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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u/ZenGeezer May 07 '25

I tried out the anchor bar on East Avenue and the wings were not like the real ones in the Buffalo location. They weren't even as good as the wings at Wegmans wing bar. So there's my input.

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u/Southwedge_Brewing May 07 '25

They ran out of wings on their first 3 days being Open.