BUFFALO, N.Y. — Not only are we celebrating St. Patrick's Day this week, but it's also March Madness season. What's exciting about this is that Buffalo is hosting some of the games in the tournament this year, which means that businesses are getting ready for the crowd that the games will bring.
In just a couple of days, businesses like Pete's Place Food Shop, will be serving thousands of people.
"We talked to people there should be 100,000 people down here from Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So, we are going to ramp up our product and be ready for people to come," said Peter Flanagan, the owner of Pete's Place Food Shop.
Not only are they ramping up their food, Flanagan says they are also adding more people to their schedule.
"We are going to ramp up our crew for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We are going to stay up extra late, probably 6 p.m. We are going to set up tables and just serve everything we do traditionally," he said.
Because they have only been in business for four years and the last time Buffalo held a March Madness event was in 2017, this is their first, and Flanagan is quite excited.
"It feels good to serve people from out of town. We regularly have out-of-town guests who finds us on Google," he said.
Flanagan is hoping for a large turnout.
"We are typically pretty busy as it is, but we have pushed through the lines. We are expecting maybe a 20-30% increase during the day, and we are hoping for large crowds at night," he said.
One of the best ways to help restaurants prepare, and make sure you aren't late, is to order your food ahead of time.
"Leave your name and what time you want to pick it up, so you can avoid any interface of your time schedule. So, you can plan your day out, walk right in grab your food, and got on over to the game," he said.
Overall, he says they are feeling pretty confident.
"We are not afraid to have customers come in. We are fully stocked and ready to go," he said.
Pete's Place Food Shop is located at 290 Main Street. They are on the first floor of the Swan Tower.
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