City Rochester Website www.garbageplate.com | State New York | |
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Nick Tahou Hots is a Rochester, New York, restaurant featuring a dish called the Garbage Plate, or more commonly known to Rochester natives as a "Garbo". The restaurant was founded in 1918 by Alex Tahou, the grandfather of the current owner (also named Alex Tahou), and named for Nick Tahou, the founder's son, who operated the establishment until his death in 1997. While there are other Upstate New York variants, Nick Tahou's is the originator of the trademarked Garbo.
Contents
Garbage Plate
A Garbage Plate is a combination of two selections of cheeseburger, hamburger, red hots, white hots, Italian sausage, chicken tender, fish (haddock), fried ham, grilled cheese, or eggs; and two sides of either home fries, French fries, baked beans, or macaroni salad. On top of that are the options of mustard and onions, and Nick's proprietary hot sauce, a sauce with spices and slowly simmered ground beef. The dish is served with Italian bread and butter on the side. Health.com named the Garbage Plate the fattiest food in the state of New York.
Philanthropy
A charitable Garbage Plate Run is sponsored by the University of Rochester's Sigma Phi Epsilon. Held annually in the spring, this three-man race begins at the U of R River Campus. The first of the team members run 2.2 miles through the city to Nick Tahou's. Once they arrive, the second teammate eats a Garbage Plate as quickly as they are able, then the final teammate runs back to campus to complete the race. In a race titled the "Ironman", one-man teams attempt to complete all three tasks alone. The Mount Hope Family Center is the recipient of all proceeds collected during the event, including sponsor funds and contestant's entry fees.
Other locations
In the mid-1950s, Nick Tahou's hot dog stand was located in a smaller building just to the West of its longtime location. From 1979 to 2007, there were two Nick Tahou Hots restaurants in Rochester: one in downtown Rochester and a satellite restaurant on Lyell Avenue (NY Route 31) in Gates. In 2007, Steve Tahou and his sister Joanne Tahou-Demkou, the children of Ike Tahou (Nick's brother), assumed full ownership of the Lyell Avenue location and renamed it Steve T. Hots and Potatoes. Steve Tahou returned to using Rochester-based Zweigle's hot dogs and Italian sausages, which were used in the original garbage plates at Nick's. The original West Main Street location continue to use the trademarked "Nick Tahou" and "Garbage Plate" names, and continue to use the Nick Tahou Hot Dog branded dogs in their plates. While previously open all night, the downtown restaurant began closing at 8 p.m. in 1998 in voluntary compliance with the city's effort to reduce troublesome night spots. Steve T.'s remains open 24 hours a day.
There was also a short-lived Nick Tahou's operation in Oswego, New York.
On August 3, 2010, a second location opened at 3070 West Henrietta Road (NYS Route 15), in the town of Henrietta, New York. It closed in early 2014.
Features
Nick's has been featured on Food Network's Unwrapped episode titled "Funny Foods" as well as the City in a Box Monopoly-based board game showcasing famous Rochester locales. The Garbage Plate was also highlighted in the July 2007 issue of the US Airways inflight magazine. On the November 16, 2009 episode of "The Daily Show," Jon Stewart told the people of Rochester to "Get their heads out of their Garbage Plates."[3] On February 23, 2011 the Food Network filmed a segment for the show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" on the recommendation of Pastry Chef Johnny Iuzzini. [4] A segment in Inside Lacrosse Magazine had an extensive review of the Garbage Plate. Nick Tahou's was also featured on the Travel Channel series Chowdown Countdown, where it ranked #81 out of 101 locations. In 2011 it was featured on a Rochester episode of the Travel Channel's Man v. Food Nation, starring Adam Richman.
In the 2012 film The Place Beyond the Pines starring Ryan Gosling, Garbage Plates are mentioned as a "must have" for Bradley Cooper's character when he travels through Rochester, New York.
Legacy
Nick Tahou's Garbage Plate has spawned several imitators in the Greater Rochester area, including Mark's Texas Hots ("The Sloppy Plate"), Gitsis Texas Hots ("The Gitsis Plate"), Empire Hots ("The Trash Plate"), Fairport Hots ("The Hot Plate"), Tom Wahl's ("55 Junker Plate"), Irondequoit Hots ("The HOG Plate"), Salvatore's Garage Door ("The Salvie Plate"), The Red Fern ("The Compost Plate" which is 100% vegan), and Hungry's in the village of Pittsford.