Best Chicken Parm in Rochester, NY

Chicken parm in Rochester, NY: our top picks

Rochester’s parm runs from East Ridge Road in Irondequoit to Elmridge Center in Greece, with the old Italian west side along Lyell Avenue, and its westward spill into Gates, in between. The city’s early Italian enclaves grew up around Lyell Avenue, Jay Street and Paul Street, and as families moved out along Lyell and Spencerport Road into Gates, the bakeries and restaurants followed. Roncone’s, opened on Lyell in 1937, was the neighborhood’s last Italian restaurant when it closed in 2019.

The local cutlet of record is chicken French: flour-dredged, egg-dipped, sautéed and finished with lemon, butter and wine. It arrived from New York City in the 1950s as veal French and turned into chicken in the 1970s, when veal boycotts pushed kitchens toward the cheaper bird, and Rochester never looked back. Expect it on the same menus as the parm, usually a line or two away.

Fedele’s Brook House has been feeding Greece since 1976, in its roomy Elmridge Center space, big bar included, since 1995. On East Ridge Road in Irondequoit, the Pasta Villa has served heavy, generously sauced plates since 1992 in a room of about 18 tables, so expect a wait at the bar. A short way along the same road, Rubino’s, an Italian import store and deli for more than sixty years, is known for its subs on homemade bread. Mamma G’s, the Troiano family’s place in Henrietta, added a Pittsford Plaza location in February 2026. And Park Avenue Paninoteca, despite the name, is now on Monroe Avenue, its third home since opening on Park Avenue in 2014; panini are the main event, and the best seller starts with a chicken cutlet.

1. Lemoncello Italian Restaurant & Bar (East Rochester) — Parm Score 88. Chicken parm comes up in 2 of the recent Google reviews we sampled, and the tone is positive. It is on the menu, too. 4.5 on Google across 1,429 reviews.
2. Veneto Pizza & Pasta (Rochester) — Parm Score 87. Chicken parm comes up in 2 of the recent Google reviews we sampled, and the tone is positive. It is on the menu, too. 4.5 on Google across 798 reviews.
3. The Pasta Villa (Rochester) — Parm Score 84. Chicken parm comes up in 1 of the recent Google reviews we sampled, and the tone is positive. It is on the menu, too. 4.6 on Google across 1,631 reviews.

We ranked 21 restaurants within 10 miles of Rochester, NY. 10 of them have the parm confirmed, by reviewers or on their own menu, and Parm Scores run from 50 to 88. Confirmed places rank first; the rest are well-reviewed Italian spots where the parm is not yet confirmed, and pizzerias and steakhouses need a mention to appear at all. How Parm Score works.

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