February 18th was a monumental day for me. I have lived in Rochester, NY for most of my 31 years on this planet (excluding 3 years in Virginia and 1 year in California) and somehow I have never, ever consumed Rochester's signature dish; the garbage plate! On this day, my fella Ang and I attended Plate-a-Palooza that was put on by Warm 101.3, Fickle 93.3, and 94.1 The Zone at Comedy at the Carlson. Here there were 5 different restaurants from around the area competing for best traditional and best specialty plates. It was supposed to be 8, but 3 restaurants didn't show up, but I felt the ticket price to how much we ate ratio was perfect. However, I think due to the missing businesses, food ran out quicker than if all the attendees had more options. The event got going at around 6pm and was supposed to go until 9pm, but by 7pm at least 2 places were out of food. But before we get into the specific plates, we need to clarify what a Garbage Plate is, for those who don't know!
About 100 years ago, Alexander Tahou opened up a shop called "Hots and Potatoes" where a big dish got its humble start. It began as a one plate meal that you could get on the cheap consisting of carbs, meat, and anything else the kitchen could cook. When Nick, Alexander's son, took over the business the name of the dish changed to the "Garbage Plate" and it took on a more concrete recipe. Allegedly, the name change came after a couple college kids came into the restaurant and requested a plate "with all the garbage on it." In 1992 Nick Tahou's trademarked the moniker of "Garbage Plate" and is now the only place you can technically get one. The traditional plate consists of mac salad and/or baked beans, some kind of potato (french fries, mashed potatoes, home fries, or tots), your meat of choice (hamburger, cheeseburger, red or white hots), and meat hot sauce. Optional toppings (although I found them to be must-haves) are onions, mustard, and ketchup. Let's go back to that meat hot sauce real quick- its almost like a chili and it is SO good. I loved every one that we sampled, each had their own recipe so they're all a little bit different.
Nowadays the meat options are so varied that you'd be hard pressed to not find something you'd enjoy from fish, chicken pulled pork, schnitzel, grilled cheese, beyond burgers and more. There are also different kinds of plates- sushi, vegetarian, vegan, and paleo plates let alone the variations that I can't even find all of or even think of. This was on a pretty good display at the sampling event.
Bathtub Billy's (2nd picture on the left): The only plate we had that included baked beans and a BBQ flavor, which was really tasty. The potatoes were alright, but it was really that BBQ flavor and the perfectly cooked burger that made me super happy on this one.
Spencerport Hot's: I was so hungry and this was the first place we went, so I never got a chance to take a picture. Whoops! They gave out the smallest samples, but that meant I could go back for more! They also had three types of samples available (hot dog, hamburger, or cheeseburger) and were willing to modify any to your liking.I think this might have been my favorite of the meat hot sauces. But was the coldest of all the samples too. Would have been better when hot I'm sure.
Unter Biergarten (4th picture on the left): had a German plate, winning our vote for specialty plate. It has a nicely crisp schnitzel over cooked potatoes, topped with mushroom gravy or sauce, garnished with cucumbers, and a nice chunk of marbled rye bread on the side. Woah. Its was delicious! I'm not always a rye fan, but the unique taste of the rye bread went well with the flavors of the plate. I thoroughly enjoyed soaking up that sauce with it.
JT's Pizza and Plates (3rd picture on the left): This won our vote for best traditional plate! The potatoes were SUPER crispy and I managed to get a very cheesy part of cheeseburger, which made this sample even better. I think it was just a little heavy on mac salad, for me, as mac salad is not my favorite thing. Just more meat sauce on top would have cured that easy. They asked me if I wanted onions and I was almost offended, the onions just ad that extra zing that you really need! Tasty.
Reminisce Soda Fountain (no picture again, it was gone too fast): Ang got a hot dog one, which was pretty traditional, while I got a pulled pork one. I liked mine a lot, the pulled pork was tender, the slaw added a refreshing crisp and coolness to balance out the heat, and the french fries were good on their own as well as together with the ingredients.
If you're in the Rochester area, I highly recommend trying out a Garbage Plate for yourself! Touted as a great hangover cure, or just a cure for a growling stomach with a big appetite. I just can't wait to try more both the original/traditional and the other specialty ones around the city!!
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