The shores of Lake Ontario might not be brimming with lobster, but it’s not hard to find a top-tier, fresh, juicy roll right in the (585).
I like a lot of foods, but seafood is my favorite, and I don’t think that will ever change. East Coast and West Coast, I’ve had it all, seafood in every coastal town from Newport, Oregon, down to San Francisco, California, Long Island to Boston. So when it comes to seafood, if I say it’s good, it’s good. And Roc Lobster? Very good.
Brian Wirth and Michael O’Leary opened Roc Lobster in April of 2026. They’ve been involved in the hospitality scene for decades, but this is their first time owning a business together. And instead of finding a brick-and-mortar, they decided to take a different route.
“Honestly, we found the trailer first and then were trying to figure out what to do with it,” O’Leary says. “It seemed like a good adventure, something different for both of us. But because it’s a trailer, people think we’re traveling all the time—we’re not. You don’t have to look up where to find us; we’re here every night [from] Wednesday to Saturday.”
“We treat it like a restaurant; we don’t treat it like a food truck necessarily, and the menu is pretty extensive,” Wirth adds.
In addition to their home base, O’Leary and Wirth outfitted a second, smaller trailer they use for catering and events. It allows them to keep the shop open on a regular basis without moving locations while also expanding further into the community.
Food time: the menu has a lot more than lobster rolls, but what better place to start? They have the Boston, the New England, the Connecticut, the Long Island, and the Buffalo rolls, and the recipes are authentic to the areas they’re named after.
“The Boston is the traditional roll with mayo, celery, and onion,” O’Leary says. “But we’re finding the Long Island is our most popular, with the garlic butter, and then the Connecticut and then the Boston. I’d say about ten to one favor the butter combinations over the mayo, which we didn’t expect.”
I was sold when I heard garlic butter—so of course I had to try the Long Island. You know how Pop Rocks candy creates that exciting sensation in your mouth? That’s how I felt biting into the roll—it melted. So much butter, so much garlic … the lobster was fresh, and there was so much of it, it was falling over the sides of the toasted bread. Which, I have to add, had the perfect softness to it. It was a brioche-type top-sliced bun—it made a big difference.
Wirth explains they use four ounces of lobster meat in every roll, never any less. And really, I don’t think it would be possible to stuff any more in there. You get more than what you pay for. That’s a quarter pound of lobster meat.
Gia Arnold is the head chef, and she does a phenomenal job. Her standards are high, and she holds them to a T, making sure every order is perfect. “Gia’s the chief in charge. Brian and I own the place; she’s in charge,” O’Leary says.
“She’s an amazing cook, and she’s like a conductor. She’ll have ten, fifteen tickets up and five things going on at once and she just makes things happen. I just sit back and think, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s amazing,’” Wirth adds.
Roc Lobster’s second-most-popular dish would be the garlic lobster sliders. They are garlic knots stuffed with lobster meat and a little garlic butter and topped with melted cheddar cheese. And they come in a set of four—perfect to share.
The initial crunch from the garlic knot checked every texture box I had, and the flavors of the lobster with the melted cheese was a combination I didn’t know I needed. They were so filling, they could have been a meal on their own. I recommend adding some fresh lemon juice to each bite as well.
The menu features a crab and lobster pretzel, fried calamari, and quesadillas which—along with the clams casino and the lobster and crab bisque—are a big hit. The menu just keeps going. You can bring your own beverages, alcoholic or nonalcoholic, which I think is a great gesture, since seafood can get a tad pricey. If it’s your first visit, I’d insist on getting a roll but would highly encourage you to try a side as well—the food is really just that good.
Roc Lobster is open year-round, but Wirth and O’Leary change things up a little when the weather shifts. For the winter months, they transition to operating from inside one of the buildings by their location at 280 Union Street at the Rochester Public Market. But come spring, the trailer will be open again on the bricks.
For more information, visit the website at roclobster.com or @roclobsterrestaurant on socials.
Roc Lobster
280 Union St., Rochester
667-4166
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2026 issue of (585).
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