Rooneys Restaurant - Rochester (NY)

3 /5 HungryHungryVince: I recall visiting this restaurant several years ago and I was blown away. Returning to celebrate my birthday a days ago, it was just okay. We started with a couple of the appetizers. The plantain-crusted shrimp were great. I loved the presentaion, and the flavours were spot on. I found the price of $15 for three shrimp is a bit steep but it was a good tasting and good-looking appetizer. Also placed an order in for the crab cake. The crab cake was absolutely delicious, but I wasnt too fond of the white sauce it came with. It tasted like a mayonnaise-based sauce and Im not sure if it went well with the crab cake. This also ran about $15 for one single crab cake which I also found a bit steep. For mains, I ordered the rack of lamb. This is one of the most tender lamb dishes Ive had anywhere. I found the accompanying sauteed spinach overly salty and the potato gratin a bit underdone. The lamb which I requested medium-rare, was more towards the rare side (which was fine). At $45 for this entree, I expected everything to be spot on, but some aspects missed the mark for me. The girlfriend opted in for the duck breast. I sampled a bit and this was absolutely delicious. A absolutely stunning dish. The flavors were spot on and the puree with the duck were perfect. We both agreed the brussel sprouts were a bit underdone (still crunchy) and some bits had a hard kick of spicy. I want to make clear this is no fault of the restaurant, but the restaurant got quite loud. The dining room is on the smaller side but it was beyond my tolerance. It was rather difficult to hear my girlfriend or ignore the level of noise. Im on the fence on whether I would return. Even taking the noise level out from my decision, one bottle of still water, two glasses of wine, two appetizers, two entrees and a dessert came to slightly under $200 including tax. I expect things to be near perfect for that price-point which Ive found at other restaurants.

5 /5 Richard Spencer: This charming restaurant does it right. Right sized portions, delicious food, beautiful presentation, and best of all, great espresso served with the best flourless chocolate cake wed ever had! Couldnt be happier.

3 /5 Claire Hardie: I was so excited to try this place, my boyfriend and I were driving past it all the time and finally looked it up to see that it had great reviews. Im not sure if these reviews are old or what happened but, the space is cute on the outside but extremely outdated inside. There was no music playing causing it to be very quiet and awkward, the servers seemed just as outdated as the building. We had a mushroom pate special which was fine, the crab cake was I think my favorite item by far. The shrimp were not bad but needed more sauce and I enjoyed the puff pastry and sauce on the escargot but were convinced the kitchen is not using salt here. The beet salad was fine and had a ton of beets in each bite which was good, and we had the scallops and the fish stew for entrees. Fish stew was not good at all, fish was way over-cooked and it was in some tomato water basically. Scallops were cooked perfectly but on a subpar carrot puree and some quinoa which had varying temperatures that made for weird bites and disappointment. We also had I think the worst martinis Ive ever had and really left wondering where the heck theyre keeping the salt and why they dont use it.

5 /5 margaret delaney: This is hands down the best restaurant in Rochester! The cocktails are amazing, the service is perfect, the atmosphere is pleasant. Then theres the food- so well presented and so tasty! If you are looking for a restaurant for a special occasion, romantic night out or just because, this is it! I highly recommend.

5 /5 Vlad Loenko: You’d never expect that down a beaten path you’d find one of the best hidden gems in Rochester! A cozy, comfy spot with an incredible staff and food. The menu was small (always a great sign) and we got crab cake, escargot, salmon and Duck breast. Blown AWAY! Both chefs have been there for decades and take extreme pride in their hard work. We assumed there was a saucier (turns out there isn’t, and it’s just the handiwork of the extremely talented chefs!) because of how well the flavors came together. Will 100% be back and highly excited to share our experience.