Branca

Zepoli were delicious, cannoli shell was no longer crisp, budino hmmm the flavor was good but you know when you have a dairy product that you eat with a spoon and it leaves that film on the spoon and that was the ridiculous amount of dessert we ordered. The house made ricotta was very good, and side of brussel spouts were fantastic. For main dishes the carbonara was thinner than I’ve ever had but it was good, it thickened up when I warmed it up the next day, a sear on the protein would have been a big flavor booster. The risotto was lacking in flavor, it was like a porridge. I’d come back for appetizers and desserts.

I had heard good things about the food at Branca, but was pleasantly surprised by their cocktail program. The «Rumble in the Brancs» with plumb vinegar and the «Charred Pineapple Daiquiri» with sea salt were outstanding, unique options. As for their food, the charred octopus appetizer was cooked perfectly and was the closest to authentic Mediterranean fare I have had in the Rochester area. The rabbit ragù was also excellent, served with flavorful gnocchi. The service was prompt and attentive, although the restaurant was very busy and we had a nearly 45 minute wait for a table. I would recommend making dinner reservations if you are on a schedule.

Food and drink selections OK, but service very slow. Atmosphere looks very «plastic.»

This wasn’t our first time and we are looking forward to many more! Warm and inviting atmosphere. Our server Vanessa could not be more friendly and attentive! Our favorite is always the gnocchi ! We are both Italian and make plenty of homemade Italian but never ever tire of their version. Melts in your mouth. We had the octopus appetizer and the cauliflower. Delicious!!!
Can’t say enough. We love having this establishment so close to home and are so fortunate to have New York City gourmet in our home town. Can’t wait for the summer menu!

Great experience here. We started with a combination of delicious ricotta and truffle spreads on awesome crostini and had a sampling of charcuterie and cheese.
We then had pizza (forgetting the type) which was delicious. Recommended.

Upscale vibe (think Next Door Bar and Grill/​Trata) and a very friendly server. The risotta (parmesan/​pepper) was OUT OF THIS WORLD. There was an amazing onion bite and it was the perfect consistency. My friend really enjoys their steak (it’s $ 30 though so I’d expect big time yum). The pizza (we got the mushroom/​truffle one and a 4 cheese) was pretty good, thin chewy crust and OK toppings but it really didn’t blow my mind. At the end of the day, us NYers can be pizza snobs so maybe that’s more on me. I didn’t are for the zeppoli — heavier and denser than I’m used to and the strawberry sauce would have been good WITHOUT the basil (yuck face– no herbs in my dessert please!). The crème brûlée wasn’t hot and liquidy on the bottom, thicker consistency than I’d prefer — like pudding — but flavor was nice. It was a nice change of pace from all the same ol’ places.

It doesn’t get better than this in Rochester. Mrs. Pinky and I had a great time.
We started at the bar, arriving just over an hour before our dinner reservation. The cocktails were great, and our bartender gave us a shot of whiskey as a parting gift, on the house. We also managed to share a margherita pizza; it was light, fresh, delightfully not greasy, and hit the spot after coming out of the brick oven. Super cool.
We paired a wine with dinner, and Mrs. Pinky ordered the swordfish special. I opted for the venison. Both were perfect. Dessert was crème brûlée for the lady, and a butterscotch budino for me. I wanted to switch it up from bananas and my own deuce.
All in, seriously good meal. Great service, knowledgable staff, I recommend dining here.

Over priced for the quality and very small portion. I had a pasta dish and their was more sauce then pasta. The steak was terrible and will not go back. I prefer the chop house for steak and in the village of Fairport is a excellent Italian restaurant.

Had lunch here with friends the other day and was very pleasantly surprised to see several new additions to the menu, all of which are either gluten free or can be made easily gluten free. I ordered their spaghetti squash ‘pasta’ dish with tomato sauce and added spicy sausage. For me it was the perfect portion size and everything was cooked properly and was delicious. The ‘original’ dish comes with toasted breadcrumbs — I just asked to have those omitted (to make it gluten free), and it was not a problem.
One of my friends had their Brussel sprout salad — shaved Brussel sprouts with shaved red onions and a vinaigrette-​type dressing, which she asked for on the side. It was large, but still a good amount for a single person for lunch (and also gluten free). You can also add chicken or shrimp (though she did not).
My other friend had the burger with fries — right up there with what you get at Good Luck, which I consider to be the epitome of an awesome burger experience in Rochester. The Branca burger comes cut in half, and is dressed with house-​made onion jam, house-​made pickles and cheese. The fries are dusted with fresh-​cut herbs and served with a lemony-​mayo. It was almost too big for lunch and she ended up taking about a quarter of the burger home with fries.
Our total bill for 3 people with tax and tip, drinking only waters and with no appetizers, was around the $ 50 mark. Is that expensive for lunch? A little bit, but for the fast service, fresh made items, ambiance and focus on food quality, I would say it is worth it! Looking forward to going back next week for dinner!

My husband and I recently moved to pittsford from Philadelphia. We were looking forward to trying branca as it looked trendy and had an outstanding menu.
The drinks were good, but my husbands martinis was served in a very small glass. When you order a martini; you typically want to keep it traditional. My drink was okay, but again very small for the price. I am used to paying city prices, and I still found these drinks to be priced high for the amount. The salad we ordered as a appetizer was outstanding. However, the calamari was so-​so. My husband ordered a pasta dish and that was okay. I ordered scallops, and again, for the price– they really did not include a side. I also did not like the beet purée. I don’t think that goes very well with scallops. It be better with a cauliflower purée. The desert was very good. (we got the donuts).
Overall, I would recommend Branca to others and we will go back. However, the prices should come down a bit on drinks and the entrees.

First off, the service here was great. The atmosphere is nice as well. As for the food, I’m struggling between a 2 and a 3 star rating.
There are currently six items on the menu with a black truffle-​something on it. I enjoy black truffles a bit, but I think the ingredient [what IS the ingredient here? Black truffle oil? I doubt the kitchen is really using whole black truffles on all of these menu items] is over done. Good food with good ingredients should be able to speak for itself with out the strong flavor of black truffles on everything. Can we move on from this ingredient dominating menus and dishes? To quote Anthony Bourdain from way back in 2005 truffle oil is «the ketchup of the middle class.»
Maybe this one is my fault; do you know what «prosciutto cotto» is? I’m not letting this factor into my rating, because I guess I should have asked. When I see «prosciutto» as an ingredient on a pizza I think of the thinly sliced dry cured variety. Procuitto COTTO is ham. So I got ham on my pizza, and I don’t like ham. Ruined my pizza.
Fried brussels sprouts– these were ok, just so greasy. They read on the menu as fried with lemon and grana padana– didn’t really get either of the last two elements. Fried brussels sprouts are becoming more popular on menus and I have had better.
The gnocci is good. I think the pasta is the way to go here. Just hope you are ok spending $ 21 on spaghetti alla carbonara.

Stellar service (Michelle killed it with wine pairings), amazing food, great atmosphere, congrats to this place for really delivering an amazing evening!
Will return.

The décor is warm and inviting until you sit down and realize you’ll need to yell so those at your table can hear you. They could use some sound deadening material to help absorb the patron’s voices. Strike 1
The service was slow. We complained that the Caesar salad dressing was bland and the waitress did not offer to correct the situation by replacing the salad. Strike 2
Then we waited over an hour for our dinners to be served. We complained to the waitress, who rudely placated us with «the dinners are on their way». Fifteen minutes later we got up to find the manager. He got involved and we had our meals about 10 minutes later. The pizza was ok. The special pasta dishes with Cavatelli were bland and two of us sent the dishes back. The dishes did not even look appetizing. So disappointing. Strike 3
The manager did his best to make it up to us. I really appreciated how much he cared. But, I don’t think I will go back.

I’ve only been to Branca once, so my review may come off as a little premature, but even after going that once I can say with total assurance that I’d be happy to come back and visit again. The waitresses were friendly and informative, the plating was especially modernized along with the venue, and for the most part, the food was on point. To be fair, I didn’t order anything outrageously unique or special for an Italian restaurant so there’s nothing too creative to talk about here, but even that being said, sometimes classics are classics for a reason. And when they’re executed correctly, what more really needs to be said?
So yes, you may have guessed it already, but for my entrée I had the bolognese with housemade tagliatelle. You’d think it’d be plain and boring though, right? Turns out, not at all at Branca! This bolognese was made with crumbled, chunky, well-​seasoned, spicy homemade sausage and instead of being coated in a deep dark red acidic sauce tomate, it was instead bathed in a lusciously pink tomato-​cream sauce, rich and viscous from all of the heavy cream and butter used together with that comforting tomato blanket we’re all too familiar with. It was simply spectacular. Across the dinner table, my friends and I were raving about it as one of the best dishes, keeping in mind that one of them had a housemade pizza and another ordered the fish special of the evening. It totally took our breaths away and by the end of the evening the bowl was spotless. If that’s not a sign of a tasty dish, I don’t know what it is!
After that, I have to say that the dessert was nothing short of miraculous as well. In my time, I’ve had quite a few tiramisus from coast to coast, but I’ve never had one quite like the one that I had at Branca. Whereas a lot of tiramisus tend to coat themselves in bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate, this one was distinctly different just by the simple addition of cinnamon. Maybe it’d been awhile since I had a latte with cinnamon syrup and cream, but this layered tower of a dessert was like eating clouds flavored with those fall aromas we all know and love. The cake was fantastically soft and aerated, the cream was silky smooth, and the heat from the cinnamon paired with the very dark chocolate was a match made in heaven. If I were to have dessert here again, there’s seriously no other dessert I’d ever want. Their pastry chef or pastry kitchen is especially brilliant and I would seriously visit again only to have dessert.
The ambiance is great, the food is great, the only faults I’ve found really is that it’s not close enough to the city, and that their housemade ricotta didn’t meet the exacting standards I placed upon it. I blame Chicago for that one though. My bar’s probably too high. But all that said, it was still an excellent dinner out, and they’re open late to boot! Honestly — you can’t go wrong here!

I’d like to, again, emphasize how wonderful this place is. The folks working the bar (on any night) are perhaps the greatest team of humans ever assembled.

Ok I could give it 3 ½ but things made up for it. Service was good & not rushed for a Saturday night. Like others have said it was a little pricy but it depended on what you ordered. The place at night is VERY DARK, we all needed to use our cell phone lights no joke. Had a glass of on tap cider it was very nice, my friends had a few cocktails one named «Sponge Bob» and her boyfriend had a cocktail as well he liked it but said it was a little too sweet for him, sorry I did not get the name but the cocktails are served in coupe glasses. The husband had a ginger ale. We started with the Calamari OMG FABULOUS! Perfectly fried, not rubbery get it! We also got the antipasti or house cured meat plate it was all excellent except the bread that came with it was so hard I thought my expensive dental work would get chipped no joke. My friends and I had the pizzas, Margarita, I had one with artichokes, mushrooms and other the pizza not sure but it like it looked good. The mozzarella is house made. It was tasty but it needed a little zip. My husband had the cavitelli w/​sausage. It looked bland in the small bowl like vessel but it needed maybe parsley or something on it to make it look better but it was frigging awesome and they make pasta themselves. Desert was the Flourless Chocolate Cake & Two different kinds of Cannoli. It’s a busy place I’d have a reservation. Would I go back sure… But during the day? This is part of the restaurant group who started The Revery. Give them a shot.

After my most recent happy hour experience I have to say it is more 3 stars overall.
Happy hour «specials» should be available for all seating and not just limited to the 8 to 10 bar stools — seriously only at the bar!
Also, I find there very limited HH beverage specials to be too limited, one cocktail choice or one beer selection or one wine option. And the food specials, while interesting if not necessarily satisfying in their flavors, are more akin to tasting samples than to appetizers.
So all in all not too happy of a happy hour. IMO if you look elsewhere you may find better options, and certainly the Bushnell’s Basin location doesn’t offer lots of quick alternatives to salvage the happy hours after leaving here.

Food was very good, from the appetizers to the main course and dessert. The waiter was extremely friendly, but it took him awhile to take our dinner order. I had the sea scallops, which was a special, and came over risotto. It was good and worth having again.
The tiramusi was delicious! We split it among 4 of us, since we ordered so much for appetizers and dinner.
Overall, the food was good and the atmosphere was very comfortable. I would recommend trying this restaurant and would come back again.

Very nice spot. Great service and good high quality food! We ordered a series of appetizers including Calamari, Prosciutto, Ricotta (a speciality and well worth trying), Antipasti and cheeses. A nice start to a delicious meal!
Steak was the entrée of choice and it was cooked beautifully. The other dishes including several pastas were very satisfying and delicious.
Will be back!

This spot is a great addition to Bushnells Basin. I love love love their Neapolitan-​style wood fired pizza.
I’ve been a few different times for drinks at the bar, happy hour, and a full meal. I highly recommend making a reservation as the space is intimate so tables fill up fast as does the bar.
I’m a huge fan of their head chef, Pasquale Sorrentino after I took a cooking class at Rosario Pino (everything truffle). The truffle thing translated over to the menu at Branca since he’s a big proponent for this fungi in his food. So if you like truffles, this is your place. If you don’t, it’s time to get on board. Which leads me to share the must try pizza on the menu: the tartufata with black truffle sauce topped with pecarino, mozz and mushrooms. The dough is flavorful, with that right about of bite to it from the char of the woodfire oven. Even better when dipped in some of their herbed olive oil.
I recommend ordering a bunch of things and sharing. Other must try items in my book:
— Housemade ricotta — creamy and velvety, paired with charred bread
— Goat cheese salad — simple, sharable, light, get some greens in ya
— Tagliatelle with mushroom, squash, sage and truffle butter sauce — what doesn’t sound good about that? Very savory.
— Bufala pizza — buffalo mozzarella is just so rich and creamy, everything is instantly better in life after eating it.
— French fries with truffe aioli — handcut fries, perfectly golden brown
— I’ve had a couple of their cocktails, many with Italian ingredients, but I will always opt for a glass of their prosecco, lately it’s been the Avissi on the menu.
— All of the pastas are homemade so can you really go wrong?
It’s worth it for date night or a night out with your lady friends, which has been my preferred method of dining at Branca.