Brendan and Michelle Halloran were just plain running out of room at their popular Plenty the Bakery in South Bristol.
Michelle wanted to expand her bakery items, but couldn’t really do it easily from the small, second-floor kitchen. Brendan wanted to scale up his line of kimchi products through his Kimchenius! business, but nope, same reason.
After the iconic Bob’s and Ruth’s Vineyard Restaurant closed a few years ago, they set their sights on the vacant building, which had been on and off the market for years, Brendan said.
At first, it seemed a project with plenty of work to tackle, but they eventually jumped in, buying the building in February 2025. After more than a year of work, instead of concentrating on the nuts and bolts of a major renovation, they can begin to focus on the menu.
Phew!
And now, Plenty the Diner is set to open, with a target date of June 15, and it meets their needs to grow.
“I think it’s going to be exciting,” Michelle said. “I can’t wait.”
What to expect at Plenty the Diner in Naples
Plenty the Bakery, which will remain open, started in South Bristol in February 2020, but then had to close — except for pandemic preorder pickups — before reopening once again; Brendan has been producing kimchi for years.
The first phase of the project includes the main kitchen and bakery, and the front part will be the diner, with booths, counter seats and tables and chairs for up to 65 people.
They plan to offer breakfast and lunch diner staples to start. As the summer season progresses, they will open the takeout window for ice cream and other food items.
Everything will be made from scratch, with an emphasis on local ingredients.
“We have a whole list of things we want to start adding that are a little more unique,” said Brendan, noting kimchi will be used in various recipes. “We’ll fit that into the menu and hopefully turn some people onto it.”
As for the bakery, items will be prepared in the diner’s kitchen space and available at the diner and bakery. Don’t worry; the famed cinnamon rolls and pecan sticky buns will still induce feelings of delicious temptation.
Michelle learned at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, and it shows: Scrolling through Plenty the Bakery’s Facebook page shows her magic touch on strawberry shortcake, for example.
Michelle said she wants to get into bread making such as sourdoughs and croissants, which the current space did not allow, as well as doughnuts.
“It will take a little while to get into our routine and figure out what we’re able to produce,” Michelle said. “That’s the hope.”
A look back at the ‘come as you are restaurant’ in Naples
Many in Naples are hopeful the Plenty the Diner helps rejuvenate what used to be known as the Old Town Square heading into the village’s main drag.
Bob and Ruth Emory opened the seasonal Bob’s and Ruth’s — doors would open around Easter time and the start of trout season and close when hunting season began — in 1950, selling hot dogs and hamburgers cooked on the grill to workers putting in phone lines, according to a 2000 article in The Connection, which was published by the Daily Messenger.
The owners billed it as a “come as you are restaurant.”
There were other popular treats to come and enjoy.
Retired Naples Librarian and Naples NY Historical Society board member Blanche Warner remembered years ago, crossing the road with a friend who lived across the street to get to Bob’s and Ruth’s, which she and others consider a Naples landmark, and the nearby park.
“Ruth would give us these sticks with a nail on the bottom to clean up the park,” Warner said. “She’d give us a quarter, and we’d go in and blow the quarter for a root beer float.”
The building itself expanded over the years to include the Vineyard Lounge and the Vineyard Dining Room. Over time, so did the menu, which included popular items such as the Pick’n Chick’n and fancier fare such as broiled rainbow trout and roasted prime rib (at a cost of $21.95, according to an undated menu).
The bar and lounge in the 1960s was beautiful and was the “hip place to go,” said Warner, who urged the Hallorans to keep the lounge in the backroom. “It’s beautiful. In the ‘50s and ‘60s it was really a destination place. Nice people, good food.”
“Everybody’s happy that this is going to be brought back to its former glory,” Warner said.
Michelle, who grew up in Naples and later helped her sister open the Roots Cafe kitty corner from the diner, just loved this building. Their grandparents used to bring them here, like everyone else’s grandparents did, Michelle said.
“It would have been so sad for this to sit here,” Michelle said. “It was amazing back in the day. I’ve always loved it. It brings back childhood memories.”
Brendan has heard so many great stories, from Bob’s and Ruth’s regulars who have known about their plan and from others who dropped in to talk while seeing action at the place during the extensive renovation.
“A lot of local people remember coming,” Brendan said. “A lot of local people worked here when they were in high school or through the years. It’s fun to hear those stories.”
Kimchenious! and more in Naples
The kimchi operation is set to go as well.
Brendan, who was turned on to kimchi by a friend years ago, at first started making it for their family. Eventually, he’d bring products to dinners, parties and larger family gatherings.
And it grew from there, to the point where Plenty the Diner has a dedicated area out back for kimchi — painted red because it’s kind of spicy. And among his fancy titles — chief fermentation officer.
“I’d always hoped that we’d be distributing it more, but we really haven’t had the production capacity,” Brendan said. “We really enjoy it. It’s very healthful, has a lot of good dietary benefits and it’s kind of fun.”
The second phase of the project will include renovating the old lounge area and more, but baby steps. First, it’s time to open.
Outside, the iconic hanging sign will soon announce Plenty the Diner, which in one way, will be kind of sad, Michelle acknowledged.
Brendan said it won’t be a shocking change and will have a similar look. And they’re figuring out a way, like they did with the building itself, to preserve that Bob’s and Ruth’s character people had come to love over the years.
But after so much time, effort and money, it’s time to introduce Plenty the Diner.
“I feel like we’ve earned our stripes and are able to turn the page to the new one,” Brendan said.
More about Plenty the Diner, Plenty the Bakery and Kimchenious!
Plenty the Diner is located at 204 N. Main St., Naples. Plenty the Bakery is at 6459 Route 64. For more information, including details about Kimchenius!, visit https://plentythebakery.com/ and https://www.facebook.com/PlentyTheBakery/.
Mike Murphy covers Canandaigua and other communities in Ontario County and writes the Eat, Drink and Be Murphy food and drink column. He can be reached at mmurphy@messengerpostmedia.com. Follow him on X at @MPN_MikeMurphy.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Plenty the Diner set to open in iconic Naples site
Reporting by Mike Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mike Murphy, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle | USA TODAY Network
