North Park Theatre

A longtime fixture in the Buffalo arts community whose untitled illustration graced the inaugural issue of The Public, Craig LaRotonda opened Revolution Gallery in December 2016 along with his wife, fellow artist Maria Pabico LaRotonda, after a successful Kickstarter campaign. LaRotonda's own style is a sort of noir surrealism, and that's the aesthetic he's going for with this gallery — to borrow the words of the website, the emphasis is on works by local artists (including, of course, the LaRotondas themselves) that are "provocative and imbued with dark beauty, emotion, and mystery" and are executed in a variety of media: drawings, paintings, photography, and sculpture but also handmade jewelry and postcard prints offered for sale. As well, Revolution Gallery augments their permanent collection with a regularly scheduled slate of temporary and travelling exhibitions by local, national, and international artists including their inaugural one, Inception: a multimedia exhibit of work by artist Damien Echols, famous as one of the exonerated "West Memphis Three" falsely convicted of murder in 1994.

Located in the foyer of the Glenn & Audrey Flickinger Performing Arts Center on the campus of one of Buffalo's foremost private prep schools, the focus here is on works in a wide range of media by local artists (especially current Nichols students and alumni, much of whose work is displayed at the adjacent SEEARTRUN Gallery) or whose themes are relevant to Buffalo, Western New York, or the surrounding region. The Nichols School Gallery also hosts a range of travelling exhibits, workshops and visiting artist lectures.

Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Buffalo Zoo is the third-oldest zoo in the United States (founded in 1875 on the former site of the Deer Paddock at Delaware Park) and is second in popularity only to Niagara Falls among tourist attractions in the Niagara Frontier, welcoming 400,000 visitors each year. The 23-acre (9.5-ha) Zoo boasts exciting thematic displays that play host to 1,200 different animals, such as elephants, bears, otters, sea lions, hyenas, and of course, bison. Some of the animals, such as a resident peacock, are allowed to roam freely on the walkways, allowing visitors to get closer to nature than they would in most zoos. In 2002, a new Master Plan was unveiled that will see the Zoo thoroughly modernized over the next 15 years. Under this framework, the Vanishing Animals, EcoStation, Otter Creek, Sea Lion Cove and South African Rainforest exhibits have already opened, with a new Children's Zoo and other exhibits slated for the near future.

The oldest continually operating billiard hall in North America, Hippodrome Billiards opened in 1914 in the Theater District; through its early years of operation, some of history's great pool sharks, such as Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi, were regulars here. Sadly, Hippodrome is situated today in a nondescript suburban-style strip mall at the southwest corner of Delaware and Hertel Avenues. Despite the unfortunate location — and its spacious, bright and clean ambience that runs counter to the stereotype of pool halls — Hippodrome manages to conserve some of the old-school feel with chairs, cue racks, and several billiard tables retained from the original property. And, for those who'd rather skip the history lesson and just shoot a few games of pool, Hippodrome's rate of $4 per person per hour is hard to beat.

The most important work of the first half of Frank Lloyd Wright's career, and the first commission for that renowned architect outside of Chicago, the Darwin D. Martin Complex is one of the crown jewels of Buffalo's huge architectural cornucopia. The complex includes not only the Darwin D. Martin House itself — built in 1904-05 for the president of the Larkin Soap Company.