We were impressed by the response to last year’s Business First restaurant survey. A total of 540 readers completed our extensive 44-part questionnaire in 2018.
But this year’s participation rate has been even more amazing, yielding 1,062 valid responses — nearly double the total a year ago.
Readers once again went through the time-consuming process of filling out our open-ended form. We didn't offer any short lists of candidates, nor did we pose any multiple-choice questions.
Participants were asked to name their five favorite restaurants in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area, as well as their specific favorites in 39 categories. (Click here to learn more about the survey’s methodology.)
The results have now been tabulated — and are being released in daily installments through Thursday. Today’s focus is on our readers’ 100 favorite restaurants, which can be seen by clicking the View Slideshow button above.
Votes for the overall regional favorites were scored on a 5-4-3-2-1 scale, with the value of each first-place vote being multiplied by five, the value of each second-place vote by four, etc. All results were current as of the survey in mid-July. (Two restaurants in the top 100, Seabar and Vino's, have since closed.)
The base value of each person’s votes was determined by level of participation. If a respondent answered at least 40 of the survey’s 44 questions, his or her votes were counted in full. If a person provided fewer answers, the value of his or her votes was proportionately reduced, as explained in the methodology. (Example: If a person answered 24 questions, each vote was multiplied by the fraction of 24/40, yielding a value of 0.6.)
Each slide gives a restaurant’s name, overall score (total points on the 5-4-3-2-1 scale) and number of votes for each of the five places (adjusted as noted above). Ties in overall scores were broken by the number of first-place votes.
Every restaurant on this list has its own website — many of which are quite elaborate — that can be found through any search engine. Addresses, phone numbers, menus and other essential information are available through those sites.
Our survey also asked readers to choose their favorite restaurants within 39 cuisines from American food and bagels to vegetarian food and wings. We'll turn our attention to those categories over the next three days.