FOR an authentic taste of true-American food you must try Buffalo Bills in Commercial Road, Southampton.

Whether you like enormous burgers filled with absolutely every accompaniment, a generous salad, a steak sensation or a rack of ribs - this saloon-style restaurant opposite the Mayflower Theatre has the lot.

Once just two doors up from the Mayflower, Buffalo Bills relocated last year to the other side of the road and is the perfect place to enjoy a meal before going to a show.

I recently visited with 11 other members of my family for a birthday celebration. Finding the perfect place for a large family event can be quite a difficult task as you want somewhere with a fun atmosphere and friendly staff, plus an excellent menu to suit everyone's pocket.

The dcor is very rustic giving the typical impression of a cowboy saloon - you can just picture John Wayne tying up his horse outside and strutting into the restaurant bar for a quick sarsaparilla!

The atmosphere was incredibly lively. Intimi-dating library environment I don't think so! There wasn't a point throughout the evening when we felt we should be quieter - this restaurant thrives on its ambience.

With such a large party, we pretty much selected every starter on the menu from chicken nachos to potato skins, fish soup to howlers (jalepeno peppers filled with cream cheese) and mini fuds (spicy chicken wings).

I chose the potato skins, which were piping hot when they arrived at the table accompanied by blue cheese dressing and a sweeter dip that I couldn't identi-fy, although it was very good.

Buffalo Bills are famous for their burgers, and I think every one of us chose a burger of some sort, be it a quarterpounder or halfpounder.

I had a quarterpound BBQ burger that was loaded with bacon and lash-ings of home-made barbecue sauce accompanied with a jacket potato and sour cream. Other burgers ordered by our clan included the Empire State Burger that had everything on it including a fried egg, cheese, bacon and numerous other ingredients, and a Mexican-style burger with chilli peppers.

All the main dishes came with the option of salad, jacket potatoes, new potatoes or french fries.

Sadly, none of us could bring ourselves to look at the sweet menu, which is a shame as I really fancied tackling the Statue of Liberty dessert! After a two-course meal for 11 people with a steady flow of alcoholic drinks throughout the evening, we were surprised at just how reasonable the final bill appeared.

For just £20 per person - we had a night to remember, and we had discovered a restaurant that all of us could visit again, and again without getting bored!

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