Lento (Oyster Special)

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Turn Ons:
Best Oyster Selection and Variance in Town
Great Service
Good Cocktails
Duck Fat Frites

Turn Offs:
Short Happy Hour (5-6)
Long Wait Time for Oysters
Pricey Entrees

Summary:
This review will focus on Lento's Oyster special, as we are taking the week to go to an Oyster Special every day and compare them. But we are also touching on other items, as well.

When we walked through all of the Village Gate to get to Leno, we were promptly greeted by the hostess in a dark, upscale restaurant.  We've been here quite a few times.  Melisa really likes it here, but I (Mike) have never really looked forward to trips to Lento... until I had their oysters.  I couldn't put my finger on it until recently, and others may disagree with me.  This is just my opinion and I mean no offense by it.  When I walk into Lento, it seems to have a feminine atmosphere to me.  As a guy, I have no problem with feminine atmospheres, of course; but they're not exactly where I'm most comfortable.  Maybe because Lento makes me think of lentil, which makes me think of no-meat.  Or the vine-y decal on the door when one walks in.  The dark lighting and modern table-settings.  It just feels... feminine to me.  Feel free to disagree.  Here's a picture:

I will concede that there is a thin line between elegant/up-scale and feminine.  So, this could just be my personal taste.  But, you don't see very many Carhartt jackets or football jerseys in there.

Outside of oysters, Lento is a great place for cocktails.  They are very good.  During their very short happy hour, you can get a good price.  I was disappointed that they only have ONE cocktail you can order for the happy hour price.  There was also one beer and three wines available for happy hour.  Count us as disappointed in the minuscule selection.  So, as long as you would like your only option, it's a good deal and very tasty.

On to the oysters.  They always seem to have 4-5 oysters available for $1 and two to select from for $2.  The flavors of the oysters is nice and diverse and the staff is very knowledgeable about where they come from, flavor profiles, etc.  You can only order a maximum of 30 oysters for the table at a time.  With a large group, you just have to keep re-ordering them and keep 'em coming!  Their mignonette sauce is very good.  2nd only to Erie Grill.  But just barely.  I did have to keep asking for more of it, however.  They don't bring enough for 30 oysters.  Actually, they don't bring enough for 15-20 oysters if you really like your mignonette.  I will take a second to gripe about how long it takes the oysters to come out.  To their credit, they do warn you, but... If you order 30 of them, be prepared to wait.  They shuck them behind the bar.  I don't know if they have dedicated shuckers or not, but it looks like a bar tender has to come off of bar duty.  This becomes a problem with 4 or more people at the table.  We got through 30 oysters well before our next round came out.  So, we had about 10-15 minutes of waiting after we had already been there for 30-45 minutes.  Now we appreciate the shucking for the freshness, but there has to be a better system.  Maybe have someone in the back shucking to keep 20-30 ready to go.  Then, when an order comes in, it isn't so much of a catastrophe.

The oysters are served on a big metal plate.  This isn't very appealing, and seems like a dish that should be kept in the back to prepare food.  Especially at a more upscale place with high prices. We do like the little flags that they put on the plate so you can identify which oyster is which.  They're all quite good, so enjoy that.  Also enjoy instructing your uncultured friends how to eat oysters.  For an oyster night with a group, this is where we would go.

Lento's duck fat frites are very good, and go well with oysters.  They have a seafood bar, so you can grab any of the following seafood you'd like at any time: oysters, lobster tail, shrimp, clams, and crab claws. So if you're swinging by for just a quick drink, why not add a small seafood taste?

Lento has an average selection of entrees and they're all pretty good.  We've never been floored by anything, but also never disappointed.  We do always seem to be there for a long time, no matter if it is oyster night or not.  This is both because the relaxed atmosphere doesn't make you feel in a rush and because it takes longer between visits from our server than most other places.

The drinks are good and reasonably priced.  But if you're getting real entrees to go along with the drinks, it gets expensive.

We peg Lento as a great place to go for a cocktail during happy hour.  Maybe get some oysters, frites, and/or an appetizer to go along with it, if you want.  But, if we want to have a sit down dinner at a real dinner time with a real entree, we usually choose to go elsewhere.

For us, the price tag and wait time are usually enough where we can come up with another place to go. (see Gate House or Selena's, just a 15 second walk down the Village Gate)  We do come back, but it is usually when a friend asks to go or if we're here for the oysters.   Don't get me wrong; they're right at the top of the list for Oysters, and also for cocktails.

We'll swing by for cocktails before going to see a show at the Auditorium Theater.  Park at the Village Gate, have a cocktail or two and an appetizer or two.  Walk to the show.  Then walk back to the car after the show to avoid all of the traffic and paying for parking.  Nailed it!

Lento is worth checking out.  Maybe you'll like the atmosphere more than Mike.  They should certainly be on your radar for oysters and cocktails.  We recommend giving it a try for a quick drink and snack.  Then, decide if you'll want to come back for the full experience.

Erie Grill (Oyster Special)

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Turn Ons:
Atmosphere/Canal View 
Intimacy
Quick Service
Great Happy Hour Specials and Prices (5-7)
Great Mignonette sauce
Salt Chips

Turn Offs:
Small Space
Boring Fries

Summary:
This review will focus on Erie Grill's Oyster special, as we are taking the week to go to an Oyster Special every day and compare them. But we are also touching on other items, as well.

Pulling into the Del Monte parking lot in Pittsford already has a certain kind of elegance about it and you know its going to attract the well-to-do crowd.  The Erie Grill is just as (if not, more) elegant as the Del Monte.  So, dress nicely.

We arrived right at the beginning of their two-hour long happy hour.  There were already a few guests at the bar.  I suspect most are hotel guests, so I would peg this as a good place to meet someone who might be out on their own.  As we people-watched, we sure spotted a few singles getting to know each other at the bar.

They have a very nice cocktail selection and use top-quality liqueur.  I ordered two of the Carmel Vanillas, as soon as I saw that they were made with Black Button Bourbon Cream.  So good!  It is a dessert in a glass.  So, that's healthier than normal dessert, right?

We ordered 5 of each $1 oyster right away for a total of 15 oysters.  They came out very quickly, which I appreciated.  I suspect that they pre-shuck some of the oysters and put them on ice.  Because, let's be honest: on Oyster Special Night, you can expect to go through a certain amount of oysters.  So, I really appreciated the quick turn-around.  We didn't notice any degradation in quality due to any suspected pre-shucking, so we really like the idea.

I will say that they only had 3 types of oysters to select from, and I'm not sure that someone wants to order "Little Bitches" while eating at a fancy restaurant.  Yes, that was the name of one of the oysters.  Also, all three of the oysters tasted similar to each other.  They were good, but there wasn't very much variance in flavor. As far as oyster selection, Erie Grill comes in above most oyster specials, but behind Lento.  I will say that their mignonette sauce that is served with the oysters is my favorite that I've had so far.

They have a nice 2 for $20 Happy Hour Special where you can order any two of four available entrees for $20.  The Bison Sliders were dry, but the avocado helped to hide that.  I'll take a second to state that if I'm going to make sliders, I'm going to make them out of a fattier meat to keep them moist.  The small sliders cook the middle too quickly for something as lean as bison meat.  That's probably why they added the avocado.  I say if you're going to make a bison burger, make a bison burger instead of multiple small sliders.  The pretzel bun was probably my favorite pretzel bun I've ever had.  It was very lightly toasted just enough to help bring out the sugars but not so much as to blacken it.  It was also moist and springy enough where I didn't feel like I was biting into concrete, which can happen with pretzel buns.  The fries were boring.  They tried to dress them up with a sauce, but it wasn't working.  Now, their salt chips are delicious!  Get those.  And they're only $1 during happy hour!  The flatbread is a nice healthier and non-meat option, but there wasn't much flavor to it and that was also a bit boring.  The goat cheese was too strong of a flavor, since there really weren't any other strong flavors on the pallet.  But, Melisa doesn't mind goat cheese as much as I do.

We will definitely be back to Erie Grill.  We decided that we'll probably arrive during happy hour on a Monday.  We'll each order a cocktail and order ~15 oysters.  We'll order the salt chips, and split the 2 for $20.

We hope you get the chance to enjoy this very elegant restaurant, the beautiful view of the canal, and the many flavors available to you.  There are a few short-comings, but it is sure to be a wonderful experience.

The Gate House

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Turn Ons:
Burgers
Pizza
Cocktails
Bloody Marys

Turn Offs:
Variable Service
Variable Food Presentation
Slightly Pricey
Poor Beer Selection

Summary:
The Gate House is considered the center of the Village Gate in Rochester.  Some can argue that Selena's and Lento might also be in that discussion, but c'mon; it's the Gate House.
We've been to the Gate House quite a few times.  They have recently changed locations within the Village Gate.  So now, they have more room; which should help to improve their famous long wait times.
They serve brunch and it is very good.  We both highly recommend their Bloody Marys.  They are so flavorful without being too spicy or salty.  With a slice of bacon in your glass, you can't go wrong.
The Gate House uses very fresh, local ingredients, and you can really taste it.  Each dish is just so good.
They have sections of their menu devoted to both burgers and pizzas.  They make specialty burgers and pizzas and they are named after famous Rochester people and landmarks, so that is fun.
The burgers are very high quality and you can specify how you want it cooked.
The pizzas are Neapolitan style and we're pretty sure we saw a wood-fire oven.
We are yet to find a burger or pizza we didn't like.  In fact, we are yet to find anything we didn't like at all.  Even the salads and appetizers are also very good.

Now most people at our table are visibly irritated when we realize they don't have a physical beer menu.  The server must list the beers off at hyper-speed and it is up to the customer to try to pick one out and remember the name by the time they're done.  Why not print out a menu like every other restaurant on the planet?  Perhaps the reasoning is to hide that fact that they don't have a very good beer selection.  Especially in a city as progressive W.R.T. beer as Rochester, the beer selection is quite limited.  Bordering on bad.

This last topic, we probably wouldn't have brought up if we hadn't been there since the move, but we feel like we need to mention it.  Without it, they would certainly have received one or two more "M"s from us.  Maybe they've had to hire a bunch of new staff to handle the larger crowds that they are sure to see with the expanded seating available.  So, maybe that's what's going on here... but we were less than impressed by a few things.  Now, I've been ordering the Gate Plate (their take on the Rochester iconic Garbage Plate) 90% of the time we go to The Gate House.  Instead of macaroni salad, they serve it with pasta salad, which I wrinkled my nose at.  Melisa to the rescue.  She knows that their macaroni & cheese is delicious, so she recommended I substitute the mac & cheese for the pasta salad.  Brilliant!  So, that is how I've been ordering my Gate Plate, ever since! (Medium Rare on the burgers) In their last location, it came out like one would expect.  Fries and mac & cheese on the bottom.  Two burger patties on top.  Delicious meat sauce poured over everything.  ~drooling~ so good! So.... now we've been there since the move, and three of us made that exact same order.  And THIS time, they brought out the plate with fries and two patties on top, with barely any meat sauce on one of the patties.  Then, the mac & cheese on the side! What the?! Why would you do that?! I didn't order "make-your-own-garbage-plate".   And it was seriously lacking Meat Sauce.
We also had another order of a salad with a grilled chicken topper for $5 extra.  The grilled chicken topper consisted of half of one chicken breast.  Not enough to be considered a topper, and certainly not enough to warrant the $5 price tag.  When this was brought up to another server passing-by, we received the ole "you get what you get" response.  When we relayed that to our server, we got the correct "I'm sorry.  Would you like some more chicken?  Or anything else I can do?" response.  So, someone eventually got it right.
So, the point is that we're wondering if the quality of service and food preparation is going to suffer as a result of the move to the new location with the larger seating capacity.  Or, is this more like a temporary growing pain?  We'll check back the next time we visit!

In summary, the food is very very good.  You can get your comfort food or your healthy rabbit food and be quite happy with it.  We recommend the Sunday Brunch and you have to get a Bloody Mary.  If you like garbage plates, try our spin on their Gate Plate.  Be prepared for long waits during typical dining hours.  Be prepared for a staff that might not be totally trained up.  We hope they grow into their new space.  We'll be back to try them out again.  This is a great place to take friends and family from out of town.