What Is A Garbage Plate?

The term "garbage plate" is likely to crop up frequently during the PGA Championship at Oak Hill, but what is it?

Image of a garbage plate meal
The garbage plate is a Rochester favourite
(Image credit: Getty Images)

As the PGA Championship comes to Rochester for the Oak Hill Country Club tournament, a term you’ll likely hear a lot as the action takes place is “garbage plate,” but what exactly is it?

The garbage plate is a dish made famous by Rochester restaurant Nick Tahou Hots. The restaurant is a landmark in the upstate New York city, and Nick Tahou ran the establishment for over 50 years before he passed away in 1997. Before that, though, he made his unique contribution to the culinary world with an insanely stodgy creation.

The story goes that the dish came about after the restaurant was visited by some college students who asked for a meal with “all the garbage on it.” The owner didn’t disappoint, setting to work on the request and presenting a dish that, before long, became a local favourite.

Golf writer Robert Lusetich is one of the visitors to the city who has been tempted by the dish in the buildup to the tournament, describing it as “A1 drunk food." But what exactly is in it? As its name implies, indulging in one is probably not advisable if you’re on a calorie-controlled diet.

The dish is now popular throughout the city, so the ingredients can vary. However, the original garbage plate consists of home fries, macaroni salad, baked beans and French fries. From there, the customer can choose the types of meat to add (including hamburger, cheeseburger, hot dog, sausage, chicken tender, fish and fried ham), all garnished with chopped onions, mustard, ketchup and the restaurant’s hot sauce. Add some bread and butter on the side, and, per Health.com, you have a meal that was once voted the fattiest food in the state of New York.

Rory McIlroy spoke to the media before the tournament about what the area means to him. After all, he is familiar with Rochester as his wife Erica Stoll is from the area, and he’s a member of Oak Hill, making this week’s tournament something of a “home” game.

He couldn’t resist mentioning the famous dish, though, even if he insisted he hadn’t overindulged. He said: “I’ve only had one garbage plate in my life. I haven’t went overboard with that.”

Considering each garbage plate amounts to around 3lbs of food, it’s probably for the best given his status as one of the world’s elite athletes.

Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.