The Classic Kitchen & Cocktails — Restaurant in City of Rochester

Had a first experience here last week. My friend who is gluten-free, dairy-free found the place on an app that lists allergen-friendly places in an area. It was also walking distance from her place off of Univ Ave, so that was convenient.

Upon entering, we were seated promptly. The place offered a comfy vibe (and comfortable A/C for a hot summer's day). Indoor seating wasn't at capacity but more parties came in as our meal went on, so by the end, the place was comfortably busy. Note- there is only one server and one bartender who cover both the indoor and outdoor tables. Because of this, service was slower (completely understandable, and we weren't in a hurry anyway) but the waitress did seem anxious managing all the tables. A recommendation is hiring an additional server to ensure everyone is waited on in an efficient manner and no one server gets overwhelmed/overloaded.

For food, we were surprised that every single menu item was gluten free (the server even confirmed that their fryer is a separate to ensure it's gluten friendly). I ordered a burger and my friend got the coconut curry and a drink. For mine, I liked the fries better than the burger itself because the fries were seasoned very well and crispy. The burger was was too salty and lacked flavor besides salt. My friend enjoyed her meal and had leftovers to bring home. She said her drink was good too, which was good to hear because the drinks were very reasonably priced.

Overall, I'm curious to try other menu items, so I'd go back again. If you have friends/families with gluten intolerance, check out for a...

Starting with the good, it was a nice low key vibe and despite being busy it was quiet. So nice to be able to talk to and hear your dinner companions. Unfortunately the food wasn’t very good. While the pot roast was excellent and the poutine was good, the other four meals were sub par. The risotto was more like flavorless rice with none of the soft texture and moisture it should have had. The scallops were overcooked and the sauce both basic and a bit strident (acidic with no balance). The burger was fine but nothing special. The arancini was much like the risotto in that it was dry rice and in addition the lemon flavor did not match the marinara it was in. The butternut squash Mac and cheese was a weird mix of squash, cheese, and craisins with the pasta. The squash was sweat enough but having the craisins in Mac and cheese was just weird. Even the Diet Coke was pretty flat. The service was very slow on top of things but decently attentive when it came to refilling water 🤷🏻‍♀️. The cocktails were pretty good though (a French 75 and a lemon drop martini). We’d go back if someone else was paying or we were just getting cocktails but we wouldn’t suggest it to others or go of our own initiative for dinner. Disappointing because it’s hard to find chill and quiet...

I ordered the risotto with scallops, neither of which had much flavor. The scallops were undercooked. The risotto was tasteless and bland. The saving grace was the relatively cheap price to add scallops as a protein. I believe it was $9, and I got three scallops ($3/scallop is on the low end, in my experience).

I had two cocktails. The first was a Negroni which was on their menu. It was a poorly made Negroni, and lacked the classic Campari bite. It tasted like they used too much vermouth. The second was a gin martini. I asked for olive, but they forgot. No biggie. However, they used way too much brine, and way too much ice in the shake, because it ended up tasting very watered down. Overall, I would not recommend this restaurant, and suspect it will not survive unless they train their bartenders and chefs better.

The wait staff...