Rochester, NY

[user 305778]

I'm heading up to Rochester soon and was wondering if anyone knew the area. I don't have a ton of time, but was hoping to check out Swiftwater and Three Heads. If I can only go to one of them, anyone know which is a better choice? Possibly going to have my kids with me, as well, so that's a consideration. Any other suggestions are welcome, too, but I'll probably only have time Friday and maybe Saturday night. Thanks!

 

[Wagon Circler]

I live in Rochester. I'm happy to help. Before I respond, are you going to be staying in or near the city or out in a suburb?

 

[user 305778]

In the city. We'll be right near the Brighton area.

 

[Wagon Circler]

In the city. We'll be right near the Brighton area.

Nice, that's my neighborhood. I live right next to highland park. If you haven't heard, the Liliac festival is going on this and will be going on while you're here.

Here's my two cents about the breweries you mentioned. Just an FYI, I had a discussion about how I never go to the local breweries with a beer friend just a few days ago. I'm more of a bar guy.

Three heads: I guess their regular IPA is ok. Besides that I've never really had a beer there that I'd call anything other than average. I only go there when my friends band is playing (like twice in a year that they've been open.). There's zero other entertainment besides occasional band and no food (maybe food trucks but I'm not sure). They are right near a really good restaurant www.noshroc.com which would really be the only reason why I'd go there.

Swiftwater: I haven't been here in a long time. It's really a nice place inside. The food looks good but I've never tried it. I don't have kids, but if I did I'd certainly bring them here before Three Heads. They are capable of making good beer and sometimes will have something from a barrel on tap. I've had equally good beers and bad beers from swiftwater. They do flights. The owner/brewer is a nice guy. It's close to one of Rochester's best bars http://www.tapandmallet.com/ (pretty good food here too) and closer to where you're staying.

Genesee Brew House : should be on your radar as well. I'd call it the most kid friendly of the three. They have pilot brews that are actually really good! Sometimes they will have something from a barrel. I'd skip anything that they call an IPA and opt for a pilsner or something similar. The building is really cool and I'm not sure how old your kids are, but there's stuff to (briefly) look at and I'd imagine they would like the menu. I'm not a huge fan of the food myself but I know other people like it. It's usually pretty busy here. They have rooftop and beer gardens depending on the weather.

Let me know if you have any other questions

 

[BadJustin]

Get a Garbage Plate at Nick Tahous.

 

[user 305778]

Thanks guys, this is super helpful. My kids are 2 and 4 so quite young. We'll mostly be going to parks and the Strong museum for them but one of these places will be lunch on Friday.

 

[chefduff2]

Sticky Lips is a great place to get lunch for the family and also has a large draft selection. I would feel strange bringing my 3 year olds to swiftwater.

 

[user 305778]

Sticky Lips is a great place to get lunch for the family and also has a large draft selection. I would feel strange bringing my 3 year olds to swiftwater.

There are apparently two of these. Does it matter which I go to? As far as Swiftwater, my kids are well behaved so I'm not worried about that but we'd want food too.

edit: Oh the one labeled juke joint is further out of town.

 

[Wagon Circler]

The museum of play is great, your kids will love it. My wife is a teacher and she brings her kids there all the time.

If you have time, I recommend a walk through highland park. It's beautiful all the time but especially so right now because the lilacs are in bloom. I wouldn't bother with the festival part across highland Ave. Nothing to see there.

 

[chefduff2]

There are apparently two of these. Does it matter which I go to? As far as Swiftwater, my kids are well behaved so I'm not worried about that but we'd want food too.

edit: Oh the one labeled juke joint is further out of town.

The juke joint is worth it for the beer selection and just outside of Brighton. The other one is next to Lost Borough, but not as much room or beer selection. Tap and Mallet for lunch could be good if your kids will eat the food on the menu and are ok in that environment. I brought my kids in their car seats right in when they were small several times.

 

[user 305778]

Okay one more question and this one is about beer availability. I'm just not sure what's around to buy in Rochester since I live in Philly. If I need to get 2 types of beer, do you guys have any suggestions for what's around in Rochester? I'm going to try to find out myself, but it's helpful getting answers from people in the area. Thanks!

edit: Not sure if it's available but was thinking like Oskar Blues Pinner (or a replacement session ipa if need like All Day IPA) and then something not super hoppy. Normally I'd do Yards Brawler but I don't know if Yards gets that far north.

 

[Kraftster]

If I could piggyback on this, I am heading to a wedding in Canandaigua in September and was looking for any worthwhile stops between there and Pittsburgh. From what I could tell, Abandon seemed promising, but everything else seemed take it or leave it.

Much like OP, I'll have my wife and two kids (3 and 6) with me, so if I'm going to use some family currency going out of the way to a brewery, I'd like it to be worthwhile. Especially since we have our actual vacation the next month and that should present me with several worthwhile opportunities.

Any votes in favor of a stop at Abandon or anywhere else I may have missed in that area?

 

[chefduff2]

If I could piggyback on this, I am heading to a wedding in Canandaigua in September and was looking for any worthwhile stops between there and Pittsburgh. From what I could tell, Abandon seemed promising, but everything else seemed take it or leave it.

Much like OP, I'll have my wife and two kids (3 and 6) with me, so if I'm going to use some family currency going out of the way to a brewery, I'd like it to be worthwhile. Especially since we have our actual vacation the next month and that should present me with several worthwhile opportunities.

Any votes in favor of a stop at Abandon or anywhere else I may have missed in that area?

Really depends which way you come up through, but the most likely way through Olean does not have you passing anything at the level Pittsburgh has now at all. Where you are staying you should be able to get to Three Huskies and Nedloh which are decent. Abandon is a nice place with a great view, but I feel like even that brewery is in the trap of producing beer that will appeal to people visiting wineries instead of being known for great beer.

Also, look to see if they are a farmhouse licensed brewery in NY before you visit any. It means you need to use a certain amount of NY ingredients to get the tax break. Our ingredients are poor compared to national suppliers. I think people should know that ahead of time.

 

[user 305778]

After some really helpful advice from Wagon Circler I think I've settled on Oskar Blues Pinner and Jacks Abbey House Lager from my above question. Anyone see anything wrong with that?