At the Beach

Since summer is basically here, a lot of us will probably be making trips to the beach, right? Except in Rochester, trips to the beach involve driving north. To Lake Ontario. So if you find yourself out at the Lake, without a grill, here are a few of my favorite spots to visit for a bite:

Mr. Dominic's - look for it to get super-busy on the weekend nights. Get there early and enjoy some truly great classic, no-frills Italian American cooking. They have lots of specials and do tremendous things with seafood. Plus it has that vinyl tablecloth, Frank Sinatra, cigar smoke, old timers at the bar vibe that I love.

There are lots of other restaurants in Charlotte (Coney Island of the West) on Lake Ave, including a Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger (and a sushi place and a Johnny Rocket's I think in the forlorn, abandoned Port of Rochester), Nola BBQ, and an Abbott's of course. The LDR Char Pit is also renown for their steak sandwiches. I've never really been to these places, so I can't vouch for them.

Heading across the Genessee east to Durand Eastman Park, you won't find much. But you can always DIY by bringing a grill out there (or using the ones provided at the park).

And once you hit Culver, there's a fair amount of treats around Seabreeze. Don's Original and Vic and Irv's provide the perfect nostalgic treat - simple, smushy, greasy burgers and homemade onion rings. Marge's is across the street if you'd prefer treats of the alcoholic variety. Plus, with your feet in the sand, you may actually feel as if you have wound up somewhere slightly more tropical.

Now, if wasn't the summer, you could take the bridge across Irondequoit Bay to Webster, home of my personal favorite, Bayside Pub. However, this now requires a tedious amount of driving either over or around the bay since the bridge is closed to allow for boat traffic into Lake Ontario. Bayside is still worth the drive for a nice view, great wings and chili cheese fries, and $7 pitchers. Just remember-- it's cash only!