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                                                                       Exhibit 5


                    [Letterhead of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP]

                       Opinion of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP

                                                                  March 22, 2001


Monro Muffler Brake, Inc.
200 Holleder Parkway
Rochester, New York 14615

Ladies and Gentlemen:

                  We have acted as counsel for Monro Muffler Brake, Inc., a New
York corporation (the "Company"), in connection with the preparation and filing
by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") of
a Registration Statement on Form S-8 (the "Registration Statement") under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), relating to the offer
and sale of an aggregate of 200,102 shares of Common Stock, par value $.01 per
share, of the Company (the "Shares") issuable to participants in the Company's
Non-Employee Directors' Stock Option Plan, as amended (the "Plan").

                  In our capacity as counsel, we have examined originals,
telecopies or copies of such records of the Company and all such agreements,
certificates of public officials, certificates of officers or representatives of
the Company and others, and such other documents, certificates and corporate or
other records, as we have deemed necessary or appropriate as a basis for the
opinion set forth herein.

                  In our examination, we have assumed the genuineness of all
signatures, the legal capacity of natural persons signing or delivering any
instrument, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the
conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as certified
or photostatic copies and the authenticity of the originals of such copies. As
to questions of fact, we have relied, to the extent we deemed appropriate, upon
representations and certificates of officers of the Company, public officials
and other appropriate persons.

                  Based upon and subject to the foregoing, and having regard for
such legal considerations as we deem relevant, we are of the opinion that the
Shares, to the extent constituting original issuance securities, have been duly
authorized and, when issued and delivered to plan participants in accordance
with the terms of the Plan, will be validly issued, fully paid and
nonassessable.


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                  We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit
to the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit
that we are in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7
of the Securities Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission promulgated
thereunder.

                                               Very truly yours,

                                               /s/ Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP