James Brown's Place - Rochester Wiki

James Brown's Place, 5-2008

Former Location

1356 Culver Road Rochester, NY 14609

status (as of 2023)

Closed

James Brown's was a diner in Culver-Merchants. In addition to standard fare, James Brown and his crew would add unique specials each week; they also offered a number of vegan breakfast items. Open for breakfast. You could choose from eight different kinds of sausages.

Comments:

Note: You must be logged in to add comments

ADMIN NOTE: All comments from 2007 & earlier have been archived at James Brown's Place/Comments

2008-04-11 14:03:07 Great weekend specials and awesome service! The best "greasy-spoon" in town!!!! The menu is amazing...almost too many choices! As a regular breakfast diner, I yet to have a disappointing meal! The Grand Marnier Pancake Breakfast Special has to be my favorite...it's not on the menu very often, but when it, is my # 1 choice! —MicheyGirl

2008-06-05 12:11:30 Great food. The Grand Marnier french toast special is amazing. Always an interesting take on eggs benedict. The coffee is absolutely horrid. I am not a coffee snob, but the stuff doesn't even really pass as drinkable. —owslystnly

2008-07-07 16:47:23 Since we moved into the area, we decided to give it a try for breakfast one morning and it was really, really good! It's slightly more expensive than some other diners, but worth a special treat. They have tons of interesting menu items, not even including the weekend specials. We will definitly be back, next time with less layers on as it was extremely hot in there. —SaraChristine

2008-11-02 10:28:40 I have been twice and both times the food was excellent, once it was served. Both times were during the summer and their popularity combined with limited outdoor seating left us with the only choice of sitting inside. Not a good idea in the summer. All in all, great food, very diverse menu, just plan on being there a while and do not sit inside. —BillyToeTag

2008-11-09 20:34:24 This may be the best restaurant in Rochester. I just went here for the first time on 11/8. It was noon on a Saturday and totally packed—don't come here in a hurry. The menu is enormous, with an impressive range of creative dishes. I got the Eggs Esther Benedict—with eggplant and fried greed tomatoes—and it was amazing. The homefries were kind of bland and dense, but everything else was good. For diner food, it's not greasy at all. I have gone to very few restaurants in Rochester that had such a lively atmosphere and such unique food. Also, the servers were very nice. —OwenThompson

2009-03-16 12:56:21 I've been here several times now and it's always been great, the food and the service. However, a warning: the pesto frittata is lame. It doesn't taste like pesto at all. Still, probably my favorite restaurant in Rochester. —OwenThompson

2009-08-05 15:32:38 ive never been but my co-workers say its great. its def on my list of places to try. i have high hopes. —limeylimer

2009-10-23 12:49:23 Great place for breakfast and also dinner on Fridays! The items on the weekend breakfast menu are always original and deciding on just one can be tough. Friday night specials are great and you can also bring your own wine! —JohnCullen

2009-11-14 10:45:50 Words fail me. What a great place. Four-star "standard fare," but the imaginative menu items are even more tasty than they are clever. And the service is friendly despite the crowds and the waits. Only had breakfast here, but every trip makes me want to come back. YUM! —bionicsimmons

2009-12-09 14:56:42 Excellent Friday Fish Fry. Also, he makes great barbeque on Friday nights as well (though I'd get it without the sauce next time). BYOB at dinner time. —ErikReinert

2010-03-01 16:22:48 I've been here countless times for breakfast which has to be the best in the area, but for the first time ever I went for dinner on Friday night and I was equally impressed. I had the fish fry which was excellent, along with great coleslaw and what had to be the best fries I've ever had. I'd trade my first born for more of those fries! My girlfriend had haddock cakes, which were just like a crab cake but with haddock, and those were fantastic as well. This place knows how to make good food for anytime of the day. —GeorgeBluth

2010-03-04 07:26:56 Hands down the best omlette I've ever had - I get a ham and swiss egg white, and it's amazing every time. My better half consistently gets the Meat Lover's Frittata with a few adjustments, and swears by the dish. We have never had a bad plate of food, it always hits a home run. The coffee is without a doubt the worst I've ever had, but hey, you don't go for the coffee, you go for the good eats. Unless you get there before 9am on a Saturday or Sunday, be ready for a wait, sometimes out the door. Love this place!!! —MerCDotes

2010-03-04 17:16:30 This is the best diner in Rochester. Not the place to go to for plain bacon and eggs or pancakes. The specials are the way to go but the regular menu is also full of less than ordinary diner food. —SaulManeiro

2010-03-09 17:23:46 The service is great. The food is great. The banana chocolate chip pancakes are divine! My only complaint is that you sometimes leave smelling like grease. —ChristineH

2010-08-02 10:48:40 A group of us go to James Brown's Place just about every Saturday. We love their food! You'll pay a little more than some diners, but the portions are large, and the menu items are often unique and well-thought-out. It's hard to get good grits this far North ... but theirs are pretty good. Sometimes the service is a little slow but we usually don't mind, and plan accordingly. —EatinOut

2013-12-30 13:57:31 Went here on Sunday morning with my wife and her friend. My burrito was good, there's quite a wait to get in, and I'm not a fan of breakfast food so I'll leave it at that. —Damiankumor

2016-04-25 16:46:14 when we moved into the culver-merchant's neighborhood about eleven years ago we went to james brown's place for a while, but the cook and the wait staff just kept getting things wrong, so we stopped visiting. i was on groupon a few weeks ago, and saw a good deal, so bought two of them. what the hell, give them another try, you know? we went last week and left before even getting water. we walked in and being after lunchtime it was relatively unoccupied. three tables, i believe. trusting the 'seat yourself' sign we chose a table near the door, as it was very warm in there. we were not allowed to sit there. it was a table for five, which comfotably seated three in my estimation. anyway, the waitress did not allow me to speak to any kind of manager- it was just her. however she was not allowed to make an exception. with so many empty tables. we left, went back, and i asked her if she would really rather not have our business as opposed to letting us sit where we would be happiest. the answer was affirmative. well, we are never going back and am going to transfer my groupons to someone- maybe someone i don't like much? —jeanettejeanette

2017-09-02 19:29:54 well we were too late. we gave thirty dollars to james brown's place with no return. bummer.

—jeanettejeanette

2017-09-03 18:40:50 ^{What do you mean? They closed? —sub619}