I’ve returned from my week-long vacation to Western New York, slightly tanned and no doubt with a few more pounds on my frame. Basically I ate and drank my way through Rochester, exploring as many different food options as possible. My host, Dessa, was kind enough to drive me around town to my destinations and hopefully she didn’t mind all that much. Here’s a rundown of the highlights:
Amiels Original Submarines—I always make it a point to visit this shop, which has two locations (Henrietta and Victor). I’m a big fan of their tuna salad subs but what makes their sandwiches so tasty is the bread, which is baked on site daily. Maybe next time I’ll try something else but there’s just something about that tuna!
http://www.amiels.com
Arby’s Popcorn Chicken Shakers—Ok, so you’re saying “You go on vacation and eat … Arby’s? What’s wrong with you?” True, I know. But ever since I’ve seen the TV commercials for their Popcorn Chicken Shakers I’ve been intrigued, after all any food that I can layer on hot sauce sounds good to me. And I’ll tell you, these are pretty good. Fast food in general always tastes better outside of New York City and these are no exception. I’m not even sure there’s an Arby’s in the City so there’s my excuse for going to the restaurant upstate.
http://www.arbys.com/menu/
Hank’s Ice Cream & Roast Beef Sandwiches--I think the name says it all. Even though I’ve never had the roast beef sandwich, I’ve heard they’re pretty large, juicy and tasty. The usually mobbed shop showcases tons of flavors of ice cream, frozen yogurt, ice cream cakes and several toppings. The Webster-based store also serves lunch and in addition to the roast beef, you can also grab a burger or the garbage plate if you’re really hungry.
Red Robin—Hands down, best burgers in town. Have you tried a burger at Red Robin? If not, do so as soon as possible. Again, they have two locations—Henrietta and Webster—and even though the Red Robin employees seem to be obsessed with blowing up balloons for children, they have an amazing assortment of burger options as well as turkey burgers and chicken sandwiches. Steak fries come with the burgers and supposedly they will replenish your supply of fries when you’re done although I don’t think they go out of their way for that. The restaurant also has some tasty appetizers including the Towering Onion Rings (13 onion rings on a stand that looks like a child’s toy) and Buzzard Wings, among many others. They should open a Red Robin in New York City as it’s much better than lots of the other chains that already exist here. I could make do with one less T.G.I. Friday’s.
http://www.redrobin.com
Beale Street Café—I’ve been to Dinosaur BBQ up in Rochester but I prefer this funky honky tonk restaurant which is located in the South Wedge part of Rochester. Against Dessa’s better judgment I decided to order an appetizer, Mud Bugs, fried crawfish with a tartar dipping sauce. I ate most of them using Beale Street’s jalapeno hot sauce and then ordered the special, a fried pork loin dish served with collard greens and mashed potatoes. It was truly an amazing experience to eat this dinner. Washing it all down with a couple of Miller Chills, I could barely finish my dinner. If you get a chance to try out this place by all means do so. It’s simply the best BBQ you’ll find anywhere.
http://www.bealestreetcafe.com/index.html
Wegmans (Mt. Read Boulevard, Greece, N.Y.)—This gigantic supermarket chain just opened its umpteenth store, a 100,000 square foot behemoth replacing an older 64,000 square foot version that was demolished earlier this year. Even though I am very impressed in general with the grocery stores upstate, I thought this store was a bit of overkill (and amazingly there's a larger and more upscale Wegmans in Pittsford!) as it houses not only your standard grocery aisles, but also has a tremendous food court, a “Wkids Fun Center” where children are looked after while their parents shop, a pharmacy, digital photo center, to mention a few. High atop the building is a clock tower, giving the store the appearance more of a church than supermarket. It seems Wegmans just wants to stick it to their competitors: My tower is bigger than your tower … oh wait, you don’t have one!
http://www.wegmans.coms
7-11 Squishees (Slurpees)—I love Slurpees and to celebrate the release of The Simpsons Movie, several 7-11s were "converted" into Kwik-E-Mart. Unfortunately the one I went to was not one of them. They had a few scattered Simpsons-related items (fruit snacks, donuts) but I went for the Squishees in Watermelon and Blue Vanilla flavors so I could bring home the cups. Hopefully the cups will hold up for a few more usages. 7-11 charged more for the Squishee if you bought the beverage in the special Simpsons cup. Sadly they were completely out of the Simpsons straws so I had to put up with the standard 7-11 Slurpee straws that have a little spoon on one end, perfect to get the last of my still-not-completely-melted drink.
http://www.slurpee.com/seeyellow.html
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