Tucked away in a Williamsville business park sits the unexpected: a brewery.
"GPS will not lead you right to the front door," Kevin Lalock, an owner, said. "It will lead you to the driveway but you have to turn into that driveway and head to the back."
It is a bit of a scavenger hunt to actually find the place but once you do, you'll be glad you did.
12 Gates Brewing is a start-up company that is all about hop-forward beers.
"Everything is brewed right here," Lalock said. "Right behind the glass wall."
The brewery is one of more than 200 restaurants participating in Local Restaurant Week. It is a week, twice a year, where Western New York eateries offer deals on their menus to encourage people to get out and eat local.
"You'll be getting 2 flat bread pizzas [and] 2 beers for $20.18," Lalock said of 12 Gates' deal.
The brewery has a small kitchen, dishing up limited bar food like flat breads and other finger foods.
But for what they don't offer in the kitchen, they make up on tap. They have a rotation of wheat beers, a saison, a coffee porter and their flagship "West Coast Style IPA," plus several other IPAs.
There are some clever beer names that might pique your interest, too, like the "Yoga Pants."
"That's just our in-house blonde ale," Lalock chuckled. "So that's just our transitional beer. If someone's not a big craft beer drinker, they can come in and drink that. It's not too offensive to the palate."
12 Gates takes its name from George Ripley, a transcendentalist who wrote about alchemy and the 12 gates leading to the discovery of the philosophers stone.
In a nut shell, 12 gates is all about the pursuit of perfection and that is what this brewery is about, too.
"We are trying to create the perfect beer," Lalock explained. "But do you ever attain it..."
So, while 12 Gates continues to work toward perfecting their craft, you can work toward checking off your restaurant bucket list throughout this spring's local restaurant week.
Local Restaurant Week runs Monday through Sunday, 4/16-4/22.
You can find a full list of restaurants here.