Abe's Restaurant

5232 West Ridge Road, Spencerport
Visited June 19, 2010
Written by Drew


If you are a fan of being honest, log cabins and/or Abraham Lincoln, Abe’s Restaurant is the place for you. The slogan here is “Abe’s, an honest meal,” and I couldn’t say it any better.

If you are ever heading West on Ridge Road toward Brockport– which I frequently do – Abe’s is right on the way, in a ‘can’t miss’ log cabin near the border of Ogden and Parma.


The parking lot is shared with some sort of shed dealer. Walking toward the restaurant, your eyes quickly scan the log cabin exterior of the building, consistent with the restaurant’s theme. There are also numerous signs depicting large ice cream cones on the roof of the building.

With Abe Lincoln memorabilia lining the walls, wagon wheel chandeliers hanging from the rafters and a fully stocked condiment bar, customers get the full Abe’s experience even before they receive their food.

I have been trying to cut back on the intake of food at each meal and have already cut all beverages other than water out of my diet. My next step: eating more chicken instead of burgers, steaks and hotdogs. Abe’s was a great place to kick-start my new regimen.

So, with my new plan intact, I ordered a Buffalo chicken wrap. This consisted of a grilled chicken (I had an option to get crispy chicken), bleu cheese and mild wing sauce all wrapped up in a tortilla shell. Upon seeing my meal, I was kind of surprised how small it was, but I soon found out after digging in there was a good amount of chicken stuffed in there and it was just the right size.

Tyler ordered his typical grilled chicken sandwich, with shredded lettuce on it and a side of baked beans. He said Abe’s grilled chicken sandwich is one of the best around, based on previous experience.


“It’s one of the best chicken sandwiched I’ve had,” Tyler explained. “The marinade makes the sandwich better than those at similar places.” Tyler also ordered a side of baked beans. He said they were the same as those at similar restaurants, which is OK because they are “the perfect complement to a grilled chicken sandwich.”

I suppose my next visit (hopefully, for my own sake, I am still ‘cutting back’) will include a grilled chicken sandwich, based on Tyler’s recommendation.

Jake came with us, and ordered a cheeseburger and a side of fries (which looked pretty basic). In my opinion Jake only ordered that just because he knew I was cutting back (Note: Jake has denied Drew’s accusation). Jake said his meal was decent; not up to Bill Gray’s “World’s Greatest” caliber, but better than the burger he had at nearby Sullivan’s.

Abe’s also has a number of ice cream options, like “Blizzards,” “Flurries” and milkshakes, which are known to be pretty good. Abe’s also has breakfast beginning at 8 a.m., but you have to ask for a menu and we’ve never heard much about the breakfast options here. As for lunch and dinner, which is what Abe’s is known for, you can pretty much get anything normally associated with a grill or fryer.

Overall Abe’s has a similar style to Rochester staple Bill Gray’s. You order before sitting, and the service isn’t quite as speedy as that of fast food, but is faster than a typical diner. Both restaurants have a good selection, but Abe’s is less expensive for the most part.


It’s the down-home atmosphere at Abe’s makes it stand out from similar restaurants, though. You really do feel at home inside the log cabin. The food and atmosphere are much better here than at Sullivan’s, which we visited in March, and its consistency has us stopping by Abe’s every now and then.

Ratings:

Service/Atmosphere: Unique atmosphere. Service time is comparable to Bill Gray’s.

Food: Also comparable to Bill Gray’s, though it’s clear why Bill Gray’s is considered to have the best burgers in the area. The chicken options are better than most similar restaurants, thanks especially to Abe’s marinade.

Value: The prices are a little bit less than those at Bill Grey’s, and the food is similar, for the most part.

Overall: Great atmosphere and consistent food make Abe’s an honest meal for an average American.

Grade: B+

Dakota Grill

913 Roosevelt Highway, Hilton
Visited May 26, 2010
Written by Tyler



The Dakota Grill sits close to the road, right on the border of Hamlin and Parma, near an X-shaped intersection. The building looks relatively plain – with a gray exterior – from the outside, but the opposite is true on the inside.

There is a small dining room to the left when you enter, a full bar with TVs in the middle, another dining area to the right of the bar, plus an outdoor patio.

The walls are adorned with many random slices of ‘Americana,’ as Greg described it. Though it seems to be marketed somewhat toward Western and biker types, there really is no one central theme to the Dakota.

Like the Arlington, the Dakota is the closest thing to upscale dining in Hilton, but is still very casual. There are many finer dishes available, including the popular Wednesday ‘Surf & Turf’ special ($16.95), chicken, pasta, steak, seafood and Friday fish fry.

But on our college-student budget, we order from the bar menu, which features many burgers and chicken sandwiches that have become popular take-out options in my house.

The Dakota offers some of the best chicken sandwiches around, and I opted for the Black Jack Cajun Chicken ($5.75) on this visit. The chicken was grilled to perfection, but it’s the seasoning that makes this particular sandwich.

The breast was blackened by a spicy Cajun seasoning – so much so that it looked like it had been completely burnt. Obviously, it hadn’t, and the sweet mustard it was topped in complemented its kick well, making it a delicious concoction.

Greg opted for the Dakota Burger – which was topped with bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese, Thousand Island dressing and sweet Dakota Sauce – with a side of fries.


Greg was pleased with the burger (cooked medium), saying the key to it was texture.

It was very well cooked; a tad crispy on the outside but pink halfway through and quite tender,” Greg said. “The literal handful of toppings (was) more than enough, and made the burger a tad messy, but delicious.

“I thoroughly enjoyed their combination of the Dakota Sauce with the Thousand Island dressing. The Dakota Sauce was smooth and sweet, while the Thousand Island provided a small kick on the front side.”

Greg added his burger – the most expensive on the menu at $4.95 – was one of the best values around, though his fries (which he described as average) cost extra.

The service was average in terms of promptness, but informative and friendly. We were also pleased by the complimentary bread and butter. Greg described his experience as “pleasant, perhaps even a tad charming.”

The Dakota is a pleasant stop for somewhat upscale, yet casual dining. If you aren’t in to the expensive stuff, the burgers and chicken sandwiches are difficult to be disappointed by. The restaurant and bar put just the right amount of liveliness in to a relatively quiet area.

Ratings:
Service/Atmosphere: Not the quickest, though friendly and you get free bread. The atmosphere is great; it feels like a roadside bar and grill should.
Food: I’m not sure on how the items on the actual dinner menu are, but those on the bar menu are consistently delicious.
Value: As Greg alluded to, the sandwiches are a great value. The portion sizes aren’t big because the items we bought didn’t come with sides, but those can be added for a reasonable price.
Overall: The setting makes it unique, and the Dakota as a whole is nicer than its outside appearance suggests. The entire meal may not blow you away, but the main course (from our experience) always pleases.
Grade: B

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

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.