Sometimes the best nights are the ones where you keep it simple — you don’t set out to do much, but everything just sort of falls into place. We ended up in the South Wedge neighborhood near Lux recently and decided to grab dinner at Angelina’s. It’s a cozy, comfortable spot with a tile-lined bar and a wall of wine racks that adds just enough character without feeling over-designed. It’s located in the space that used to be Beale Street Café — a New Orleans-style restaurant — and they’ve done a complete overhaul. It’s a great addition to the neighborhood.
For drinks, I had an Allagash White — light, citrusy, and a great pairing for the ribs. My partner had one of the house cocktails, though it turned out to be from the “0 Degree Cocktails” section — which we didn’t realize meant non-alcoholic until after we’d finished it. Still tasty, though!
We started off with the sticky Korean ribs served with kimchi. A bit messy (in a good way), the glaze leaned sweet but had some funk and spice to balance it out. They were cut in a thin, cross-sectioned style — not fall-off-the-bone like smoked ribs, but with a texture more like steak, which worked. We also ordered the “Burger with Friends” — a smashburger that’s split like two mini subs, each cut into three pieces. It was a good, loaded burger and really filling. Definitely a solid pick if you want a lot of food for your money, since the other menu items tend to be a bit smaller in portion.
After dinner, we walked over to Martine — it’s only about a block away. I’ve been going to that building for a long time. It used to be Solera, a wine bar that, back in the day, was next to where the Negative Image scooter club would meet (we met at the sandwich shop, not the wine bar — it became a scooter club later). After Solera, the space turned into Cheshire, which I also really enjoyed. They had amazing cocktails, including one made with a raw egg — which you see more often now, but felt new to me at the time.
A couple years ago, Martine opened, with a big focus on draft cocktails. They still do a proper shake or garnish, but the liquor base comes out of a tap, which is surprisingly cool to watch. It’s got a great atmosphere — feels kind of like a secret prohibition-style bar, but without the attitude. There’s always a good crowd, but it never feels too packed, which I appreciate.
We tried a couple of their draft cocktails. The first was a clarified gin drink with cucumber and lemon — clean and subtle, but still had some depth. Then I had a clarified margarita that was bright, crisp, and way better than the usual overly sweet version you might expect. It’s fun seeing draft cocktails that still feel balanced and thoughtfully made.
At that point, we called it a night — but there’s plenty more to do in the neighborhood. Lux was buzzing when we walked by. It’s always tempting to end the night there, and if we hadn’t already decided to keep things low-key, we might’ve stayed out a bit longer.
One nice thing about Rochester is that its big enough to have lots of variety, but small enough that you can have a good night out with making reservations days in advanced and where nothing is over-planned, but everything kind of clicks. Good food, good drinks, and enough variety to make the night feel full without a single reservation.
