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.