Tobey's Donut Shop — Restaurant in Town of Dix

During a recent trip to the Finger Lakes with friends for the first time, we finished an amazing get away visiting the region by stopping at Tobey's on the way out of town. When we first arrived to Watkins Glen we noticed a donut shop with a sign that said "Sold Out" and immediately said to each other, we have got to try that out as this had to be a good sign. We did not let long lines out the door deter us from trying what we assumed was amazing food that so many people were waiting for. After putting in our order for 2 breakfast sandwiches and 2 donuts, we waiting in very small crowded space for our sandwiches to be made. This was very chaotic and crammed as there was a great deal of confusion about who was in line to order vs. waiting for food vs. waiting to be seated. The layout of the place is very unorganized and needs a lot of help to avoid this mess. We were pushed from spot to spot in order to get out of the customers way as well as waitresses trying to get coffee from the coffee station and coming out of the kitchen for hot food. It would not have been a big deal making this work however after 25 minutes of waiting for two egg sandwiches, it made the experience a bit more painful. After over 30 minutes of waiting for our two breakfast sandwiches, we were handed a bag which included 1 sandwich. We attempted to make our way to the front to let them know we were missing a sandwich which was impossible to do due to the crowds of people ordering and waiting for their meals. Upon opening the one sandwich we had, we noticed that even after 30 minutes or waiting, our sandwich looked like a toddler made it as the english muffin was cold and not toasted and there were a few pieces of shredded cheese thrown on top that were cold and not melted. After trying to get someone's attention from the kitchen for a few more minutes, we decided to call it quits, count our losses, and move on down the road to Dunkin. I always like to support local businesses when traveling and not chains however in this case we will not be back and am a bit puzzled by the long lines and hype. This place needs some major help in management and product excellence. Look elsewhere for breakfast options when near...

Walked in and proceeded to the cooler to be seated as the signs instructed us to do. Waited for about 5 minutes as the workers looked at and walked by us. It was not super busy. Eventually, someone asked if we were eating in and we said yes.

She pointed to 3 open booths and said we could choose any and she'd bring us menus. We chose our seats and she brought us 2 menus and said another waitress would be taking our order.

We waited another 10 minutes as the staff stood around, walking past us, etc. I told my wife we were giving them 3 more minutes and if nobody came, we were leaving. 2 minutes later, a waitress came to our table to take our order. We told her what we wanted and she left. 3 minutes later, another waitress came and asked to take our order. We told her that we just had it taken. Now, this place is not very big and was not very busy. Our breakfast sandwiches were super greasy and the meat was sliced very thin.

Once we finished, she brought our check. We again waited another 15 minutes with our cash hanging out of the check holder as she walked by several times. She got the table behind us wrong with their checks. I went to the bathroom and told my wife that if it wasn't taken care of, we were leaving the money on the table and leaving. Well, that's what we did. She had walked by us 10-15 times with our money sitting there, waiting to be taken.

This was absolutely the worst experience while visiting the finger lakes. We were told that we needed to go here. PRICES ARE EXPENSIVE AND SERVICE WAS EVEN WORSE!

DO NOT...

A great place for breakfast and a way to satisfy your sweet tooth. My son and I decided to have a breakfast on our last day camping at the state park before we left. Donuts are good and they have some fun combinations. I had the chorizo omelet with home fries (hash browns for midwesterners like myself) and son had cheese omelet. Both were excellent and we opted for the bagel instead of toast. We also got a Reese’s pieces donut to share. FYI. The home fries so far have been the best potato breakfast thing I have ever eaten. They were full of flavor and not just hash browns that are salted, these were fantastic!

The waitress was so fun to talk to, she was friendly, knowledgeable and had a true conversation with us instead of the usual obligatory “job” talk. I can’t remember her name or I would certainly thank her online here (it was a couple weeks ago during a cross country vacation driving trip).

If you stay at the park (which thousands of people do a per week), then stop by this place early so you can get great donuts and a heart-warming meal and conversation.

**This review is for a dine-in...