Stories, tips, and local perspectives from across the Finger Lakes.
At 25 Main Street in Penn Yan's historic district, Cam's Pizzeria is the kind of neighborhood pizza shop that small-town New York does better than anywhere else on earth. The operation is straightforward — New York-style pies, calzones, strombolis, wings, subs, and salads — but the execution has earned Cam's a staggering collection of FLX […]
Blush has been a quiet force on Fall Street in Seneca Falls for years, earning Silver for Best Women's Clothing Store three years running (2023, 2024, 2025) along with Silver for Best Boutique in both 2023 and 2022. That kind of sustained recognition — never flashy, always present — is the profile of a shop […]
Tucked along Packwood Road on the outskirts of Geneva, Big Oak Golf Course has been the Finger Lakes' most decorated public course for years running — Gold for Best Golf Course in 2022, 2023, and 2024, with a Silver in 2025. That three-year Gold streak is not something you fluke your way into. The 18-hole […]
Bella's Sicilian Ristorante in Geneva has been a fixture of the local Italian dining scene long enough to earn Gold for Best Italian Restaurant at the 2022 FLX Finest awards. It is the kind of family-run Italian place where the portions are generous, the recipes lean traditional Sicilian, and the regulars all seem to know […]
Bella's sits on Routes 5 & 20 between Geneva and Waterloo, and it does one thing extremely well: steak. Three consecutive FLX Finest Gold awards for Best Steakhouse (2022, 2023, 2024) is the kind of streak that does not happen by accident. The menu is built around prime cuts — thick, well-seasoned, charred to order […]
Barrelhouse 6 opened in May 2021 on Middle Road in Hammondsport, and it has quickly become one of the most polished craft distillery experiences in the Finger Lakes. The building is a striking mix of wood and industrial design — think exposed beams, a massive copper still visible through glass, and artwork covering the walls […]
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 […]