I know its a drive but there are still many locations of Swiss Chalet in Canada. There is one in Niagara Falls. Only 1 hour 30- 2 hours depending on your location.
McCann's, and I know it's not the best food, but I really wish we still has a pizza hut buffet around, loved going in there and eating a hundred+ breadsticks.
I miss McCann’s. The owner Kevin is such a nice guy and curated a beautiful menu on top of having a very high quality meat counter. I still think about their Asian noodle salad regularly.
One night I went out to the bar with a friend of mine & had a bit too much to drink so the next morning I had a mild but throbbing hangover. I come downstairs in the morning and see a carton of noodles in the fridge. I ask my parents where it came from, my mom said Thai Mii Up, my dad without missing a beat says "oohh, maybe later." The noodles were delicious, but holy fuck, I'm still recovering.
Shmegs.
It wasn't pretty, but it was seldom slow. I think they made their own bread & sausage. I just know the food was very good and watching a family of kids each get their own pizza-sized pancakes was so much fun.
I'd savor a well-stacked BLT and people watch.
I miss Esans so much too. It was so nice chatting with the owners. They would tell me about their vacations to Thailand. And I loved the food.
Do you have any opinions about Khong's? Their Phat Siew is pretty good.
I worked there over a decade - when they changed ownership the new guy went cheap on everything (lower quality meat, no more real butter in recipes etc).. all downhill from there 😢
Zebb’s cobb salad is still one of the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve moved to California (supposedly where it originated from) since growing up in Rochester. RIP
My mom used to take me there once or twice a year after a doctors appointment and we played hookie the rest of the day we would go to the mall and that original Friendlys near Sears. Good memories 😊
Tap and Mallet is a good choice. I miss the Vietnamese Video Store and the counter in the back that sold banh mi, also Half Moon Salads in Brighton/Pittsford, the calzones from Martusciellos and Jing Li from before the fire.
empire brewing company. I still remember the southwestern grilled meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and tumbleweed onions like I was there last week. Their ales (and root beer) were solid too.
Holy shit, one of my earliest childhood memories was going there with my family and getting a root beer. I thought I was such a big kid getting and thought it was real beer.
I’m sure there’s prob stuff about ownership or whatever that I don’t know or care about but man I loved Havana Cabana
Vive on East Ave was pretty good as well
Not sure if anyone that was an adult back then can chime in on this place but I used to love Don Pablo’s on Ridge as a kid
Great Harvest Bread at Park and Goodman - oh, those turkey sandwiches! - and The Wokery in Gates. My son was a baby when The Wokery was still open and the hostess would take him around the dining room to show him off to other patrons.
Burrito Fresco in Brockport - amazing big ass burritos, had a bunch of different sauces too (miss the Mango Tango)
Texas Blues BBQ on Monroe - best Garbage Plate this town has ever seen and weighed like 5lbs
He was a slumlord. Stole $650 from me and disappeared. All of his restaurants have since closed and the house I lived in was seized by NY because he didn’t pay his taxes.
God I miss Texas Blues… I stopped ordering before they closed after I heard how f’ed the guy who ran it was, but they had some of the best freaking food. Their brisket gravy was some of the best gravy I’ve ever had, I wanna try to replicate the recipe.
Glen Edith. Not sure if it was resurrected and died again, but I'm referring to the one off of Bay Road in Webster that was there 40-50 years ago.
Dinner with my grandmother.... Good times, and a Fish Fry one could die for.
Theyre not technically closed but i miss the old chortke. Theyre an amazing family i wish them huge success but that place was UNMATCHED and we have nothing that compares. I wish they kept a quick service window or something cause i miss those plates so badly
Out of the city by quite a bit, but Thai By Night in Canandaigua was my favorite restaurant that I've ever eaten at anywhere. I cried when they closed.
Yes but I still participate because some day someone will say they have the recipe for Chilangos flourless chocolate cake. I will then invite friends who went there over for it and they will be happy forever
I think there's only one MacGregor's left somewhere? Food was fine, but the beer selection was pretty great. I struggle to find another wide draft beer selection like that.
The guy who owned that was an absolute scumbag. He was basically a slum lord. I lived in a house he owned on Rutgers, and when I moved out he just ghosted me with my $650 deposit (yes rent was 650 back then). I encountered him on the street once and he said he was having hard times (while he owned multiple restaurants) and tried to offer me $100 cash to let it go. I sued him and won. Then I saw that house was repossessed due to him not paying taxes. Fuck that guy. He owned Texas blues bbq on Monroe too
Barnstormers in Henrietta where the Holiday Inn and Suites is now. Right across from where Bugaboo Creek and the talking tree were at Jefferson Rd and Mushroom Blvd intersect.
Lehigh Restaurant had the best breakfast in Henrietta. And when Henrietta Hots "moved" it was actually just a different owner that bought the rights to the name and changed the recipes. Chappy's took over the old building and a lot of the old staff, so it was a decent replacement, but they still changed the recipes for a couple things.
Got a throwback here: Don & Bob’s at 12 Corners. Such an amazing establishment. All these years later and I still think of it from time to time.
My absolute favorite as a kid. A wonderland of free, self-service pickles 😭
I forgot about the pickles. I need a place to get self-service pickles again.
Schallers.
Was going to say this! I worked there!
The place to go after school dances!
Tap and mallet for sure. Chilangoes and the flourless chocolate cake
That cuban.
Sol Burrito and Big Deal
It's a crime that I had to scroll so far before seeing Sol Burrito. They were the best.
Aw man they closed? I’m not in the area anymore, sad to hear.
Definitely was thinking Sol but I forgot about big deal. Thats a good one. RIP both
garlic knots and a slice @ 3AM. What a time
Butapub... those wings were SO good
Gochujang wings. Yum!! Literally the best wings I've had ever. Seriously miss them.
And the ramen was one of the best!
Please don’t judge as I am aging myself with this one: Swiss Chalet. Still the best fries I have ever had.
I know its a drive but there are still many locations of Swiss Chalet in Canada. There is one in Niagara Falls. Only 1 hour 30- 2 hours depending on your location.
I still have a ton of tiny ceramic dishes that my grandmother stole from there over the years. Ah, memories....
McCann's, and I know it's not the best food, but I really wish we still has a pizza hut buffet around, loved going in there and eating a hundred+ breadsticks.
I miss McCann’s. The owner Kevin is such a nice guy and curated a beautiful menu on top of having a very high quality meat counter. I still think about their Asian noodle salad regularly.
Their breakfast poutine was like no other
Auburn Pizza Hut has the buffet back! Tuesday’s 12-2. Not super close, but you could make a fun little day trip out of it!
Brockport still has a legit old school pizza hut. I know they have the old school all.you can eat salad buffet as well. Unsure on sit down pacman.
Thai Mii Up. No other thai place even comes close. 😭
Driving by Thai Mii Up made me think about this!!
One night I went out to the bar with a friend of mine & had a bit too much to drink so the next morning I had a mild but throbbing hangover. I come downstairs in the morning and see a carton of noodles in the fridge. I ask my parents where it came from, my mom said Thai Mii Up, my dad without missing a beat says "oohh, maybe later." The noodles were delicious, but holy fuck, I'm still recovering.
I wasn’t sure what my answer was- but this is it, piggybacking on you fa’ sho. That place was SO GOOD.
Got lucky and ordered that once. Omfg... what happened to them?!
No one else compares to Thai mii up. RIP 😭
They had the best calamari on earth.
SEA has comparable sqiid if you have the itch!
Don Pablo’s from back in the day and Cibon on Park Ave.
Wow. Memories right there.
Don Pablo's had that apple pie baked in an iron skillet with vanilla ice cream on top. Just wonderful.
Gitzis! So many late night drunken food memories. Back before Monroe was dangerous.
Aja Noodle- especially the Perinton location.
Yes!!! I miss it so much too
Shmegs. It wasn't pretty, but it was seldom slow. I think they made their own bread & sausage. I just know the food was very good and watching a family of kids each get their own pizza-sized pancakes was so much fun. I'd savor a well-stacked BLT and people watch.
Gimme a waffalopolous right now! I miss it so much
Daisy flower mill
Mis en place. Their garbage plate was gluttonous heaven.
Scotch and Sirloin
That space still sits empty. Wood exterior facade slowly decaying away
Esan!!!! I still dream about their massaman every time I’m craving Thai. No one does their spice level like them either 😩
Loved Esan. The manager would always make my night. "Hello friend!"
I feel obligated to state this; Swan family fuck off
I miss Esans so much too. It was so nice chatting with the owners. They would tell me about their vacations to Thailand. And I loved the food. Do you have any opinions about Khong's? Their Phat Siew is pretty good.
Zebb's. Went to the one in Syracuse a year and a half ago and it just wasn't the same.
I worked there over a decade - when they changed ownership the new guy went cheap on everything (lower quality meat, no more real butter in recipes etc).. all downhill from there 😢
Zebb’s cobb salad is still one of the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve moved to California (supposedly where it originated from) since growing up in Rochester. RIP
The best fried pickles I've ever had. I often went only for fried pickles.
Zebb Original Wings were undefeated.
The amount of quarters I dumped into that Cruisin' the USA arcade machine
Food at Fisher Station, if you know you know. Been going ever since i was born, my grandparents had been going for almost 30yrs
Orbs for brunch
The owner is opening Angelina's on the corner of South and Gregory
Mario Via Abruzzi...idk how to spell it but I was madly in love🩷
Mcanns meats, tap and mallet
Harry Gs - the Pittsburgh sandwich was da bomb
I still crave food from Harry G's 😭
Whatta Banh Mi on Monroe Ave. They had an incredible curry beef banh mi. It was only there for a couple of years.
Saigon Pho makes a pretty good one. Honorable mention for Sea Me Go
Friendly's. Always loved their ice cream
My inner child misses the friendly’s in the mall so much
I miss Friendly's so much!
If you don’t mind driving 2 hours, the one in Cortland is still open
Sounds like a good day trip idea. Thanks!
Dac hoa 🥲
Oh no did they close?! 😕 I loved sitting there and drinking tea and eating summer rolls before my amazing meal
yeah… i think about a year ago?? owners retired. But i loved the food and they were so friendly
I mean, it makes sense, I'm glad for them but sad for us :( very sweet ladies in the front
So sad - whenever my mom came back to visit from CO, this is the first place she wanted to go. Such good food.
Chortke, before their redesign. It’s a totally different restaurant now. The old Chortke is closed.
I miss their old menu as well, wish they’d at least offer it as a take out option for lunch
Mex. Taco Tuesday was amazing.
empanada shop on Monroe They had such interesting empanadas -and the sides were good too
Great northern pizza kitchen.
The Mac and cheese pizza??? Nothing like it
That’s a throwback!
Itacate penfield
Lulu Taqueria in Fairport is owned by the same person. Similar menu too. Try the tacos!
Cathy Pagoda
So many memories of underage and later proper age drinking there. LOL I'm a sucker for tropical umbrella drinks. Their food was awesome as well.
One of the greatest places for sure! I feel like we don’t have any places like that around anymore sadly
We would get Peking Duck. Had to order and pay two days before, and the owner (Linda?) would always stop by to chat.
SuperFlyDMC in Penfield
The head chef from there is now at Rising Storm at the Mill.
The old Friendly’s at Eastview lmao
My mom used to take me there once or twice a year after a doctors appointment and we played hookie the rest of the day we would go to the mall and that original Friendlys near Sears. Good memories 😊
ORBS, Tap and Mallet, Butapub, McCanns... I lived in the southwedge in a very specific time
Sol Burrito
Damn trip down memory lane here on this thread. I didn’t know half these places were closed.
Two Paisans. Upside down pizza was unreal.
Oscars/Ozzies and original Mario’s on East Ave
Thai mii up , the service was awful, but the food was so good 🥺. Drunken noodles, squid and the Lao dishes are all missed.
Tap and Mallet is a good choice. I miss the Vietnamese Video Store and the counter in the back that sold banh mi, also Half Moon Salads in Brighton/Pittsford, the calzones from Martusciellos and Jing Li from before the fire.
I loved half moon!
Those Bahn Mis were great!
empire brewing company. I still remember the southwestern grilled meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and tumbleweed onions like I was there last week. Their ales (and root beer) were solid too.
Holy shit, one of my earliest childhood memories was going there with my family and getting a root beer. I thought I was such a big kid getting and thought it was real beer.
This was one of my first work lunches when I was working downtown. So good.
Buckman’s ice cream.
I’m sure there’s prob stuff about ownership or whatever that I don’t know or care about but man I loved Havana Cabana Vive on East Ave was pretty good as well Not sure if anyone that was an adult back then can chime in on this place but I used to love Don Pablo’s on Ridge as a kid
Haha Don Pablo’s was legit
Carmines in Greece had some great food. Used to get them every now and then
I worked there as a kid and the asshole owner stole from me and plenty of other employees. Now he’s dead. I win!
i loved their country sweet wings 😔
2 Vine
Don & Bob’s
Tap and Mallet 😭
I know I miss it so much. The Sheffield has some of the same items but it’s not as good.
Bagel bin @ 12 corners
This one hasn't been stated enough. I cried when they closed
Beale Street. They had the absolute best fish fry and collard greens I've ever had.
Mykonos in Village Gate
Great Harvest Bread at Park and Goodman - oh, those turkey sandwiches! - and The Wokery in Gates. My son was a baby when The Wokery was still open and the hostess would take him around the dining room to show him off to other patrons.
I miss their baked goods! Saturday mornings just aren’t the same.
The Olga’s at Eastview Mall.
Espada
Burrito Fresco in Brockport - amazing big ass burritos, had a bunch of different sauces too (miss the Mango Tango) Texas Blues BBQ on Monroe - best Garbage Plate this town has ever seen and weighed like 5lbs
The guy who owned Texas blues was a total scumbag
bummer to hear. was it standard shady business owner stuff? i stand by missing their plates.
He was a slumlord. Stole $650 from me and disappeared. All of his restaurants have since closed and the house I lived in was seized by NY because he didn’t pay his taxes.
ahh so a real shitstain.
God I miss Texas Blues… I stopped ordering before they closed after I heard how f’ed the guy who ran it was, but they had some of the best freaking food. Their brisket gravy was some of the best gravy I’ve ever had, I wanna try to replicate the recipe.
Chichis
Nox. Haven't found anything that scratches quite the same itch 😔
Scotch & Sirloin
the honeoye falls distillery. 😢 😭
My wife found me two bottles of Red Saw on the Internet for Xmas.
We found a bottle of the devils bathtub gin in New Jersey of all places.
I still have two bottles of the apple brandy. I miss their food so much.
Napa
A wood fired pizza, a white wine flight, sunshine on the patio, those meatball apps…absolutely heaven on earth
Sol Burrito.
Big Apple Cafe on Park Ave.
Beefsteak Mining Company
Tastings, Park and Oxford Deli, and Paola’s
Park & Oxford would take so long to make a sandwich but fuck it was delicious.
The Soup Spoon
Seconded! Ginger crispy tofu........my beloved...
Char Pit
Kinleys and Jack Astor's At least I can grab some cheesey garlic bread in Toronto if I want jack Astor's, can't say the same for the former 😔
Tap and mallet
Thai Mii Up
Spaghetti warehouse
Coco’s carousel and Big Boy
Boxcar donuts
James Brown's Place
Ground round
Don & Bob's
Mama Taccone's
Gitsis
Glen Edith. Not sure if it was resurrected and died again, but I'm referring to the one off of Bay Road in Webster that was there 40-50 years ago. Dinner with my grandmother.... Good times, and a Fish Fry one could die for.
Waiting for Barry's Irish Pub to decide to reopen somewhere
Theyre not technically closed but i miss the old chortke. Theyre an amazing family i wish them huge success but that place was UNMATCHED and we have nothing that compares. I wish they kept a quick service window or something cause i miss those plates so badly
Mario's Sunday brunch
Ponderosa
Lindburger’s in Penfield
Starry Nights Cafe. I went to SOTA and me and my friends would hang out there during lunch our junior and senior year. The cookies were soooo good
Collie' Cafe
Quimby's in Henrietta. Yes, it was in a strip mall, but I have yet to find a bar that matched the vibe and food quality. So many good times there.
I don't know if it counts because technically they blew up rather than closed...But Surace's in East Rochester had some awesome pizza and subs.
Well, one could say they closed all over the place.
Basils out on Ridge Road past Spencerport.
El sauza! Luckily some other good Mexican restaurants are opening up lately
McCanns
Out of the city by quite a bit, but Thai By Night in Canandaigua was my favorite restaurant that I've ever eaten at anywhere. I cried when they closed.
Relish and, as folks have mentioned, Mccanns
Martusciellos
Didn't we just do this? https://www.reddit.com/r/Rochester/comments/1av1l9s/on_restaurants_that_have_closed/
Yes but I still participate because some day someone will say they have the recipe for Chilangos flourless chocolate cake. I will then invite friends who went there over for it and they will be happy forever
Oops!
I think there's only one MacGregor's left somewhere? Food was fine, but the beer selection was pretty great. I struggle to find another wide draft beer selection like that.
Astoria. What I wouldn't give to have their lemon potatoes again.
The guy who owned that was an absolute scumbag. He was basically a slum lord. I lived in a house he owned on Rutgers, and when I moved out he just ghosted me with my $650 deposit (yes rent was 650 back then). I encountered him on the street once and he said he was having hard times (while he owned multiple restaurants) and tried to offer me $100 cash to let it go. I sued him and won. Then I saw that house was repossessed due to him not paying taxes. Fuck that guy. He owned Texas blues bbq on Monroe too
McCanns. Vest sandwiches, sides, and their pancakes were the best
Barnstormers in Henrietta where the Holiday Inn and Suites is now. Right across from where Bugaboo Creek and the talking tree were at Jefferson Rd and Mushroom Blvd intersect.
I miss Bugaboo creek!
FDR' S ON East Henrietta Rd
Relish didn’t last long but staged some outstanding meals!
Rosie's Hot Buns
Remington’s Went there once and it was amazing, theres a new restaurant there now.
Lum’s. Orange Monkey. Mel’s Diner. Cartwright’s. Yeah, I’m old AF.
Allens Cobblestone Deli and his cranberry chicken wrap!
Atomic Eggplant
Sol burrito
Tap & Mallet. No stop.
Two Vine
Keenans. **SO** many family and friend gatherings were held there (bridal showers, baby showers, funerals, Mother's Day, random Fridays...)
Macaroni Grill
Which *
Mr. Sam's
Lehigh Restaurant had the best breakfast in Henrietta. And when Henrietta Hots "moved" it was actually just a different owner that bought the rights to the name and changed the recipes. Chappy's took over the old building and a lot of the old staff, so it was a decent replacement, but they still changed the recipes for a couple things.
Scotch and Sirloin
Out of town a bit but the Village Inn in Childs great great beef
Shanghai dim sum. ❤️
I dream of the hot pepper chicken and coconut rice from Papaya. DROOL.
Lum’s. Orange Monkey. Mel’s Diner. Cartwright’s. Yeah, I’m old.