New Downtown Rochester Restaurants

Prior to yesterday's Knighthawks game, we decided to go out to dinner. I first tried a new restaurant in downtown called Sneaky Pete's. It's a small sports bar on Main Street near State. It looked like it had about a dozen tables and a bar. Unfortunately (for me, but great for them) it was so packed with Knighthawks fans that I decided to look elsewhere so we'd make the game in time. Their menu looked good and surprisingly large for a small place so I look forward to trying it soon though. Afterwards, I decided to try the Main Street Grill in the Clarion, but it was also packed.

Consequently, I was going to head to High Falls, but I happened to run across a relatively new restaurant that just added weekend evening hours on State Street. It's called Tijuana Tokyo's. You can find Mexican food, wraps, salads and soups. It's a fast casual restaurant that caters primarily to the lunch crowd. They also have delivery available via their website, and I suspect that's their main source of income on weekend evenings. The food was great and the owner was very friendly. There is meter parking near the restaurant (free after 6pm and on weekends all day), and the Sister Cities Garage is usually free on weekends.

Both are great downtown additions and I hope they'll both do very well. Before going to the next Blue Cross Arena event, you might want to check these places out. I like seeing downtown businesses open at night, and patronizing them is the best way to make that happen.

Note: Tijuana Tokyo's has returned to its weekday breakfast and lunch hours. During the summer, they may reopen during the evening. A recent Insider article indicated they are planning to open a second location on Monroe Avenue.

Midtown Plaza: Your Input is Wanted

Following up on my last post in this section, the City of Rochester is seeking input on Midtown Plaza. As you've probably heard, there is discussion of applying a "Little Italy" concept to the center. While it's tough to envision exactly what it would be, it sounds like it would be very unique which is exactly what the plaza needs. From the shopping side of things, differentiating it from the suburban centers is most vital.

A report was recently released stating it would be cheaper to tear down the plaza (more due to the office space) than renovate it. This is largely due to asbestos containing fireproofing. However, tearing it down and rebuilding would be more expensive than renovating the space. And, I assume they don't want to turn the center into a parking lot. In regards to leveraging that office space, I still think mixed use is the way to go.