Leonore's — Restaurant in City of Rochester

Moody atmosphere with A LOT of gluten free options!! All in all, a nice experience.

Food: most things were delicious! You order a few things to share all at once and they come out when they are ready. We got a few skewers (chicken thigh and beef satay). I was expecting more than 1 skewer. The chicken was over seasoned (salty) but the beef satay was DELICIOUS! In general I felt like the portioning was off on most of the dishes (too little or too much). Really fresh papaya salad, probably the best I’ve had in Rochester so far.

Service: slow and little communication. When we arrived no one greeted us for several minutes (5+) and we were left guessing where to wait or what to do, which I don’t like when going to a new place. Once someone saw us they explained it would be a few more minutes, which I’m fine with. It was the lack of communication when we got there. On the other hand, there was too much explanation of the menu. Despite it being my first time two people explained everything which was a lot of information. In general, ask me if I have questions after the first explanation and then move on. Also, asking if we were drinking or not would have saved time and effort about going into the drink menu for two people not ordering drinks. I will say, everyone was very friendly so that was great!

Atmosphere: moody but fun. It’s a really cool space!! Loved the water bottles at the tables and easy access to chopsticks and napkins. You’ll have to ask for a fork and knife if you need those. If you sit at the bar, you’ll have a fun view of the kitchen and the chefs, which I love! We were supposed to be seated at a booth in the front but were placed in the back at a table. For date night, I was looking forward to a more intimate bench seating with my partner, but the table was nice too.

Parking: street. The restaurant is on Park Ave, so street parking it is! I usually have success on a side street, just double check the signs to know which side since it switches...

Leonore's is a dining experience you don't wanna miss. The menu is simple, items they serve year round and seasonal dishes. They will have specials to offer and plenty of drinks to choose from. Everything is meant to be shared. We recently went with a party of 4 and all the dishes we ordered were able to be shared reasonably. I would say for a larger party you might want multiples of the same dish if it's highly popular.

My group got to sit in a "private" back room which was a cool add on to a wonderful meal. Most seating is open and there are some tables outside as well. We got in early so it wasn't busy, but it was completely filled by the time we left. Service was fast, food came out as it was ready and the staff was wonderful and able to answer all our questions and make adjustments to our orders within reason for personal preference.

We got about 6 different dishes and your mileage may vary based on your palette and hunger. What I will say is everything was made to perfection. The cook and the flavors are absolutely nailed and for me personally offered me tastes I've never had and now love. Everything did come with some heat on it, so if spice is not your thing at all, this may be a challenge. We were warned about the Kimchi and we got it anyways and yeah that sucker is really hot, so if you want a challenge, go for it, if not stay far away.

Tldr: Amazing food, Amazing experience, if you fancy fun flavors and enjoy a mild kick, you might as well get to Leonore's...

As a SEA person, I was willing to try this place with an open mind.

The space itself has a surprise factor with the cave like seating in the back. The ambiance lighting is on the dimmer side. We had 2 staff members help us, but they lacked coherency and communication as one would come and then the other shortly after asking the same things. For example, we placed our order then the other would show up after asking if we were ready to order. We were neglected for the rest of our meal and had to flag down staff for water bottle refills. For the amount of negligence and salt, they should consider replacing the tiny reusable Nalgene water bottles.

“Shared” plates are singular portion, so be prepared to order in abundance. We ordered two sets of the pork belly skewer, which one was charred and the other burnt. The chewy noodles from yan, etc was overbearingly salty. The greens and mushroom in that dish could not save it from the level of salt added to it.

Overall, I was highly unimpressed. From the upscale ingredients added to justify the cost of each dish certainly did not leave a good impression or satisfying quality to come back. Save your money. Go to local place as intimidating...