Amherst eats like a college town — which in the Pioneer Valley means well, cheaply, and with a real commitment to local sourcing. The downtown blocks around Main and Pleasant Streets hold most of the better restaurants and almost all of the bars and coffee shops.
For a sit-down dinner, Johnny's Tavern does upmarket New England comfort food (the burgers and the seasonal fish dishes are reliably good); Bistro 63 has a more modern menu. For lunch, Antonio's Pizza is the local institution — slices by the inch with a famously inventive rotation of toppings, often involving chicken parm or buffalo cauliflower. High Horse is a brewpub with solid food and a good local beer list.
In nearby Hadley, the Esselon Café is the best coffee in the valley, and the farm stands along Route 9 (Atkins Farms in particular) sell apple cider doughnuts that are worth a detour in autumn.