Drifters L.B.

Stayed in the hotel with my wife and two five year old children, we enjoyed a great dinner in one of the large booths. The atmosphere is modern, but still very warm. I was impressed with the menu and enjoyed Mahi Tacos. We split an order of wings (10/​medium) — very tasty wings.

It was my first time there and I have to say I probably won’t return. the bar atmosphere was fine but the food wasn’t memorable at all. The mai mai was dry. The «surf and turf» chicken and shrimp was not tastey. Maybe they just had an off night, who knows.

Everything is usually pretty good here besides for the fact that every time I order chicken it’s never cooked through enough. I understand there are accidents and mistakes but I have sent my food back three separate times here because of the chicken being pink or slimy and they just can’t get it together. Will not be back for food, can’t believe it hasn’t been taken care of yet.

I went here for lunch as a party of four. The food was delicious– we split the grilled cheese appetizer, and I got the steak hoagie (the others got Mac & cheese burgers and flatbread)– and we had enough time to get back to the office for a 1pm meeting. Once word gets out around this place it’ll be a crowded spot, for sure!

Great food! They have a really nice décor and the food was incredible. Try the prosciutto and mozzarella sandwhich. Can’t wait to come back!

We are staying at the new Hilton Garden Inn while visiting our daughter, a U of R student. Food in Rochester has really never been a selling point, it has always been just kind of mediocre everywhere we have tried, but this was below even our low expectations. First, my husband got the hot wings and my daughter and I split the crab and lobster fondue. The hot wings were average, at best, and the fondue was lacking in flavor, seafood, and pita. If your are going to short me on something, don’t make it the cheapest item on the plate rendering the most expensive thing completely inedible! My husband, turned off by the wings, opted not to order an entrée. I ordered the fish and chips, my daughter ordered the chicken and waffles. The food came in a timely manner and the service was great, but then the ‘band” started. At 6:00 pm we got blasted with one woman on mic’d bongos and another on a guitar doing Indigo Girls covers, poorly, but incredibly loud. We literally could not talk to each other at our table, seated not more than 2 feet from each other. Our food arrived and my daughter thoroughly enjoyed her chicken and waffles, but my fish was so over cooked it was dry and, in some places, had turned into more like an unchewable fish jerky. Very overcooked. Once our daughter ate her fill of her delicious chicken and waffles, we retreated to our room to escape the noise of the band… only to find we could STILL hear them from the room. We ended up spending the rest of the evening watching the Rangers/​Flyers game from the Hyatt bar next door where we not only got an excellent meal (the burger is fantastic!), but could also carry on a conversation without having to read lips/​use sign language over the terrible and blaring live band.

First off, this is a lovely space. I liked the industrial/​vintage look, although the entrance through the hotel into what appears to be (but is not) the restaurant is confusing.
The evening we went, there was only one server and one bartender working. While the server was slow to seat us, we otherwise received prompt, friendly service. I watched her book it from one end of the restaurant to the other and that smile never left her face. I hope that night was not a norm for her!
The menu is inventive, with fun riffs on old standbys. I was impressed by the creativity in a hotel restaurant. The poutine is delicious, although not what I expected. Instead of a traditional beef gravy, it comes with a creamy mushroom gravy. Different, but still delicious! It’s a big order too, so be sure to share.
Come to think of it, all of the food was enormous. My coworker ordered the chicken and waffles and there was enough food there to feed him two meals, plus give me some for the next morning. I loved the chili butter that came with it and had trouble not using my fingers to finish off the ramekin.
The bar has a great selection of craft beers as well. The prices, for the amount and quality of food you receive, are very reasonable. I will definitely be back here the next time I’m in Rochester!

I enjoyed my first experience at Drifters! Tucked away in the Hilton, the space is beautifully decorated, and a nice departure from the bright lights of the hotel space. Their posted hours are deceiving — they stop serving food at 10pm, but stay open as long as there are customers (anytime between midnight and 2am our bartender told us). Our service was polite and prompt, and I would like to return to give the food a try sometime soon!

So I have had two meals here the po boy sandwich was delicious and if I could I would give that 5 stars I would. but the burger I had today was very mediocre and burnt! So I wasn’t thrilled… I’ll cut them some slack since we came with a huge group but they have a great beer selection I was happy with that! The atmosphere is so cute and #hipster it’s got that really going for them! Idk the fries are also amazing like extremely amazing!

I struggled with whether to give this place 3 or 4 stars, as I’d probably rate it 3.5, but at the end of the night I just didn’t think it quite earned 4.
We decided to try Drifters for our date night last night because we were tired of the same-​old Rochester offerings, and the reviews were favorable enough to give it a go.
Our first impression was great. The restaurant itself is really beautifully done with leather and bronze — very «in» style.
I will say though that it always kind of puts me on guard when we’re the only diners in a restaurant, but maybe it was just the holiday weekend causing the lack of patrons.
Our server was nice but kind of unsure of… everything? He wasn’t super knowledgeable about the draughts, or the specifics of the daily specials. Still, he was prompt and professional.
We ordered the Poutine and Chicken and Waffles to share, and then the Steak Hoagie to split for an entrée.
The gravy on the poutine was good, although some of the fries were burned (how? no idea). There was way more gravy than fries, so there was a lot left in the bottom of the dish when we were done, not a big deal, but it did tend to make the bottom fries mushy. This would have been great, though, if not for the cheese. I’ve had poutine before so I know the cheese comes mostly in curd sizes, but in this dish the cheese sat in huge clumps that didn’t spread, so we mostly didn’t eat it, because we didn’t feel like having to cut the chunks up with every bite.
The chicken and waffles were good in flavor, but the chicken was a little tough and chewy, as though it had been frozen and then over-​cooked. My husband liked them though.
Since we ordered the poutine I didn’t want to get more fries with the sandwich, so we opted instead for the french onion soup as a side. The sandwich came out with a side of au jus. The sandwich was pretty good. I was expecting the shaved steak to be, well, shaved steak, but it was strips of cooked steak, which was fine. Sometimes I find that it’s super easy to overcook meat that way, but this wasn’t too bad, and the onions and cheese were nice. The au jus though was SO. SALTY. Even dipping the bread in was too intense. I chose not to use it after the first two bites because it was just way too much for me. The soup, on the other hand, was absurdly sweet, and definitely the worst dish of the night. I don’t mind a little sweetness in french onion soup, but this was almost syrupy tasting. It was just bizarre. We actually tried mixing some of the au jus in with the broth, and it was a little better, but it just couldn’t be saved.
The other lasting negative impression was that as soon as our food was served our waiter began to loiter near our table. He must have walked past the table looking for our dishes every 5 minutes. It was annoyingly overkill. I appreciative attentiveness, but I don’t like feeling rushed and hovered over.
So for me it was just «ok» — most things were neither bad or great. They just kind of «were». Unfortunately we don’t eat pork and most of the menu involves pork in some way, so unless/​until they update the menu we probably won’t be back, but once they get some time under their belts, we’d probably give it another shot.

Rochester is finally utilizing it’s beautiful landmarks and bringing them back to life. Hilton has always been my brand of choice and this is why. I highly recommend this hotel. great staff and a great atmosphere. You will be seeing a lot of me and my family/​friends in the near future # diamondmember

This review is for the NEW Hilton Garden Inn Rochester Downtown at 155 E Main Street where Drifters is located. I saw on Trip Advisor there were 4 reviews for the brand new hotel, and then several reviews here (generally not good) on Unilocal for another hotel of the same name at a different address. I want to make sure the new place doesn’t get a bad rap 2 weeks into their opening. I made my reservation; spoke with with someone named Zach, and am super stoked to stay at this new property in Rochester. They also have free secure and safe parking, and do business with at least two taxi services if there are concerns about getting around the city. I will post an update to this after stay; but just wanted to say the hotel affiliated with this restaurant (20 beers can’t wait) seems to have gotten the same rave reviews; just not here on Unilocal.
BTW, Zach was awesome, informative, and very friendly. My reservation was a good experience.

I want to give this place 3.5 stars but on the basis of it being the first passable bar to open on this side of Main Street in god knows how many years, it’ll have to be 4.
The name. Eh. For providing a view of bus stations and the somewhat depressing storefronts on Main Street, the word «Drifters» is darkly ironic. I wanted to laugh when I asked the bartender what it was supposed to mean and he replied, «Well, a drifter is a traveler who wanders from place to place.» I looked outside at the snow, the bundled up people with backpacks stumbling down Main Street and felt… eh. You know. Not inspired.
The bar is attached to the brand new Hilton Garden Inn, which is beautiful inside. Drifters is similarly gorgeous with a wrought iron bar and a restored industrial design style. There’s a black and white photograph just next to the bar of this very location and street corner closer to the turn of the 20^th Century. It’s super cool and applauds the beauty of this city during its prime time; a heyday that I sometimes dream of: when the robber barons ran rampant, the muckrakers ruled the press, and the philanthropists, including George Eastman, were contributing to the infrastructure of a mighty booming town. There is history in this Drifters bar, which endears it a bit to this community.
The draft list draws from local favorites CB and Fairport Brewing. The menu is standard but flirts with the South, boasting of a shrimp po’boy and chicken & waffles appetizer. We didn’t try anything to eat on this visit, but enjoyed a few beers at the bar — fully decked out with a couple of nice flat screen TVs. Not enough to give it a sports bar feel, but enough to make it a place where you could comfortably watch a game or match. The big (and it’s big) downside is that the beers are easily $ 1 more expensive than competitors around town. Figure that this a function of its attachment to the hotel. It will be hard to draw a crowd that is independent of the hotel clientele if the menu is casual but the alcohol prices are a bit dear. At any rate, it’s exciting to see a place this nice popping up on Main Street. Definitely go see for yourself!

One week into operations and it is clear this not your average hotel bar. After attempting a visit last week to discover they were still in the soft open stage, we decided to go back this week to try again. We showed up around 9:30 for a drink thinking the place would only be open until 10, to our surprise the bartender let us know that food service ended at 10 but the bar would be open until midnight, so we no longer felt like we had to drink and leave quickly. In both visits I noticed how excited and energetic the staff is, everyone, not just the managers were clearly very excited to open the hotel and restaurant after months of construction and planning.
We did not dine during this trip but did order drinks. Although not yet printed, from the display it is clear they will have a decent wine list and great beer selections, featuring many local breweries. Fairport Brewing has even brewed a beer specifically for Drifters. The bartender and F&B manager were behind the bar when we ordered and were able to answer our questions about the beers on tap without hesitation and offered samples.
Taking a look at the menu there were a lot of great options for light meals and full meals. There are a lot of southern dishes and comfort food items, perfect for those travelers staying at the hotel looking for a hearty dinner. I anticipate going back soon to try the food myself.
We took our drinks and settled into the lounge chairs in the restaurant that looked out onto Main Street. It was a great way to stay in the restaurant but relax away from other guests and the bar area.
Overall, the place has a great look & feel and a team of employees eager to serve. I highly recommend stopping in for a drink or a meal soon!

I have eaten at Drifters LB for both dinner and lunch and I have to say that everything I have tried has been delicious! The Chicken and Waffles with chili butter and maple Syrup seemed intriguing and I have to say it was amazing. The smoky chili butter mixed perfectly with the sweetness of the maple syrup. I will definitely have that again. The trio of dips with the housemade tortilla chips was a great appetizer, the fresh Pinapple Habenero Salsa was outstanding. If you like corned beef you will love the Drifters Reuben. It comes with Fries but I substituted the Housemade Potato Chips. I have to say it was probably the best Reuben I have ever had. Looking forward to trying everything on that menu. Prices were reasonable too. Nice to have some more options downtown.

This restaurant is in the Hilton Garden Inn on Main St downtown, but the ambiance and menu are much more interesting than I expected and good enough to standalone, not just serve hotel guests. Nice selection of local beer and wine, including Rohrbach’s Scotch Ale on draft, which I love. The menu featured locally sourced ingredients, at a variety of price points, and most of the items sounded appealing. We shared the Brooklyn Sandwich and the Prosciutto Arugula Goat Cheese Flatbread and both were excellent. Our waiter told us the chef was a Rochester native who’d been working down South for several years, so next time I might try the shrimp & grits or the chicken and waffles. They did a lovely job of rehabbing the historic space and mixing in modern touches like reclaimed wood and tile. There is a TV by the small bar, but it’s not intrusive if you sit in the restaurant area. They also have a lounge section overlooking Main St, with comfy chairs and coffee tables where I could imagine sipping wine or cocktails. They told us they plan to be open 7 days/​week, 11am till 9pm. This is a great addition to downtown, which currently has a shortage of restaurants open evenings and weekends. It would also make a great lunch spot.