Best under-the-radar restaurant: Chortke
If there’s been one singular story on my radar for the past two years, it’s Chortke: an unassuming storefront restaurant in Village Gate that pivoted from fast casual counter service to upscale dining and has been thriving ever since. When it opened in 2018, Chortke was known for its customizable, generous portions of rice or salad topped with kabobs like spicy joojeh (saffron chicken), blistered tomatoes and tzatziki on the side.
The restaurant pivoted to fine dining — a contemporary take on Persian cuisine with an emphasis on steak — in 2023, with a completely renovated interior designed by Rana Rezaei, an industrial designer who graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology and also happens to be married to Chortke owner Yasha Aghdasi. The space is stunning, and once guests are inside it’s nearly impossible to believe there’s a busy parking lot just beyond the natural, Moroccan-and-beyond-inspired decor.
While Chortke doesn’t serve cocktails, there’s an extensive wine list featuring selections from the Finger Lakes to Italy. The dinner menu incorporates an array of Middle Eastern flavors with dishes like khachapuri (a Georgian cheese and egg flatbread) and the ever-popular, stunning kataifi (a Mediterranean dessert of shredded, crisped phyllo dough soaked in sweet syrup and layered here with raspberries, pistachios and cardamom cream). There’s a large steak section on the menu as well. The bill here can get pricey fast, but it’s worth the splurge. Pro tip: go with a friend, order a few plates and split ‘em so you can try more. And don’t even dream of skipping dessert. —LEAH STACY
Best introvert’s night out: Manzara Cafe
No disrespect to the clubs, but “normal” nightlife is not for me. When I go out after dark, I prefer not to deal with loud noises, and I’ll take Perry’s ice cream over alcohol any time of year. If you’re also like me, your ideal evening out might involve chatting with friends over a chocolate-drizzled and pistachio-topped Dubai waffle, dreamily doodling in your journal while sipping a hot beverage or maybe even working on a pitch for your favorite local arts magazine while munching on a panini. This year, I have been delighted by Manzara Café on Monroe Avenue, which was opened in early 2025 by first-time business owner Huseyin Sula.
Both atmospheric and affordable, the Turkish café comes with many reasons to recommend it — sufficiently close and free parking, some of the best-priced freshly brewed tea in Rochester (a cup for $1.50? Are we in the ‘90s?), a mix of savory and sweet treats ranging from beef borek to baklava, a bathroom that, due its proximity to the kitchen, sometimes smells like pastries. It’s open every day past sunset but not past your bedtime, closing at 9 p.m. (11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays). The casual, cozy setting is rounded out by an eclectic wall of books and games, including a shelf of James Patterson hardcovers (dads are welcome here) and a few Rubrik’s Cubes. The radio plays Turkish music for those days when Rochester is extra gloomy and you want to pretend for a moment that you’re anywhere else. But how gloomy, truly, can a city be when it offers a bright, relaxing café with a freakishly good smelling bathroom? instagram.com/manzaracaferoc —KATHERINE VARGA
Best cookie I ate this year: chocolate espresso rye from Wild Flour Bakery
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of a good fortune (slash regular paycheck) must be in want of a baked good. It’s me, I’m that woman, and I’m once again proselytizing about a cookie: the chocolate espresso rye from Wild Flour Bakery (not to be confused with the similarly named restaurant on Winton Road.) After one particularly long week this summer, I was gifted the cookie of note from my sister. (Is it also the best gift I received this year?)
This may be the actual, literal way to my heart. A generously sized, gorgeously marbled cookie, caramelized from the outside in and oozing dark chocolate, with the rye flour giving it a touch of welcomed earthy bitterness (who among us). It’s about as well-balanced a bite as you could dream up — pairing perfectly with an afternoon cup of (Irish) coffee. This cookie is proof that we all have the potential for greatness.
While they don’t yet have a brick-and-mortar, Wild Flour Bakery — founded in 2022 by owner and baker Miranda DelVecchio — is at the Irondequoit Farmers Market from late May to early October every year. Keep an eye on their Instagram and turn on text alerts to learn about pre-orders (including popular items like a crispy chili oil, cheddar and honey focaccia and a sea salt, rosemary and olive oil sourdough loaf) and where else they might pop up around town. But be quick: once they hit the proverbial shelf, these cookies don’t last. —JOHANNA LESTER
Best midnight munchies menu: Bar Bad Ending
The art of the bar crawl post-game is, ideally, developed in your 20s. No more college dorms, fewer house parties and a need for transportation requires careful planning. For me, that time period began 20 years ago: in a world where rideshares didn’t yet exist (but we all had a phone number for that one late night taxi driver in town) and Thursday night Shakedown at the Bug Jar ended (reluctantly) at 2 a.m., followed by diner “breakfast” at Gitsis or plates at Mark’s Texas Hots. If we were on the other side of town — East and Alex — the late night line for a slice at Cam’s was a given.
A moment of silence for those golden years.
CITY’s best late night eats category has faltered in recent years, inundated with submissions of Dogtown when they haven’t been open past 11 p.m. since the pandemic. In my 30s, we did stumble into Dogtown, Marshall Street or my all-time fave, Swan Dive. (I’ll think fondly of those face-sized pepp slices and huge, gooey mozz sticks for the rest of my life. RIP to a legendary spot.)
So who’s carrying the baton now? To be honest, very few. Most kitchens close by 11 p.m., even on weekends. Food trucks aren’t roaming the streets anymore. McDonald’s and Taco Bell are open late, sometimes, but that’ll be an hourlong wait in the drive-thru. Enter Bar Bad Ending: a spot opened by married duo Fred McCoy and Melissa Feldman in late 2023. It’s since become a go-to spot for hospitality industry folks as well as a thriving live music and weekly karaoke destination. Since industry folks tend to work late, the kitchen stays open for them ‘til midnight, featuring booze-soaking bangers like the poutine-adjacent disco fries (a mix of three spud varieties) topped with gravy and cheese. There’s also a hefty beef on weck, a chopped chicken caesar wrap, diner breakfast classics like a short stack of pancakes and, for the sweet tooth, Oreos deep fried in said pancake batter.
If you’re not a late night or barfly type, they offer carryout starting at 5 p.m. every day. Bad Ending, good night. —LEAH STACY
Best cure for the Sunday scaries: Spoonful of Sugar Sweets cinnamon roll
Imagine with me: waking up naturally to sun rays spilling in through the blinds, no jarring alarm sound within earshot. It’s Saturday, and the Sunday scaries still await on the other side of midnight — at that moment, I am basking in the Disney princess-like magical morning bliss. Wafting through the air in the distance (metaphorically speaking, of course) is the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon and brown sugar caressing my nostrils’ memory glands — not to be confused with mammary glands (don’t look it up).
This sensory recall points me to Spoonful of Sugar Sweets, a bricklined, bespoke bakery in the heart of the village of Churchville. Though the menu offers an assortment of decadence, the star of the show on a Saturday morning is the cinnamon roll. If your circadian rhythm fails to get you out of bed before the first batch of iced, flaky, rotund pastries have risen, you may want to reconsider going to bed sans alarm.
My yearning to find the perfect cinnamon roll is a quest I’ve been burdened with my entire existence. I’m seeking a balance of cinnamon sugar filling, dough that doesn’t lean into the “is this fully cooked?” category and an icing that doesn’t send me to the dentist by Monday. The hypnotic swirl at Spoonful of Sugar Sweets is a marriage of all the right things. How do I know? The scientific method is that you’ll regret ordering just one. My method: try having the first bite without immediately closing your eyes and saying something that my 4-year-old nephew shouldn’t repeat. Take that, Sunday scaries. —ROBERTO FELIPE LAGARES
Best way to spend $2 (that is not a Costco hot dog): mini sundae at Orbaker’s Drive-In
I am not the type of person to ever suggest that less ice cream is better than more ice cream. Or that we should be depriving ourselves of goodness and treats and any matter of self-care balms at this precise moment in time. However. Perhaps, after a seemingly endless afternoon filled with meetings or while you’re driving home from an especially taxing visit to the dermatologist, you may just need a little ice cream. To take the edge off. To soothe and heal and coax whatever remaining joy you can out of the rest of your day.
Enter the $2 mini sundae at Orbaker’s Drive-In Restaurant in Williamson. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like if the McDonald’s ice cream machine grew a conscience, this sundae is for you. Featuring Orbaker’s vanilla soft serve and one topping (pineapple and strawberry are among the offerings, but hot fudge is the way to go, without question), the mini sundae will both fit in your car’s cup holder and repair your soul. Going strong since 1932 and under new ownership since 2023, Orbaker’s has an extensive menu ranging from a blue cheese burger to zucchini sticks. But, regardless of my order, I’m always capping it off with the mini sundae. I don’t even have to save room. —JOHANNA LESTER
