Carroll's Bar & Restaurant

Carroll's Bar & Restaurant is a family-operated Irish pub at 1768 East Main Street in Rochester, NY, situated in the Culver-Merchants neighborhood. Thomas and Anne "Jo" Carroll, both originally from County Roscommon, Ireland, opened the establishment in 1976. After Thomas passed away in 1977, Jo continued running the bar while raising four children, building it into a neighborhood fixture over the following decades. Today, three of the Carroll siblings — Trudy Ryan, Annmarie McCarthy, and Patrick Carroll — keep the business going, with Patrick managing the bar and kitchen. The pub marked its 50th year in operation in 2026.

Carroll's serves a straightforward pub menu centered on Irish-American comfort food. Regular offerings include grilled corned beef sandwiches, Reuben sandwiches, chicken wings, burgers, and steak sandwiches made with shaved rib-eye. The bar carries a full selection of beers and whiskeys, with Guinness Stout as the top-selling draft pour.

Friday evenings feature a dedicated dinner menu with beer-battered fish fry, broiled haddock, fried breaded shrimp, and a 12-ounce strip steak dinner, all served with coleslaw and a choice of fries, tater tots, or salt potatoes. New England clam chowder rounds out the Friday specials. Around St. Patrick's Day, the kitchen goes through roughly 400 pounds of corned beef for its corned beef and cabbage plates.

Carroll's has operated as a gathering place for its surrounding community for five decades. The interior features a long wooden bar on one side and a separate dining room on the other, with green walls decorated in Irish memorabilia. The dining room regularly hosts birthday parties, retirement celebrations, and post-funeral gatherings. The pub fields dart leagues, draws crowds for Buffalo Bills games, and sees a notable turnout each St. Stephen's Day on December 26, when locals who have moved away return to the neighborhood. Carroll's also participates in Rochester's St. Patrick's Day parade with its own float.

The pub sits on East Main Street directly across from East High School in Rochester's Culver-Merchants area, a neighborhood defined by the retail corridors along Culver Road, Merchants Road, and East Main Street. A large parking lot wraps around the front and rear of the building. The space has outdoor seating available in warmer months. Carroll's is open Monday through Thursday starting at 4 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m., and Sundays at 1 p.m. — hours and days may vary, so calling ahead at (585) 434-3628 is recommended.