FAQ

Rochester Brainery is located at, on 176 Anderson Ave. F109 in Rochester, NY 14607. There is a small parking lot next to our space that you are welcome to park in as well as ample street parking. Overflow parking is available in the large Village Gate parking lot, too!

You can always shop in-store or reach us by phone Monday through Thursday 5pm-8pm or Friday through Sunday by chance. Reach us anytime via email using our contact form. Please note that our classes and events may often take place outside of our regular hours.

The health and safety of our anyone entering our space is extremely important to us. We aim meet or exceed any guidelines for businesses put into place by New York State. For us, this means: following retail guidelines in our shop, event and SLA guidelines for private events, and trade school guidelines for classes. For a detailed account of what you can expect from us, please visit our COVID-19 policy page. 

Why, yes it is! Our space is available for rent anytime between 7am-10pm, 7 days a week. We've held business meetings, birthday parties, baby showers, bridals showers, family reunions, team building workshops and even weddings in the past. For pricing and details, as well as to schedule a walk-through, check out our space rental page.

It's our goal to make teaching a class as easy as we can make it. That's why we handle the ticket sales, customer service, set-up, clean-up, technology, handouts, feedback forms, and provide a team member to assist. That way, you can focus on the class content and teaching (which is a lot on its own!).

Yes! As a teacher, you would let us know how much you would like to make per ticket ($5/ticket, $10/ticket, etc.). Then, we'll build that into the cost of the class and pay you based on the total amount sold. We can also build the cost of class supplies into the ticket price and reimburse you for that, too!

We are always looking for new classes to add to our calendar. We don't focus on one area of interest, so no matter the topic we would love to explore if it would be a good fit! That said, before sending in your pitch, browse through our current classes to make sure we are not already offering the same class.

When you're ready to apply to teach, submit your application here. This form helps us learn more about you and the class you'd like to teach. From there we will be in touch within 4-6 weeks to set-up an interview.

You can purchase a seat online or in-store! While we recommend purchasing your tickets in advance as one may not be available at the door.

We are happy to provide live subtitles and ASL interpretation (via student or professional interpreters) for all of our classes. If you would like to request an ASL interpreter, we ask that you please send a request via our contact form at least 3 weeks prior to class.

We are also happy to accommodate any seating, vision access, or other preferences. Aids are welcome to attend to assist a student, however they will need to purchase a ticket of their own if they would like their own set of supplies. Just send an email through our contact form to let us know your preferences or if an aid will also be attending.

Class ticket purchases are non-refundable for any reason, however a credit or transfer into a different class may be granted if requested at least 15 days prior to a class.

For example, if you have a class on 10/15, any requests for a credit or transfer must be received by 10/01.

Transfers and credits will not be permitted within 15 days of a class or for missed classes, regardless of the reason (within or outside of your control).

That said, you are welcome, at any time, to transfer your ticket(s) to another person. We just ask that you please call us ahead of time or email us at contactus@rochesterbrainery.com to let us know.

As a small business, this is the only way we can ensure our smooth operation, to properly compensate our teachers, and to reimburse them for any supplies they have purchased. We appreciate your understanding.

Rochester Brainery may cancel a class for extreme weather conditions, in the case of an emergency, if we have not reached the class minimum to run, or in the event of a teacher emergency.

If you cannot make the rescheduled date, you will be given the option of a refund or class credit. If you choose to switch into the rescheduled date, our no refunds or exchanges policy will apply to that new date. So, if you're not sure if you can make it to the rescheduled date, we would recommend choosing a credit or a refund.

Please note: We are located in Monroe County in the City of Rochester. While we understand and appreciate that students travel from all over for our classes, we do make cancellation decisions based solely on the weather in our immediate area. If you are concerned about driving in winter weather conditions, we recommend exploring our online classes that you can take from the comfort of your home.

Zoom links are sent one hour prior to the class start time. If you don't
receive the link one hour prior to the class start time, please reach
out through our contact form to let us know.

Throughout the year we occasionally run promotions on classes, items in our shop, and gift cards. These promotions are only valid for purchases during the time the promotion is running and cannot be applied after the fact. If you missed a deal, we apologize and hope you catch the next one. Discounts cannot be used in combination with other discounts.

We no longer sell gift cards for our classes, however you are always welcome to purchase tickets as a gift! We just ask that you send us the recipient’s name and email address through our contact form so we can update our class rosters and ensure the recipient receives any reminders or updates pertaining to class.

Per our policy, if the recipient is not able to make it to class, we ask that they reach out at least 15 days prior and we can offer a credit or transfer into a different class.

For already existing gift cards: our gift cards never expire and can be used towards the purchase of classes or items in our shop. Gift cards cannot be used towards space rental payments.

Unfortunately not. As New York State law states, since we do not a carry a liquor license BYOB is not permitted. Under this law, we are also not allowed to give away alcoholic beverages to students. If you are looking to rent our space, a temporary permit may be obtained by a caterer, and we are happy to chat more with you about that here.

Please do! Your feedback is extremely important to us. Please e-mail us at contactus@rochesterbrainery.com.

It depends! The age minimum for a class is set by the teacher of the class and in some cases, like classes that involve alcohol, the law. For example, only those 21+ can attend our cocktail making classes, while someone as young as 12 may be able to attend a calligraphy class. Age restrictions are noted within each class description.

Students should purchase one ticket per person planning to attend a class unless otherwise noted in the description. The exception to this rule is someone who requires the assistance of an aid. In this case, an aid is welcome to attend without purchasing an additional ticket, although we do ask that we be notified (please hyperlink to the contact page) so we can ensure the room is arranged to best accommodate everyone in attendance.