Mercantile on Main opens in Sibley Building
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) — Despite a pandemic that has shut down dozens of area restaurants, a project years in the making is looking toward the future—The Mercantile on Main.
"I am most excited about having everyone experience pho for the first time and understanding the cuisine," Andrew Gibeault said.
If you haven't had or heard of pho, it is one of the many items you can now grab and go at The Mercantile on 240 East Main St.
"This is the culmination of three years worth of work we are here today Sibley's restaurant market place seven different operations serving everything from coffee to pho. Five of the seven are minority or women-owned businesses. They are all brand new businesses creating almost 40 new jobs in the middle of downtown Rochester," Ken Greene said.
Broth is one of the places at The Mercantile. It is an expansion of a local restaurant.
"So back three or four years ago we started looking in the downtown area the Midtown area for a building and we were looking to actually expand on that concept where we were going to a full bar with communal seating and a larger restaurant with communal seating with the idea of everyone coming together sharing ideas, talking, hanging out, and really having a great experience," Gibeault said.
Something plenty of people were already doing today and safely.
"So one of the benefits we have in understanding COVID and the size of the space is that we were able to develop a dining area where tables and chairs are not six feet apart," Greene said.
"We selected Sibley from the very beginning and then this was kinda founded this Mercantile, which is a food hall with communal seating, with a bar and we get our kitchen. It has everything we wanted and we wanted to be part of the Sibley community because you have the residential side ... the commercial side," Gibeault said.
Right now you can pick up and order out from The Mercantile but when Monroe County gets out of the orange zone, dining in, getting cocktails, playing 8 foot chess and checkers and curling will be an option and other places at this location other than Broth.
"Roc CoCo, Rochester's coffee company, Palermo's, Nani's kitchen, Indian food, Flower Kitchen, fresh pastas and sauces, Rufus Cocktail Lounge will open named for the founder of Sibley... Rufus Sibley," Greene said.
All are ready to serve.
Are you hungry yet?