Stories, tips, and local perspectives from across the Finger Lakes.
Tucked onto Castle Street in downtown Geneva, Grounded operates as the kind of neighborhood cafe that college towns and small cities desperately need but rarely get right. The space is warm and unpretentious, designed for lingering over a good drink rather than grabbing something on the run. The menu tilts health-conscious without being preachy about […]
In a town where the most celebrated liquids tend to be Riesling and craft beer, Finger Lakes Juice Bar fills a gap that Geneva didn't fully realize it had. This bright, health-conscious counter on Exchange Street in the heart of downtown serves cold-pressed juices, acai bowls, and smoothies made from whole ingredients — the kind […]
Every college town and lake town needs a great bagel shop, and Bagels & Cakes is Geneva's. Operating out of a no-frills storefront at 476 Hamilton Street, this place has won back-to-back FLX Finest Gold for Best Bagels in 2024 and 2025, and if you have ever wondered whether a small-town bagel shop can compete […]
On the Waterloo-Geneva Road, where the commute between Seneca and Cayuga lake country runs through flat farmland and not much else, Bad Burro Coffee Company has become a genuinely essential pit stop. The concept is simple and ruthlessly efficient: a double drive-thru that keeps the line moving while the baristas inside crank out an enormous […]
Ashley Lynn is not your typical Finger Lakes tasting room. There are no slate-gray walls, no sommeliers swirling Riesling, and no tasting fees. This is a family-run winery on Route 318 in Waterloo — half a mile from the Finger Lakes Premium Outlets — where the Hurlbut family has been farming apples on 130 acres […]