title: Tom Wahl's
text: # Tom Wahl's
  
  Tom Wahl's is a chain of fast-food restaurants based in the Rochester, New York area that currently has several restaurants around the Finger Lakes region. USA Today named it one of "51 great burger joints across the USA" in 2010.
  
  The restaurant specializes in "ground steak sandwiches" and its famous root beer and sells Abbott's Frozen Custard.
  
  ## History
  
  Tom Wahl, Sr. opened the first restaurant in Avon, New York in March 1955.
  
  ## Overview
  
  The restaurant chain was sold in 1986 to Bill Gray's, Inc. During this time the chain opened a variant of its traditional diner-style restaurant called Wahl Street in the village of Pittsford. Featuring a more upscale feel to dining, this concept lasted a few years before closing down, returning the chain solely to the diner-style feel. In 2011, an equity group that includes Mark Wahlberg, Donnie Wahlberg, and chef Paul Wahlberg licensed the name "Wahlburger" from Tom Wahl's for use in their own restaurant.
  
  There are now seven restaurants:
  
  * Avon, New York
  * Bushnell's Basin, New York
  * Canandaigua, New York
  * Newark, New York
  * Fairport, New York
  * Brighton, New York
  * Greece, New York
  
  The chain once had locations in the food courts at the Mall at Greece Ridge, the Marketplace Mall and Eastview Mall, but they are closed as of 2021.
  
  