Towpath Cafe

I went her with a few girlfriends for lunch on a sunny day. The service was horrendous. From what I can remember, I have never had such poor service at any other restaurants. Our waitress rarely checked in on us. After about an hour and a half of waiting for our meals (wraps and a salad… nothing fancy) and our waitress saying «it will be right up!» she asked us what we had ordered.
Once we told her, we realized she never put our order in. After already waiting an hour and a half, we then waited another hour for our food. I am not exaggerating. We were at this place for 3 hours for, what we had hoped, would have been a quick and easy lunch.
Furthermore, the waitress did not initiate any compensation for us. When we asked if would could perhaps get our meals at a reduced rate, we were told «no,» but were offered dessert. Not being a dessert eater, this was of no help to me.
The food, when we received it, was average. Nothing terrible, but nothing fancy.
Needless to say, I will not be going back there.

Pork shanks should *not* overdone on the outside and be extremely ice cold at the center. I’ve heard on «farm to table» so this must be «freezer to table.» Of course, the last time I was here I had one of the best steaks i’ve had in a long time. Which begs the question, why is the service here so erratic? They have a very nice location here. While I waited for a different meal, we enjoyed the view along the canal and the fine live music. I’d like to rate the towpath higher, but given the potential consequences of eating undercooked pork, I’m docking them several stars.

I’ve been back to this place a handful of times since my initial visit and the service has been so terrible every time, that I just can’t recommend this place anymore. The location is excellent, and the food is consistently good, but the staff are clueless, rude, and do not deserve my business. My most recent trip was with my mother at lunch time. It was not busy, but there were a few tables occupied on the patio. When we walked in a young woman just stared at us instead of offering to seat us. We walked past her because we figured she was another patron waiting for someone else. We circled back around and asked if she was the hostess and she said yes and told us to sit anywhere. Okay, fine. Not great, but I can handle that. We sat and waited over ten minutes for a waitress to come over. I’ve come to expect this at Towpath, but it is still annoying. Our waitress arrived and she was short with us, as if we were inconveniencing her by being there. We finally ordered and after an hour, our food still had not arrived. We had checked in with the waitress twice and were told it was coming both times, but she never apologized and again seemed to be inconvenienced by having to serve us. At this point I needed to leave and was not confident our food would arrive with enough time for us to eat and make it to our next engagement. We asked for the check and to have our food packed up the next time the waitress was near our table. The waitress gave us attitude about this, so my mother asked to speak to the manager. The manager was so rude and told us we should have called ahead with our order. I think an hour and a half is plenty of time for lunch during the middle of the week, and that her behavior was very unprofessional. Again, I know this place is generally slow and I have been tolerating it, but the rudeness and refusal to apologize when they are clearly not running the restaurant/​kitchen well has resulted in me refusing to step foot in here again.

As a lifelong resident of Fairport, I treasure our village area and take great pride in our presence on the Erie Canal. And, for a restaurant whose position on the canal might end up being, for many, a significant representation of our town, I think Towpath is doing us a great disservice.
My mom and I stopped in for lunch today to take advantage of the sunny afternoon. We grabbed a table on the patio and after about 10 minutes, were given the opportunity to order food and drinks from the waitress. It took another 10 minutes for her to bring over the drinks (and reminding her of our drink orders), and after that, we watched as she served the rest of the tables in a completely frazzled manner — running from table to table as food came out from the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, we noticed that other patrons who had been seated after us were being served food, while a few other tables that arrived around the same time as we did were still waiting. Another 10 minutes go by, and we ask the waitress if we can expect our lunch to be served soon. She says yes and continues to run around the patio disheveled and disorganized, serving other tables that had very clearly been seated well after we arrived. So, we’re up to 40 minutes from the time our order was placed. We let another 10 minutes go by, and ask her, again, about our food. Her response, and I quote, «I swear to God, it’ll be out in a few minutes. It’s not my fault.» She walks away. She comes back to the table after about 5 minutes and says, «well, can you remind me what you ordered? Was it the …» and rattles off someone else’s order. We remind her — a sandwich and a basic salad, nothing fussy — and she goes, «Oh… right. Well there’s a special big party inside, so that’s causing the hold-​up.» Another 10 minutes … and we give up. Throw down some cash to cover the drinks we finished a long time ago (and were never offered refills), and leave. Waiting an hour for a really simple lunch order seems like an excessive expectation.
You might be reading this review and thinking, «ugh, what an uppity brat.» No. I’m generally a pretty patient and understanding person. I don’t love confrontation and feel uncomfortable complaining. I’ve never walked out of a restaurant before today. I know that working in the restaurant service industry can be demanding. But, the explanations that were offered to us — a waitress who flat out ignored us at points when we tried to hail her down — and to be told that «it isn’t her fault,» when we ask about the delay. She didn’t remember our order! No sense of customer service, whatsoever.
I’ve had a few less-​than-​stellar experiences here with respect to service but today’s solidifies for me that, unfortunately, no matter how appealing it seems to sit by the canal and enjoy a sunny afternoon, this place is not worth it. It’s a shame … they’re occupying prime real estate on our gorgeous canal front and completely underwhelming as a business.

My husband and I enjoyed our first visit at the Towpath Café. I had a beautiful yummy piece of Salmon with rice.
Well… I wish could say our second visit was just as memorable. I decided to get the salmon again, since I enjoyed it so much last time. The portions were very small. It came with risotto and broccoli. The risotto was a sticky clump about a 2 tbsp molded portion. Salmon was about a 3 oz cut a bit bland. The broccoli was hard and cold. A bit $$ for something just not enjoyable. Although serves was great. She checked on us frequently and very polite. Would we try again? Probably not for dinner. We may try breakfast or lunch next time.

Was there Saturday night and had a great glass of wine while enjoying some live music by the east end drifters. A perfect after-​dinner-​date spot! The staff was awesome and attentive.

I came here with my husband, son, parents, and brother for dinner on a Saturday night to see the live music. The music was the only good part of the evening. We collectively agreed that dinner was the worst one we’ve ever had at a restaurant.
Atmosphere: so cute. I bet it’s awesome when it’s warm outside and you can sit and look at the canal. Maybe this place would be good for just coffee or a drink. Let’s hope so.
Service: although the waitress was friendly, we saw her very infrequently. I think they only had 2 staff serving the entire place, through. But… It still shouldn’t take 30 minutes and getting up to put coats on to get your check when the waitress said she’d bring it right away.
Food: so, so, so, so bad. I think they purchased a bunch of freezer meals, hiked up the price to match a super fancy resistant, and made a menu. Crab cakes: not good. Grilled romaine salad: soggy, limp lettuce that tasted like liquid smoke. Burger: actually the best thing on the menu, with pretty crappy fries… But it’ll cost you $ 1 if you want a slice of cheese on it. Chicken French: NOT good, tasted like eggs. Steak: mostly fat, flavorless. Salmon: flavorless, with greasy risotto and vegetables that looked like they were from a middle school cafeteria on the side (pictured). My two-​year-​old wouldn’t even eat his mega-​thin, frozen pizza because he didn’t like it at all.
Absolutely do not come here for dinner. You will pay $ 10 – 21 (average $ 16) for the worst meal you can get in Rochester. Since the atmosphere is cute, maybe come for coffee or a drink. They had a red ale from Fairport Brewery that was good, and also a wine list (but were out of the one we wanted).

Incompetent owner and staff. They had maybe 5 tables and we stood around for close to 30 minutes waiting to order a coffee for my boyfriend and I. We watched them intently as they ignored us the whole time whilst sweating from the neuortic feeling of working to hard (they weren’t really doing jack). I couldn’t help but think why on earth was I even there after awhile. If they could muster up the courage to talk to the customers maybe I would’ve been reminded that I was there the give them business. To much time went by for us to even care. We went to Dunkin Donuts instead. Never going back. I will make the drive to Javas in Rochester any day of the week before even entertaining the thought of going back to this establishment whom in my humble opinion have no business in the service industry

Went during the summer and sat outside along the canal, really pretty. They had live music that night which was really nice. The service was prompt and our server was friendly.
We ordered the calamari and fried green tomatoes. The calamari wasn’t fresh and was very chewy, I wouldn’t recommend this appetizer. The fried green tomatoes however were delicious! I ordered the grilled romaine salad and my husband got the burger. I LOVED my salad and my husband said the burger was good.
Overall I thought the ambiance and the food was good. Will definitely go back again.

Went for lunch. Ordered the fried green tomatoes for an appetizer but they were out. We ordered the hot pretzel sticks which were very dry and hard. I had a chicken salad sandwich although I ordered a tuna. The chicken salad did not even cover the bread slices. Also ordered was a portobello mushroom sandwich which was okay and a Benjamin Wright sandwich which was bland and had no flavor. Doubtful we would return.

I’ve been to the Towpath Café several times now and so far everything we’ve ordered has been delicious. The location is great & the outdoor seating is great — good view of the canal. Another plus is that they will call a cell phone if there’s a wait and you decide to walk along the canal while you wait.
The only word of warning that I have is about the Mussels Marinara on the dinner menu. The dish is delicious, but the one time I ordered this, many of the mussel shells were broken and I felt like I was constantly picking bits of mussel shells out of my food/​mouth. That being said, I’d probably order it again because it tasted excellent.

Decided to take a road trip because it was such a great day and we ended up in Fairport. We walked the canal and ended up grabbing lunch here and we loved it! We sat outside looking at the canal and there was live music. They were busy but the kitchen was cranking the orders out in a timely fashion. I had grilled chicken sandwich with artichokes, basil mayo, spinach and cheese and a roll. 2thumbs up! Cooked perfectly and very tasty! My husband ordered turkey, bacon sandwich with lemon aioli dressing on multi grain bread. He loved it. Staff was very nice. I was very impressed at the customer service in all the staff. Even the bus guy who saw us standing, waiting to be seated came over and said someone would be right with us, as the hostess was seating the people who came before us.

Ok came back here again today. The menu has been on my mind since the first time. I once again ordered a mojito… lesson learned I will not do that again. I’m gonna post a pic it’s so hilarious. It took a solid 20 minutes to get. The server had to have someone else who clearly does not know how to make one, make one. Why in the world would you have servers making cocktails who clearly don’t know how to make cocktails!!! There’s such a good cocktail menu too. It makes me sad. Get a bartender or TRAIN YOUR STAFF. And hey staff ever hear
Of Google??? You can find the recipe on Google. It’s four ingredients and some soda water… food was great again and server was a
Sweetheart. This place will survive because the food and menu is that good!

I brought my (adult) niece from California here, on a Wednesday, for lunch. I was not overly impressed with the service and due to the fact that the restaurant was out of a few staples, on a Wednesday.
The place is super cute, location is *awesome*. It was a beautiful summer day, we sat outside on the canal, and if I was rating atmosphere alone, I would go with 4.5 stars.
The waitress came over and right off the bat told us they were out of Bacon, Sweet Potato Fries, and Onion Rings. (On a Wednesday). I can’t lie, the entire drive over I was planning on ordering a BLT and Sweet Potato Fries. The menu is pretty big, so finding something else wasn’t an issue.
I ended up ordering the Pulled Pork Sandwich and a Side Salad. My niece ordered the Smoked Kielbasa (as recommended by other Unilocal Reviews). We both ordered side salads. The waitress did bring our drinks quickly, and we waited, approx 15 minutes before our salads arrived. My niece is a self-​professed «Salad Dressing Snob» and she said that the Balsamic Vinaigrette was among the best she has ever had. SO, that’s saying something!
We had our salads all of 3 minutes when our sandwiches arrived. THIS annoys me. The tables outside (we were at a round table for 2) are fairly small so there really is not room for a salad and a sandwich. We waited 15 min for the salad as it was, and when this happens, you feel rushed to finish it.
Our sandwiches were delicious. The Pulled Pork had great taste, and it had melted cheddar on top, and slices of granny smith apples on top. The flavors worked great and the brioche roll was fresh, slightly grilled, and dreamy. The Smoked Kielbasa was smothered in sauerkraut with swiss cheese melted on top, and it was on a pretzel roll. The Kielbasa could have been a little larger, for the size roll they are using, but my niece thought it was delicious, and appreciated the previous reviews.
Lunch ends. We are ready to pay, as we planned to catch a movie. No sweat, we had plenty of time. Or so we thought. The waitress cleared our dishes and left the bill. Ten minutes goes by… 15 minutes goes by. No waitress. My niece went and told the server at the outside bar that we needed to leave and asked if he could find our waitress so we could pay. He said «sure». I watched the exchange. Then he went about his business for more than another 10 minutes, possibly longer, never getting our waitress. Finally, 30 minutes into our wait, I went to the hostess and told her I needed to pay so we could leave. She took care of me, and we were off. We were late to the movie and missed about the first 4 – 5 minutes. I had budgeted plenty of time, and waiting 30 minutes to pay after the bill was given to us was really not acceptable. It was a Wednesday and they were really not that busy.
Even though they were out of 3 staples on a Wednesday, their menu was vast enough to cover that gaffe, and I thoroughly enjoyed my second choice meal. The service was really less than great, so the waitress should have been happy that I am the type that will give a 15% min gratuity, even with poor service. I usually give a 20−25% tip at lunch, since the bill is smaller, I figure it helps servers, but she missed the mark.
The food was delicious and the atmosphere was adorable, and I will definitely go back and give them a chance to earn a 4+ star rating from me.

Fine, with a weird exception.
The location is lovely, a great place right on the canal. The food was good too. Nothing amazing, but nothing bad. My son liked his burger, which didn’t seem to be from a frozen patty. It’s expensive, but at least it’s quality. My Greek veggie wrap was pretty good, and they handled my picky requests perfectly (replace dressing with another, and some other stuff). My dad went nuts for the signature pizza, but he is an easy sell. Still, it looked good. Wish I had ordered it. My wife really liked her peppadew veggie burger. I tried it, and yeah, it’s pretty good. They could probably do a brisk business with worse food just because of the location, so good on them for making real effort. Even my daughter’s grilled cheese was good.
Our server was great. She was very kind, thoughtful, and attentive. She seemed genuinely interested in making sure we had a good time.
And that’s where my four star review ends. With live music (which they have sometimes), it might even be a five-​star experience.
Now, the exception.
There were no napkins on the table when we got our food. We asked the server, and she disappeared (to hunt down some napkins, we later discovered). With a lot of finger food on the table, we really needed some napkins, so one of us went to ask the hostess. And man, was that ever a pain in her ass. She came back shortly with a few cocktail napkins. For a table of six with two children and mostly food you eat with your hands. And the attitude: «This is the best I can do.» As she started to leave we pointed out that other tables had regular, human-​sized napkins. She got even pissier and said SHE couldn’t see what we were talking about. Eventually, with our guidance, she saw a vacant table with some napkins on it and got even MORE pissed at us as she stalked over to grab them and throw them on our table without even looking at us or saying anything.
Soon after that, our server returned with a stack of napkins, and proceeded to apologize for the wait and for the lack of napkins. And that’s the thing. EVERYONE messes up sometimes, a restaurant can even run out of napkins. But when you mess up, if you take a little responsibility, honestly I’m cool with it. We’re all trying to make a go of it in this world, and we can all just forgive each other a little sometimes. But when YOU mess up, and then get pissed at ME?! That really rubs me the wrong way. So maybe this woman was having a bad night, but her whole job is to accommodate guests. So, if you’re too grouchy to be decent to people, stay home that day.
And I’m not taking off a star for it. But it would make me think twice about returning.

I’ve had a lot of burgers in my life, you guys. Towpath wins. I got the California. The sweet brioche is toasted and the beef is cooked fully on point. Great service, sweet girl!
I had veggies as an optional side to balance the heaviness of the bread, which I always prefer. Even the broccoli was a little toasted. Omgyum.
Sat on the deck. Gorgeous outside area.
Love this place.

I came here with my friend, her mom and her mother in law after looking at wedding dresses. The wedding shop suggested them and since it was just a short walk away we decided we would try it. I am very happy we did try it and I can’t wait for the nicer weather because I would love to sit outside and enjoy some lunch by the canal.
Our waiter was very attentive and helpful throughout our entire meal.
The food was fantastic. It came out in a timely fashion and everything was magnificent. I had one of their soups of the day along with roast beef. They used ciabotta for their sandwiches which was amazing.
it was a nice little quiet place. I could see me spending a bunch of time cozying up there was a good book. I am very happy with my experience and will recommend others to come here.

I loved my meal, especially since I get a delicious kielbasa sausage on a pretzel roll with mustard and salad. What an amazing flavor! I also had some cranberry juice with it. The waitstaff was awesome considering the line that developing as the time edged towards lunch, and the view was just as nice. I also was able to see the bridge lower itself after a boat went the canal. What are the odds? I guess I have impeccable timing. The only thing was that the bathroom is really hard to find, since you have to walk all the way out of the restaurant, press through double doors and find yourself in a visitor center, then you are there.

The café is beautifully located next to the canal in the town of Fairport. There is plenty of parking, but I assume it varies depending on the season with neighboring businesses like the ice cream shop.
After traveling through the hallways to the café entrance, the place was dim and mostly lit by the sunlight beaming through the wall of windows. The couches and high tables are on the raised floor section against this wall. My toosh was grateful for the couches after a few hours of knitting while sipping on a nutella latte with a chocolate bisciotti. Yum. They also serve sandwiches, alcohol, and desserts. The only downside, if it is for someone, is that there isn’t a visible wall of their drink concoctions so you have to look at a menu while waiting in line. I’m not even sure they have a menu of their drinks because I just ordered the same as my friend.
Also, as we were getting ready to leave a live band was setting up to play that night. It seems like a spot locals go to for some low key downtime. It was a great place to mellow out with my knitting buddy. We also walked the canal and saw some cool boats that were docked along the side. Looking forward to another knitting session there!

Great atmosphere! Cozy couches, a kind wait staff, and live music from time to time. The coffees are excellent and they even have a list of wines to choose from if that’s more your style.