Rooney's Restaurant

Rooneys Restaurant A best-kept culinary secret is yours to keep-or share. Our European habit of changing the menu each day according to what Chef Frank Campione found in the market that morning helps explain why Rooneys continues to be among the top 5 dining experiences in Rochester. However, the food says it all. Come, get a taste, and see if you can keep this Epicurean enclave all to yourself. For the last half-century, weve been quietly tucked away on Henrietta Street in Rochester. In fact, the first time you come down this winding, mostly residential street you might think youve made a wrong turn. But among the homes youll pass lies a secret garden of dining in Rochester. Its the kind of place people recall fondly and return to loyally . Our History Once a saloon located on the Erie Canal (before they moved it), this circa 1890s building has been a magnet of hospitality for city dwellers and suburbanites alike in Rochester. High ceilings, a welcoming dining room fireplace, and an impressive Victorian wooden bar give todays diners a feeling of speak-easy comfort. The Swillburg neighborhood surrounding Rooneys is located in Rochesters South Wedge. Its credited with having more of a village feel conveniently close to the excitement of city life. So where did it gets such a rural-sounding name? Back in the days of gaslights and dirt thoroughfares, pig farms were numbered among the citys thriving businesses. And feed came from swill left out for collection by the residents. Not so swell-sounding, but Rooneys definitely breaks with that tradition! We asked for a little more info on Rooneys background from the Landmark Society of Western New York. Heres what Architectural Researcher Coordinator Cynthia Howk found: The restaurant is situated in a handsome red brick building that owner Dick Touri says was built in 1868 and has always been a tavern. He speculates that the original owner had land reaching down to the old Erie Canal and that the nei