Dining
La Marifinga, on Lexington Ave, serves Spanish and American food, like (left to right) Green Salad with peppers, onions, and radishes; Tres Leches cake topped with cantaloupe; fruit juice made in-house; roast chicken with rosemary, scallions, and rice. PHOTOS BY MARK CHAMBERLIN
A west side story [ CHOW HOUND ] BY KATIE LIBBY
La Marifinga started out as an idea for a food
truck, but eventually evolved into a restaurant serving Spanish and American food on the west side. Edgar Gonzalez, the current Sous Chef at Rocco, opened the restaurant with his wife, Diana, who is at the restaurant seven days a week — an admirable feat when you have four kids at home. The Gonzalez family wanted to open a neighborhood restaurant where everyone felt welcome to come in, see familiar faces and get some good, authentic food. With a menu that stays under the $12 mark, that’s an easy thing to do. And La Marifinga does a steady take out business due to the amount of industry and factory workers in the area. The restaurant space itself is small, with only four or five booths and a counter where you can order take out. A few pictures hang on the wall and lively music is piped in through speakers. However, you don’t have to spend a lot of time and energy on decorating when you can let the food speak for itself. Appetizers include empanadas with chicken ($2) or beef ($2.25), and alcapurrias ($2.50), a deep-fried green banana fritter filled with crabmeat. A selection of the entrees include a generous portion of Arroz & Abichuela (rice and beans) that can be served with pork (small for $6.90, medium for $8.90 or large for $10.90) or beef (small for $7, medium
for $9 or large for $11); rotisserie chicken ($9 or $16); and a pork sandwich ($6.75). We tried the Sandwich Marifinga ($8.50), reminiscent of a Cuban sandwich, with pulled pork, Dominican salami (kind of like a bacon/ pork belly hybrid), cheddar cheese, ketchup, honey mustard and cilantro. On the side, the sandwich came with plump sweet potato fries. We paired the meal with cocktail fruit juice ($3) — a combination of papaya, grapes, cantaloupe and something called red fruit. La Marifinga is located at 624 Lexington Ave. It is open Monday-Sunday, 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Food prices range from $2.00-$12.00. Delivery is available. For more information, call 458-6111 or follow La Marifinga on Facebook.
Quick Bites
Good Luck, at 50 Anderson Ave., will hold its next Inspired Table dinner on April 30. The dinner will feature a five-course tasting menu that will be paired with a variety of rosé wines presented by Mark Licata from Winebow. Tickets are $85 per seat. The Inspired Table runs through October and tickets can be purchased by visiting Restaurantgoodluck.com. Lisa Lillien, chef and author of The Hungry Girl Diet will be signing copies of her book at the Pittsford Wegmans, 6-8 p.m. on May 8. Tickets for the event are available for free at any Wegmans service desk, one ticket
will be needed per family. Copies of her book will also be available for purchase for $21.99. Le Petit Poutine is back with a shiny, new truck to satisfy Rochester’s French fry, gravy, and cheese curd cravings. Follow the food truck on Twitter @lepetitpoutine to find out its daily locations. Like Liz Lemon, are you workin’ on your night cheese? Wegmans is now offering artisanal selections created in the new Cheese Caves at the Wegmans complex in Chili. The process used at the local cheese caves — used for aging cheese — is similar to those used in Europe. In addition to the seven caves Wegmans also has a Brie room.
Monroe Ave.) is now open. They will offer fresh gluten-free desserts and baked goods. as well asOther gluten-free products will be available for purchase. Call 369-6321 or visit theglutenfreechefblog.com for more information. The Angry Goat Pub, at 938 South Clinton Ave., will hold a grand opening on April 25 in the old Elixir space on the corner of Goodman St. and South Clinton Ave. Updates on the many renovations the pub is doing to the space and more details can be found by following The Angry Goat Pub on Facebook.
Openings
Closings
Keep your eyes peeled for the opening of another Village Bakery & Café location at the Culver Road Armory. Opening date to be announced. The current menu of the Pittsford location is available at Villagebakeries.com. For information on the Culver Road Armory, visit Culverroadarmory.com. From the owners of Tavern 58, the Tavern at Clover will open on April 24 in the old Crystal Barn location in Tobey Village (2851 Clover Street). Most of the menu from the University Avenue location will be available, as well as brunch on Sundays. More information can be found at 347-2851 or Tavernatclover.com.
Gluten-free foodies rejoice! The Gluten-Free Chef Market and Bakery (181
Max at the Gallery will close on April 27. The Memorial Art Gallery will be taking over the space to use for corporate events. Those still craving brunch at Max need not worry, you can find it at the Max of Eastman Place location, 25 Gibbs St. Pita Pit is closing its location on East Avenue and Alexander Street. The recently renovated location on Jefferson Road will remain open. McGraw’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in East Rochester has closed.
Chow Hound is a food and restaurant news column. Do you have a tip? Send it to food@ rochester-citynews.com. rochestercitynewspaper.com
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