Ordering late-night eats after hitting the town can sometimes sound a lot like “give me one of everything.”
That’s exactly how Rochester, New York’s infamous “garbage” plates came to be a local delicacy.
Students, barflies and sober locals alike enjoy the accessibility of garbage plates at many eateries in the Upstate New York city known for its numerous colleges.
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This includes Dogtown Hots, a specialty hot dog restaurant that’s been praised for its cheap eats and was recently named one of the top 10 hot dog joints in the U.S.
In an on-camera interview, Fox News Digital spoke with Dogtown Corp. president Fran Basile, who said the 19-year-old restaurant got its start by trying out different ingredients on top of hot dogs to pull together styles from across the country. (See the video at the top of this article, and another one down below.)
The menu at Dogtown Hots in Rochester, New York, offers a variety of hot dogs and plates. (Rachel Young/Nick Pignato)
While Dogtown’s hot dog menu is immense, Basile said garbage plates are always a top seller.
The indulgent dish starts with a layer of macaroni salad next to a serving of potatoes, which can include tater tots, home fries or traditional deep-fried seasoned potato nuggets.
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It is then covered in a meat sauce and topped with either a hamburger patty with cheese or a hot dog.
The garbage plate is traditionally finished off with mustard and onions — but customers can decide if their plate requires other condiments.
Two garbage plates are served at Dogtown Hots in Rochester, New York, on Dec. 4, 2024. (Nick Pignato/Rachel Young)
‘Hots and potatoes’ beginnings
The garbage plate originated at Rochester restaurant Nick Tahou Hots, according to Basile, which has been dubbed “home of the garbage plate” since 1918.
The delicacy was first known as just “hots and potatoes,” which was similar to today’s garbage plate with macaroni salad, potatoes and a hot dog topped with meat sauce.
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Since Nick Tahou’s was open for 24 hours back in the day, said Basile, it would draw a late-night crowd of people who would come in from bars in the early morning hours.
“And after a while, they just would say, ‘Yeah, give me that plate with all the garbage on it,'” he said. “So, then they started calling it garbage plates.”
The garbage plate was adopted by a variety of other area eateries, which added cheeseburgers and other toppings and sold them under different names, Basile said.
At Dogtown, Basile revealed that the demand for garbage plates “never stops.”
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“The demand is very high,” he said. “Even though we close now at around 11 p.m., the demand never stops.”
“We’re no longer open for the bar crowd, but it really hasn’t decreased the demand at all.”
The palate for garbage plates can be an acquired one, according to locals, as the dish mixes unexpected ingredients.
For the skeptics, Basile said plainly that it’s just “a Rochester thing.”
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“It’s a lot of food,” he said. “You can do a vegan plate. You can do hot dogs, burgers, veggie burgers, veggie dogs.”
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“Try it, if you’re skeptical,” he encouraged others.
“See what you think.”
