Buffalo and Western New York are havens for local restaurants. Few places in the country prides itself on locally-owned restaurants and bars, like Buffalo does. That's not to say that national chains don't work here, but it's always a risk in the eyes of corporate food service companies because of the reputation the region has of emphasizing locally-owned places.

Pizza Hut briefly moved out of Western New York (before returning for to-go and delivery locations), while others such as Krispy Kreme came and went (failing to compete with Tim Hortons).

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You don't immediately think of seafood when you say Buffalo but that's the cuisine that one national chain decided to test with a Blasdell location recently. It looks as if that did not work out.

According to the Google listing, the Hook & Reel Cajun Seafood bar on McKinley Pkwy in Blasdell is permanantly closed.

The location is no longer under New York on their company website as well.

News of Hook & Reel coming to Western New York made headlines in June of 2021, before opening in 2022. It offered up a unique style of cuisine and ambience to the region, but clearly wasn't successful enough early on to stay open.

That same area also just got a Chick-fil-A location, which opened up in the fall of 2022. The Wegmans and McKinley Mall plazas down the road, along with the I-90 being nearby, made it an obvious spot for retail or food service places.

Hook & Reel was in the same building that used to house Ruby Tuesday.

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