Bill Wahl

Bill Wahl was the brother of Tom Wahl, founder of Tom Wahl's restaurants. He worked in his brother's restaurant while attending Brighton High School, and after graduating from St. John Fisher College, went into the banking business.

He left the banking world to buy and operate a chain of root beer stands around New Orleans for several years, then sold the business at a profit and returned to the Rochester area to start Wahl Brothers in 1965 with Tom, taking over McConnell's Dairy on Main Street in Pittsford (the building is now the Pittsford Pub).

In 1971, Bill bought out the business from Tom, and renamed it Bill Wahl's Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor.

In 1980, Bill was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. As his health declined, he decided to sell the restaurant in 1986.

But by 1991, with the help of his daughter, Mary Wahl Cannon, Bill was back, opening Wahl's Ice Cream Parlor in Piano Works Mall in East Rochester. In 1994, they relocated to Schoen Place along the Erie Canal in Pittsford, updating the name to Bill Wahl's Ice Cream and Yogurt Parlor.

Bill passed away in 2005, but his ice cream parlor remains, carrying on his tradition of using only the best ingredients.