I eat at Branca downtown often and enjoy it. The Bushnells Basin location is nothing that vaguely resembles Branca downtown. We had a noon reservation on a Thursday and the restaurant was fairly empty. No one was at the welcome desk when I came in. I waited a couple minutes before someone came out of the back. We were seated by a very friendly staff person who said our waiter would be over soon. It was a while before we got water and ordered two paninis and a pizza. It was 40 minutes before had our food. One panini and the pizza came. Five minutes later the second panini came. This was a work lunch, so we inhaled our food as we had very little time left to eat. While the pizza was cold I will say the food was delicious. All got rave reviews. The decor is a bit tacky which surprised me, no sophisticated. Also very loud almost heavy metal music was playing. Not a pleasant place to dine. If you are looking to try Branca, go downtown. read more

Felt like a sit down fast food restaurant. Dry with no water and felt rushed. Between courses waitress did not bother to remove any dishes from our table. read more

Nice enough. Very busy. We're seated near the door and noise was pronounced. Very little waiting area for customers and they spill out into parking lot. Limited menu. Good service but hectic. read more

Overpriced and average food at best. You would hope for the level of price point and the check you'll get at the end of the night that the food would match. read more

Came here with a large group and they were very accommodating! There was about 18 of us. There was an oddly placed table of wine glasses right in the middle of the dinning room. That made out two connecting tables oddly arranged but we didn't mind as long as we got to eat together! Our server was JJ and he was awesome. He knew how to describe everything from specials, apps, entrees to the wine list. The entire staff was nice considering our large group plus two babies. The manager stopped by a few times to introduce himself. Very cool guy, also treated our niece to a nice birthday dessert. The calamari was great!, the cheese plate and meats were fantastic! We also ordered the soup of the day, and octopus!! All great starters! The wait for our entrees took a little while but that's okay bc our table was large! It was also worth the wait! I love eating good food and don't mind waiting as long as it's cooked great! I will be back to try more food and apps! This place is great! read more

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Celebrating 24 years with my partner in pizza brings us to Branca on this special occasion. It is 7:30 on Sunday, the Bills lost earlier today in their first playoff game in 17 years, it is colder than a witches suckler out so the place is not busy. Good with me as this means the wood fired oven will not be under a lot of volume pressure and should produce a perfect pie. As we enter the joint I find it to be dark, cozy and inviting. I notice a glass window on the far wall by the kitchen entrance and behind the window I see meats are being dried after the curing process. My interest is well piqued. We opt to sit at the bar which is well appointed with comfortable seats with plenty of leg room, a properly placed foot rest, and a fine marble bar top. The pizza station is next to the bar which is a home run in my book. Two Old Fashions with Buffalo Trace. Well executed by the mixologist, Miles. Not muddled as I prefer, alas I did not request the muddling process and can not gripe as the cherry is a high-end Italian preserved variety. Very nice. Ricotta appetizer. Spot on 10 out of 10. Creamy and the proper consistency garnished with crostini and a warm roasted garlic bulb. Not enough crostini accompanies the house made ricotta and the bartender / mixologist offers to retrieve more. I decline thinking this will go nicely with the pizza crust. We ordered two pies. The Branca with added local mushrooms and the Guanciale Pie. The Branca is good and the local mushrooms are very tasty. house made sausage is good and subtle. The dough is well managed of the Reinhart variety. Cold rise with good structure and proper gas from the fermentation process. The oven is hot so the gas releases properly in the cornicione. The deck of the oven is lacking heat so the pie base falls short and is undercooked. The Guanciale Pie is well thought out and an exceptional pie. Few would contemplate Humbolt Fog as the base for a pie with Guanciale and fig. It works and is a pie I recommend and would make myself. Again, good explosion of gas in the cornicione but the base is not crispy and hence the center a bit doughy. Point of contention- They have a properly built meat drying room ( or womb). Why not make your own Guanciale? Now open the crust and put some of the left over ricotta and roasted garlic on it and you have a real treat. Not my first rodeo. A couple walks in 10-15 minutes prior to closing. Miles the mixologist attempts to accommodate them and the pizzaiola grumbles. This is a make or break moment that leads to 2 stars or 5 and repeat customers or none. Serve them. You are in the service industry. They are from out of town here for a business deal and staying a short walk away at a hotel. Serve them right and they will return. All in all I like it and will return. read more

Branca - Branca with local mushrooms added. Good but pricey at $19 - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Pittsford, New York

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We had our first dinner at Branca last Friday. We had an early reservation. When we arrived we asked to sit at the bar . They accommodated us and dinner was wonderfu! read more

I've been meaning to check this place out for a while, it's pretty small inside, I forgot it used to be a great northern! Love the decor though the atmosphere and feel of the place is cozy! I like it. I went with 2 girlfriends on a Thursday at 730 (we had a reservation) but didn't get seated until around 8 because our table wasn't ready. We shared the whipped ricotta appetizer with crostini which was very good, light enough and not too sweet, I would absolutely recommend it! For dinner I just had a Caesar salad (with th usual cheese and croutons, I opted for no fried sardines) which was tasty but could've used a little more dressing. My friend ordered the sausage and broccoli white pizza which she liked but I don't think it would've chosen it, it was pretty plain and if you didn't get the sliced sausage in your bite it was flavorless. My other friend got the chicken dish which looked beautiful, and she said it was very very good! Pretty big too so she had some leftovers, and so did my friend with the pizza. There are lots of pizza options, I think others that I saw come out to tables looked amazing. The wine selection was pretty good and I enjoyed my Cabernet, they have a pretty extensive drink list too and wines by the bottle if you're interested. Our only problem is that it did get pretty chilly toward the end of our dinner as the place unpacked, the windows let in a lot of cold and we were all wearing our coats well before we planned on leaving (probably a good 45 minutes before we left because it was THAT cold). Otherwise we had a great time and didn't feel rushed at all, I would come back to try something new! But would most likely order the ricotta again, it was so good! read more

Branca - Sausage and broccoli rabe pizza...eh - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Pittsford, New York

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The food is better than 3 years ago, but service is SLOOOWWWW (over 1 hr wait for food on a night when the place was mostly empty). Housemade ricotta cheese board with French bread and pickled garlic was very good, but rest of the meal was downhill from there. After waiting over an hour for our food, we ended up taking it home, and it was very underwhelming for the price. Server didn't even know how long we had been waiting, and manager was nowhere to be seen. Very disappointing. read more

Branca - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Pittsford, New York

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I went to Branca Basin with my parents a couple nights ago and I thought the atmosphere was beautiful. I was expecting fine dining and polite staff. It look a little bit of a wait, but finally we were able to order our food, but were brought bread in a paper bag with a "butter dish" that was an upside down saucer. I thought it was hilarious and I just wanted to share it with you guys. The food was good but they need to update their class a little. read more

Branca - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Pittsford, New York

I'm honestly not a fan of restaurants that don't specify what they're putting in their food, because then you wind up with unhappy customers who've ordered entrees they can barely eat. Apparently the seared lasagna is made with LAMB "ragu", which I'm a little suspicious is just their lamb bolognese dumped between many, many layers of lasagna noods (there's about equal thickness of "sauce" layers and noodle layers). This is noted in the description only as "meat"-you assume this is beef right? I love lasagna and was super hyped for my entree until that first bite when the gamey flavor just kind of coated everything. It wasn't so obvious that it needed to be sent back, just obvious enough to be unpleasant. There's approximately 1 tbsp of bechamel in the entire lasagna, and the sauce tasted like your average canned tomato sauce, sour and herbless. This was the driest, un-cheesiest lasagna I have eaten. We were meeting with some friends and they kindly treated us to dinner here. The atmosphere was quite lovely and wasn't loud at all, and the staff were champs about a crying baby (who, funny enough, ate some reaaaaaallly spicy seafood pasta special that was definitely not described as a spiiiiiicy seafood pasta). Our favorites for the night were three appetizers: sausage pizza (Branca), octopus and pork belly, and calamari. The calamari legit tasted like fried chicken and is some of the best I've ever had. The octopus tentacle was also.. fried... and tasted like...... fried chicken. It wasn't too chewy and the equally fried pork belly was delicious. The pizza was a little on the dry side too, with the same sauce as the lasagna, and little bits of mozzarella. Two other entrees ordered were the filet and the scallops. The filet looked pretty tasty though our friend said it wasn't very tender. The scallops comes with three scallops and barely anything else for $27 and I can't attest to the flavor. Service was okay but waitress more or less spoke in a monotone the whole time. I feel like this is a place that has the potential for some really amazing food and currently lacks the ability to execute it. read more

Photo on top is why I wanted to try Branca. Photo on the bottom is what we got. Girlfriend: Can i get sauce, this is really dry. Waiter: So you want sauce? Girlfriend: you know, we expected a really great looking pizza like what we saw in the photos. These are just so dry. Waiter: our main chef is not here, so we cant guarantee the quality is always as good as when he is here. [He comped a drink which is great.] but i guess you need to call beforehand to make sure the right chef is there so you wont hate your food. I would have preferred Bill Gray's or Pizza Hut read more

Branca - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Pittsford, New York

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The food and atmosphere are really good! Will say that the portions are somewhat appalling for the prices (at least for the parpadelle dish that I ordered), however I was very impressed with the taste of the food. The only thing I was less than impressed with was the service. Seemed pretty standard. Waitress came and took our order, didn't seem that enthusiastic, and didn't check in unless we called her over to ask for something. All in all, great food and atmosphere, little portions and subpar service. read more

Great ambiance, great staff. The menu is varied and offers something for all palates. The wine selection is phenomenal.

Just had another amazing dinner here. We had a perfectly cooked pizza first instead of an appetizer the our main course (I had the lasagna) and everyone enjoyed their meal. Service was a little slow but the food outweighs my review. read more

First visited Branca in downtown Rochester based on suggestion of co-workers in the area, and then found another right in Pittsford. SO good! Amazing live time wood burning pizza oven, great eats without an intensely long menu (some are far too long), and solid mix of cocktails...but highly skilled bartenders who can expertly create custom drinks as well. Will be a frequent visitor, whether for pizza, salad, drinks, or anything in between. Great location, size, parking, and staff, and YUM! read more

Branca - The Last Word cocktail - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Pittsford, New York

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Great little place in the heart of Bushnell's Basin. Not sure why we haven't been but decided to go for our anniversary dinner and were pleasantly surprised. The decor is urban-rustic with a bar up front. The service was excellent. We had a nice warm bag of bread and the calamari to start. It was done in a nice lime and chili sauce (not too hot) and a big enough portion for 3 to share. I had the salmon ceasar salad and was blown away by the salmon size and taste. Generous and done to perfection. (they asked me how I wanted it cooked which doesn't happen often. I like my salmon well done and they did a fantastic job). The portion was certainly enough for my main meal. My son had the duck linguine and loved it. Very rich and a good portion size. My husband had the papardelle with mussels. Rich broth and a surprising chili and lime flavor. Dessert was also great; fresh cannolis that were the perfect ending to our dinner. There's enough on the menu we want to try to bring us back again. read more

Had dinner here on a snowy Saturday. We had the ricotta appetizer, which was kind of meh. The feee bread and butter was better than the $10 appetizer. Our main dishes were both specials, and there were both quite good. Got the "deconstructed cannoli" for dessert and that was a fail. Hunks of cheese with a small amount of chocolate and these tiny little cookie like discs. A larger cookie disc and more chocolate might have helped balance the flavors. Service was fine, a little slow at the end when we were ready to pay and go, but the server was good. I have to say, the downtown location is better. read more

Excellent food and atmosphere! I can't wait to come back in the near future. The osso buço is to die for.... The tiramisu is heaven on earth read more

My first time visiting branca. Great cocktails, I had the white rabbit, perfectly sweet. The wood fired pizza is amazing, and has a thin crispy crust. Lovely atmosphere, attentive and welcoming staff. Would recommend! read more

Nice atmosphere, quality food , extremely small entree portions . They used to provide bread for the table , not since covid . I went there hungry and left hungry. Recently had a waiter named connor who put less than zero effort in as a server. read more

OMG! AM GOING BACK, FOR SURE! So, I went here for a business dinner, so I couldn't be snapping photos of food, ambiance, etc... So..Picture Edison lighting, natural wood walls surround and make you feel at home... The waiter knows the menu and drinks well and actually loves his/her job. I loved my scallops with caviar. Others got truffle stuffed ravioli which they loved! WOW. Parking..well after 6 you can use Bruegger lot, so parking limited in Pittsford, that is my only complaint. read more

Nice ambiance and service was okay, but the menu prices were high and choices scarce. I ordered Napoli pizza. The crust was good, but i doubt there was an ounce of sausage and very, very little parmigiano reggiano or pesto. Plenty of broccoli rabi though- way too much of that. read more

We did take-out tonight. HORRIBLY expensive, very small portions, chicken was beyond overdone. We cannot believe we spent $75 on two minuscule entrees. Will never order from them again. read more

Incredibly disappointed by everything we ordered. There are many better places to eat in Rochester and surrounding areas.

If you're looking for a solid Italian meal in a place with an awesome vibe, this is your place! We started with the burrata and eggplant which was delicious and a very generous portion. I had the spaghetti squash which was a nicely executed healthier "pasta" option. My parents loved the scallops and said the salmon special was their favorite. The servers were all very attentive and helpful. I would like to see more fish and salad options but to be fair, they really specialize in Italian pastas and pizza. Great experience overall...We will be back! read more

What a delightful little bistro in a suburban setting Everything is housemade, from the delicious sourdough bread with the sea salt crust accompanied with whipped herbed butter, to the pasta in the pasta dishes. The menu is new for the summer. It provides many interesting choices, and the ability to craft a small, or a large meal. My wife had a perfectly pan seared piece of halibut, on a bed of grains and vegetables. I opted for the spaghetti with chunks of lobster meat in a fresh tomato broth. This followed perfectly grilled asparagus, with a lemon truffle butter sauce. The salad dressing that accompanied the greens was a garlicky lemony delight. There were ample choices of craft beers on draft, as well as a large selection of interesting Italian wines by the glass. We were seated promptly as per our reservation (which admittedly, we made early, it being a Saturday). The servers were attentive and playful, frequently inquiring as to our well-being, and our satisfaction with everything placed before us. The decor is upscale rustic, and the place has a neighborhood feel, which was amplified by the fact that I knew the diners on both sides of our table. After all, what would you expect in a neighborhood bistro? Other reviewers have been less generous, but whatever faults they may have found, were not apparent tonight. Our experience was wholly satisfactory, and we left with wild enthusiasm and a desire to return again soon. read more

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My first negative review :( I had been waiting for Branca to open for at least a month and when it finally did, I was there within 3 days! First time was for dinner on 8/19 (couldn't find the business on Yelp that night to check in and review during the experience, unfortunately). We were asked if we had reservations, we did not, but were still able to be seated within 5 minutes of walking in the door. As the evening went on, the restaurant did fill up and people left because they did not want to wait for a table. My friend and I sat and about 8-10 minutes later the waitress came by for our drink order. We each ordered a Rossini and glass of water. By the time the drinks arrived, about 15 minutes later, we were thinking we should have ordered a bottle of wine to split since it appeared this was going to be a long, drawn out evening due to slow service. Now it's been close to 30 minutes since arrival so we put our appetizer and entree order in at the same time, planning to split each. We were hungry but didn't want to jump in ordering too much until we knew how good it was. Another 25 minutes pass and our food finally arrives. The housemade ricotta appetizer was delicious!! Let's be real - it's hard to go wrong with anything involving ricotta! It was unfortunate the appetizer arrived at the same time as the entree...defeating the whole purpose. The entree to split was the Margherita pizza. It was terrible. Awful. There was more dough than topping. The pizza toppings were cool...not even warm! The dough was light and fluffy - I prefer more charred with a slight crunch. Overall, I was not impressed. We left as soon as we could looking forward to dessert at Abbott's across the street. At least we knew they would have great offerings and know what they're doing! Visits 2, 3 and 4: I told my boss about Branca since our company is in one of the office parks in the area, and because he LOVES pizza. He couldn't wait to try it. I have had to return to Branca three times since my first visit for lunch meetings with him and vendors. Each time I have been disappointed! As another reviewer mentions, they need to figure out how the exec lunch crowd works. We don't have hours to sit and chat, we have businesses to return to and clients to meet with. Each lunch has lasted longer than one hour due to slow service and slow food from the kitchen. I can say I have ordered the garden green salad with shrimp, caesar salad with shrimp and chicken panini respectively and the only positive review can be written on the garden green salad. For an Italian/Pizza restaurant, that is sad. Overall, my expectations were that of Revelry - great service, employees who seem happy to work there, know what they're doing and what they're offering, many choices and amazing food. At this point, Branca is failing at all. Hopefully the negatives work themselves out as Branca sticks around and listens to feedback... I'll try again in a month when the excitement "of something shiny and new" has worn off. read more

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 entree 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! read more

-Definitely needs work on their lunch service- My girlfriend and I had been anticipating trying this place since we had heard it was opening a little over a month ago. We really enjoy Revelry and were hoping for a similarly eclectic experience near orur respective places of employment. Sadly, it was a very disappointing lunch date. Below was the timeline of events today: 1PM - arrived at restaurant. The parking lot was packed, which wasn't surprising for the time of day and how new the place is. Luckily someone was pulling out and we were able to slip in rather quickly. 1:03PM - Arrived at the hostess stand. No one was in line and there were at least 8 vacant tables inside and 2 outside. It still took almost 10 minutes to be seated 1:11PM - Hostess seats us. Water glasses are empty. 1:20PM - Still no sign of our waiter/waitress. Hostess sees me staring at her and takes pity, coming over to bring us water herself. She tells us that the waitress will be by momentarily. 1:25PM - The waitress finally arrives. She is very jovial and making small talk, but at this point we just want to get our order in as we are on a fairly strict hour time crunch for lunch. I was going to try the Marinara con Acciughe pizza, but, due to the delay in ordering, opted for the Insalata Romana Sardine Fritte salad as it seemed like a faster option. My girlfriend ordered the Foccaccia Farcita panini. 1:40PM - The waitress comes by smiling and refills our water. Please note that there isn't any bread or bread sticks served at the table to nibble on in the interim. We are getting nervous about the time. 1:55PM - Still no sign or update on our food. At this point, there is no way that we can get the food to go and pay, even if it had been ready. I informed the hostess that we could not wait any longer and we calmly left. I think that they either fail to understand or are yet to hone the demands of the lunch crowd. Aside from execs, when people go to lunch during a weekday from the office, they usually need to be wrapped up in about an hour to get back to their jobs. The Soup and Salad Co. across the street, the Basin Pub down the block, or even the wood fired pizza restaurant Napa Valley up on 31 and 250 all understand the turn around times of people who are on a corporate lunch schedule. These are not fast food restaurants, they are sit down casual dining. I can understand a more leisurely dining experience during dinner, but their lunch numbers will dwindle once the excitement wears off if this trend continues. read more

Disappointing, ordered seafood special, parrot fish, shrimp, lobster, scallop. $ 40.00 for two to share. Couldn't tell what was what. Covered in a tempra batter and deep fried. Felt like I just order from a Chinese restaurant . Salty, greasy. High top tables awful, table to small, no backs on chairs, no place to put pocket book or anything. Trendy, showy, not a tasteful place at all. read more

My family & I have now been to Branca four times in the last 5 weeks. (Once a 6-top, once a couple & once as a single guest sitting at the bar) My overwhelming thought is...shame on you Pasquale, you were taught to be better, and did better, while pushing plates at 2 Vine. The service is kind, but manufactured. They smile in a way that utterly lacks sincerity. During my last visit, seated at the bar, I learned management has actually mandated that bartenders shake your hand. Unfortunately, they forgot to teach them eye-contact and what it means to be genuine. It's as if the entire staff has said to one-another: "every guest is rich, let's just pacify them with mediocre food & fake care while raking their credit cards for the max". Octopus: First time was charred nicely & olive oil/herb drizzle was ideal. Second time ordered the octopus had zero char, was room-temp & seemed boiled; also the drizzle was absent. Pizza: Very good each of the three visits, although $3-5 more than comparable. Pork Belly Special: Terrible--came out room-temperature and so tough had to push a knife through the dry pork. This is NOT how pork belly should ever arrive. House-made ricotta: Very Good! Linguine & Clams: Average at best. Lacked true flavor, bland. Pork Chop: Ordered MR delivered well-done, needed true effort to cut into the dry meat...Bad. Swordfish special: Bland & non-memorable. Certainly not a dish that approaches $40 in price. Ultimately, it's sad the great venue & excellent decor cannot deliver on genuine service & food deserving of price & expectation. We will not be back. read more

We had reservations and still had to wait over 30 min, they changed the menu and had no meat balls (Italian restaurants!) and was way over crowded during COVID, people on top of us!!! Horrible valentine's experience!!!! read more

Good service, but other than that felt it was way over priced and I have definitely had better food for better prices. $150 for three people, about $30 per entree. I am willing to pay money for good service and quality but this place didn't do it for me. Shout out for the great service though! Waited over 45 minutes past reservation time, hostess ordered us drinks without us even asking. Free shots from the bartenders for the whole bar. Attentive service- except the server didn't taste the specials! Shame on you! read more

What a wonderful meal! We started with the calamari with zucchini flowers and scallops with eggplant puree and pickled vegetables. My (1st generation Italian) husband requested a custom appetizer made of just the sausage and broccoli rabe that normally tops one of their pizzas, and when it came to the table, we learned that the chef had made the sausage himself. For my husband, it was a little plate of home and the highlight of his evening. Next, the chef made us a special pasta fagioli course that was the best I've ever had. We followed that with filet, tuna, and couple other entrees that were all perfect! Dessert was galato and apple crumble that were heavenly. The food here is spectacular, and the service was prompt and friendly. They seem to approach it as a team effort, and everybody going by was available for anything needed, refilling water glasses, clearing plates, etc. The atmosphere is comfortable and appealing, with reclaimed wood that looks like it was from old barns. It's warm and homey. All that wood does make it rather loud, but with such a terrific experience, that's forgivable. The place was also very busy. All the tabes were full, and the bar was packed. I believe that Branca is an absolute home run in Bushnell's Basin, and it will fast become a choice destination dinner spot in the greater Rochester area. If you're native Italian, you will find Branca especially delightful, but it's worth a trip for anybody. read more

After our sixth visit to Branca, I'm willing to raise my rating a bit as I think the restaurant has made some nice strides since opening but there are still a few improvements to be made. A very large part of the reason we visited Branca on a Friday evening was they served late. The kitchen is open until 11 on weekends and we had a ten o'clock party of 8 which is very difficult to accommodate in sleepy Rochester where most restaurants close up at 9. Congratulations for Branca for recognizing and filling this much needed niche. If I were giving them a rating on service, it would be 5 stars. Our server was outstanding and she walked away with a 30% tip because of her attention. Granted, the dining room wasn't full at 9:45 when we arrived so she had a bit more time to spend with us but the attention to needs both expressed and unexpressed was phenomenal both by her and her serving attendants. If all staff were trained and delivered service in that fashion, eating out would always be a pleasure. Management take note to congratulate Alexis P. for an outstanding job. I suppose like any evening the meal always goes better with drinks and let me say that the bar at Branca has always impressed. Clearly, the operators of Char and The Revelry have brought a good sensibility in combining attention to both wines and mixed drinks. The selection of wines is entirely Italian and with great attention to moderate as well as more expensive selections. I am particularly impressed by this thematic approach and have to commend the owners in this regard though my pet peeve still remains with local restaurants not featuring more Finger Lakes wines but enough said here on that subject. The offerings by the glass are equally well chosen. But having enough wine at home, I enjoy the attention of a good mixologist and again the theme that they've carried off so well at The Revelry and Char shows in the interesting offerings of mixed drinks, and our party sampled many last evening with no failures. Favorites included a Limetta daiquiri with rum and lime and a nice ginger liqueur to make it stand out. One of my daughters tried a Milan Mule which was their southern European take on a Moscow Mule - Vodka, Ginger beer, strawberry and basil. My favorite has become the Freddo Morganti with Rye, Amaretto and orange and lemon juice. A fresh and light version of a Manhattan. All of the drinks have a lighter, summery air that I find refreshing. We put a lot of appetizers on the table and weren't disappointed. The calamari was light and fresh. Nothing special here but certainly done just right. The octopus continues to be the standout. We probably could have ordered a dozen of these. The serving isn't large, as an appetizer should be, and really not to be shared but having ordered this dish now on several occasions, the blending of flavors with the corn and truffles is outstanding. They put together a really nice antipasti plate with a selection of their own homemade cured meats - I'd say eight or so different choosings and they were simply superb. The vegetarians among us had a few offerings of the homemade herbed ricotta with crostini and truffles. And without asking, more crostini appeared so that there was little of anything to be removed from the table. Once again, it was on dinner that we found the offerings to be a bit uneven. One of my vegetarian daughters had the ravioli (smoked eggplant and black truffle sauce). On this occasion, it was a bit warmer from the kitchen than on past occasions and it drew raves. Another tried the clams and garlic herb sauce. Nicely done, though again at $19, like a few other dishes on the menu, it's terribly overpriced for what it delivers. Clams are so inexpensive, throw a bit bowl of them at the diner for this price. It's for dishes like this that they lose stars. A few of our party tried the risotto and once again found the combination of mushrooms and truffle to be outstanding. My recommendation for a great meal here is one of their house cocktails, the octopus, a light salad, and then the risotto. If that's all I had, it would be a rating of 5 stars. But half of us had pizza and in this regard, I think they fell down. First, let me say that it was a nice job to have 4 pizzas delivered to the table at the same time. It may have been the time of evening that allowed them to do so but to prepare by hand and bake 4 wood fired pizzas at the same time for a single table is a nice feat. But having said that, I wasn't impressed. The crusts were tough, doughy, and didn't add to the overall taste in any way. There are several places in town that do a lighter, crisper crust that is more to my liking and here I think there's so much more potential. It's clearly a matter of style and taste but to my taste, this isn't the pizza I'd recommend. A hotter oven might help, but perhaps it's just that I favor this style of crust a bit less. More to say, out of room! TBC read more

Everything was eh and mediocre at best. They try to be too fancy or gourmet and it's just not executed well at all. The bread they give you to start with has the consistency of cornbread but with none of the flavor of taste. The menu is way too small with only one steak and fish option which they call their "special" that I'm assuming changes on the regular. Everything to me seemed like it was shitty food trying to disguise itself as "gourmet". I don't want bruschetta made out of stale leftover bread and pumpkin purée from last weeks leftover entree specials. Everything kind of seemed recycled. Seems overrated and overpriced, but nice and cozy atmosphere...if you don't mind the noise. read more

Great to see Branca hitting their stride! This is our second visit and first with the kids. The menu is diverse and provided something for each of us. The quality of the food was outstanding. The pasta dishes for the kids were prepared just right and my wife raved about the fish special. I love the homemade pizza dough and enjoyed another perfect creation of fresh ingredients from the wood fired pizza oven. Saw some people commenting on the slow service. Can say that the staff has really come together since our last visit and are working as a well rehearsed team. We enjoyed drinks, apps, a relaxing dinner for four, dessert and cappuccino in just over and hour and a half. Definitely worth multiple visits as the menu changes to highlight each season. We already made our next reservation for two weeks from now. Can't wait to go back. read more

Branca - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Pittsford, New York

Ok I could give it 3 1/2 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. read more

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Wasn't very impressed with this place. Made a reservation for 3 on a Tuesday at 7:45. We arrived shortly after then and had to wait a bit to our table, which we had no problem doing, so we headed to the bar. The bar was packed. Couldn't not find a place to even sneak in. Finally was noticed by a bar tender who handed us a menu then failed to come back to take our drink order... In the mean time we got called to our table so decided to just order drinks there. Then we sat and waited, a good 20 minutes, to be greeted by our server, who was super friendly and nice. But after waiting that long at the bar plus sitting down and waiting on top of it all was just annoying. We all got pizzas which were tasty, yet nothing to brag about. After that experience and the average food, I wouldn't recommend Branca or go there again. Maybe they're still working out their kinks because they're newer? Who knows. There are many other Italian places in the city to choose from that are better. read more