Forager Brewery — Restaurant in Rochester

I am brand new to the Rochester area. I have relocated here because of my deteriating health, to be closer to my medical team, as well as to join my son who I am proud to say is a neurology resident, following in my footsteps.

I love travel and dining, and have decided to fill the time between appointments and procedures by trying as many restaurants as possible. I am excited to see what this bustling culinary scene has to offer!

I could not have been more pleased with forager Brewery, my first venture. This was my son suggestion, as he is a frequent patreon at this establishment and spoke highly of their unique beers. he was unfortunately on call and unable to join me.

The label art from current and past beers was on display on a prominent wall. Absolutely delightful! Each one was unique and clever. I appreciated that the designs were clearly hand drawn, but would have not looked out of place in the craft section of any high end liquor or beer store.

It was incredibly busy when I visited, but I merely had to wait 10 minutes before I was called to my table. My table turned out to be a long picnic table inlaid with penny's in resin. I was informed by the family already occupying the table this is what is know an "family style" seating and a growing trend in the more hip establishments. I made fast friends with my table mates and enjoyed the conversation immensely.

Before too long a young lady introduce herself as my server. while she must have been quite hurried, she was energetic and friendly and answered all of my questions with patience. I ended up settling on the forager Burger accompanied by one of their Pale Ale creations. The burger was unique and complex in flavor, and I must say absolutely delicious. Same goes for my beer, however I was feeling it's effects before I I have even finished it! Not like the beer I am accustomed to drinking at all. The fries were exactly how I like them, I've now decided.

Although my meal was more than filling, the young lady serving me informed me that my forager experience would not be complete without their signature Smore. How right she was!

I found the bill to be more than reasonable for the the value of the experience and quality of the food. I have many more restaurants to visit, but to be honest I can't wait to get back to Forager...

For the people who reported the food to be bland and uninteresting...I'm a foodie into bold flavors and I really enjoyed the salsa Verde on the birria tacos. For the chef i think the beef broth doesn't add much. I can't comment on any other food, yet. Tacos were tasty with Metz's Gold Star Pils or Road to Mordor New Zealand Pils. I do wish the tacos had more cilantro and an avocado option and less oil but I'm weird that way. On the NZ Pils, I admit my bias toward Nelson Sauvin hops but that was a delicious beer. Metz's Gold Star should be considered at GABF...great, crisp Pils!...everything a great pilsener should be; tight! That's a brewer's beer. Not usually a big fan of light lagers but really did enjoy Pin Seeker Pils. I'm glad I had it before the tacos because they were delicious and trashed my palate for a few minutes. Not super impressed with the amber lager or the Paulinator (great name) Maibock because it was a little light and didn't express the malts clearly. The amber Hook Setter was mid. Just felt like the flavors were a little dull and muddled but, I'm a brewer and hyper critical. I think most people would really enjoy all these beers. All were good, two were truly great. The brewer should be really proud of their work. I thought the ambiance was great...laid back, not too big giving an intimate feel and great playlist. The servers are perfect and seem to have a good working relationship with each other . Great work...you make or ruin the ambiance, and you rocked it. If I lived here, I'd be here a lot. So pleased with beer food and service that I'm going to return tomorrow and try the IPAs. This brewery is at the top end so far. Review 2. Gor 4 oz pours of all the IPAs today. All are hazy IPAs. Standouts are Eastern Eaboard (citra galaxy and mosaic) and Jeremy the Jaguar DIPA (Nelson and El Dorado). Both are tight; really enjoyed them. Runner up is Decent which is better than decent. Francisco the Falcon (citra) and Amy the Anaconda (amarillo sabro cashmere) are both solid but not extraordinary. Had a forager burger. Excellent and cooked to a perfect medium rare. Also tasted the Flood porter on nitro (tends dry with a perfect persistent head). Very well made Taking home a 750 of wild ale home. Overall this brewery is great. Hope I get to...

This was our first time as customers of Forager Brewery and this experience went off the rails as soon as they answered the phone. I called at 2.30 pm a non busy time and when I identified that I was calling to place an order I was interrupted and told that I needed to hang up and log on and place my order on line. When I inquired as to why I could not place a phone order I was told that they needed to keep their phone lines available for business. When I pointed out that I was calling to do business with them I was told that he would make an "exception" and take my order. When I arrived to pick up my order there was no greeting by an employee who was in the front bar and after a minute of waiting I made my way to the back bar and asked the bartender- (again no greeting) about picking up food. The food was ready to go and then I asked about beer and was given the to-go listing which was very limited. When I commented that I did not know how these beers tasted I was not offered a taste or asked if I would like to try a sample or told that the to go beers were not available on tap. I read the descriptions and made a couple of choices. What kind of brewery is not happy to introduce new customers to their beers? Upon getting home and ready to have our meal we discovered that The pizza was so heavily seasoned with garlic and herbs that my wife could not eat it. My Caeser salad had the romaine substituted out for salad greens. This may be ok if you like greens but if you order romaine you should get romaine, especially in a Caeser salad. My take away is that the combination of smug unfriendly staff coupled with getting a basic salad order wrong means that we will not be back as there are many more places that want to welcome new customers and make you feel that they appreciate the hard earned money that you are spending with them. This visit made for an expensive reminder that not everyone practices good...