F-n-A Rhythm and Booze is the most decorated bar and grill in Waterloo, and possibly in the entire Finger Lakes, which is not something you would guess from the outside of this no-pretense hangout on South Virginia Street. The FLX Finest award count tells the story: Gold for Best Bar & Grill in 2023 and 2025, Silver for Best Bar & Grill in 2024, Silver for Best Pizza in 2023, 2024, and 2025, Silver for Best Chicken Wings in 2023 and 2025, and Silver for Best Sports Bar in 2024 and 2025. That is four different food-and-drink categories in a single readers' choice poll, year after year, which means the kitchen is not just riding one strong dish — it is delivering across the board.

The wings and pizza are the anchors. The wings have the kind of crispy-skinned, properly sauced execution that earns repeat customers, and the pizza holds its own in a region where every bar claims theirs is the best. But what sets F-n-A apart from the average sports bar is the live music programming. This is a bar that books bands regularly, creating an atmosphere that runs hotter and louder than the typical wings-and-beer joint. Waterloo is not a town that most Finger Lakes visitors seek out — it sits between Geneva and Seneca Falls on Routes 5 and 20, and most people drive through without stopping. F-n-A is a reason to stop. The crowd is local, the prices are honest, the beer is cold, and on a night when a good band is playing and the kitchen is firing, this place has more genuine energy than restaurants charging three times as much. It is the bar where the locals actually go, which is always the bar worth finding.