Brio

See Gone, but Not Forgotten

Located in Pittsford Colony Plaza, Brio billed itself as a Mediterranean Bistro, though perhaps "Mediterranean-Italian" is more descriptive. The usual range of pasta and pizza was offered, but, for example, the traditional tomato marinara is supplanted with use of lighter sauces emphasizing lemon and garlic, and olives are used liberally. Brio made their own pasta.

Outdoor seating was available in the warm months, and live entertainment was occasionally offered on weekends. Otherwise, there's a lot of Sinatra played in the background. On slow nights, servers occasionally let children observe the cooks in the kitchen, and give them little paper chef hats to wear.

In 2011 the named was changed and became a second location of the Pomodoro Grill and Wine Bar

7/14/08-Rochester Business Journal reports that Brio owner Sam Mina has a suit against him to force him to change the restaurant's name or settle for "least $10 million in damages for alleged trademark infringement, court records state"

Comments:

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ADMIN NOTE: Comments from 2006/2007 have been archived in Brio/Comments

2008-03-05 21:26:10   Nice place. Good ambiance. Food was served quickly and service was friendly too. I find it to be better during the week than on busy weekends. —LorenzoServantes

2008-03-22 09:21:38   Excellent Place! great atmosphere great food! highly recomended —JohnLance

2008-04-18 13:25:00   I used to really enjoy Brio when Kristen Flores was the chef.

On a recent visit, the food wasnt remarkable, but it wasnt awful.

Nice ambiance, good trendy locale. —MrRochester

2008-04-29 10:20:51   DO NOT BOOK EVENTS HERE. My wife and I went with Brio Bistro for our wedding reception and it was a management disaster: they were rude to my mother, made a fuss about our using an external cake vendor without providing other catered dessert options, and refused to help when staff stole my wife's veils immediately after the event. The food's OK, but it's hell to book here. Look elsewhere. —PaulArdis

2008-07-14 22:14:28   Just heard the news about the lawsuit: http://rochesterhomepage.net/content/fulltext/?cid=21811

I really love this restaurant, and it is locally owned. It would really be a shame if another stupid chain company were to come in and end up forcing Brio to close, or even change its name. I don't understand why generic chain restaurants do so well. —VinceC

2008-09-28 09:56:11   This is a lovely restaurant and the service was outstanding. The food was good but not exceptional for the prices. Restaurants have a tough time in this economy so I can understand problems with pricing. I felt that the Marguerita Pizza was no where close to what it should have been which is light, lots of tomato, discs of melted cheese and sprinkled with basil. It was a solid mass of cheese which made it very boring not to mention unhealthy. The kitchen staff or cooks need some educating. The piano music was nice but too loud. I would ask for a table away from the piano next time. I have to admit I was confused by the name and did a search and came up with the chain Brio, thinking it was the same, but no location is listed for Rochester which led me to further searching. People are confused by this but it is an independently owned restaurant, one of three others owned in Rochester by the same person (if you can believe the web). I would try it again. —KayeReagan

2009-01-25 09:34:21   My husband, friends, and I went to dinner here on Friday evening. The first thing we noticed upon being seated was the headache-inducing volume of the live music. Granted, the musician was very talented, but everyone around us was screaming just to be heard and our ears were all aching by the end of the visit. A dozen girls were in the women's restroom with their drinks in hand just to get out of the main dining area. The bruschetta appetizer was good, but the vegetable paella was undercooked, and the vegetables were barely cooked past raw. I ordered the rack of lamb, the boys ordered a pasta dish, and my female companion ordered a monstrous salad. The spice on the rack of lamb was so incredibly salty and spicy, it completely overwhelmed the delicate sweetness of the lamb. My tongue was on fire after one bite. The rice pilaf that accompanied it was awful, I've made better instant rice out of a box. Our waiter did not come by once to ask us how our meal was, so we rate the service very poor. We do not recommend this place for the overpriced, heavily salted entrees, but the appetizers may be enough for most accompanied by drinks if you can tolerate the volume. —mtaanari

2009-03-16 14:14:02   Went with some girlfriends visiting from NYC and thought they may enjoy brio, but will never go here again. Service was slow and not that crowded to justify. Very loud music but perhaps it was just this night. Owner is skanky and that was just a huge turn off! —SaRoyal

2009-05-04 23:58:19   My wife and I went to Pomodoro this past weekend and had a terrific meal! We asked about the chef and found out that he is being named Head Chef of BOTH of Sami's restaurants, Pomodoro and Brio (in Pitsford). Our waiter told us that he has been the chef of Pomodoro for 4 years now, but has been cooking for 7. We will certainly be visiting Chef Yaeger at Brio next! —Magdelan

2009-06-23 13:51:54   An incredible disappointment. Last night I was with a group that was seated outside among 3 other tables of guests. Seeing as Brio was having a very slow night there was no reason for the service to be slow. We weren't given bread until 20 minutes of sitting and waiting. The server made numerous excuses, no of which made sense of the fact that when business is that slow there should be virtually no wait time. As a way to make up for this, we were told our 3 drinks would be comped—which we later learned only 1 was. We ordered a pizza, which didn't remotely fit the description on the menu. This dish tasted like luke warm cardboard. In addition, a caprese salad we shared was served with flavorless tomatoes that seemed to be frozen in the middle. For what a great space and location this restaurant offers, I'm shocked how awful the entire experience was. I can't write enough about this terrible dining endeavor so I'll end with the fact that it will never be visted again by myself or guests I'm with, esp with so many better options to choose from! —Leisel

2009-07-19 20:22:11   Went on Sunday for an early dinner. Service was prompt and while the food was for the most part good a little variation on the menu with some lighter options would be nice. Wife had a cup of soup and a pizza salad and I opted for the Paella which was loaded with seafood. The mussels were very strong which leads me to believe they may have been a little old. Still a nice place, but seems to be losing some of it's edge. —almorinelli