"If Rochester, Erie, Cleveland and Pittsburgh get prominent national chains that are lacking in Buffalo, what's wrong? I don't think it's fear of local competition or some regional anti-chain sentiment - look at the lines area Olive Garden restaurants get on just weekdays. The presence of high-end national chains in those cities certainly haven't turned them into 'sterile, soulless, corporate and fake' places, nor have they damaged the prospects for innovative locally owned restaurants."