I was born and raised in Buffalo, then I joined the Military and moved away in 1992 and now live in Las Vegas.
No doubt, few cities compare to the nightlife of Vegas, but after years of partying stateside as well as oversees, there is something unique about returning to the Buffalo Nightlife scene.
I guess you can divide the nightlife into three types of advice. --Here they are in my opinion.
If you lived there before, then it's a great place. Any local bar will provide old high school friends that either still work at the establishment or have been frequenting the place since the time you left. I usually get the 'your money is no good here' answer as old aquaintences buy shots and keep the rounds coming. ---Great cionversation, usually about football or hockey seem to be the topic of choice, while splurging on Canadian beer that is hard to find in any cities South of the state of Pennsylvania are my favorite choices. Adding some beef on weck, wings or the occasional Salem hot dog with webers mustard after downing a few cold ones tends to make me feel 21 again.
If you are a 'tourist' then you have to check out Chippewa. Bars and clubs full of 'big hair' blaring music left over from the early 90's as well as decent dance clubs give the average person a great smorgasboard of Buffalo Nightlife. Finish it off with a street dog while standing or some late night Greek food and a cab ride home and it will be a good night. The atmosphere of a Saturday night before a home game is quite exciting, especially knowing a full day of hungover tailgating is on its way within hours.
Lastly, If you are T.O. with a pocketful of cash and enough popularity to draw a crowd, it may NOT be such a wonderful experience. VIP treatment is subpar and from what I've seen, there aren't many 'private' booths or VIP rooms to keep it exciting week to week. Perhaps a stop at some finer resturants with bars in them at a nice hotel or maybe a place like Olivers comes to mind, and you will get good food, good service with a nice atmosphere and a 'mature' setting. --But then again, if you are that wealthy, then you probably have a fully staffed home with a bar and fine food in it anyways. A guy like T.O may want to skip town and head to Toronto or NYC for a night of 'big city' partying.
Just my thoughts.....Damn, Imiss Webers!