Garbage Plate

Cities all over the world lay claim to signature dishes that encapsulates its culinary heritage. For example, in Chicago you have the deep-dish pizza, and in Philadelphia you have the Cheese Steak. But only in Rochester, NY, will you find a dish called a Garbage Plate.

The original Garbage Plate was created at Nick Tahou Hots, a Rochester diner/fast-food restaurant. This trademarked dish consists of a combination of home fries, macaroni salad, baked beans or french fries, topped with your choice of meat (hamburger, cheeseburger, Italian sausage, chicken tenders etc) and drenched with their signature chili hot sauce, ketchup, spicy mustard and chopped onions. The proper way to eat a Garbage Plate is to mix everything together, before scooping heaps of it into your mouth, and wiping every last bit of grease with a side of fresh Italian bread that comes with each order!

Today, many variations or imitators of the Garbage Plate can be found all over Rochester, satisfying the late night hungers and alcohol induced grease cravings of college students all over the city. While all are made with the same basic ingredients that Nick Tahou first concocted, they now come in many different names from Trash Plates, to Dumpster Plates, Sloppy Plates and even Hummer Plates.

Recently, I had one of these Garbage Plate variants at Fairport Hots (located in the village of Fairport, NY - a suburb Rochester), called a Hummer Plate. The Hummer Plate I ordered came with home fries and macaroni salad, topped with two cheeseburger patties, and covered with a meaty spicy chili hot sauce and lots of ketchup. (Pictured below)

Calories and cholesterol aside, I really liked the signature chili hot sauce at Fairport Hots. The meaty grainy texture blended well with the macaroni salad, and just the right amount of spiciness added flavor to the rather bland home fries. 4000 calories and a week’s worth of saturated fats later, I think it’s time to hit the gym to work it all off.