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Food & Drink

316 locations in Rochester

Press Coffee Bar

Press Coffee Bar is a coffeehouse in Grove Place's Windsor Lofts building (bordering the East End). They roast their own beans daily. Currently, Press offers direct trade coffee from a farm in Puerto Rico owned by a family member. The rest of their beans come from Vournas Coffee, a certified organic, fair trade importer. For brewing, customers can opt for French Press, Turkish coffee, or pour-over. The menu also contains numerous espresso drinks unique in Rochester to Press, such as cafe miel, cafe borgia, cafe con panna, cafe cubano, cafe marocchino, and cafe breve. They also offer panninis, bagels, yogurt, and pastries. Press is also one of the few venues in Rochester for live jazz year-round. The 1,400-square-foot space has a piano and hosts talented Eastman students every Friday and Saturday evening. The cafe is also notable for its large windows overlooking Main Street, along with sidewalk seating outside. Press Coffee Bar opened May 12, 2014. The owner is Damian Serafine, whose brother Jerry owned 2 Vine. Damian ran successful coffeehouses in Arizona for over twenty years and decided to move back to the Rochester area in 2013. The location was previously Cathay Pagoda. The business was sold to Todd in March 2016, as Damian was moving back to Phoenix. Press continues to roast and sell its own beans. Closed 2018. References Press Coffee Bar opens at the East End - Rochester Business Journal (2014-05-16)

Duo

New restaurant in Fairport on the grounds of a country club. Great food, cocktails, wine, good atmosphere, prompt service. Contemporary French cuisine. Creative entrees, and great flaming desserts (Bananas Foster). Good raw bar. $30-50 per person. Online reservations are the best way to get a table. OpenTable.com D&C Review Attentive and helpful service and excellent, if not pricey, food. Went there about a month or two after it opened, wasn't very busy. They offered my date and I a tour of the kitchen (we accepted the offer, of course), which was pretty interesting. I highly recommend the banana foster for desert. — Warning: negative reviews give some a rash. Food - the hot stuff is bland. Clams are over-salted; the rest of the raw bar is ok. The menu in itself is nothing unusual for given tier. Weeknights they seat in the 'library', where tables are too close together for those not amused by minutiae of fellow diners' grandkids or surgery history. Servers bump into chair & table throughout dinner, or knock over water (spills noted throughout room: hardwood flr.). Until they open a french door, it can get suffocatingly hot in the library - made worse when they're cooking by your table (flame can be felt on your back even when they're at another table, 8' away). Most seem entertained by the display. Bananas foster - I observed 3 tables get their cook blowing out the flaming dessert, bday-cake style (we lucked out: our server spatula-snuffed the flame). Others seemed oblivious to the 'personal touch'. I commended our server on snuffing technique - he was shocked to hear about the other cook; said he'd have a word w/ him. —

Hole-in-the-wall Restaurants

Rochester and the surrounding area is full of hole-in-the-wall restaurants. Here's a quick list to start you on your culinary adventures. See below for definitions and resource links. Swan Market - German deli/butcher/restaurant on Parsells a few blocks from Culver Ming's Noodles (Asian noodle place) - South Clinton Ave. near Cinema Theater - hole in the wall, takeout and a few tables, excellent noodles El Taino (Puerto Rican and Dominican) - Lyell Ave. few blocks from corner of Lake Ave. - haven't been in a while, so hopefully still there. Great food. Notes and References Definitions Answers.com Ask Yahoo,com Etymology Dictionary Online - " 'small and unpretentious place' is from 1822" FreeDictionary.com - "A small, very modest, often out-of-the-way place." Merriam Webster - "a small and often unpretentious out-of-the-way place (as a restaurant)" Peak English - "A small, simple place, particularly a shop or restaurant." Wikipedia usage of term and Wiktionary definition YourDictionary.com - "a small, dingy room, shop, etc., esp. one in a remote or unfrequented place" Discussions: See our Talk Page for discussions about this page Chowhound.com - number of entries from 2007 2009-06-30 23:08:46 From Original Page List of Hole-in-the-wall Restaurants - Props to Jean for starting the list! —jesse.decker 2010-10-05 13:32:23 Cottage Hotel in Mendon is good though not sure it is a hole in the wall. They do serve 36 ounce beers out of mason jars on Wednesday nights, and you can get a strong ale (though I forgot what it was) as a choice. Also, they have 36 ounce bud lights anytime the Yankees are playing. Where else are you gonna get those kind of drink specials on the south east side of Roch? —ScottLaRock

Marion

Marion Town Hall History Marion is a small town in Wayne County, located about twenty miles east of the City of Rochester. The area was part of the Phelps_and_Gorham_Purchase and first settled in 1795. The Town of Marion itself was created from the Town of Williamson in 1825 as the "Town of Winchester." It was renamed the following year for Revolutionary War hero Francis_Marion. Seneca Foods is based here. Notable Attractions Candy Nation Plus Ezra_T. _Phelps_Farm_Complex Morgan's Farm Market S & L Cafe Links Town Overview & Real Estate Listings from ZagPad

Acanthus Cafe

Acanthus Cafe, 05-2012 Acanthus on a summer night. (06-2012) Acanthus Cafe was a cafe and coffeehouse in the East End. The name Acanthus refers to a tropical flowering plant found in the Mediterranean region and is also Latinized Greek for "thorny." Coffee options included French Press and Chemex. All coffee is Fair Trade and locally roasted. On the culinary side, Acanthus specialized in South Pacific meals served on skewers, with limited-run specials each week. They also served salads, chicken dishes, nachos, and unusual tacos. They did not offer sandwiches, however, pursuant to a non-competing agreement imposed by the Subway next door. There was an ATM is onsite. Outdoor seating was also available. Acanthus opened on April 18, 2012. According to owner Christopher Hilfiker, Acanthus was founded to "offer more community-based events that would bring together people who normally wouldn’t hang out with one another." He and business partner Allison Mayer traveled to Portland, Oregon to study the coffeehouse culture there and were impressed that so many people knew one another, despite the city being three times the size of Rochester. For the summer of 2012 Acanthus will be hosting a variety of cycling events, including a weekly Espresso Express ride. Other events are planned for the future, including happy hours with Santiago Cigar Factory next door.1 Hilficker and Mayer also owned the Living Room Cafe in Upper Monroe. They decided to close this business in June 2012 to focus on running Acanthus. Acanthus closed in October 2013.

Humphrey House

Humphrey House was a long-time restaurant located on Route 441 in Penfield. The location has been a restaurant (as just The Humphrey House) since 1978, under two different owners. After closing in 2011, the building was bought by Stefanie and Steve Wilkinson, who opened a new restaurant in the location.2 The building began as a wing of Daniel Penfield's home near the Four Corners. This wing was eventually detached and moved across the street, where its residents included Dr. Maxwell Humphrey, after whom the building is now named.3 As The Humphrey House The building was turned into a restaurant in October 1978, owned and operated by Jon Ludwig and Andy Gleason4. Due to poor health, the restaurant was transferred in 2008 to Mike and Cindy Videtti5. The restaurant's name came from the building's original owner, Dr. Maxwell Humphrey - and the restaurant had "folksy shadowboxes of medical paraphanalia that belonged to the" doctor. A review by Anne Palumbo in 2009 was quite favorable noting that " ... the Videtti's have made some minor but significant changes to the menu. They've updated several entrees with interesting ingredients and sauces; they've added new nightly specials; and the've made the lunch menu available all day long." Recommendations: Chicken Caesar Salad with grilled chicken, fresh greens, freshly grated Asiago, and homemade croutons. Steak Sandwich with tender beef, caramelized onions, and tangy bleu cheese. Seasoned Fries - "crispy and addictive". 1Anne Palumbo - quotes above are from the newspaper review2Bethany Young Dec 22, 2012 on PenfieldPost.com3Bethany Young Dec 22, 2012 on PenfieldPost.com4August 5, 2007 to October 16, 2008 - see also YouTube video on Closing5Kevin Fuller Nov 18, 2008 on MPNnow.com

3S Restaurant & Cafe

3S Restaurant & Cafe was: An oasis in the heart of downtown. Rochester's newest downtown attraction. Beautifully remodeled, serving upscale American Nouveau cuisine. Truly an Oasis in the heart of Downtown Rochester. Everything at 3S is all natural and handcrafted- down to every sauce, dressing, and crouton- and made fresh daily. 3S specializes in soups, salads and sandwiches and also offers a full breakfast and dinner menu, complete with daily specials. All sandwiches and wraps include a full side of fruit salad, macaroni salad, pasta salad, or a side salad. Add a cup of our soup of the day for $.99. 3S features a full coffee and smoothie bar with the best all natural smoothies available anywhere. Full dessert case with a daily changing selection of the finest cakes, pies, and pastries. Discounts apply with student ID and police/fire department officers in uniform. College Special: a bowl of soup and a 3S grilled cheese sandwich. There is also a kids menu, and many smoothie, coffee, tea, and dessert options! A short walk from the East End Parking Garage* Originally Created as 3S.

Mundo Grill

Mundo Grill was a small, bistro-style restaurant in Brighton, next to the Holiday Inn Express that changed its menu with the seasons. Usual fare included a variety of fresh seafood, including raw oysters, as well as grilled entrees, salads and appetizers. It was a small restaurant with two rows of booths surrounding a central set of tables, with large French windows at one end that were usually opened in nice weather. The Mundo Grill also had a relatively large bar and a good wine selection. A few outside tables are available in the summer months, though the view was one of the busiest sections of Monroe Avenue. Pare was also at that location until it closed in January 2010.

Monks' Bread

Monks' Bread is a local Rochester region bread produced by the monks in the Abbey of the Genesee in Piffard, NY, near Geneseo and Mount Morris. Monks Bread is sold at the Abbey store and in Wegmans and other outlets. It may be ordered online for nation-wide delivery, at the Monks Bread Online Store "When the monks arrived from The Abbey of Gethsemani in the spring of 1951, Br. Sylvester began baking a wholesome, old fashioned loaf of bread for the community and a few guests. Before long guests and visitors were asking to purchase this unique loaf. To respond to the demand for bread, now known as Monks' Bread, it was decided to incorporate a small bakery in the new abbey the monks were building. By the spring of 1956 things had progressed to where a large modern bakery was set in operation. Today that bakery, continually upgraded and improved, is still in operation producing several varieties of Monks' Bread including white, whole wheat, multigrain, raisin, sunflower bran and genesee rye as well as seasonal specialty breads and some other baked goods." 1 See Abbey of the Genesee for details on the Abbey, their local store and Monks' Bread. 1Abbey Website

Radio Social

Radio Social is a bowling alley, restaurant, bar, music venue, and social club located in Rochester’s historical Stromberg-Carlson warehouse in the North Winton village. The 40,000 square foot facility features 34 bowling lanes, lounge areas, a variety of indoor and outdoor games. Opened May 4, 2017. The name pays homage to the 40,000 square-foot facility which produced radios during World War II. Owner Dan Morgenstern decided to reincarnate his former business, Clover Lanes, in a new direction by turning the business into an urban social experience and destination. Chuck Cerankosky, co-owner of Good Luck and Cure directs food and drink.

Big Rib Bar-B-Que and Blues Fest

2009 Festival - July 9-12 Big Rib Bar-B-Que and Blues Fest showcases BBQ restaurants from all over the U.S. They are all competing for top prize so each BBQ joint will be bringing their A-game. There is also blues music going on all day and through the night. There are specified times where admission is free (lunch hours), other then that it costs $5 to get in. Free lunchtime admission - hours above Other times: Adult General Admission is $5. Kids under 12 are FREE. Entertainment is FREE with paid admission! Visit Website Line-up Page to sample sounds The Voices of Clouds Roomful of blues Chuck Prophet Guy Forsyth Kal David Reverend Peyton and His Big Damn Band Lil' Brian & The Zydeco Travelers Sarah Borges and The Broken Singles Gina sicilia Belleville Outfit Fred Vine Debbie Kendrick Po Boys Brass Band The Coupe De Villes

Jay Street

Jay Street is a mixed commercial-residential route on the city's west side. Traveling west, it passes through the following neighborhoods: Brown Square JOSANA Neighborhood (Jay Orchard Street Area Neighborhood Association) Dutchtown U.N.I.T. Neighborhood Major intersections are State Street, West Broad Street, Child Street, Ames Street, and Mt. Read Boulevard. Like nearby Lyell Avenue, Jay Street has a rich Italian-American heritage and historically was a bustling commercial strip lined with many ethnic businesses. In more recent decades, however, it has fallen on hard times, with parts of it located in the Crescent of Poverty. Jay received considerable attention, however, in the JOSANA Neighborhood Master Plan, released February 2011, which observes that: Within the neighborhood’s core, prevalent vacancy is the main cause of interruption in the residential fabric. Jay Street, once a robust east-west commercial corridor lined with local shops, hosts only a few stores today; a network of religious institutions and social service providers now contribute to the mix of uses along Jay Street that still distinguishes it from other predominantly residential streets. (p. 33) Later: Jay functioned as a Main Street, lined with German and Italian businesses, and factories operated at full speed and capacity. As jobs and people left the neighborhood, so too did local business, and today, Jay Street hosts just a few remaining businesses. The majority of JOSANA’s retail opportunities are now found along Lyell Avenue, but here too, vacancy causes a lack of retail concentration. (p. 67) Current plans, at least for the JOSANA portion, call for Jay to be converted to a residential street. They also hope to add bike lanes and turn Jay into a "Green Collector." You can read the rest of the document here (large PDF). Located on Jay Street Traveling west. 190 : Rocky's 431 : Charles Street Settlement House The Orchard 1099 Blue Tower Tech Coordinated Care Services Inc. Neighborhood Empowerment Team 1100 : Club Xtasy See Also Gruttadauria Bakery Nazareth Academy

Amy Rose Pizza

Amy Rose Pizza was a locally owned pizzeria located in Scottsville. They sold pizza, wings, wraps, subs, and appetizers. They had a large delivery area (including RIT) and almost everything is made in-house! In the warmer months, they also served Hersey's ice cream. Amy Rose closed in September 2014 after twelve years of business. They left the following message on their Facebook page: After 12 years we are happy (and sad ) to say that we have sold the shop. We would like to thank each and every one of our faithful loyal customers (friends) for your continued support over the past 12 years. It's time we move on to our next chapter. Thank you all so very much.

Genesee Valley Regional Market

The Genesee Valley Regional Market has been operated since 1951 by the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority (GVRMA) as a regional food distribution center for nine counties in central and western New York. While at one time it had a "farmer's market" character, in recent years the food operations are more commercial production and distribution operations with over 150 site tenants. There is still some retail character, including several restaurants, but there are now a wide variety of non-food commercial operations in "the Market" as well. 900 Jefferson Road Market Includes the following RocWiki listed entities: Acadia Canna & Kratom ARK Glass & Glazing Blue Toad Hard Cider Cheesy Eddie's Donna Marie's Gluten Free Bakery Genesee Stamp & Stationery Innovative Restaurant Supply JBC Rice Noodles and Ramen Lee's Oriental Food Lori's Natural Foods MJ Dispensary Mountain Roads Brewing Company Nathan's Soup & Salad Niblack Foods Palmer's Meat & Seafood Market Rick's Barber Shop Rochester Appliance Sodam Korean Restaurant Susan Plunkett's Fabulous Foods Union Place Coffee Roasters Wagner Carpets Wagner Training Center Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority (GVRMA) The GVRMA was founded to create a regional distribution center and market to support agricultural suppliers in a nine county area. GVRMA was granted a 120+ acres of land for its use. Over the years the authority began leasing land and buildings on the parcel and using the proceeds to fund the activities of the authority. What can be very surprising is that some of GVRMA's tenants include Chase Bank, Holiday Inn, Office Depot, Best Western, Verizon, RG&E, etc. See their Land Lease page to find that the following commercial/retail strips are all income producing properties of the authority: from 137 to 175 Clay Road, from 1455 to 1663 East Henrietta Road, from 800 to 1000 Jefferson Road (both sides), and from 35 to 218 Mushroom Blvd (both sides)

Mike's New York Diner

Front - Oct 23, 2009 - BradMandell Mike's New York Diner was a Greek-American diner, the extensive menu covered a lot more ground. Plenty of salad and sandwich/wrap selections, a full breakfast menu, and Greek, Italian, seafood, steak and BBQ entrees could easily fill you up. The location (in the middle of the Winton Place parking lot) has seen a lot of turnover. Originally a Chili's, there have been two previous tries at a large-menu Greek influenced diner format. New this time was an outdoor patio dining section. Some of the entrees and specials did take this establishment up to an upscale level of dining. They closed in 2012 but reopened as of 5/12/2014. In June they changed their name to the Double J Restaurant. Photos

34 Elton Street

34 Elton Street is an old industrial building in the Neighborhood of the Arts. Since its revitalization, it has been home to many shops and studios. Current tenants: Agathi & Co. Agape Martial Arts Atman Yoga Studio Greg Hollar Projects James Kenneth Photography Lehmann Strings Makers Gallery & Studio and 3rd Floor Cafe Mary's Contemporary Creations Optic Sky Productions Pittsford Picture Framing Rochester Dance Lessons Studio 34 Creative Arts & Learning Center Tea Witch Tea Former tenants: Emerson & Oliver Heather Demoras Design Consultants plastic Public Image Pumpkin Patch Photos Renaissance Martial Arts Rochester Phoenix Aikido & Fitness Club Spirit Organic Subculture magazine headquarters Yoga With Estelle

Druk Spices Grocery Store

Druk Spices Grocery Store is a Nepalese shop in Brown Square. Its name derives from a popular Bhutanese brand. Items for sale include noodles, flour, beans, spices, snacks, and hard-to-find Asian foods. They stock little produce, as most of their Nepalese clientele have their own gardens. At present, the back of the store is being converted to a small cafe offering Himalayan cuisine. Owner Suk Subba arrived in the United States in 2009. He is one of 2,000 ethnic Nepalese who fled Bhutan and now live in Rochester. During his time in the Nepalese refugee camps he ran a small grocery stall but was unable to obtain a license due to his non-citizen status. References Danielle Priess, "Little Himalaya: Bhutanese refugees set up shop downtown" - (585) magazine (Jan-Feb 2014)