Nupa North — Restaurant in Rochester

Nupa is one my family's favorite restaurants in Rochester and I'm proud to say I was the one who got them hooked. I tried Nupa early on when we moved here because I was curious to try some Mediterranean food and I love Tomato soup (their Tomato Basil soup is very tasty, by the way.) I've tried just about everything on their menu at this point, and it's all good, but my personal favorite dish is the pita. I switch between chicken and gyro for meat to mix it up a little, but both are excellent. Other favorite items on the menu include the chicken kebabs, side pitas and hummus, and baklava. My dad recommends the salads.

If you only get the pita meal, which is fairly filling on it's own, you will also be spending less than 10 dollars to eat there, which I tend to do when more strapped for cash. I still rated the cost as $10-20 because I tend to spend a bit more getting sides and soup, but the prices are extremely reasonable and it's possible to spend less than $10 if you are being frugal.

In terms of atmosphere, the place is small but cozy and comfortable. For any sort of group meal the South location would work better (you also have a clear view of food prep there, which is cool) but eating on your own or with one or two people should work well at the North location.

My least favorite thing about the north location, which is the one closer to our house so the one we usually visit, is getting in and out of the lot. The need to wait at the stop light for two or three cycles to turn left on to 11th Ave from Civic Center Dr is so aggravating to me. Getting across traffic to go left out of the Nupa exit on 11th Ave is also almost impossible if there is any amount of traffic, because you are either blocked by oncoming traffic or the queue at the light backs up to the exit and there isn't room to pull out. The exit directly on to Civic Center Dr let's you get around this somewhat, but only when the light is green and the queue isn't also blocking that exit. The Civic Center Dr exit doesn't allow you to turn left, either, meaning you still have to use the other more difficult exit to go east. It's just very difficult to get in and out, especially during rush hour. This isn't really Nupa' fault, but it's definitely something to be aware of when visiting for the first time. I usually drive in from the Elton Hills exit off of Hwy 52 because it's much easier to get in and...

The food is amazing, service is friendly and quick, but there's another thing I just saw. No one else in the restaurant saw it because it was really discreet. I happened to be sitting near the drink machine, facing it. A man who did not appear to be a paying customer, who didn't look like he necessarily had a secure place to live, came in. One of the servers left the register and greeted him at the drink machine, asking what he needed. He offered him water, with a friendly "sure!" He said, "tell me, what else do you need?" The man answered timidly, and quietly. The server understood, indicated to wait a moment and went in the kitchen and returned with a pack of cigarettes. He said, "take the whole thing, its ok". The man then quickly left after expressing thanks.

The food is amazing, and I come here frequently since moving to Rochester. But this act of kindness, which caused no one any trouble in the dining room is inspiring and I will be even more loyal and an even better tipper because of it. Rochester is expensive and soon to be cold. The generosity from the server is not small. The need of the man is legitimate.

The meat is beautifully cooked and well seasoned, plates made to order. You can and should buy the seasoning to take home. The chocolate torte, baklava and tiramisu are amazing. Nothing has disappointed yet. Come...

The food is spot on, best Mediterranean I've had! I've eaten here more than 15 times, probably my favorite restaurant in Rochester, except for last night. I'm having procedures done at the Mayo clinic so I'm u able to leave my hotel so we ordered delivery. After 1.5 hrs of waiting we called Nupa to see what was going on. I was extremely friendly and honestly was fine with the wait because I "thought" I knew what was coming (some delicious food from my favorite restaurant). WRONG. When I called the person on the phone he was not helpful at all and essentially said if my food never gets to me there's nothing he can do and he had no suggestions on what I could do, he then told me he had too many people in the restaurant to talk about my situation and basically hung up on me. I then called door dash and they were EXTREMELY friendly and helpful. They tracked it , called multiple drivers and eventually got the food out to me. When it arrived we were missing about ¾ of out food. Once again I called door dash and they were fantastic in coming up with a resolution. Long story short NUPA, stop using outside services to deliver your delicious food and soil your name. The main reason for my 2 stars is the rude guy on the phone. I hope NUPA see this and corrects the issue with outside delivery services and not let them...