Chortke — Restaurant in City of Rochester

Chortke is a family owned, Persian House of Shish Kabob restaurant that's serving up some stellar food and flavors in Rochester, New York. They pride themselves on serving fresh, all-natural ingredients with cuisine that represents health and family. The atmosphere is large and open with plenty of indoor seating while staying clean and well organized. The service was amazing as we were dealing with the owner who showed that he loved to be there and tall with his customers. Can't say enough great things about him! Also, the food is everything you're looking for with a shish kabob. Big pieces of protein, flame grilled vegetables, and lots of sauce. I highly encourage you to come and support this small business for their efforts. It's worth it!

My wife and I shared the Spicy Platter 3 which consisted of one skewer of marinated grilled steak(cooked to your liking), one skewer of spicy marinated grilled chicken, a charred tomato and their yogurt sauce on the side with half salad and half rice. They give you a side of vinigarette for your salad and some small cups of the spiced oil to amp up your chicken or beef. The cups of yogurt sauce they give you is plenty so no need to ask for extra haha. The meats were cooked well. We had asked for the beef skewers to be cooked medium rare and they came out medium and one closer to medium well but none were fully cooked and honestly we kinda liked it how it came out to we didn't say anything about it. The rice was delicious and perfectly seasoned and the salad was fresh and simple.

We had also ordered some falafels that I didn't get a picture of because I ate it so fast haha. You have the option of getting your falafels soft or crispy and I like mine crispy so that's what I chose. Not many places offer that which I like. The came out prefect with a nice crispy outside and a flavorful chickpea inside. It goes great with the yogurt sauce.

We had Baklava for dessert and people, let me tell ya, this was the best Baklava we've ever had!!! It was SOOOOO good and we had to stop ourselves from going back and getting more haha for those that don't know what Baklava is, it's essentially a puff pastry made with filo dough and pistachios and topped off with a sugar syrup and more nuts. If you haven't had it yet you need to try it from here!

They get bonus points for have a self serve water station and having cucumber water as one of the options.

This place is a gem and the owner really cares about what he's doing here. Support small business and try them out. You won't regret it.

Food - 5 ⭐ Service - 5 ⭐ Atmosphere - 5 ⭐ Overall - 5 ⭐

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First time there after the remodel and the new menu was implemented (11/29/23). The place is barely recognizable from when I was there before. Well, the food is still great and the owner is still the nicest person ever. I will say it was not a cheap meal, but we also dine like we mean it the first time seeing a new menu. So we had three apps and then each had entrees between the four of us. I'll admit, the grilled octopus was not cooked properly and was super rubbery as a result. The pizza there is pretty damn good though. Proper pizza ovens and someone making dough fresh made for a solid pie. The wings (8 to an order for $18) were cooked well and the seasoning and dipping sauce was very unique, but it wasn't my favorite. That's my personal preference on flavor though. Had a piece of pistachio cheesecake that was a pretty tasty ending.

Now, the new menu... it's not like what it used to be. I think the kebob is the only item that remains beside the rice from the first iteration of that restaurant. But it was very different. New flavors and pairings that I'd not seen before. Definitely some out-of-the-box thinking when developing the menu. My only concern is if you wanted Persian food like what you may have had before is not really an option. There's Persian influence in some of the seasoning choices, but overall it wasn't overly Persian or Iranian. But as long as you know that going in, the food is great. Definitely check the new setup and menu out. Make sure to talk to the owner. He's the best!

Placed a large to-go order for my first visit last night (9/29/21) and pretty much tried all of the proteins and a few apps. It was clean and new and you could tell that they were still putting the finishing touches on the restaurant, but not in a "pardon our dust" kind of way. Just choosing décor and what not.

The owner was working register and he was one of the nicest people I've ever come across working in the service industry. He was genuinely excited to feed us and was extremely appreciative of our business. Smiles the whole time. His attitude sold me even before I tasted the food.

Not only was the food made and brought out to us pretty quickly despite it being a large order, but it tasted great. ALL OF IT. The spicy chicken and the steak were my favorites, and the rice was perfect as well. The ground beef and regular chicken were plenty tasty, same with the falafel and garlic hummus. We will definitely be going back there, and we will be bringing some wine and/or beer with us, since they don't have their liquor license yet. Overall, I loved the place and the food. Please give it a shot. New places with quality food and service need...

12/10 dining experience - just stop reading and make the reservation. Truly, everything I desire in a dining experience was fulfilled at Chortke. The atmosphere is super cute, unique and eclectic - perfect for date night or girls night vibes. This was exactly what we were looking for, for my best friend’s birthday. The service was phenomenal. Kenny tended to our needs and provided excellent recommendations - which I took him up on 3/3! From a specific recommendation for wine, to dinner and dessert specials, and even the next bar to stop at for a post-drink cocktail, you could tell he really knew his stuff. He was able to describe menu items more in depth for us to understand what to expect with certain things we were interested in. He made our dining such a great experience. The food was phenomenal. Come hungry, portions are fantastic, which is very appealing as you never know what to expect at a nicer place these days. We started with the octopus appetizer, which just exploded with flavor. My friend got the lamb shank while I opted for the 6oz beef tenderloin with grits and carrot puree, which was the special. Both were SUPERB. Cooked PERFECTLY to temp wouldn’t change a thing. The flavors are just fantastic with everything we ate. We opted to share the jeweled rice and brussel sprouts. Rice was delicious. And let me tell you, the brussel spouts were everything I wished for in my sprouts - crispy, but still tender, fig glaze, just SO tasty. The shareable sides were a really good portion too. For dessert, we had something so delicious, but I’m not sure of the name. It looks like a staked birds nest with fried thin dough strips (think flat round ramen looking not tasting), pistachio pastry cream, raspberries and saffron syrup. SOMETHING SPECIAL. So refreshing, not overly sweet, flavors melt together SO well, and again great portion size. Overall this has been my favorite dining experience in a long time and I highly recommend! I’m from out of town and would make this a monthly spot for a date night if we did live up here. It sounds like a reservation is a good idea, but they were definitely accommodating and even the hostess was very experienced! Excellent in every...