Don’s Original – Seabreeze

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What would summer be without at least one trip up to Seabreeze? Well in my case, I got the chance to have one visit for a wedding celebration a few weeks back and one more recently with my parents for a late lunch at Don’s Original right near the water. This location of Don’s (also in Brighton and Penfield) sits in a group of three Rochester style burger/hots stands on Culver Rd with Vic and Irv’s and one of the myriad of Bill Gray’s locations. Our semi-competitive mini golf game at the Parkside Diner left us hungry and some classic Rochester hots stand food sounded perfect on one of the last hot days of the year.

Split white with hot sauce

We ordered a good selection of the menu between the four of us and the family took a seat at one of the outside tables on Culver Rd while I waited inside at the diner style counter for the food. My part of the order was a couple of Zwiegle’s white hots well done with mustard and hot sauce. Even though they weren’t quite as well done as I would like, they were split and covered with a meat based hot sauce that actually had a bit of a spice kick and depth of flavor to it unlike most around the area. Not too greasy either which I was pleasantly surprised about. The white itself seemed a bit off but I also hadn’t had one in a while so I can’t say for 100% certainty if it had some freshness issues.

Rings and fries

We purchased fries and onions rings for sides to split among the group and the rings were easily the better of the two. The onion rings were freshly breaded and fried to a pleasantly crunchy exterior with tender onions on the inside. Good showing there. The fries were frozen steak fries and were barely edible. Highly recommend skipping the fries and staying with the rings. I did get a bite of one of the burgers that got ordered and it wasn’t a standout. There was no noticeable crust on the 1/3 lb “ground steak” and really didn’t bring much to the table seasoning wise either. Just a gray patty cooked at too low of a temperature to develop flavor.

The other major thing I noticed was the price of our meal. Everything seemed just a touch too high especially the sides which were noticeably small for the prices they charge. They also up-charged for hard rolls and it kinda all added up to a surprising amount of money considering the level of execution. Next time we’re up in the area I’ll be trying a different stand than Don’s and hoping for a better experience.

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1 comment
  • dude, nice work on this! That is precisely the menu selection that I would’ve made, though I would’ve added the very necessary chopped onions, and dill pickles on the side.

    And, I’d be curious to hear if you like Vic and Irv’s better, my preference is Don And Bob’s of the two.