Schaller’s Brighton

Not quite as large as the Schaller’s on Edgemere Drive near Lake Ontario, but the same great food. The hamburgers are outstanding and the service is fast. My only issue is the steak sandwich, which I tried here for the first time (and have not had at the other location). The meat is very flavorful and thin sliced, so that is not a problem. However, it has some fat on it, just enough to make it hard to eat as a sandwich. You need to use a knife and fork to treat it as an open face sandwich. It tastes good enough to make it worth doing so.
This location also offers a dollar off the Schaller plate (their version of the garbage plates) to those with a school ID. Not a bad idea when they have RIT, the University of Rochester, and Monroe Community College nearby.

I look forward to going to Schaller’s Brighton location on West Henrietta Rd every time I visit my hometown, Rochester, NY. The food is fresh, tastes great, and has the exclusive on total authenticity of Rochester fast food. Schaller’s Brighton location stands far above other Schaller’s locations — and competitor chains — for quality, freshness, and remaining true to the regional Rochester area, non-​chain brand. Unlike other locations, this Schaller’s takes ALL credit cards, allowing options to their customers. If you want the intensive quality of the food to be matched by the service, ask to be waited on by Dan. He’s a true professional and that makes Schaller’s in Brighton 5 Stars all the way.

Disgusting!
The health dept. should shut this place down.
I ate there 9÷10÷2015. Very rude service and the food is worse than ever.
I ordered a hamburger and fries with a drink.
The hamburger tasted microwaved the fries were cold and soggy and the soda was flat.
I would not recommend this place to my worse enemy.
Embarrassing.

This is and probably always will by my all time favorite lunch and occasional dinner spot. My Dad has been taking me to this Shallers since I was a kid and I have always loved it. In my opinion, they have the best plates and the best hot sauce in Rochester. The staff is always friendly and even when it gets busy they do their best to keep things moving. It’s always been clean when I’ve been there. All the times I’ve been there I have yet to have had even one bad experience. It seems there may have been some confusion over whether this location accepts credit cards. They in fact DO accept them. Though most people tend to pay cash here anyway… not much sense swiping a piece of plastic for a five dollar burger if you’re on your own unless you simply don’t have the cash on you.

Ordered a cheeseburger plate with all mac salad. Food was hot and good but $ 2.70 charge for additional burger would make it a $ 11 plate now that is a little extreme single bugger was more than enough. Satisfied and will stop again!

I’m glad they are called Schallers and not Shallots because then they’d serve nothing but onions. And as much as I love onions, I don’t think a restaurant that served only onions would really do very well.
What to order: Amazing Burger with extra meat sauce.
What else: white hots, ground round.
If this were called Shattered then there would be broken glass all over the floor.
Of all the «Rochester institutions» (Steve T’s, Nick Tahou’s, Bill Gray’s, Don’s Original), this one is probably my favourite unless you count Abbott’s. Their burger is just something else. I’m not the only one that thinks so. My travel companion is addicted to them too, and she doesn’t even like burgers.
If this were called Shankers, you’d get stabbed here.
I get the Cheeseburger (aka Cheeseburg) with extra meat sauce. I usually don’t even like Cheese on my burgers, but when it comes to Schaller’s, I’m all about it. We’re talking about delicious light melted cheese on a tasty spiced patty with greasy juicy hot delicious meat sauce and bits of onion smothering the whole thing. In addition, it’s on a bun that simply has to be described as one of the best-​tasting burger buns on earth.
If this were called Shanties, it’d be in a much worse neighborhood.
Altogether, it’s the perfect fast food burger. The ultimate. The best one in WNY — and one of the best in the country. Right up there with Powers of Fort Wayne and Town Topic of Kansas City and the Galley Boy of NE Ohio’s Swenson’s and the burgers at Cook Out of North Carolina.
If this were called Chappers then it’d provide Chaperones on Prom Night. Hopefully they’d be studly and good looking so the Prom Girl dumps the Prom Guy and ends up with someone worthy of their extensive efforts.
This location is newer, but it doesn’t look much newer than the lovely original up by the Lake. If neither one is convenient for you, then there is one in Irondeqoit. I’ve been to all three and they were excellent. How often does that happen?
If this were called shamers then it would be frequented by all kinds of nasty people such as sl*t-shamers and maybe even Indian Shaman, which would actually be cool.
If you’re a Rochesterite who hasn’t tried this burger lately — or ever… or if you’re an out-​of-​towner in Rochester for a day or a few days… come here and be amazed. Please don’t forget to ask for the extra meat sauce.
Speaking of meat, if you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.
By the way, they have good White Hots too. A White Hot is basically a Zweigle’s «Brat» type sausage, cut in half, on a bun, with onions, and completely smothered, covered, dripping in meat sauce. They’re really very good, and about one-​eighth the size of a Garbage Plate, so perfectly sized for a snack. You probably already know what a GP is. If not, then see my Nick’s review. They’re enormous and so bad for you.
Oh, and… If this were called Shaggers then you’d come here for sex, not food. Actually that may already be true, how would I know.

Absolutely love this place! The food is delicious and they accommodate their customers extremely well… It also just gives me a feel for being in a traditional burger joint, which makes it all the better.

Not the best plate in town but not the worst either. Staff is friendly and fast. Wonder why the up charge for a second burger? The single patty isn’t that much bigger than other plate spots in town. Crinkle cut fries are a unique variation over the traditional home fries. Their best attribute is their staff. They cook well and are super friendly. Especially with the regulars.

The place is pretty run down and dirty for sure, it’s really not a place I love to go and actually touch things. Aside from that the burgers and especially the meat sauce is good enough to still deserve a 4 star rating.

Great local spot to grab a burger and fries! Request a hard role for you burger! Love that there is a tub of pickles available… I have a secret obsession, not so secret to some who have noticed how many little cups I will fill of dill pickles… nom nom nom. Love the vintage look inside like it has never changed since they opened. Clean inside too

Better know how to order your burger, order takers dont play. They werent bad even for a newb. Get the burger on a hard roll and don’t forget pickles. Great burger stop. Their hotsauce is a good one.

Somehow I missed this place’s existence until last week. My mistake. My friend was craving a garbage plate like a fiend. I was planning to just get a burger & fries, but then I got to the counter and was like well I might as well get a plate to toss in some killer mac salad. Healthier right… no bun? Ha.
The plate comes with the most perfectly golden crinkle fries, not over-​salted either, next to a heap of mac salad, and topped with one big cheeseburger patty. I asked for the hot sauce on the side because per usual I wouldn’t want to ruin a plate if the hot sauce is not up to my standards. However, this sauce was pretty good. I dipped a few bites in it. Definitely an Indian-​inspired meat sauce rather than spicy, the addition of curry was quite interesting. The best part is that the plate isn’t too greasy. While that’s not always a bad thing, I was eating this as «dinner» so I enjoyed having a solid meal that didn’t weigh me down too much or make me sick.
We sat out on the patio, which is riddled with picnic tables. The sun was setting in the background and it was just lovely. I would have been cooler had we been on the lake… not with traffic from Rt. 15 buzzing behind us.
Students get a $ 1 off their plates. I guess I still look like a student. Bonus for me and my future self.

I worked for Schaller’s Brighton for 5.5 years (I am using my husbands Unilocal account). I love the food here always have, and always will. Every time I go home to visit this was usually a must for me to eat, but now I have gluten issues so I will never again enjoy a garbage plate. :(They are better then Nick Ta-hoe’s, and Bill Gray’s.

Schaller’s is a small Rochester chain with locations in Greece, Irondequoit and West Brighton. This review is for the West Brighton location, and is one of my favorite places to grab a bite to eat at in Henrietta.
Like other «ground round» type restaurants, Schaller’s serves up your standard «Rochester Burger» with their own meat based hot sauce, which is flavorful, but not really that hot. They have other items on the menu, and food is prepared in a manner that probably hasn’t changed much since the 1950’s.
While it is a chain, there are individual idiosyncrasies between the different locations. The last time I checked, you could get a vanilla malted in Irondequoit but not in Brighton (and I haven’t checked North Greece). One thing all locations have in common, though, is that all the food is cooked to order and to perfection. Great burgers, hot dogs and french fries.
As a previous reviewer noted, if you get a plate there it is done a la Nick Tahou’s «garbage plate». If you’re not ready for that type of meal, don’t get one. However, if you are an aficionado, you might find Schaller’s plate preferable to the orignal. With Nick Tahou’s, Henrietta Hots and Pickle Nicks down the road a bit, you have the opportunity to set up a plate crawl, if so inclined.

I can’t believe that nobody local has done a review of this local landmark. I’d like to give it a 3.5 stars, but can’t, so because other reviews were higher, I’ll give it only 3.
Scallers started way back in the 50’s, up by the lake, as a summer-​only burger joint (which still exists, BTW), and by the late 50’s, there was a second location on E. Ridge (which also still exists). Not much has changed through the years-it;s still mostly fried burgers and hots, the kind of place of which there used to be LOTS of back in the 60’s, but of which most are now gone. There is probably nothing on the menu that is ‘good’ for you, but then, that wasn’t the way people thought back then.
The Brighton location has only been open for 15 years, so it lacks some of the charm (and dirt…) of the 2 older locations. Still, the food is essentially the same. I would have to rate Schaller’s hot sauce as better than Nick Tahou’s (and much better than the poor version that Nick’s in Henrietta serves), the fries are quite good, but the burgers themselves aren’t quite as good as say Don’s Original, or Tom Wahl’s.
You do get a lot for your money, though (and a lot more than that Henrietta version of Nick Tahou’s down the street gives you), but the décor (or lack thereof) leaves you cold-​as do the hard seats. The pickles on the counter used to be a selling feature, but now only one vat sits at the ketchup station, and they just aren’t as good as they were, say, 15 or 20 years ago. Still, what is any more?
If you’re in Henrietta and you have a craving for a burger with ‘the works’, or a ‘plate’, Schaller’s offers a better meal than the local Nick’s does. Other than that, though, it’s not really a big deal.

So it’s my first night in Rochester on business, and I’m looking for something good yet uniquely Rochester to eat for dinner near the hotel/​airport. It’s 8pm and I’m starving, yet I don’t know if I want to try one of the many diners in town just yet. After doing a little digging around, I settle on trying out Schaller’s for dinner.
The restaurant appears to be a throwback burger joint that seems to be a local favorite here in Rochester. It was a sleepy and slow Tuesday night though, so the place was pretty empty and the staff looking fatigued. I ask for what’s popular and they immediately point to the plate… specifically the Schaffer plate aka «garbage plate».
Not one to shy away from trying local cuisine, I of course order a Schaffer cheeseburger plate with everything on it and I am served with a plate of something I am unsure about whether it looks appetizing, but I’m so hungry at this point that I eagerly take my tray and take a seat.
The «garbage plate» is essentially half a plate of crinkle cut fries, half a plate of mac salad, and all topped off with two (I think) burger patties, condiments, relish, and what appears to be chili meat smothering the entire plate (see photo).
Needless to say I ate most of it and while it wasn’t the most visually appealing plate, it went down and satisfied my hunger. However, I walked away feeling kinda gross for having eaten such a hodgepodge of a plate. I can see how it might be a beloved local cheap eat and a guilty pleasure, but I can also see how eating this (combined with the dreary cold upstate New York weather) would only add pounds to my frame.
Thus, I would give this place 3 stars — it’s okay but I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here; especially as I can probably say that will be the last time I eat a ‘garbage plate’, although I am glad and satisfied that I at least tried it once.
Oh btw, they are CASH ONLY — if you don’t have cash, there is an ATM in the store waiting to charge you a $ 2 fee.

I believe this restaurant is personally run by Ray Schaller. I’ve been here a few times, and it belongs on the Rochester burger parthenon. If you’re in Brighton and you don’t go here, something is wrong with your hypothalamus.