Much like a lot has changed in our own lives during our
three-year hiatus, much has changed in the local restaurant landscape.
Most notably, the place that inspired us to begin this blog
and the place we have turned into unapologetic shills for – General Hoock’s.
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| Shawn Hoock at his old location on Buffalo Road in 2009. (Courtesy: Facebook) |
What we discovered as more or less a one-man band led by the
General himself, Shawn Hoock, has changed several times since our first visit there
five years ago this month.
In April 2012, Hoock left the Buffalo Road location his
customers had come to know and love. He bounced around to several different
locations throughout Gates in the ensuing two years – and while the food was as
delicious as ever, Hoock just couldn’t seem to find a permanent home to cook
and deliver his creations his own way.
Finally, in December 2014, after several short-lived
attempts elsewhere, Hoock teamed up with Megan Rattray to form Shmeg’s Restaurant on
the other end of Buffalo Road in Gates. Almost all of Hoock’s legendary
creations remain on the menu – save for his pizza, or Magik Bread Pie – in a
more spacious setting than his previous locations. We’ll get into more
specifics in our upcoming review of Shmeg’s, but let’s just say the new place
is dynamite.
Here’s a look at some of the other changes since we left you
in fall 2011:
·
One of our favorite barbeque joints, Taste of Texas in Spencerport, is still
open and going strong, but changed its name a couple years back to Texas Bar-B-Que Joint. It’s the same people
and same delicious food, but changed its name because of a trademark issue with
a restaurant in Houston. Drew, Joe, Amanda and I ate there just two nights ago,
and it’s still the best in the west when it comes to the Q. It also now has a
satellite location, the Outlaw Potato
Shack, on West Ridge Road in Greece (Lowe’s Plaza), that serves the famous
Outlaw Potatoes and a limited sandwich menu from 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.
Monday-Friday.
·
Great
Northern Pizzeria closed its Henrietta location in the last few weeks, as
well as its Bushnell’s Basin location, but remains open in Brighton and has a
new location on Mt. Hope Avenue near the new College Town development.
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| The Pizza Stop is moving a few doors down from its longtime spot on State Street in Downtown Rochester. (File Photo/2011) |
·
Arguably the top pizza place in Rochester, Pizza Stop, is moving a few doors
down. It’s moving from its longtime downtown home at 123 State Street to a more
spacious storefront at 131 State Street in the next week. Pizza Stop opened a
second location on Ridgeway Avenue in Greece in November 2012. Also this week,
Pizza Stop’s cousin Joe’s Brooklyn Pizza
is opening a second location in the Perinton Square Mall.
·
Yumbo’s
Southern Style Grill closed its two locations, in Greece and Downtown
Rochester, sometime prior to March 2011, only to open a new location in the
city on Lyell Avenue later that year. It closed again the following year but
remained available for catering. It’s unclear whether Yumbo’s remains in the
catering business.
·
Zebb’s
Deluxe Grill & Bar opened a fancy Greece location with much fanfare in
2011 but had less-than-stellar reviews (though not necessarily from us) and was
closed within two years. Its original Rochester-area location in Brighton
remains open.
·
Chilango’s
Mexican Grill in Spencerport closed down temporarily in early 2013, before
reopening as Wylie Chayote’s in April 2013 under a new partnership with Jerry
Manley (formerly of Flour City Diner). The new venture was out of business by
summer 2014.
·
DiRosato’s
Pizza & Pasta at the corner of Elmgrove and Lyell roads in Gates closed
in September 2011, shortly after our review, and reopened shortly thereafter as
the fourth location of Caraglio’s Pizza.
·
BBQ Fred on
North Greece Road had weird hours that I could never figure out, along with an ever-changing
menu, and closed at some point. According to its website, it’s still available
for catering, but who knows?
·
Lighthouse
Diner in Spencerport closed, apparently sometime in 2012. Its location is
now occupied by Rancho Viejo Mexican
Restaurant.
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| Rochester's version of Buffalo's world-famous Anchor Bar didn't last long. (Courtesy: Time Warner Cable News) |
·
Here’s a wild one. The Anchor Bar, the world-famous birthplace of the chicken wing in
Buffalo, had a Rochester location that was our first-ever stop for this blog
(though not our first review). It opened in late 2009, but changed its name
slightly and dropped its affiliation with the original Buffalo location in 2011
before closing in 2012. It’s now a MacGregor’s.
A second Rochester-area Anchor Bar (unaffiliated with the Buffalo original)
opened at Marketplace Mall in 2010, but was only open for two years. The
Original Anchor Bar in Buffalo is still thriving, and has added locations at
Eastern Hills Mall in Williamsville, Darien Lake, and Hamilton, Ontario.
·
Just within the last week, the Greece Ridge Family Restaurant was
rebranded as Blue Ridge Grill. It’s
run by the same family, but changed from a typical Greek family diner to a
“casual gourmet” restaurant with beer and wine available. It still serves all
three meals, and has a special Greek menu at dinner time.
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| Buffalo-based Mighty Taco opened its first Rochester-area location in Henrietta in 2012, for which I am grateful. (Courtesy: Mighty Taco) |
Those are the notable changes for the restaurants we have
visited for RWG. There have been many more comings and goings in Western New
York, obviously. For instance, the national chain Quaker Steak & Lube opened its first Rochester-area location in
Gates for some reason, but had a similar trajectory of Doug Marrone’s stint
with the Bills and recently closed. Popular Buffalo-based chain Mighty Taco opened its first
Rochester-area location in Henrietta in 2012, and opened a second one on
Ridgeway Avenue in Greece last year. It’s become my go-to option for fast food.
At any rate, things are always changing, and we’ll have
plenty more comings and goings throughout the weeks, months and years we’ll try
to keep you updated on. If we missed anything, feel free to let us know by
commenting below. In the meantime, we’ll continue getting you caught up to
speed on what’s changed in the last three years and what we’re focusing on now
as we revitalize this blog.
God bless.
