Stories, tips, and local perspectives from across the Finger Lakes.
Penn Yan is not the first town you think of for authentic Mexican food, which is exactly what makes Casa Mezcal Reserva such a welcome discovery. Tucked in at 104 Liberty Street, this restaurant has dominated the FLX Finest Mexican category for three consecutive years — Gold in 2023, 2024, and 2025 — a streak […]
The award list at Canal View reads like someone accidentally merged four different restaurants into one. Best Pancakes, Best Burger, Best Chicken Wings, Best Salad, Best Sandwiches, Best Lunch Spot, Best Breakfast, Best All-Around Restaurant — Gold in nearly every category, year after year. For a family restaurant on West Union Street in Newark, that […]
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 […]
In a secluded area just miles from Keuka Lake, Black Sheep Distillery sits waiting for lovers of good drinks and good times.
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 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 […]
If there is a single name that dominates the Finger Lakes boating scene, it is Barrett Marine. Operating from West River Road in Waterloo — strategically positioned between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes — this family-run operation has swept the FLX Finest awards so thoroughly that the competition barely registers. Gold for Best Marina, Best Boat […]
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 […]