Bill Gray’s Gates

Bill Grays is a Rochester classic with several locations sprinkled across the city. The food is great for what it is, greasy burgers, hot fries, Abbots custard, and amazing hot dogs (try it with mayo, ketchup & mustard — trust me).
It takes longer than your average fast-​food joint for an order to make it out to you and is not the most convenient if you’re in a rush. The pricing is also more expensive (think extras like drinks and sides), but the quality of the ingredients is not cheap.

Burgers-​heck yea, fish fry-​no way!
You’ll never go wrong with their burgers but tried their fish fry for the first time the other night and it was bad!
Never will I stray from my usual again here.

Mediocre, slow fast food. Okay plates. Not a restaurant of choice but will eat here if nothing else.

You do realize that if you take the word «Gray’s» out of the name of this restaurant, you are left with Bill Gates. Which means you are left with a crapload of money and your own personal computer geek. If you use your well-​honed «Gates-​dar» you should be able to tell when Billy is here. And when he is, you need to come here, and lick his custard, and seduce him, and get him to marry you so you can share his riches. We want pre-​nup, we want pre-​nup!
What to get: World’s Greatest Cheeseburger, Abbott’s Vanilla Custard
Like all Bill Grays, the best thing about this location is that it shares a spot with Abbott’s which means you can get some of the best custard ever. Their garbage plates aren’t great, but their burgers certainly are, and the custard at the co-​business rocks my world.
The servers here aren’t great and will get stuff wrong and take awhile to serve you, but they are making an effort, and the girl sweeping the lobby is very friendly. It’s not my fave interior of a Bill Gray’s either, that would be the one at 1225 Jefferson. So I’ll give it a 4.
Abbotts/​Bill Grays share space like Taco Bell/​KFC do in many places. The employees work for both. This location is a total palace, more than enough space for 2 businesses. Or five.
It’s one of my «best 5 custards I’ve ever had.» I think I like custard more than ice cream, more than fro yo, less than real gelato. For custard specifically, which is sort of like soft-​serve-​but-​creamier, the best in the country are Leon’s in Milwaukee and Nielsen’s in Vienna, VA, and then Abbott’s in 3^rd.

We prefer this Bill Grays because its not too far from home and it has a drive-​thru window. The burgers and fries, here, have been consistently good over the years. I generally order a veggie burger on a white roll with mayo, ketchup, lettuce, tomato and American cheese. Drive-​thru takes awhile, so if you are not in a rush, you are probably better off dining in. This particular location was remodeled a few years ago and improvements include renovated booths and new tile floors. Bill Gray’s burgers have always been good, but the prices have increased over time. It seems like we typically spend close to $ 25 for two burgers, two fries and two drinks here. When considering other chain restaurants in this category, this is priced a little higher than the rest. I will continue to visit because they have an awesome veggie burger, but my visits have become more sporadic as a result.

The burgers are fresh and I’m a sucker for curly fries!
Love that they now scan coupons on your phone. The family pack coupon is great for us!
We come here often and have never had a problem with our order.
My only complaint is that this location is too close to my gym!

I say they have one of the best, if not the best, fast food burger around. The price on the other hand… Bring the buy one cheeseburger get one free coupon or else it’s not worth it. You’ll spend a fortune!

Solid fast food place with an Abbotts frozen custard built in! Drive through as well.
They have standard fast food fare as well as breakfast and milkshakes. I had chicken tenders.
Overall service and food was good (as expected). Marginally better than a McDonald’s or Wendy’s but a little more expensive.
Try one of Abbotts ice creams or creations for a treat :)

Decent food but on the expensive side. Five guys is a little less expensive and way better burgers and fries. Print out a coupon online before you go to bill grays and you’ll do ok.

This is actually a great place to go to get some good fast food! The prices are actually not that bad at all and the food itself I believe is a lot better than fast food chains such as McDonalds. What I think makes it better is that it includes an Abbots in the restaurant itself, thus you can easily get yourself dessert without even having to leave!
I’ve never seen the restaurant majorly crowded and I like its comfortable atmosphere. The staff keeps it well-​cleaned most of the time and I’m surprised that not a lot of people I know eat here. I recommend this establishment highly!

My family comes here every now and then for burgers and I’m never opposed to it.
I like bill grays, the burgers are always hand pressed every day and their meat hot sauce is second to none.
This particular location is right next to an Italian restaurant near the corner of elmgrove and buffalo rd.
Fairly spacious seating. I’ve never been crowded here. Probably seats close to 50 – 60 people comfortably.
Even during busy times, I’ve never waited more than a few minutes before ordering. Once ordered, food is up within 5−10min. Usually sooner during the non busy hours.
Food is not your typical fast food. They have burgers, chicken sandwiches, the bill gray version of a garbage plate, chicken wings, boneless chicken nuggets, salads, ice cream, soups, etc. good quality.
Me likey. 4 stars.

real good cooked to order fast food. its no jim and ralfs but it is a good stand in since they closed. the staff is has been friendly and the cheese burger is always hot the bun is great meat patty is a little thin these days but it still tastes good. the hot sauce is not very hot at all more like a meat gravy slightly sweet in taste. price is reasonable… even better with a bogo coupon. all in all i would go back because other places when you go there to get a burger with the rochester «hot sauce» there using frozen sysco patties. the fries and breaded mushrooms are also very good. on the next stop i will also have to get some abbotts custard.

Good fast food place with decent quality and good prices. We went through the drive through, so I can’t speak to the cleanliness of inside. However the drive through was fast and they gave you plates for your burger. A good place I will for sure return to.

Old school fast food at its finest. Well, at its adequatest, at least (no, that’s not a word). The quality of burger may be better than the evil arches, but I honestly wouldn’t guarantee that one.
Our most recent visit and my first stop at this location was a last minute decision as we were on our way to a game at Roberts University nearby. If the Roberts’ snack bar is even open (the hours are bizarre), the food is what you would expect at a smaller college. I was sadly resolved to a $ 1 hotdog (crock pots are good for many things but hotdogs are not one of them), when we drove by this Bill Gray’s. Paul jokingly asks if I want to stop and I enthusiastically plead for him to turn around and go back (he was hungry, too, so pleading was not actually necessary). I was so happy to get something tasty over something… boiled.
We pull into the drive thru line of a whole one other car. Sweet! I stick with the cheeseburger ($ 4.50) with everything on it (when ordering, this means asking for «everything and deluxe»…not sure why everything doesn’t actually mean everything). I would’ve added bacon but at $.90 I didn’t feel like my want justified the extra dollar. Sometimes when you have to reason the value of something you realize you don’t really want the thing in the first place. It was odd, not wanting bacon… we pull forward and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. Okay, it wasn’t that long, in fact I should have been happy for the wait as it suggests a fresh product. Do you know the term «hangry»? All was well once the brown paper bag was handed over, stapled shut with the receipt on the front. I tore that sucker open and quickly deduced which aluminum ball contained my «everything» cheeseburger (vs. Paul’s nothing burger). The burgers are packed up on a sturdy paper plate wrapped in foil. I think this might actually be genius as the foil would keep it warm longer than a paper box… maybe? Not a scientist … A quick google search says its actually the opposite of genius. Whatever. I ripped off the foil and dug in (I took a picture first but really the burgers don’t photograph well). Hangry no more!
The burger patty is simple, thin ground beef cooked through. Barely not dry, but not exactly juicy. A melted slice of cheese probably helps the meat stick together. it doesn’t over power anything but I wouldn’t pass it up. The toppings were plentiful and definitely the highlight for a topping lover like me. Their hot sauce added a nice flavor but I wouldn’t call it «hot» by any means. I’m a pansy when it comes to spice and I thought it was just better seasoned ketchup. The bun was solid and stepped up the burger a notch, I think it’s called a hard roll. Whatever it’s called, it’s strong enough to hold it all together even when overloaded.
The menu offers much more than just burgers, but don’t expect health food. There’s a variety of fried sides, fried fish and also a selection of Abbott’s for dessert. 4 stars feels a bit overzealous but as far as fast food drive thru’s go, this easily beats the national franchise chains.