Yumbo’s Southern Style Grill

376 Elmridge Center Drive, Greece
Visited March 5, 2010
Written by Tyler

You often have to dig deep to find the buried treasure, which is just the case for Yumbo’s Southern Style Grill in Greece.

Elmridge Plaza is always fairly busy, but Yumbo’s often gets overlooked by neighboring giants like Walmart, Sam’s, Tops, Chili’s, etc., not to mention the rest of the commercial adventure land that is Greece.

But if your eyes are wandering around the signs at the plaza, they will eventually catch the small purple and yellow one for Yumbo’s.

I had noticed Yumbo’s before since its Greece location opened a few years ago, but I had never thought to stop there. Only after my friend Chad told me Yumbo’s had good food, and my recent burst of interest in southern/barbecue food, did I make my way around to dining there.

While running errands with my grandma, who offered to take me out to lunch, I suggested Yumbo’s, wanting to go to some place casual.

Not really sure what to expect, I was just hoping my grandma wouldn’t be disappointed. It was a risky choice, as my grandma doesn’t exactly shy away from sharing her opinions on restaurants.

(Image courtesy of yumbofood.com)

Upon our entry into the restaurant and subsequent wait, I grew a little skeptical. There was only one worker, owner Bernie LoBello, running the operation, trying to do seemingly everything at once. I had to wait 10-15 minutes before I could order at the counter, even though there were only a handful of people inside.

But if you read our review of General Hoock’s you know I can be very understanding and patient in such a situation.

It turns out one of the customers before us had six orders to go, so that was mainly the cause for the wait, but nobody was in a rush and seemed rather patient.

Our patience was rewarded, and the wait was well worth it.

For one, it gave us just enough time to dissect the menu, which was full of about any Southern comfort food you can imagine. I don’t know where to begin to describe these mouthwatering options, so take a look at the menu yourself.

Once we ordered it didn’t take long at all for the food to arrive. I went with the Smokey Chicken BBQ, a sandwich whose main feature was a rather interesting concoction I have only seen offered at a few places: pulled barbecue chicken (as opposed to pork).

Pulled chicken looks just like pulled pork, and this particular chicken was doused in deliciously sweet and smoky homemade “Twangin BBQ Sauce,” giving it a fairly similar taste to pulled pork, but obviously leaner.

The sandwich’s components – the chicken/sauce, lettuce and roll – blended together very well, none overwhelming another. It was delicious from start to finish, with a slice of cornbread a perfect complement. Toward the end of my “Smokey Chicken” experience, I realized another sauce applied toward the bottom of the sandwich. I hadn’t picked up on it until then, but whatever it was, it worked. I think it was Yumbo’s Buttermilk Ranch, which is their house dressing.

And thankfully, my grandma was very pleased with her meal as well. Her sandwich, the Sow Tower, was similar to mine, except pulled pork rather than chicken. I don’t believe it had anything else on it, but we both agreed that the sauce – which wasn’t exactly lagging in its presence on our sandwiches – added great flavor.

There are so many items I’d like to try, especially some interesting sides like the Cajun Homefries and Sweet Potato Mash. My dad and I are big fans of both home fries (see HFR review) and Cajun spices, so I really want to try the Cajun Homefries, which Yumbo’s was unfortunately out of during my first visit.

Our lunch at Yumbo’s was a success, and I was glad that we both enjoyed and were pleasantly surprised by it. The only things that could have used improvement were the wait time, the supply of menu items and the atmosphere.

LoBello was very friendly and apologetic about the wait, which we completely understood, given it was a one-man show. He even offered us free cookies (the oatmeal raisin wasn’t bad, by the way).

Some items were unavailable, including (strangely enough) ice. There also wasn’t much of a Southern or home-style atmosphere inside to speak of. But who cares about those two when the food hits the spot? I sure am willing to overlook those factors.

I’m not positive if LoBello has any helpers, but I would assume so, because there is a second location; downtown in the Monroe County Office Building (39 West Main Street), which I believe is only open for lunch (8-2:30) on weekdays. The Greece location is open 11-8 on weekdays and 11-5 Saturday (closed Sunday).

I also don’t know if the wait we had is typical, but nobody seemed to be bothered by it. The other customers inside when we were had nothing but praise for the restaurant, and I’ve only heard positive reviews from other sources.

I do know that I will dine at Yumbo’s again.

Ratings:
Service/Atmosphere: There was a bit of a wait, but we were served very quickly once we ordered. It doesn’t exactly feel like authentic Southern dining, but still a very friendly environment.
Food: Absolutely delicious and so much to choose from. The sauce adds great flavor to the meat.
Value: Prices were right around the same, if not better, than those of similar dishes elsewhere. Very satisfying “bang for the buck.”
Overall: A hidden gem, even if it is in a busy plaza. The food is as good, if not better, than any barbecue place around. Only reservations are the apparent lack of supplies and atmosphere. I’m willing to overlook the wait because it was well worth it and gave us time to look over the extensive, appetizing menu.

Grade: B+

Visit online: http://www.yumbofood.com/

Millhouse Family Restaurant

3670 Lake Road, Brockport
Visited Feb. 21, 2010
Written by Tyler

(Image courtesy of rochester.metromix.com)

Situated on the corner of Ridge (Route 104) and Lake (Route 19) roads in Clarkson, Millhouse Family Restaurant made me do a double take the first time I noticed there was a diner out in the Town of Clarkson.

Just as soon as you think you’ve bypassed all the restaurants in the Village of Brockport when traveling North on Lake Road, you enter the town and immediately see Millhouse in a small plaza on the northeast corner of the intersection.

Being a short drive from most other restaurants in the Brockport area and its location at a relatively major intersection help make Millhouse noticeable.

Its location, in the same general area as Clarkson’s town buildings and Hafner Park, where I have attended several events over the years, is probably to its benefit. Some hungry diners may stop here rather than heading into the village, and I’d be willing to bet Millhouse often capitalizes on crowds leaving the various events at the park.

In fact, the first time I dined at Millhouse was after one of my siblings’ soccer games at the park five summers ago. We had heard good things and, given our love of family-style diners, we decided to give it a shot. There were a few other families with us, and it was a Sunday morning, but the service was good and everyone seemed to be pleased.

I hadn’t been back since, so I recently decided it was time to make a return visit.

The restaurant had a comfortable “at home” feel that I very much prefer in family restaurants. There was plenty of seating, mostly booths, and we were seated and waited on quickly.
The menu consisted of standard diner fare for the most part, but one of the exceptions that caught my eye were the French roll-ups, described as crepes (essentially, thin pancakes) rolled up, filled with a choice of fruit filling and topped with whipped cream.

I have to say, these didn’t disappoint. Often times at smaller diners like this, those “exceptions” to the typical diner menu don’t go over well and fail to meet the unrealistically high expectations of the consumer, but that wasn’t the case here.

From the appetizing presentation, through each filling bite, these roll-ups were a satisfying choice. The crepes were made from a pancake/egg batter, though I’m not sure of the exact ingredients or proportions, but they were definitely different than those of typical pancakes.
I chose an apple filling, which was rather thick and gooey, containing rather generously sized apple slices. I was pleased with the filling; much more so than I would be with a thinner one with more of an applesauce consistency.

Another plus to the roll-ups were their perfect balance of sweetness, thanks in large part to the apple filling. They weren’t overly sweet, but not bland enough to require syrup either. I just cut right through them with my fork and wolfed them down.
There were no real thrills for Drew on the other hand, who opted for a traditional short stack of pancakes.

Simply adding butter and syrup, Drew worked his way through the stack with no real excitement, but no displeasure either.

Millhouse offers takeout and also had a solid display of pies and other deserts. There is also a sit-down counter with a TV on the wall.

We agreed Millhouse was no HFR, but nothing to complain about either. I was very satisfied with the roll-ups, which were definitely different and unexpected to me. I had imagined myself getting something more generic, like Drew did, but I left pleasantly surprised and impressed. To Drew, it was just another diner, another regular-old stack of pancakes.
We would definitely return, probably sampling some other items. On second thought, maybe I’ll leave that to Drew or someone else and I’ll stick with the roll-ups.
This was the first time I had crepes, so I really didn’t have anything to compare them to, but I definitely have a great first impression and look forward to trying them again … if I can find them.

Ratings:
Service/Atmosphere- Quick service and not very crowded, but not empty either. Quite comfortable and easily accessible. Not quite the hometown feel of HFR, though.
Food- I was quite impressed, Drew was pretty neutral. We probably need to try more of their food to know for sure, but I’ve only heard good things here.
Value- Very reasonable … no complaints.
Overall- More or less your typical family restaurant, but to us that’s a good thing. Nothing that really stands out, but nothing to complain about either.

Grade: B-

Anchor Bar

355 East Ave, Rochester
Written by Drew

Visited Dec. 26, 2009

For this trip, Tyler, the crew and I piled into the car to get two things done: Go to the Anchor Bar and then proceed to an Amerks game.

Going into this road-trip experience, we all were looking forward in trying out the restaurant whose original location, in Buffalo, is the birthplace of the chicken wing. I knew that I would have to get some wings, while the others had their own agendas.

We traveled into the city, part of our ‘Grey Area,’ though we made our visit before conceiving the idea of a blog.

The parking situation is a bit tricky, however we found a free parking spot on a side street that was within walking distance of the restaurant.

Upon arriving to the storefront, we were temporarily confused on how to enter. There were two doors, both unmarked.

The restaurant was located in a very fitting spot, with the façade of the building having an antique look to it. As soon as we entered, our eyes wandered all over as we took in the second edition of the world famous Anchor Bar.

We were seated promptly; upstairs where we were the only ones for about 15 minutes. With a hand full of large-screen televisions and an animated fireplace, it felt like the five of us had our own VIP lounge to eat in, though we were isolated from most of the action downstairs.

With a quick glance at the menu, I was speechless by seeing a few of the prices. I was thinking that the price of a dozen wing would be the typical seven or eight dollars, but for ten medium Anchor Bar wings, I paid $9.49.

One variety of wings that makes the Anchor Bar stand out is its Suicidal Wings. It costs $10.49 to sweat through some of the hottest wings around, which none of us the guts to do on this night.
But even though the 10 wings I had were pricy, the Anchor Bar set the ‘bar’ high when it came to quality. Each wing was meaty and loaded with flavorful sauce. With the price for 10 wings stuck in the back of my head, I ate every piece of the meat off the bone. It was worth the price, for the most part.

Tyler, on the other hand, ordered his typical grilled chicken sandwich, which came marinated and basted in a choice of wing sauces, which he ordered medium, topped with lettuce.
He said he enjoyed the sandwich, with the Anchor Bar’s legendary sauce giving it just the right kick to make this one of the better chicken sandwiches he’s had recently.

Jake opted for the Nacho Platter ($6.99), topped with grilled chicken for $2 extra. Additional topping choices include pulled pork, chili, meat hot sauce and ground beef. The tri-colored chips are homemade and come “smothered” in melted cheddar, diced tomatoes and jalapenos.
The platter looked very appetizing to us, and Jake agreed after downing them, saying, “they were good and cheesy” and “there were a lot of them.”

Overall, the Anchor Bar trip was a success. Its location isn’t too bad, for being in the city. There were some sketchy things apparent on the surrounding streets, but those were well outside the restaurant. It would have been nice to get the full experience down on the main level of the restaurant, but it appeared to have a nice, somewhat fancy sports-bar atmosphere.

Ratings:

Service/Atmosphere- No wait to be seated, quick service for being on the second floor, on a busy Saturday night. Able to see a television or two from any seat in the house. We didn’t get the full experience being isolated from most of the crowd, however.

Food- Excellent, simply great.

Value- Some of the prices are pretty steep, but the quality mostly makes up for it.

Overall- Great food, fitting location, not a bad place to stop on your way to or from a Rochester sporting event. Definitely pricy, but good quality. It would be interesting to see how this compares to the original location in Buffalo.

Grade: B-

Note: Read this additional article from City Newspaper.

Sullivan’s Charbroil

4712 West Ridge Road, Spencerport
Written by Tyler

Visited March 6, 2010

Even though Sullivan’s isn’t too far away from us, we haven’t been more than a few times in our lives. It’s generally regarded as a small, somewhat rundown, but respectable burger shack.
After dining there for the first time in more than five years, I can say that is just about spot on.
It’s located on Ridge Road, right near the three-town border of Parma, Ogden and Greece. It’s actually in Parma, but has a Spencerport zip code.

Once you get to this part of Ridge Road, you’re away from most of the traffic and the heavy concentration of highly developed land that is Greece. In this section of Route 104, just west of the newly renamed Doug Miller Sports Dome, there are several specialty stores (carpets, awards, auto parts, to name a few), some small car dealerships, some vacant motels, and Sullivan’s.

From the outside, the building looks pretty rundown. There is a decent amount of outdoor seating, with several picnic tables sitting on a covered porch just outside the entrance.
The inside was surprisingly nice and clean, with an abundance of ‘50s memorabilia and four or five TVs adorning the finished, wooden walls.

There was plenty of seating – all booths – though none of which seated more than four people.
One of the strangest features was the location of the bathrooms, which you literally pass through the kitchen on your way to. It got the job done, though; at least they didn’t look at me like I had three heads when I journeyed back there.

As for the food, the menu was basically everything you would expect from a run-of-the-mill, small burger place like this; burgers, hots, fries, chicken and all the typical fryer items.
Once we placed our order at the counter and sat down (at two different booths because there were five of us), we were served fairly quickly; about the average time you would expect it would take.

Also as you would expect at a burger joint, our group enjoyed the burgers. Three group members ordered basic ground rounds, all topped differently. They said they enjoyed the taste of the burgers, which were very wide, not terribly thick, but not too thin either, between a pretty standard hard roll.

As per usual, I order a grilled chicken sandwich, topped with lettuce. The sandwich got the job done, but it wasn’t one of the best I’ve had. It was lightly marinated, so it didn’t have as much flavor as I would have preferred. I doused it with a little too much Red Hot, which gave it a little kick, but still not quite enough to compensate for the slightly sweet flavor I had hoped the marinade would have given it.

We had heard Sullivan’s had pretty good curly fries, so my brother gave them a shot. It was a heaping portion, but didn’t quite meet expectations, at least for us. They were relatively thin and greasy, and didn’t taste much different than the typical French fry. We would have liked a little more seasoning and thickness.

The regular French fries were alright. Nothing spectacular, just the basic crinkle-cut fries.
Deciding to make things interesting, Drew tried the sweet and sour chicken tenders. Tenders are always good, and sweet and sour sauce makes just about anything taste good. This isn’t something you see at every restaurant, so it was good to see something different. The tenders were basically what you would expect, everyday chicken tenders soaked in Boss Sauce, but that’s not a bad taste to have, even if you know what to expect.

For drinks, they have Pepsi products in a small refrigerator, plus fountain drinks with free refills.
One of the more interesting drinks they offer is Aunt Rosie’s Loganberry. Native to the Buffalo area, the multi-berry-flavored drink isn’t too prevalent in the Rochester area, but we wish it was.

“It was a good drink … like a Shirley Temple,” my brother said. “It would be my first choice before any pop.”

Sullivan’s is also said to have good milkshakes, so that may warrant a return visit.
Also, there is a driving range directly behind the restaurant, along with a miniature golf course, according to the sign. There is nothing like a burger and a bucket of balls from time to time, according to Drew.
In all, Sullivan’s isn’t bad, but has nothing overwhelmingly great about it either. It was the average, everyday burger joint, in our opinion.

But we have heard good things about certain items (burgers, curly fries, milkshakes), so give it a shot. Maybe your tastes are different from ours.

Ratings:
Service/Atmosphere- Not much of a wait, able to see TVs, not very crowded, pretty standard service. Booths were all the same capacity, but otherwise a very comfortable burger-joint setting.
Food- Not bad, not great, but very average. Standard burger-joint menu. A few different items here and there, but nothing that really makes it stand out.
Value- Also pretty standard.
Overall- A little atmosphere to it, and definitely proves not to judge a book by its cover, but otherwise very average. If we’re looking for something quick and consistent, and we’re in this specific part of town, we would probably stop here.
Grade: C

Our Boundaries

Obviously, we are trying to focus on places west of the city, and anything in color on the map and west of the river is fair game for the blog.

Anything directly south or north of the city, in gray, is just that, a "gray area." We will allow for exceptions in that area, on a case-by-case basis, but we will try to stay clearly west as much as possible. Places in the gray area, especially Henrietta and the city, do have a large number of well-known restaurants, so we will try to especially limit our posts there.

Anything east of the city, the black area, is off limits. This is done to give more attention to the restaurants on the west side, which are often underlooked compared to restaurants on the east side.

Anything in Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming and Allegany counties are fair game, as is most of Livingston County and small portions of Steuben and Cattaraugus counties, all the way down to the state line.

There may be a few exceptions along the way, but for the most part, we'll stick to places like Hilton, Greece, Brockport, Spencerport, Gates, etc.

Crosby's (formerly K&K Food Mart)

1228 Hilton-Parma Corners Road, Parma
Written by Tyler

Gas stations aren’t typically the most picturesque places to sit down and enjoy a bite, but they’re usually good for cheap bites on the go.

It would be unfair for grading such a place on atmosphere and service (for food), not to mention it’s a relatively extensive chain, so we will refrain from giving a grade in this situation. But, we will throw a suggestion out there if you’re ever in the Hilton/Parma area and need to grab something quickly, and perhaps share it with a friend or two.

Crosby’s, formerly K&K Food Mart, on the corner of Parma Center Road and Route 259, is a Sunoco station with a food mart/convenience store inside.

They do have a typical pizza-joint menu, including fresh pizza (as opposed to gas stations with only a few slices sitting in a warmer all day), wings, fried foods, subs and more, but it’s the calzones that having us fueling up on food at Crosby’s, rather than gas.

It’s more so just a folded over, or “stuffed” pizza, rather than a typical calzone, which often has multiple types of cheese, sauce on the side and is personal sized. Crosby’s/K&K’s “Family Size Calzone” ($8.99) is the size of a large pizza, folded over.

If you are a fan of traditional calzones or thin-crust pizza, this may not exactly satisfy your cravings, but if you’re a fan of doughy pizza and crust, like me, this is right up your alley.

The traditional pepperoni calzone from this location isn’t too heavy on the cheese, and actually includes about an equal sauce to cheese ratio, which I much prefer. It’s a bit greasy, but the crust and sauce, along with a fairly liberal amount of pepperoni, make this calzone satisfying.
They also offer ham & cheese, sausage, roast beef and meatball, and perhaps more at other locations, but the one we keep going back for is the bossy chicken.

The bossy chicken calzone includes chunks of chicken tenders covered in Boss Sauce and a steady (though thankfully not overwhelming) supply of mozzarella. The sweetness on the sauce covering the chicken is the perfect complement to the doughy crust, in our opinion.

K&K and Crosby’s have over 30 locations throughout upstate New York and northwestern Pennsylvania, including ones in Hamlin, Brockport, Clarkson, Kendall and Holley, among others. We haven’t been to any other locations, so we aren’t sure if the calzones are the same at each one, though we imagine they are quite similar.

This may not be more than folded pizza or gas station food to some – some might not even consider it a real calzone – but it’s a calzone as we know it, and it’s a rather frequent meal for us.

Hilton Family Restaurant

52 Hovey Street, Hilton
Written by Tyler

(Image courtesy of rochester.metromix.com)

As we stated in The Situation the Hilton Family Restaurant (HFR for short. Thanks, Mr. D’Amico) is basically our standard for how we judge restaurants. We grew up eating there, and it feels more and more like home each time we go back.

It’s the quintessential small-town, greasy spoon, enter-cliché-here diner, with nothing fancy about it. And we love it.

Aside from the old non-smoking section being opened up to all diners once New York State law banned smoking inside restaurants, no major changes have really occurred at HFR, it seems.

It has basically been the same since its inception in 1986. If you’re from Hilton, you will probably know more than half the people in HFR at any given time, and it seems like most Hilton residents consider themselves regulars, which provides for a great, tight-knit, small-town atmosphere that we look for in the restaurants we visit.

Families pour in after church on Sunday, and students fill it on half days or off days from school. Actually, the restaurant is fairly crowded most days, but especially on weekend mornings, though there is plenty of seating and I don’t think I’ve ever had to wait to be seated.

The prices are very fair, meaning a lot of “bang for the buck” as we call it, the service is always very efficient and the staff is very friendly.

As for the food – HFR has good dinners, from my experience. Some people say their dinners are inconsistent, though I personally haven’t had a bad experience. The Super (double) Cheeseburger is a popular pick and has left me satisfied every time I’ve had it, especially when complemented by the home fries, which I’ll address momentarily.

To be honest though, I get breakfast at least 90 percent I dine at HFR, so I can’t really say too much about the lunch and dinner choices. But, yeah, the breakfast is that good.

We’ll start with the home fries – greasy, but crispy and just the right size. Basically, you have to get them if you order breakfast (or any meal, I suppose) here, and they do come with most breakfast entrees. I’m not completely sure where exactly the crispiness comes from, but it really sets these home fries apart from the rest of the pack.

My dad has said for years these are the best home fries he has ever had. We have had good home fries at other restaurants, but nothing has quite matched that of HFR’s. Put salt, pepper, ketchup or whatever you want on them, but these home fries taste good no matter how they are topped.

Another popular choice is the breakfast sandwich ($3.25), which comes with eggs (made to order), choice of meat (either of the three – bacon, ham or sausage – are all safe bets) and cheese on either a hard roll (my preference), bagel, toast, croissant or whatever else you can think of that makes sense. It’s the perfect balance of each of the components of the sandwich, and did I mention it comes with home fries?

The many omelets (usually $4-5), with just about any option you can imagine, are frequented by several of my friends, always to satisfaction. The pancakes and French toast never disappoint and the toast is a great complement to any breakfast. Nothing kicks off a great breakfast like a delicious chocolate milk, by the way.

One thing that bothers me is when people around town, usually kids, refer to HFR as “the family diner” or “the diner.” That’s false; it’s the Family Restaurant. I guess that does show how regularly people visit HFR and makes it seem like it’s something that’s a given among Hiltonians. I guess I can live with that, though I prefer the proper name.

Contrary to another review I read, HFR does have takeout available. It’s like bringing home a slice of home, if that makes any sense.

They don’t take credit or debit, cash only, but there is a conveniently located ATM next to the register– perfect for some of our buddies who don’t normally have cash on hand (cough … Jay Clifford). It’s just another thing about HFR that has never changed, which I commend them for.
Are we biased? Absolutely. Many of these things aren’t much different from other family restaurants, but, again, this place makes us feel at home. No other restaurant can possibly have that authentic home feel HFR does, and that’s why it is the ‘A’ standard for all the places we dine at.

Ratings:
Service/Atmosphere- To reiterate, the service is excellent (friendly staff, orders ready quickly) and we feel at home whenever we come.
Food- Typical diner menu, but, at least from my experience, consistently good. I’ve never been disappointed by an HFR meal. Greatest home fries on Earth. Awesome breakfast.
Value- One of the more affordable places around, with great portions for the price. The standard for our emphasis on “bang for the buck,” you get the best value for your money.
Overall- Consistently good food, with the value and atmosphere, especially, putting it over the top. The standard for what we like in a restaurant. A place we really don’t think twice about going to when the opportunity arises.
Grade: A-

Note: A new version of the menu has recently been introduced. Some of the prices have changed slightly and there are a few new items.