BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — While the first games of the men’s NCAA tournament won’t take the court at KeyBank Center until Thursday and Saturday, the crowds will start even sooner for local restaurants.
Hofbräuhaus Buffalo and Pearl Street Grill and Brewery are among many local restaurants already preparing for how to handle the big crowds.
“NCAA coming here is gonna make us — we are gonna be packed in here and I’m gonna love every minute of it,” said Pearl Street manager Ryan Mulvihill. “I can’t wait to have everybody come in here and see what we have to offer especially here at Pearl Street.”
He said while staffing is pretty solid now after a tough stretch, it’ll still be all hands on deck.
They plan to open a buffet on their catering floors to accommodate those larger-than-normal crowds.
“We are opening the catering floors for that overflow so we can make sure that everybody gets in and is able to go to the game on time and perfect.”
Just a few minutes away, Brian Windschitil at Hofbräuhaus is also preparing.
The restaurant is huge and with the weather looking good for the weekend, they also plan to open the beer garden, which can accommodate another 400 people.
“I know people have a short period of time between games, so you can definitely stop down here and grab a Dunkel or a Hefe Weizen and we’ll have sausages available in the beer garden,” Windschitil said. “It’s a grab-and-go, so it’ll make it very convenient for anybody to stop in.”
He said they plan to open early at 11 a.m. on Thursday for St. Patrick’s Day and expect crowds for Saturday and Sunday’s parades also.
“The staff that we have here is wonderful, it’s people that have put their heart and soul into the place and work very hard but yeah we could always use more people it is gonna be a challenge and I think it’ll continue to be a challenge but I think we just do our best and try to get through what we can do and that’s all we can do.”
Both restaurants accept reservations online, but as those games get closer, they’ll fill up fast.
Kayla Green is a reporter who has been part of the News 4 team since 2021. See more of her work here.