Tony D’s Coal Fired Pizza

I can’t begin to express how amazing Tony D’s banquet room was for a recent surprise party! I never write reviews, but for me not to relay what a wonderful venue, amazing staff and terrific food would truly be a disservice.
First of all, Margaret — the event coordinator is beyond fabulous! She made sure every detail and request was taken care of. She went above and beyond to take care of everything and make sure this party was perfect. I cannot say enough about her, and the bartender tending the bar, who also took care of whatever we needed. What an asset they are to Tony D’s.
If you need to host a small party (under 40 ppl??) this is just perfect. A cozy, well decorated room, a view of the river and a nice separate area with its own fire pit room. Everything is accessible with a ramp for those with mobility issues and valet parking for your convenience.
Now the food, everyone knows that Tony’s food is excellent, but to keep that same level of quality for large groups can sometimes be difficult. Not for them! The arancini, meatballs, beans & greens, chicken, etc. — all perfect. The value that they provide is truly excellent. All the guests had food to take home too!
On a side note, my company has had their last two Christmas parties at this venue, and those two parties were also perfect!
Thank you Margaret and Tony for a wonderful and memorable time.

Always visit when I am in Rochester. Arancini is fantastic! Great service! Everyone is friendly. I have taken clients here and been on my own. If you are dining alone sit at food bar. What an experience. Opportunity to see the cooking up close and talk with the chef. The place is magic! I highly recommend.

Lunch and dinner — never disappointed — always ask for a seat riverside. The exception being in the winter… brrrrrrr…

Oh Tony D’s… delicious and beautiful atmosphere. Possibly the best pizza i’ve had in Rochester. This would be my type of ideal place for a nice date out, birthday or other special occasion! I’ve came here for dinner with friends twice in the wintertime, but imagine the view from the patio would be pretty in the summertime — I look forward to visiting here again soon

Amazing pizza — nothing left on the table by the time we left! In addition to the pizzas we started w/​the Sausage appetizer which was extremely good.
We had our minds set on the pizza but almost got talked out of it when the server shared that evening’s specials… Lobster Risotto, a Calamari dish, etc. I will definitely return to try other dishes since my first visit was sooo good!

Great pizza but it is kind of pricey. Everytime I have been there its been busy. I haven’t had a bad meal yet, I have only been there twice though but I have eaten friends food and that has also been good.

Very disappointing.
The food just wasn’t good here at all.
To start, the restaurant has very limited parking. It is herded into another plaza with a few other restaurants and shops. This occasion was for lunch, I can’t imagine an evening.
Secondly, the pizza was awful. Cheese was running and the sauce was sour. I ordered pizza with roasted red pepper. The red pepper had no flavor either. The crust tasted bland and trust me I have tasted coal fired… This was a regular rinky dink pizza with a $ 20.00 flare.
Just awful.

I’m a fan of wood fired pizza and I was excited to try Tony D’s. I ordered a sausage & cheese pizza and my wife ordered a pepperoni & cheese. The pizza toppings were very good, however the crust was much too burned around the edges and underneath. In result, the crust was unappetizing. I regret not asking for a dipping sauce…
The ambience of the restaurant was solid. It’s a typical wood fired pizza /​wine bar.

I never have a bad time here… great place to sit outside in the summer and have a casual cocktail with some friends. Atmosphere can be very loud, and the food and service are just above average.
I do wish the bar area was bigger, and bar tenders could be a bit more attentive.

This is our go-​to pizza place when we can’t think of anything for dinner. Drinks are good with a decent amount of alcohol, and pizza portions are huge. Our go to is a cocktail, a beer and a large pizza to share. Bill usually ends up around $ 40 including tip, which isn’t bad at all considering we usually have leftover pizza to take home.
Sitting beside the oven gets you close to the hilarious and entertaining chefs. I can’t eat much spicy food, and when the chef saw my bf going to town with the red pepper flakes he actually made a special (super) spicy sauce for him to put on, which was a nice touch :)

Top notch! Great food and service ., warm and inviting ambiance … Even the music was first class … When in Rochester, Tony D’s is a must.

Tony D’s…such a corn hill gem. One of the few places in Rochester I don’t mind being told «45 minute wait» so I can sit at the busy bar people watching, or outside in the cozy patio seating complete with outdoor heater, and drool over plates of hot food passing me by.
On our last visit, (a Friday night) I chanced bringing my 1 year old. Although it was a lengthy wait, the busy environment kept my son entertained, and the food kept him busy once we were seated. I highly recommend their wood fired pizzas– delicious! Overall, wonderful authentic Italian food, but be prepared for a wait.

After enjoying one of the last nice days before the cold weather, the wife and I decided to get something quick. We always liked the pizza at Tony D’s and that was what we thought we were going to order… until we heard the specials.
It was early on a Saturday around 5pm and the place was just starting to fill in. As usual, it was loud even with few people… I do like the restaurant but it’s hard to have a conversation with the acoustics.
Enough of that, to the food. We decided on the 18 oz strip which was one of the specials. It consisted of: Creek stone farms Eighteen oz dry aged boneless NY strip. Sweet pepper butternut risotto with Andouille sausage. Tuscan Kale. Steak topped with Sundried tomato Gorgonzola compound butter.
The risoto was outstanding and the Andouille sausage was smoky with a little kick. The kale was kale… I’m not a fan of kale regardless of how good it is. The steak itself was perfectly cooked to medium rare and melted in my mouth.
I normally don’t think of Tony D’s as a place for anything other than a quick bite but this meal certainly changed my mind and the $ 42 price seemed well within range for the meal

Beware! Refills on soft drinks are not free and the manager, Toni, is RUDE.
My family and I went to this restaurant to celebrate a special occasion. While the music, food, and overall ambience was very nice, my experience was ruined by the fact that the waitress didn’t inform us that refills on our soft drinks were not free. Consequently, we were charged $ 7.50 for two people to have two refills each on their diet cokes. The way it was presented was deceptive. The waitress kept asking the guys in the group if they wanted her to «put in another order for a soda.» I was a little suspicious when I heard her say that, but we all just thought that was an odd way of saying can I refill your drinks. At no point did she state that the refills weren’t free.
When I spoke to the manager about this she seemed uninterested and blamed the owner for the policy. Upon my insistence she removed the extra refills from the bill, but was snappy and curt about it. Since we were at the POS register, I asked her if I could go ahead and pay for the check there, and she told me in a rude way to go back to my table and that my waitress would pick up the check when she returned.
I just think that unless I am sitting at a bar, refills on soda should be free at a restaurant. At the least, the wait staff should be trained to tell its patrons that refills aren’t free. To make matters worse, the glasses the drinks came in were narrow, filled with mostly ice. The soft drink refill policy is very tacky and is a bad reflection of the owner and his/​her apparent disconnect from understanding what customers want and customer service.
As for the manager whom I interacted with, she could stand to lose the attitude, and take customer service training.

Tony D’s is a very popular pizza restaurant and bar located alongside the Genesee River just south of downtown. It’s kind of the ‘chic’ area pizza establishment. While there are a growing number of places offering wood-​fired or high heat gas-​cooked pizza, I believe Tony D’s is the only Rochester restaurant to cook their pizzas with a coal fire.
They warn on their menu that their pizzas are «well done,» and boy do they mean it! My pizzas were quite well done on the undersides. Personally, I believe this detracts from the flavor of the pie, but to each his own — and many do frequent Tony D’s. My pizzas were both under-​sauced and tasted quite dry. Additionally, there seemed to be a little too much crust compared to toppings. It was like eating a crispy cracker, and not so much a pizza. They tasted ok, but I really wasn’t impressed, especially compared to other area wood-​fired and high heat pizzas.
Go there for the crowd and social aspect, but not so much for awesome pizza.

I came here yesterday with my stepdad. At first we immediately felt the «how do they know each other» thoughts by other patrons. We asked to sit on the patio and the view is gorgeous. That being said I didn’t really hear anything he said during the conversation. Instead we heard our neighboring tables who felt the need to talk all over each other. Didn’t we all learn one person talks at a time? Any ways we found it comical and was still able to have a conversation. it just took some effort on the hearing skills.
Our waiter came very quickly and we ordered a small lucia pizza and an order of the wings. The portions are so huge that together we still didn’t finish half of the pizza and wings. This place is meant for sharing and days of left overs. Our order came very quickly and we chowed down. The pizza was delicious and had the perfect crust. It wasn’t just only spicy, it had a pop of flavor that was enjoyed. The wings are also prime and not like regular chicken wings. It doesn’t have a coat of sauce on it. Instead it has a strong flavor with onions and flavoring piled on top.
I would come back for the pizza. However, I’d visit at an odd time so then I’ll actually be able to hear the other people I am with talk.

I have been wanting to try Tony D’s for some time now. In the past, all efforts to plan ahead had been road blocked by the fact that they don’t take reservations for parties less than six. This past Friday we seemed to luck out and get a table practically upon entry. It was 6:30 so I was pleasantly surprised to be seated within minutes.
The hostess was very friendly. We were seated at a table overlooking the river which was really nice. I can’t wait to come back in warmer weather when they open up the glass enclosure. It would be so nice to have dinner there in the warm open air of summer.
The food was fabulous! We had the special calamari appetizer and an order of wings to start. So good. For dinner my boyfriend and two other friends ordered the special fillet mignon and unfortunately his was well done instead of medium. No problem! Our server took the meat on a separate plate so he would still have the sides to eat while he waited. She returned in what seemed like two minutes with another fully plated entrée perfectly cooked. I sampled it. His meal was delicious. The best fillet I’ve tasted in a long time. I had the Bianca pizza with spinach added. It was good. We all shared the peanut butter gelato bomb and the lemon cream cake… both so good!
Our server was great. Our food was delicious. The atmosphere warm and welcoming! Love Tony D’s! Can’t wait to go back!

This place is so great! It’s beautiful and has a huge bar with a great wine list and my favorite gin (Nolets!). When waiting for a table, you can sit in the covered outdoor patio which has a beautiful fire-​pit.
The menu has pizza and Italian specialties. We ordered pizza which was delicious, a meatball sub, wings and our favorite-​greens and beans! The prices are extremely fair.
We sat on the river which was really pretty. The servers were professional and very nice. We had a wonderful time and I really recommend this place. It would be a great place for a first date ;). Very cool vibe, very good food, lots of items to share, but it won’t break the bank!

Had a great time dining at Tony D’s tonight. On a whim the decision was made to go out some where fun. I said «hey Tony D’s is cool, let’s go there». So glad we did.
The fun started with checking in and having a seat at the bar. Ah, the Gin Spritz sounds delish… and it was. The wife got the «Rasberry». A short time later we were called to be seated. When we checked in we chose to sit at the chef station. It was a new experience for me and wow, those guys work hard but still are friendly enough to make a little small talk. I highly recommend, if you are a party of two, to sit there.
The meal started with the arincini for me and greens and beans for the wife. Arincini was crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside with a yummy pesto and marinara. The greens were very flavorful with plenty of sausage. The wife said it was the best she has had and by the way, it was huge, a meal in itself.
For dinner I ordered the seafood special, Zuppa di Pesce. It may have been a meal for two. Little neck clams, rock lobster and a lot of shrimp that were so big they may have well been teenage lobsters. It was all excellent. I loved it and finished the feast. Being a little too excited we also ordered the large meatball and mushroom pizza. You can’t go to Tony D’s without getting meatballs. Needless to say, half of pizza and a portion of the greens and beans came home with us. My drink choice also changed to a nice Malbec while the wife got another «Rasberry» (basically a Rasberry martini).
A wonderful meal and a great time. The stars of the night were the chefs. Not for just the meal but for the tremendous effort they put into all of the dishes that they prepared. Now I’m sitting on the couch watching a movie sipping another wine digesting. So satisfied.

Its been three years since the 2011 fiasco with Tony D’s. Years have lapsed, so I figured, why not give it another try. We went for lunch and ordered a couple of pizzas. Both were okay, nothing super special. The pizza was actually quite bland and I found myself pouring on the parmesan cheese and red pepper to give it some flavor. As the parmesan piled up on my pizza, I have to admit that I’d wished, I would’ve ordered the eggplant special instead. Service from the host and our waiter was outstanding. He was patient, kind and attentive — two stars and a good tip to him alone.
Unfortunately, some things don’t change. The management here is really off putting. Tony D’s was pretty empty for lunch, management glimpsed at our table several times while striding back and forth to the computer, but never smiled or greeted us. While this would typically be normal during busy times, being one of only two occupied tables in the space, it just felt odd with this woman glaring at us.
Final verdict — Between the bland pizza and awkward management, Tony D’s still stands at two stars for me with no improvement.