300 First

Great restaurant and delicious food. We celebrated my parents’ 50^th anniversary here in their semi-​private room. The staff was excellent and super helpful.

We had a group of 15 that met for dinner at 300. Out waitress was extremely attentive and had drinks and appetizers out very quickly. The steak bites, ravioli and onion rings were all delicious. All the dinners we ordered were tasty and the steaks were cooked spot on. When I asked if anyone could think of something that didn’t meet expectations, I answered with the iced tea was too strong, which shows you how satisfied everyone was with the meal. A definite must if you want a good steak or piece of fish in Rochester.

I ordered take out from here earlier in the year — it was the calamari. They just put it in a box unseasoned without any salt and it was incredibly dry.

Food was good, but maybe on the smaller side. Would recommend an app with the entre. Ambience is lively and wait staff is attentive.

The worst strip steak or the most dull knife I have had in my life.
When I said something to the server her comment was (we have had problems with our supplier). I won’t go back I left half the steak looking like it had been through a grinder
Mac McCall
Cincinnati Ohio

Hosted a dinner here the other night for work. They had a nice private room. Not completely private as one wall was open to the dining room, but private enough where you didn’t notice it at all.
I gave the presentation on a wall, but if you are doing a presentation here, you will want to bring your own screen.
Hosted 10 people, everyone loved their meal. Dessert was excellent. 2 of the people in my party commented that even if they have dinner somewhere else, they will come here for the dessert.
Service was attentive but not overbearing.
Would definitely go back and host another larger dinner there.

I visited the restaurant to attend a group meeting. I knew in advanced that we’d have a special menu prepared for our group. The menu was surpisingly filled with many entrée options. In addition, we ordered three appetizers. Unfortunately, I can only provide details about the onion rings. They were delicious. In fact, it took everything I had to resist the urges of the 12 year old in me & make the onion rings my main course. Once my id was no longer in control of my actions, I ordered the filet with mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes were so buttery with a smooth consistency– the perfect compliment to my steak. In short, the meal was a Midwestern woman’s dream of a perfectly prepared meal of meat and potatoes. I would certainly choose the restaurant again for another group gathering.

This is one of our favorites for the all-​too-​rare date night. We like to have a smokin’ martini occasionally with an appetizer. When we stay for a meal we find consistently excellent food, friendly staff and quiet understated atmosphere. Favorites from past meals have included steak, risotto, and the desserts (especially the crème brûlée).

This restaurant impressed me so much the first time, I had to come back a second time to make sure the experience was real. It was real! The drinks are beyond delicious. I was a bit suspicious about the smoking martinis, but the worries were not warranted. The little drop of dry ice that is added to make the smoke, causes the drink to bubble. This forces delectable aromas of the drink to release. For the Bonzai, my favorite, it’s the scent of ginger from the ginger liqueur added to Hendricks gin. If you are a gin lover like me, I beg you to try it. The peach cosmopolitan was sweeter, but no less tasty with the scent of peach erupting from the bubles. For the meal the cedar plank salmon was perfect. Not too dry, not too rare, but just right. Juicy with the perfect amount of salt, spices, and chargilled flavor. Again, I went two times for this dish. Service was so pleasant. I may return for thirds.

Two stars because the drinks are excellent but super pricey. Food is definitely not worth the price. Bartender was M.I.A. for 15 minutes on a Saturday night, and we had to grab a waitress on our own to place our order. The waitress was very helpful and nice, so we tipped her. Cozy and hip décor but not worth the prices!

Dinner with friends. Not packed on a Friday night. The place is big, atmosphere dark and cosy. Similar to redwood room but without live music. I had the chicken fettuccini Alfredo. Not bad but not spectacular. The portion was massive. Nice place to hang out. But if you’re looking for great food, I would look elsewhere (Rochester has a surprisingly good number of great restaurants). Service was good.

When I saw the Bavette steak, listed on the menu as a unique cut if local beef, I had to give it a try. It was hands down in the top five steaks I ever have had at a restaurant. Every side dish, from their signature creamed corn to the mashed potatoes, was delicious. The complimentary bread was fresh, warm and perfect to dip in the steak jus. It is a fairly pricey dinner, but well worth the money.

Traveling to Rochester on business. Tried all the places. Several good choices — but this is my favorite.

I have been here on two occasions.
Food is way over priced for what it is. Cocktails were awful, the special cocktail of the day tasted like rocket fuel, and waitress made no attempt to address our visible disgust. If you are going over to this side of town, then I would recommend the Redwood room, if the wait is tolerable.

Been to redwood room before and was impressed, so wanted to try 300 first too.
Loved the ambience of the place. They have a nice menu. We ordered onion rings (which were burnt) but still better than onion rings at a lot of other places. Their signature corn is amazing, and so is their signature mashed potatoes.
The bread was fresh and yummy.
We ordered chicken Alfredo pasta (one of the best Alfredo pasta I have ever had), trout (another great entrée) and fried shrimp.
Loved every single thing we ordered. Amazing service, beautiful ambience, creative menu and a lot of variety in drinks.
Will definitely be back to try more!

$ 20 for one chicken breast??? Is this because it was take-​out and you can get away with that??? We are home now and starving. Thanks a LOT!!! And a $ 38 steak should be twice as thick as this one. Come on guys.

I was told this one of the best places in Rochester and that it had the most up-​scale food. It was average at best… I guess this sentiment is indicative of the blandness and lack of creativity of the food landscape in the general area (sorry Rochester). That being said the food itself was OK. The ambience of the place is OK and relaxed with a hint of up-​scale but seemed a little confused as to what it is trying to be… it’s on the dark side (which I prefer) but has odd ceiling lighting and the wait staff needs some serious training on timing and how to approach a table without interrupting conversations. The menu has enough variety to accommodate a wide range of people but all of the dishes were pretty bland and lacked anything to distinguish them from higher-​end diner food (except for the presentation which was pretty good). The other 4 people in my group all agreed that their individual dishes were pretty unremarkable. In my 7 days in Rochester I ate out quite a bit and unfortunately this was one of the better restaurants (it wouldn’t last in a more metropolitan area). I suppose I would eat there again given the other choices.

I had very high hopes for 300 First. The ambiance is appealing and contemporary and the prawns appetizer was delicious. The smoking martinis are also a cool menu item. However, the service was sub-​par. I believe our waitress came to our table maybe 2 – 3 times our whole 2 hour visit. She was also very cold and aloof. She was too busy conversing with friends and the cook staff it seemed. The scallops were so smokey that my dinner date literally choked when he bit into one. I will probably not be going back to 300 First any time soon.

I travel both nationally and internationally and eat out nightly. I was surprised to find this place. AA perfect dinner after a long day. Nicki was our server and was exceptional. Personable, attentive and knowledgeable she took care of our table easily and made for a beautiful dinner. All food from start to finish was exceptional;.
Strongly recommend.

The waitress recommended the onions rings and they were very tasty. Perhaps too large of an order. The Atlantic Salmon was a great size and tasted awesome. The Smoking Martinis were fun to look at and to drink. They smoke until they’re empty due to dry ice. Our waitress provided restaurant history and menu advise. She was awesome!
The interior was designed with a mix of brick, copper, leather chairs, marble bar, mix matched light fixtures, writing on the doors, tables/​booth at ground level, and raised booths.