Rochester Food Blog

Where: Eastridge Family Restaurant, East Ridge Road in Irondequoit.

When: Monday night, approximately 3:00 AM.

Cuisine: Traditional American Diner food, with a menu that branches out into some pasta dishes as well.

What: Went with two others for some late-night dining. Two of us ordered the “trash plate”, Eastridge’s take on the omnipresent Rochester favorite. Hot sauce is the meat variety seen elsewhere, and I found it lacking a little in the heat department. Flavor was good and well balanced. Coffee is normal diner coffee, although perhaps a bit weaker than I would prefer. Ordered the plate with a double side of french fries, as I always do at Eastridge - they serve large, thick-cut steak fries that are fried to a golden brown while maintaining a light texture on the inside. Service was better than expected, given the time - our waitress was extremely polite and attentive, and was quick on the refills for coffee. This establishment is known for having a sometimes raucous late-night crowd, but on a monday, it was almost dead. Only 5 or 6 tables in the diner at that point, and very quiet. Conversation was easy.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars.

Where: MacGregor’s Grill and Tap Room, Empire Blvd (the old Froggy’s across from Irondequoit Bay

When: Two visits, one on Saturday evening for dinner, one Monday afternoon for lunch.

Cuisine: American bar food. Ranging from $6-$14 for entrees. Casual dress and atmosphere.

What: Friday night, a bacon and bleu cheese burger ($6.99) with french fries on the side ($1.50 extra). Didn’t specify the doneness of my burger, which was my mistake - they cook all burgers well done unless otherwise specified. Burger came out dry to the point where it was difficult to chew. Drop the extra $1.50 to get the steak fries - the one upside of this meal (although they came out lukewarm, they were cooked perfectly - crispy golden on the outside, fluffy on the inside). The “chips” that come with the burgers standard tend to be chewy and oversalted. It would be good to note that at this time, the restaurant was a day or two old and extremely busy. Had a bowl of the broccoli-cheddar soup, which was thick and very hearty. Extremely enjoyable. The information board when you enter lists the month’s beer specials, and displayed Magic Hat Pints for $2.75 and Pitchers for $6.75. Asked for and received confirmation that this applied to all Magic Hat Beers. After splitting a couple pitchers, they charged $10.75. We questioned the server, who clarified with the manager that this only applied to one Magic Hat beers, not all of them. Spoke with a manager, who originally said there was “nothing he could do” and offered to give us the name of his manager. When I asked for his name and a number for the manager, he took the check and proceeded to fix it. Left us with a bit of a bad taste in our mouth, we decided this restaurant merited another look.

On Monday, we decided to swing in again for lunch. This time ordered the bacon-sour cream-horseradish burger. This time specified the burger “medium”, to which the server gave clarification as to what medium looked like, I agreed. Decided to give the chips another try. Burger came out great, nice and moist. Lots of sour cream and bacon, but the horseradish flavor was strangely lacking. Still a very good burger. Again, should have passed on the chips for the far-superior (and more expensive) french fries. Did some sampling of different beers at the bar — they have 83 varieties on tap, several seasonals. Can find a beer for anyone here, and the pints are remarkably reasonable.

Rating: Visit one: 1/5 Stars. Visit two: 3/5 stars.

Editors Note: In the sense of fairness, this restaurant will be revisited in a couple months once operations become more fluid.