuff, pre-new-wave) playing. And the bartenders, Drew, Brian, Joey and Jay are the best in the  business.  Well, maybe not, but they're great guys, every last one of 'em.
Post 2 am (Buffalo bars are open until 4 am, after all) the place turns into an odd, drunken, meat market. Â It's usually pretty crowded. Â Personally, I like it a little earlier, when you can chill out and chat with the staff.
I miss this bar more than any other thing in Western New York except for my family that's there. The cheap but tough cocktails, the best Steak sandwich on all the planet, great music, super cool staff, and flirty punk rock girl customers make it exactly what my lead in said. This is the best bar in these United States.
This place is an institution. It's awful and crowded and disgusting but magical and wonderful all at once. Everyone ends up here between 3-4am. I could have a great time, just kicking it in the bathroom, and have on many a night, because that's a party in itself. It's so dark and dank in here, it's like its own world, like the lion, the witch and the wardrobe.
I love the summer nights when everyone gets kicked out at closing time but the party gets continued outside. The one bartender hooks drinks up for me because he likes my hair.
The Old Pink, (as opposed to the New Pink, which no longer exists, kind of the like the New Coke if you think about it), is the epitome of the dive bar; kind of scary, kind of dirty, but a place you ultimately feel warm fuzzies about stumbling into at 3 in the morning.
I was terrified the first time I went there, but afterwards couldn't get there enough. You will mysteriously loose hours in this place but it won't matter. This place is awesome.
You can't buy the character this place has. Oh, and the Steak Sandwich! OMG, you would never expect it, in fact the thought of eating food here might blow your mind, but trust me, its heaven on earth.
Don't let the name fool you - this place is The Old Pink, and it's a true experience to be had.
This crazy looking bar sits on Allen St. in Buffalo, and it's really the people that make it what it is, though the cheap, strong drinks don't hurt.
Eclectically decorated, sticker slapped, and graffitied to wazzoo, it's never boring. Â The bartender, a woman in her 40's with a smoker's cough, took one look at my (male) friend and asked, "hey, did I do you?" Â When he remarked later that he used to work nearby, she inquired, "which corner?" Â It was all in good humor, and I honestly liked the lady.
Even the regulars are characters. Â As I sipped my Jack and Coke, I was regaled with tales of a dog jumping through a plate glass window (he lived) and men wearing tutus. Â At that point, the bartender pointed out that The Old Pink would always be gay friendly, motioning to me and saying, "even that chick over there has a penis!" Â How did she know? Â I kid.
The bathroom was covered in signatures and various mantras of pee-ers who had come before me. Â I noticed with amusement that someone had scrawled, "PETER CETERA 4-EVA! Â GLORY OF LOVE, BITCHES!" on the bathroom door. Â I had to take a picture.
Let's face it - if you're inspired to photograph the latrine, it's got to be an interesting place.
Yep, it's a dive bar. Â It's rough, and I recommend visiting during the day. Â But I loved every second of my visit.
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