Jazzboline Restaurant & Bar

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Flair Without Formality on Main Street

At 5010 Main Street in Amherst, New York, Jazzboline Restaurant & Bar occupies a place on the Amherst Hospitality Campus next to Reikart House, bringing together bold contemporary American flavors, well-curated cocktails, and local craft brews on-tap in a vibrant, visually engaging setting. The restaurant's own words say it plainly: inventive, entertaining, wholesome — and that combination has earned Jazzboline a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, a recognition that speaks directly to the depth and quality of its beverage program.

Rooted in Vaudeville Spirit

The name itself tells a story. In the early 1900s, Frank and Dolly Reikart — veterans of the Vaudeville circuit — relocated to Amherst and swiftly became known as the area's "First Family of Hospitality," opening their homestead on Transit Road to delight scores of locals, accompanied by Jocko, their pet Capuchin monkey. Frank was also an inventor and luthier who created the Jazzboline: an angular instrument played like a banjo. That inventive, performance-minded spirit now runs through everything the restaurant does, from the kitchen's stylish departure from traditional American cuisine to the energy of the room itself.

The Experience

Guests can expect contemporary American fare served across dinner service Monday through Saturday, and a Sunday Jazz Brunch that pairs live music with the late-morning table. Wednesday evenings bring live performances under the Breezeway. The bar opens in the afternoons with a happy hour Monday through Thursday, and the full bar program — the one that caught Wine Spectator's attention — runs alongside a lineup of cocktails and local drafts.

Beyond the regular table, Jazzboline accommodates private parties, weddings, meetings, and catered events, with spaces suited to gatherings of varying scales. The chef's table and banqueting rooms round out an offering that makes the restaurant as practical for a corporate dinner as it is for a relaxed weekend brunch.

Whether you arrive for the food, the wine list, or the music, the animating idea is the same one Frank and Dolly Reikart carried from the Vaudeville stage: hospitality delivered with verve.