Restaurants
Skaneateles/Owasco/Otisco Lakes
Whereas Otisco Lake offers only a handful of seasonal restaurants and snack bars, Auburn on Owasco Lake and Skaneateles are quite a different story. Places to eat range from the pricey and elegant Mirbeau and Rosalie’s in Skaneateles to more casual restaurants like the Blue Water Grill on Skaneateles Lake, Doug’s Fish Fry just a block away, and the family-owned and run Mandana Inn—famous for its scrod—farther down the lake. Auburn also offers a number of excellent steak houses, Italian-style cafés, and long-established restaurants, including Balloons and Lasca’s.
Anyone who has passed through Skaneateles, if only briefly, usually remembers Krebs. Located on Genesee Street in a modest two-story clapboard house with a large front porch, this restaurant has been famous for its bounteous family-style meals since it was founded, by Cora and Fred Krebs, in 1899.
Cayuga Lake
For its size, the college town of Ithaca has a large number of restaurants in the downtown area as well as closer to the campuses itself. Outdoor dining has blossomed during the past few years in patio courtyards, along the streets, and in Ithaca’s pedestrian market area, Ithaca Commons. A popular place to dine on fresh, vegetarian fare is the Moosewood Restaurant in downtown Ithaca. Seneca Falls has a few places including the historic Pumphouse, and Aurora has a handful of restaurants, including the lakeside Aurora Inn.
Seneca Lake
Aside from a handful of restaurants in elegant mansions like Geneva on the Lake and Belhurst, most of the places to eat are more on the casual side. Although few are right on the lake, many have lake views. (left Seneca Harbor Station)
Keuka Lake
Keuka is the star when it comes to restaurants right on the lake. Several provide docks and tie-up facilities so that you can arrive by boat. Many of the wineries have restaurants, as well, with local wines prominently featured on the menu. Regional specialties include fresh fish from the lakes and produce from the regional markets. Some restaurants offer Amish and Mennonite food.
Canandaigua/Canadice/Conesus/Hemlock/ Honeoye Lakes
Most of the restaurants are foun d in and around Canaandaigua Lake with a wide range to choose from — hotel restaurants, pubs and small lakeside places.
This month’s featured Restaurant:
Seneca Harbor Station
Seneca Harbor Station
607-535-6101
3 North Franklin St., Watkins Glen, NY 14891
Price: $–$$
Cuisine: American
Serving: Lunch and dinner
Credit Cards: Most major
This beautifully restored 19th-century train station—with its 16-foot fanned ceilings, mahogany bar, spiral staircase, and original hardwood floors—is now the Seneca Harbor Station restaurant. Located right on the water next to Captain Bill’s Seneca Lake Cruises, the restaurant has a dining deck, large bar, and inside dining rooms with expansive windows looking out to the lake and the public fishing pier. The food, like the decor, is quietly themed with a nautical flavor. Items on the menu include clam chowder, crab cakes, fisherman’s salad, lobster pasta, “boatman’s grilled meats,” rainbow trout Florentine, burgers, “sailor sides,” and “sweet-water desserts.” Special fun drinks are also on the menu.
••••••••••••••••••••••
The Finger Lake Book has more than 100 listings for places to eat and drink.
