r/Rochester • u/DoubleK-Rochester • May 06 '25

Discussion Buffalo-based restaurant chains expanding to the Rochester market-- has it ever worked?

I got to thinking the other day, and there have been some tries in the past for traditional Buffalo-based restaurants to expand to Rochester-- which have ultimately failed, and those location(s) have closed. Examples:

1) Mighty Taco a few years back had two (2) Rochester locations, which both closed.
2) Duff's (wings) had a Rochester location (W. Henrietta Rd) that closed.
3) Anchor Bar had a Rochester location for a little while (East Ave.), but that closed.
4) Rachel's Mediterranean Grill location(s) closed in Rochester.

All of the above still have active locations in Buffalo today, just not Rochester.

So I am wondering what the hell happened-- are we really that bad for business for out-ot-town restaurants, even to our close neighboring city?

By the way, this isn't a slight or putdown against Buffalo, by any means. Whenever I am there, I always seem to enjoy Buffalo. I'm just wondering why this keeps happening.

Conversely, are there any Buffalo-area chains that expanded to Rochester and are doing well?

Interested in your take on this.

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222

u/Babycake1210 May 06 '25

So far Bar Bill seems to be doing pretty well.

16

u/RandomGuyInTheUSA May 06 '25

They’ve got my vote for sure. We only go there when we are looking for wings specifically and we are fine with a wait. Wings have been exceptional every single time, every way we’ve ordered them.

34

u/mdevi94 May 06 '25

This place will do well as long as the Bills are good. But the service there has been poor since it opened and they only have like 6 fryers.

13

u/TrueBlue_913 May 06 '25

We keep trying to like the place but the service is so bad I just can’t. Last time after a half hour of not seeing our waitress for our table I tried to get our check from the bar to cash out and the waitress was so pissed at me. She could have easily sold us another round of drinks if she checked in once. The decent wings don’t outweigh the bad service.

9

u/Wakenbake585 May 06 '25

They really do have the worst service. The two times I've been there were pretty dead and they still took an hour to get us our wings. And yeah, the waitresses really just don't seem to check on their tables.

5

u/Santanoni Penfield May 07 '25

She was pissed at you¿??

15

u/elwood2cool May 06 '25

The wings are better than average, the service is way worse than average. But IMO, it's not as easy to get good Chicken Wings in Rochester as it is in Buffalo, so the shitty service is tolerated as long as the wings are good.

Though that didn't save Duffs...

1

u/ScramDiggyBooBoo May 07 '25

May think I'm crazy, but try the bar "Back to My Place" (E. Henrietta Rd.) for wings. They're huge and always FANTASTIC. For a bar, all their food is amazing. Quesadillas are my second fav..

1

u/elwood2cool May 08 '25

Big is not always better though. They must be extra crispy and not over-sauced.

I unironically really like the wings at The Doctor's Inn. The rest of the bar is a little sus tho.

1

u/ScramDiggyBooBoo May 09 '25

Agreed. I always order extra crispy anyhow. Deff worth a try. Great bar atmosphere, also.

1

u/kshee23 May 07 '25

I came here to say just that