Review: At Gene McCarthy's Old First Ward Brewing, a modern Buffalo tavern on historic foundations

In time-honored surroundings, ideal tavern fare plus dishes with personality deliver rare taste of authentic Buffalo

Beer-battered haddock fish fry

In 1936, two years after Prohibition ended, Julia Solarczyk applied for permission to sell liquor in a restaurant at 73 Hamburg St. to be named Hamburg Tavern. 

Neighbors have gravitated to the corner of Hamburg and Republic in Buffalo’s Old First Ward ever since, to eat, drink, maybe even sing along with their neighbors.