We saw this place after leaving Too-Ra-Loo and decided to make a trip back to Rochester to check it out. What we learned is that The Hemmingway Room host 6-8 week pop ups. Right now it's Hanana Nights and the menu is Cuban. We ordered cocktails while we decided on dinner. My wife ordered Hotel Nacional and I got Call Your Mother. The drinks were served in fun cups and were absolutely delicious. We started out with an order of empanadas. They were crispy and full of tender meat. For dinner I ordered the pork shank and my wife the pineapple burger. She liked the burger, but stole most of my plantains and rice! The pork was delicious. Cooked to a perfect tenderness that fell off the bone. It was super flavorful and, while I didn't get much of the rice or plantains due to my wife, they were excellent. I would love for Havana Nights become a permanent restaurant, but look forward to whatever Hemmingway does next! read more

The Hemmingway Room - Hotel Nacional (left) & Call your mother (right) - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

My wife and I went to Hemmingways for a date night. She'd been there twice before for events and kept wanting me to experience the place too. We had a nice table which started quiet and proceeded to get louder and more vibrant as the night went on. Service was fine and fast throughout. She had the Smoky Maintain which was strong enough for her to ask for an extra splash of pineapple juice. I had an Amaretto Sour which was nicely presented and tested good enough. It wasn't as strong as hers though. She ordered their Salmon Bowl which had both teriyaki and boom boom sauce; tasted good and was an ample size. My steak and frites came. The steak itself needed a little more seasoning and could have been larger but the truffle fries were top shelf. The chimichuri sauce was good too. The key lime pie for dessert presented well, but it packed the tartness one wants. There was too much whipped cream and not enough lime. That was the only real disappointment. Everything else was pretty great. A 4.6 rounds to 5. read more

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Stopped in for a quick drink and was impressed! The dim lighting made the ambiance of the restaurant very relaxing. I ordered the Tiger's Milk tiki drink, which came in a cool cup and was garnished with lots of fruit. I thought it was delicious! The entree options were pretty limited, but there were lots of starters that sounded good. I would like to try the charcuterie board next time. I could see this place being the perfect spot for a date night! read more

The Hemmingway Room - Tiger's Milk Tiki Drink - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

Serving Cuban for a while. Had the Pork Shank, rice, black beans Cilantro and Plantains. Best pork I've had in many years. My wife loves the Arugula Prosciutto Pizza. Good drinks. Great service. Nice Cuban party decor. Very comfortable. And Ernest everywhere. read more

Wow! We had an amazing night out on Saturday! Service was spot on! What a great location for a cocktail and to catch up with friends. Would highly recommend!! read more

The drinks are delicious and fun here. The hostess that greets you when you walk in has zero personality. It's a first come first serve so if there isn't an opening you really can't wait. We tried two time and the second time we were able to grab a table. It's decorated beautifully with lots of fun Christmas decor to look at. Many of the drinks come in fun mugs. Our order took almost 30 minutes but they were delicious. read more

The Hemmingway Room - Cranberry colada blizzard! So tasty - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

Very festive and fun holiday ambiance. Elana, the hostess, was spirited and great at managing the door and bustling crowd. Recommend for adults only- leave your kids at home. read more

This place is fine as a cocktail bar. If I was only rating the cocktail bar it's a nice place and the drinks are good so that'd be a 4 out of 5. The Havana Nights pop up food is a 1 out of 5, the food was awful. Shrimp ceviche was basically one shrimp in some pace salsa with stale tortilla chips. Steak bites was a strip steak cut up and thrown on top of some grilled onions. And I got a Cuban sandwich which had pork on it that seemed like it got reheated in the microwave. The food is not good and they are charging a premium for it all. read more

This is a must stop on your Christmas pop-up bar list! The drinks are phenomenal! The ambience is incredible and the food is really tasty. Such a fun place! read more

The Hemmingway Room - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

Fantastic cocktails!! Great atmosphere! Service was excellent! Highly recommend!!! read more

Such great service and amazing staff! Drinks were delicious and it was a really nice cozy corner. It's October and they offered dozens of festive drinks and desserts, definitely in the holiday spirit. By the way, Thursday nights they have live music. Such a great place, I can't say that enough. read more

The Hemmingway Room - Mocktail drink - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

Visited for the first time for the Christmas "pop up" and left underwhelmed. I ordered a Christmas mocktail that was very tasty but was only about 4-5oz which I understand for a cocktail but when you're ordering a $8 juice you want more than a few sips. The service was SO slow, the waitress was great, just very understaffed. The margarita pizza was really good but not great. Overall I would t recommend this restaurant but I'll give it another try myself when I can order a cocktail! read more

I highly recommend this place. Jordan made the most phenomenal drinks 10 out of 10 recommended

Couldn't have asked for a better experience for our first time stopping in. Highly recommend if you're considering or around the area wanting to try a new spot. Thank you to Brooke for making the visit that much more enjoyable with above and beyond service! read more

The drinks was fire!! Service was amazing hands down 10/10... Definitely going back to make a tik tok. If you go MAKE sure Brooke the bartender!! read more

A group of us stopped in on Friday night..it was decorated so cool for Halloween!! It was pretty busy but we were able to get a table..just as we were walking in a table opened up!!The drinks were awesome..along with the service!! We'll definitely put this on our must return list!! read more

Overall, this is a nice place for a drink or to meet up with a small group of friends. It's a smaller place though so I wouldn't suggest it for a large group. I often see The Hemmingway Room suggested on lists for local places with a speakeasy vibe, I am not sure why though because they don't advertise that and this is not the case. It has more of a ski lodge atmosphere with a stone fireplace and taxidermy. Yes there are Hemmingway quotes on the wall but otherwise it's just another bar. It offers nothing special in atmosphere or ambiance. I believe they were going for a more intimate, upscale version of its sister neighboring restaurant, Too Ra Loo. The drinks are pretty standard, with a limited food menu I'd expect a lot of drink options and they do offer that. Plan to pay about $13 for an average cocktail. I didn't order any food so I can't speak to that part of the experience but the menu looked eclectic. When I went I was meeting a friend for a drink on a Friday night. It was a busy with not a spare seat in the place so it must be a favorite for some. The crowd appeared to be mostly a 40+ and I was glad it wasn't a rowdy party bar. We sat at the bar, the bartender was attentive but not overly friendly. The host was very friendly and he did a good job managing the crowd at the door waiting to be seated at a table. If we had wanted a table instead of at the bar, I think the wait was near 30 minutes which personally I would have instead just walked down Main Street to the next place. For anyone with mobility or accessibility concerns, this particular part of downtown doesn't have a parking lot super close so plan to hope a street parking spot is open or plan to walk a little if you go. Overall, the experience was just average. There is nothing that makes me want to come back or would have me recommend it to a friend but it was a fine place for a drink on a Friday night. read more

This is a vibe! It's a smaller sized space, a dark ambiance with lights that up the bar. Definitely more like a lounge with craft cocktails and small plates. The menu was on the smaller side. This would be a good place to start your evening or have a cocktail to end your night! They also have live music on Thursday evenings. read more

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Cool vibe! We got a table pretty quickly, staff was nice! Drinks were priced reasonably. It did take 45-50 minutes to get the check & cash out, hence the 4 stars instead of 5 read more

The Hemmingway Room - Winter wonderland sangria & Old St. Nick - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

Nice 'speakeasy' atmosphere at this cocktail lounge in downtown Rochester. The atmosphere is welcoming, decorated with everything Hemingway. The owners are fans. The craft cocktails are just okay, not very polished or imaginative. I hope they come up with something exciting and different on their menu. The food is nothing to write home about, it lacks the elegance of its surrounding. I ordered a charcuterie plate to go which ended up being a tiny styrofoam container with bits of cheese and pepperoni for $20. It's obvious the food comes from too-ra-loo next door. It's a nice environment with occasional live music, but it could benefit if they added a little more class. read more

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Great drinks and service. I would definitely go back. The specialty drinks were awesome.

We had a fantastic time! The ambiance is beautiful, drinks were perfect, and service was top notch! Couldn't ask for better date night! read more

The Hemmingway Room - Passion and Hemingway cocktails - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

I was so excited to visit this bar. Big fan of craft cocktails and was happy to see this much needed cocktail bar come to Rochester. If I had been here pre-pandemic, I would have likely given this establishment a four star rating. Great selection of libations. Cozy setting. Prime location. Expensive drinks though for this suburban setting (thus the four not five star rating). Unfortunately, my first experience occurred on a Friday night 7 months into the pandemic. I read a number of reviews prior to visiting and only one discussed the lack of social distancing measures at length. I proceeded with caution hoping this was the exception and not the norm. I was sadly mistaken. Parking is easy in Rochester via street parking. Meters are off past 9pm. The bar looked crowded as I approached though tables and bar seats were vacant. Took a table as the "best of the worst" option. Tables are maybe 2-3 feet apart at best. Bar seats are even closer. The young staff eagerly brought us water and took a drink order. The ladies on shift that evening were wearing masks over their nose and mouths. The senior male staff (at least two that I noticed) either wore a mask on their chin or under the nose. The customers were even worse without wearing masks when using the restroom, lingering in between tables, or arriving/leaving the restaurant. Zero enforcement of mask wearing or social distancing of tables. We ordered our drinks and in the 20 minutes it took from arriving to paying the bill, we couldn't wait to leave. We were appalled and disappointed by the lack of social distancing and use of PPE by both staff and customers. Again, before the pandemic this place was probably great. But you are operating like a super spreader location, and I'll never be back. Please give a shit about yourselves and your patrons. read more

Ambiance was fun. Beer cheese dip with pretzels were ok. Pretzels were warm. Nachos were ok, chicken was dry and not all that flavorful. Pizza with Brussels sprouts was delicious, very flavorful. Drinks were good not worth the price - 15/16$ Unfortunately will not be going back. read more

The Hemmingway Room - Pizza with Brussels sprouts - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

Loved the ambience of this place! Our drinks were delicious and the drink menu had lots of cool options to choose from!

We stopped in on a Thursday evening just in time for live music, which is always nice. We were seated up front next to the gentleman that was playing the bass guitar(one man show). I would not recommend sitting that close, as it was very hard to hear one another. Good thing we were almost wrapping up. We ordered cocktails and a couple appetizers. They do not have a menu and gave us menus from their partner restaurant next door Too Ra Loo. They did have drink menus and it looked plentiful. On to the apps - Calamari wasn't that great. It came with banana peppers and was quite hard in texture. The steak bites were tough and had pieces I had to spit out. The crowd is very mature and had a full house. With the options available, it may be a very long time before my next trip and probably just rather go next door. read more

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Super nice environment Great scotch diversity Food size is perfect I really enjoyed the time spent there Dollar's value is okay Not over price compared with the service received read more

Great atmosphere, warm cozy place with live music which was wonderful. Will definitely be returning

I finally got to try this place out after a long awaited visit. I had wanted to try this place long before the pandemic hit and once it did I lost my opportunity until this last Friday, June 12th, 2020. I originally walked into Too Ra Loo because of the open windows and nice indoor/outdoor seating but after hearing about the 45+ minute wait we decided to visit Hemmingway's next door. As soon as we walked in we were able to choose from two seating areas and sat down. The ambiance was very nice just as I had hoped, however it was a little warm inside. I wish we were here a little later in the night when the fireplace would have been lit too. They gave us a cocktail/beer list and then a food menu from Too Ra Loo next door. Upon reading other reviews it seems like Hemmingway's normally has their own menu but maybe they are doing things a little differently because of the pandemic. I will say there didn't appear to be much social distancing at the bar at all. People were standing around and back to back there. This place is smaller but I was still a little shocked by this. Once we got the menus I asked for a Don Julio blanco margarita but the waitress came back saying they didn't have blanco but they had 1942 which is the same thing and as someone who knows their tequila I know it is not, and she was either uninformed or trying to up-sell me a $30 margarita. I said a patron will be fine instead. My friend I ordered a beer. After looking at the Too Ra Loo food menu we knew we wanted to eat somewhere else instead so we put our name online on a waitlist at a place nearby instead. Our drinks arrived fairly quickly and were very good. I really liked the glass my margarita came in, was designed nicely and heavyweight with not too much ice. My friend said her beer was good but I believe it was some draft beer, nothing special so you can't go too wrong with that anyway. Before we left we both wanted to use the restroom, the restroom took me a second to figure out which was which, they are single use restrooms but each one has a silhouette of a man/woman, not the typical bathroom signs or labels. I guess this might just be a "me" thing but it took me a second. Overall I enjoyed the atmosphere and was glad I was able to check this place out finally. I definitely see myself coming back again soon. The only downsides I found were that there was no social distancing, the menu was the restaurant next door - not their normal Hemmingway's menu which kind of declassed the place in my opinion. The bathrooms weren't labeled too well, and as soon as we were done with our drinks the waitress rushed over to ask if we wanted another and I asked to give a couple minutes and once we came back from the bathrooms maybe 2 minutes later asked again. I think she either was hoping for us to order quickly or trying to rush us out for people who would be ordering more, which in turn made us feel rushed out and not able to enjoy our experience as much. read more

The Hemmingway Room - Front door - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

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So this adorable little bar is located right next to Too Ra Lu and is owned by them. You may have walked right past and not noticed it. I know I have. They are only open Thursday - sat. Kind of odd. I loved the atmosphere. It was comfy and trendy. It's small inside but big enough. There's also an outdoor seating area in the street that they temporarily put in. Parking is easy, there is a parking lot right behind the building. You are also walking distance to a lot of places. So to me this is the perfect place to stop and have a drink at the beginning or end of the night. There was an hour wait next door so we came her for a drink while we waited for our table. My only real complaint was that they did not have a very good beer selection. He ordered the stout first and it wasn't very good. Then he tried the creme and that was not too bad but wasn't great. I let the bartender pick a drink for me and it was fun! This is more of a place for cocktails than for beers. They had a stout, a sour, a creme, and a couple fruity beers. But that was it. They really should have some sort of blonde and an amber. But like I said this seemed more of a cocktail bar. Their menu was also significantly smaller than next door. But they still had a decent selection. They had an excellent wine menu as well. I would definitely recommend checking this place out! read more

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Had pizza, shrimp, and drinks which were all good. Liked the overall ambience. They were offering free tequila shots to support a new local brand which was cool. read more

Love the charm of this place but the small plates and craft cocktails could use some work. They could take a tip or two from the meeting house just up the block. Great place to stop if you are on a pub crawl. read more

The Hemmingway Room - Fireplace. Without the fire. - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

Lots of top shelf cocktails. Bartenders know what they are doing. Staff is a lot of fun.

Really great service and drinks! The one mistake the owner made was putting a television in this otherwise classy, upscale lounge. It definitely brings down the ambiance. Our server was incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. She made great, informed suggestions. We really enjoyed our time here and will be back again! read more

I came here last Saturday for drinks and apps. The hostess sat us immediately at the bar and was very welcoming. However everything went downhill from there. Our bartender didn't really know anything about the cocktails that were on the menu, so she had to ask the other bartenders what were on them ( that alone took like 10-15 min ). Then when we finally decided what we wanted, 10 min later they told us that they were out of one of the ingredients of the cocktail, so I had to change my choice. In total I would say from the first moment we ordered drinks until we both got ours, it took probably 30 min to have them (and we were sitting right at the bar). Once we got the drink I can say the drinks were good but at that point we decided to just finish that one drink and ordered someplace else the apps. So yeah, I also ended up going just down the street to the Meeting House. read more

A small group of my friends and I walked into this establishment on a Friday night and were made to feel very unwelcome and accosted. While waiting for a table, a friend of mine stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and was accused by two different staff members of consuming illicit substances in the street. After being harassed by the two staff members, we explained that my friend was smoking a cigarette. When it came time to be seated, it was very obvious that the manager was looking for any reason not to seat us, including asking the host to make sure our IDs weren't expired right in front of our faces. She did not even bother to ask us at all about the situation, accusing us immediately of bringing illicit substances into the establishment and did not apologize after being disproven. We ended up leaving because of the humiliation of being falsely accused in front of an entire restaurant; and, it's better to spend your hard-earned money at establishments that don't harass their customers who are minding their own business and not causing any problems. What had started out as a small group of friends innocently going out to celebrate the new year turned into being humiliated by staff and the manager in front of the entire clientele. read more

This is a great new hidden gem in Rochester! The ambience is fabulous and the drinks are fantastic. There is an extensive bourbon list, but they also make craft cocktails like the vesper pictured. The bar staff are friendly and attentive. The decor is inviting and comfortable. We will be back! read more

The Hemmingway Room - Vesper and bourbon pour. - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Rochester, Michigan

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Located next door to Too-Ra-Loo, you wouldn't know this place existed if you weren't looking for it. The only marker is a large H on the door. Kind of a speakeasy feel, which is super cool and needed in downtown Rochester! The cocktails are awesome. We also had the tuna tartare and sliders, both of which were delicious. The atmosphere is great. We went on a whim so we wore jeans and sweatshirts, but the vibe seems to call for more dressed up style. Would be fun to get dolled up for a night out and go here! read more

Try the Death in the Afternoon! Very cool atmosphere, and the servers were very attentive.

A great place to enjoy a beverage and small plates. Very well run and place you don't want to miss in downtown Rochester. We highly recommend Hemmingway Room. read more