Best Pizza
Pontillo’s Pizzeria. Many area locations. pontillospizza.com
Runners up: Mark’s Pizzeria | The Pizza Stop | Salvatore’s
Best Burger
Bill Gray’s. Many area locations. billgrays.com
Runners up: The Gate House | Restaurant Good Luck | Swillburger
Best Barbecue
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. 99 Court Street. 325-7090; dinosaurbarbque.com
Runners up: Good Smoke | Sticky Lips | Texas Bar-B-Q Joint
Best Wings
Jeremiah’s Tavern. Several area locations. jeremiahstavern.com
Runners up: Dinosaur | The Distillery | Windjammers
Best Fish Fry
The Old Toad. 227 Alexander Street. 232-2626; theoldtoad.com
Runners up: Bill Gray’s | Captain Jim’s Fish Market | Jeremiah’s Tavern
Best Place for a Rochester “Plate”
Nick Tahou’s Hots. 320 West Main Street. 436-0184; garbageplate.com
Runners up: Dogtown | Henrietta Hots | Mark’s Texas Hots
Best Bagel
Balsam Bagels. 288 North Winton Road. 482-5080; balsambagels.com
Runners up: Bagel Land | Brownstein’s Deli & Bakery | Wegmans
Best Fried Cakes/Doughnuts
Schutt’s Apple Mill. 1063 Plank Road, Webster. 872-2924; schuttsapplemill.com
Runners up: Boxcar | Donuts Delite | Ridge Donut Café
Best Food Cart/Food Truck
Le Petit Poutine. @lepetitpoutine. lepetitpoutine.com
Runners up: Macarollin’ | Marty’s Meats | The Meatball Truck Co.
Best Diner
Highland Park Diner. 960 South Clinton Avenue. 461-5040
Runners up: Jay’s Diner | Jim’s on Main | South Wedge Diner
Best Mexican Restaurant
Salena’s. 302 North Goodman Street. 256-5980; salenas.com
Runners up: John’s Tex-Mex | La Casa | Monte Alban
Best Italian Restaurant
Guido’s Pasta Villa. 1313 East Ridge Road. 266-2676; thepastavilla.com
Runners up: Bazil | Fiorella | Osteria Rocco
Best Indian Restaurant
India House. Several area locations. indiahouse.com
Runners up: Amaya | Tandoor of India | Thali of India
Best Mediterranean Restaurant
Aladdin’s. 646 Monroe Avenue, 442-5000; 8 Schoen Place, Pittsford, 264-9000. myaladdins.com
Runners up: Cedar Mediterranean | Sinbad’s | Voula’s Greek Sweets
Best Caribbean Restaurant
Peppa Pot. 133 Gregory Street. 473-3663; eatatpeppapot.com
Runners up: D’Mangu | Livie’s Jamaican Restaurant | Natural Vibes Jerk Hut
Best Asian Restaurant
The King & I. 1455 East Henrietta Road. 427-8090; thekingandithaicuisine.com
Runners up: Chen Garden | Flavors of Asia | Han Noodle
Best Sushi
California Rollin’. 274 North Goodman Street. 271-8990; californiarollin.com
Runners up: Plum House | Shiki | Wegmans
Best Vegetarian/Vegan Eats
The Owl House. 75 Marshall Street. 360-2920; owlhouserochester.com
Runners up: Aladdin’s | The Red Fern | Voula’s Greek Sweets
Best Chef
Dan Martello at Restaurant Good Luck (50 Anderson Avenue; 340-6161; restaurantgoodluck.com) and Cure (50 Public Market; 563-7941; curebar.net)
Runners up: Matthew Petrillo (Antonetta’s and The Meatball Truck Co.) | Gino Ruggiero (Fiorella) | Joe Zolnierowski (Nosh)
Best Coffee
Java’s Café. 16 Gibbs Street. 232-4820; javascafe.com
Runners up: Glen Edith | Joe Bean | Ugly Duck Coffee
Best Barista
Rory Van Grol at Ugly Duck Coffee. 89 Charlotte Street. uglyduckcoffee.com
Runners up: Ryan Baker (Meraki Coffee) | Tony Colon (Fuego) | Jessica Stroud Sapia (Café Sasso)
Best Outdoor Dining
Genesee Brew House. 25 Cataract Street. 263-9200; geneseebeer.com
Runners up: Napa Wood Fired Pizza | The Owl House | TRATA
Best Cheap Eats
Dogtown. 691 Monroe Avenue. 271-6620; dogtownhots.com
Runners up: Aladdin’s | Cedar Mediterranean | John’s Tex-Mex
Best New Restaurant
Radio Social. 20 Carlson Road. 244-1484; radio-social.com
Runners up: Branca Midtown | Cedar Mediterranean | The Silver Iguana
This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2017.
I understand this is a popularity contest but any publication that lists “California Rollin” as the best sushi in Rochester is doing a disservice to this community.
So what do you propose that this publication do, when California Rollin’ was voted the best sushi? Ignore the results? Make up their own results? (By the way, I don’t eat sushi so I’m not making any judgment about the quality of sushi at any of the nominees.)
They could investigate why an establishment that consistently rates average or below average through multiple other feedback channels (yelp (15/32), trip advisor (18/28), google, etc.) has won the best sushi in Rochester for more than 10 years in a row. I wouldn’t go so far as to put on my tinfoil hat, but something smells fishy (bad pun, I know). To add to the mediocrity, in 2016, California Rollin opened an express location on Park Ave, packed with street and foot traffic, and as of a couple weeks ago is closed. How can sushi that is supposedly the best in Rochester, with an illustrious history spanning more than a decade, not survive on arguably the most popular street in Rochester?
This is a fun list and I’m glad City Newspaper puts this on every year. I think most people can agree that any given food/drink category has a winner that at least conceivably deserves the recognition. The only glaring exception is Best Sushi.
Full disclosure: I have nothing against California Rollin’. I’ve eaten at their Village Gate location multiple times at the request of friends and family. The sushi is average, service is a bit slow, and it is nowhere near the best.
@Roc20 – The California Rollin’ (in Village Gate) and California Rollin’ 2 (on Park Ave.) are owned and operated by different people.
Best Pizza also falls in this. Pizzeria Favo is my favorite pizza in this town and not even on the list. I mean you have the chain places like Mark s and Salvatore, but there are a few wood fire pizza places, like Napa Woof Fire Pizzeria, that are 10 times better.