A Garbage Plate is a true Rochester delicacy. It is a disorganized combination of either cheeseburger, hamburger, Italian sausages, steak, chicken, white or red hots, a grilled cheese sandwich, fried fish, or eggs, served on top of one or two of the following: home fries, fries, beans, and mac salad. A plate is always made to order. Then, the plate is adorned with optional mustard, onions and Rochester's version of hot sauce. Some restaurants will charge for extra helpings of hot sauce, and the hot sauce varies widely in flavor and spiciness. A plate is usually served with a side of white bread and butter, though some restaurants charge extra for bread. It is said that the purpose of the bread is to soak up the grease left after you've eaten the garbage plate.(http://rocwiki.org/Garbage_Plates)
As most people in Rochester know, Nick Tahoe's claims to be the home of the garbage plate. Its origin is the thing of myth and legend. Some say a drunk college kid walked into the little hots stand and asked for a plate with "all the garbage on it." Others claim, it was some fancy executive who was also drunk. Either way, the Garbage plate was born. Almost everyone I have met up here has a Nick Tahoe's story.. So here is mine:
I had my first garbage plate at Tahoes in 2005, when Elmira's JV Womens Soccer Team came up to play Roberts Wesleyan College. I don't remember the first one I ordered. Just that I asked the girl on the team who suggested this place: "What the heck and how do you eat it?" I know I ate it section by section at first until I was told the "proper way". I was a bit mystified when I was told you shake it all up. My first reaction "ew but okay" and dug in. I love foods that are heart attacks on a plate and easily I fell in love with this amazingly bad for you meal.
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| Nick Tahoes Garbage Plate with Italian Sausage (Everything on the side) |
I got a little excited when they opened the Henrietta one. Its down the street from RIT and therefore one of those places, I planned on going to every week... and never got around to... at all.. Until Monday.
It was quiet for lunchtime. I ordered the style of plate that I usually got from Hungry's in Pittsford; Italian Sausage, home fries and mac salad (everything on the side). I should have taken a picture of what it looks like when it is fully "made up". In this picture, I hadn't mixed mine up yet so it looked all nice and pretty.
In short, it was better than my first memory of almost 6 years ago. The hot sauce is what I missed most about this particular plate. Different places use different sauces. The one at Tahoes is a meat based greasy mess. I think I like this sauce the best of the homemade sauces. I might try some more plates before I leave stay tuned..
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