Tug Hill Estate — Attraction in Town of Lowville

We have heard about this place in passing over the years. Then we saw a Facebook post about raspberry picking and thought it would be a good way to spend a Sunday. While looking at the webpage, we realized they also do a Sunday Brunch. Great for us, I love to eat.

The brunch was quite amazing for $20. I was very impressed. The food was really good, great variety and fresh. I would highly recommend everyone hit this brunch sometime in the future. I would highly recommend calling ahead and making a reservation. They have different seating times throughout the morning/early afternoon. We got lucky and was able to get a table without one, but when we go back (we will definitely go back) we will reserve a table.

After brunch, we decided the try a wine tasting. Good experience. I am not knowledgeable on wine but still had a good time. The Sommelier (has to look that word up) was a very knowledgeable young lady. Very nice and seems to enjoy what she does. You could try 6 wines for $5. This fee gets waved if you buy 3 bottles. We did.

Then we went picking raspberries. This was an enjoyable time to spend with the family. When you go out, they send you with a map which is very informative about what and when is growing. Throughout the season, they do everything from raspberries to blueberries to cherries to pears to apples and so on.

Overall a great way to spend a relaxing day with the family. Such...

I brought the family for Easter Brunch. THE POSITIVE Very scenic location for the area. They have done a nice job with the dining area. We were seated on the enclosed deck and really enjoyed the surroundings. The host and our waitress were both very friendly, and seemed very genuine. There was a fantastic selection of desserts that were well made and very appealing. THE NEGATIVE The food on the buffet was subpar. We had read great reviews and were looking forward to a the brunch. The quiche was cold, the french toast were soggy, the ham was dried out, the shrimp was so mushy that it almost felt like it had a breading of some sort even though it didn't. The pilaf was mush. There was one little bite of steak at best in the seared steak tortellini. Our waitress, although genuinely friendly, was absent for extended periods. When she did help us, she was very attentive, and nice. The food was very disappointing. At times, there was no one at the buffet to serve us, even though other staff members came and went. CONCLUSION We had high hopes, but were let down by the food. It seemed like nice people there, and great surroundings, so hopefully they tighten up the food service. I don't expect we will visit again...

For the past 7 years, my wife and I have been meeting our two cousins along with their kids and grandkids for a semi-annual visit to the Tug Hill Winery Sunday Brunch. Up until this past seasons visit, we have been wonderfully treated to a gourmet meal and excellent servers. But, that all changed this time about a month ago...... The food was maybe "ordinary" at best and worst of all, most of it was COLD!!! How can any place that serves a buffet NOT have someone checking with a food grade thermometer occasionally to make sure that everything is at the temp it should be? Not a single 'hot' item was hot! Not one! And it's not the kind of thing that can be quickly corrected, so we simply had to grin and bear it and eat cold food. We were at the 1130 scheduled feeding, so there was ample time to have had everything checked beforehand. We've never in the past criticized the cost of the meal since we've always been more than please. But no longer! I'm afraid a second chance is out of the question. We've already begun a search for the another place to meet twice a year.......Really too bad... David and Wendy Will and Jan Curt and Jamie and the kids ...and dear 90 yr...