Buffalo Traders Lounge

Buffalo Traders Lounge sits at 950 East Fulton Street, on the East Hills stretch of Fulton, and states its purpose plainly: to bring the art of cocktail culture to the local community of Grand Rapids. It has held a place near the top of West Michigan cocktail lists for years, and it is a bartender's bar in the sense that the room is built around the drinks rather than around food or a beer wall. Hours run Tuesday through Thursday 4pm to 10pm, Friday and Saturday 4pm to midnight, and Sunday 2pm to 10pm.

The non-alcoholic program is worth distinguishing from the ordinary case, because the ordinary case is a bar that says its bartenders will happily make you something. Buffalo Traders buys inventory for the purpose. It stocks Little Saints, a CBD-based non-alcoholic spirit, and Tor's Tonics, a Michigan-made botanical tonic line, and builds with them rather than reaching for juice and soda — neither of which maps to a brand slug in this registry, which is why none is listed against the venue. The standing named drinks are the Mock Mule, a straightforward lime, simple syrup and ginger beer build, and the Better Spritz, which puts a non-alcoholic aperitif with soda in the Italian idiom. The more interesting option is the Zero Proof Dealer's Choice: guests can hand the decision to the bartender exactly as they would from the full-proof menu, which is the clearest signal a cocktail bar can send that its zero-proof drinks are made by the same people to the same standard. For a guest who wants to sit at a serious cocktail bar and drink something built rather than poured, this is the most direct option in East Hills, and it is a short walk from both Kava Kasa and Sacred Springs.