Friendship Fortress - Restaurant in Buffalo - 1590 Hopkins Rd #100, USA

We have loved and supported this place since it opened. The last time about a year ago. I went today with my 2 toddlers and had an awful experience. There were camp kids today which is fine but all the employees were busy with their phones and eating and did not pay attention to them at all. They did a game with the camp kids and a snack but that was all I saw, the rest was a free for all. No problem really with that. The place was a chaotic mess, which to be expected with a play place, however the employees were doing nothing. The sanitation bins were thrown on the ground and stayed that way the whole time. There was random stuff everywhere, so you know nothing was being cleaned or put back. The pizza kitchen and grocery store area had no toys in it. They set up a bounce house in the back but it was in the way of everything you couldn’t walk around it. The bathroom toilet was covered in urine. All while the employees did nothing.

I still absolutely love everything about friendship Fortress!! Thank you for being here! I love this place! My 2 toddlers, my friend, and her toddler love this place. My friend and I were so at ease, had no worries at all. The place is so childproof (in my opinion). I didn't hear one kid crying because of an accidental injury or anything. I'm usually on high alert helicopter eyes watching 2 toddlers running opposite ways. At this place I felt comfortable to sit down and have a beverage with my friend while our kids were having fun playing with other kids. This place felt like every moms dream toys, the ones you want to buy but either can't afford or you don't have enough space in your home. So this place is available to go to and your kids can play with whatever they want and you don't have to worry about the mess because it's not your house! Lol. I love this place and the owner was there she was so personable and involved. Very very impressed and we will be back for sure! Thank you.

We came today with our 16 month old daughter during a snow storm. She had cabin fever so we called ahead and asked what time they were open until. They said 6. We loaded up the baby and got there in the middle of the snowy day by 5:05. The door was locked so we knocked and called 3 Times. Finally someone came out and told us they closed admission at 5. We asked if they could just come let our baby play and told them she is little and really wouldn’t play for more than 45 minutes - well before closing. Megan, the woman speaking to us, was incredibly rude and was unwilling to help. She told us her cashier is closed already and we offered to pay cash so she didn’t need to process cards or a trying. Refused. Refused. Refused. When we told her we called ahead she said “I always tell people we lock up at 5” and threw her colleagues under the bus. Honestly, we can understand that they forgot to mention that we needed to be there by 5. We can understand that it didn’t work out. We can understand that they have their rules. What we CANNOT understand is why Megan was so rude and snotty to us and completely unapologetic. She should not be allowed to interact with customers. Awful experience, was rude, and couldn’t have cared less.

It’s a nice place. We went on a Monday and it was very quiet. The woman working the desk was a little unfriendly but nothing horrible. An issue we faced was it seemed like a lot of toys were missing. The kitchen and doctors office had no toys in it. My son couldn’t tell it was even supposed to be a “doctors office”. The girl who switched shifts with the morning staff was wonderful. Super friendly and kind. It’s a little strange to me to have one person working though. She was scrambling from the front desk to the food area and also trying to clean up toys. It took us a bit to receive our snack we ordered. Another thing I didn’t enjoy was paying fully price for my infant who can’t even walk yet. The receptionist was rude with her response when I questioned it. I had to pay $15 for my infant to crawl around the floor and play with chairs or garbage on the ground. She was not interested in the toys which I knew would be the case and I also had a toddler running around so I couldn’t sit in the infant section to try to convince my baby to play with a toy. Pretty absurd in my opinion, especially in this economy.

Went with my 2 toddlers and husband today! We decided to just order food (cheese pizza & some other items) on our phone to pick up while the kids were playing and when the time came for it to be picked up there was no one at the food service counter. I went to the desk to ask and it was 2 ladies scrolling on their phones and had to say excuse me where do I pick up my pizza and smoothie & other food? Immediately I was given ”we don’t have pizza today, didn’t you see the sign?” Still not getting up from their seats, I said okay can I have the smoothie and chips? And they said sure and I said okay just refund me for the rest which I was given a snobby “idk how to do a refund”. As if that would be fine with me 😂. The other lady said she could do it for me and then they made my other food. There was a hand written note on the table of the counter not hung for anyone to see. If you’re going to have no one waiting for orders or a way to omit an item from the online ordering, then don’t do it. Especially when there’s only 2 people “working”. We had fun otherwise and stayed to play for 2 hours but this just put a wrench in the plan for eating and staying longer. There is a hole where a child could fall through from many feet above on the large climbing structure where the yellow netting is, which needs attention. Dont know if someone is making safety checks frequently or not.

1)Was not happy with their shoe policy which should have been mentioned in your contract. They made us pay $1.50 for shoes footies/covers. With all the money we spent there, you would think that they would be FREE!! On top of that, folks were coming in with their shoes on and were not stopped at the door. 2) The pizza was very very distasteful! (3) For the amount of space in the place, there are to many parties going in at one time.

My kids had fun! The place is big enough to keep them busy but not big enough they could really get lost which is nice. We went on a Sunday at 3 pm - it was not too busy - the crowds came in waves. There are sections not done so I am curious what the end product will look like. We did buy a 8 pack so we will be back (I liked the Michael Phelps discount but I really don't like that adults have to pay $5 each). They have small lockers right when you walk in but we put all of our stuff in a booth. They do have very comfy chairs around the place for adults to hang out. The full snack bar was not functional yet but they still had juice boxes and other packaged stuff to buy. They have a changing table right outside of the bathrooms which is nice and provided wipes. If you were looking to have a party there the area is very small (unless I missed another area).

My kid had a great time playing and exploring but the place has gone down hill. Many things are broken or without accessories to role play. You have to sign a hold harmless to get in but I didn't like that there were so many safety hazards throughout the building -- cut your zip ties!! The cubbies behind the fire truck will seriously hurt someone if a kid climbs on them or pulls up to reach the top. The snacks and food are now way overpriced. I get nervous going here just because the candy and junk food selection is in your face the second you walk in the door! No healthy options.