Glen Iris Inn — Restaurant in Town of Genesee Falls

Extremely underwhelmed by the food. They need a new head chef. Came here multiple times years ago and had a true fine dining experience (to this day some of the best lamb with a mint jelly that I’ve had). This time was a very different experience. Drove up just for the restaurant from Rochester for our anniversary. First thing I noticed was the menu was very boring, I don’t know who’s palette they’re cooking for but nothing interesting or special on the menu, more interesting dishes at an Applebee’s. I ordered the seared ahi tuna with crackers ($16) as the appetizer and the Parmesan crusted scallops ($28) as my entree (the special for the day), my girlfriend had the charcuterie board ($28) because she wasn’t hungry for a full meal. The tuna was okay, literally no seasoning on it and barely a crust from being seared, basically just sashimi with dry flavorless crackers. The charcuterie was okay portion wise, but was only 2 kinds of sausage, a cheddar and a Swiss cheese and a small pile of pickled veggies, we were definitely expecting some more interesting meats and cheeses for $28. The scallops were by far the worst thing I could have ordered. I expected the scallops to be breaded or seared or to at least have been broiled to the point that the parm was brown but it was just melted over the top, and they were in a sauce that I could only describe as butter and water? Literally flavorless other than plain Parmesan, no garlic, no lemon, no spices, i don’t even think any salt was used. They were served with mashed potatoes which were okay but also needed salt added (usually unnecessary for me anywhere but home cooked meals) and green beans that actually had no salt on them, or any other spices or flavors to speak of. I’ve raved and talked about the glen iris a lot over the years because the atmosphere, with the falls and the antique decor combined with the formerly stellar food was actually something special. If the meal had been $50 I wouldn’t be complaining, the service was standard and the food was edible, but for an over $100 tab, I expect the food to be at least interesting attempts at dishes if not a stellar experience. Needless to say I won’t be recommending the restaurant to anyone again and next time I want a nice meal I’ll go to one of the nice restaurants in Rochester. And to anyone reading this, I’m really not trying to bash the place, the park is great, I used to love the restaurant and I’m sure staying at the inn may be a nice experience, but I would just really suggest not spending the money on eating here unless some drastic changes are made to the menu. I feel that the many positive reviews may be due to the older crowd that tends to be the key demographic, as I know that sometimes that age group tends to be sensitive to salt and spices and might prefer a more bland meal, but I noticed the flavorless complaint is a common one if you look back at the...

Stayed at the Inn, Cherry suite. Stunning view of middle falls......NOT. Supposed to "overlook" the falls from balcony. With tax $340 a night. Trees block any view. We mentioned to desk and woman said "oh, I didn't know that" and turned away. Balcony would have been a nice spot to relax, but a wedding was going on right in front of our balcony. Check in at 4, and guests were already wandering around in and out of the Inn, wedding started at 5 and people were talking, laughing, yelling, kids running around all night right in front of us, around us, under our balcony, in and out of the Inn (we were told their access to Inn ended at 6, and weddings are booked via the park..we paid to stay there not for wedding party to be using the bathrooms, they had a huge tent and their own accommodations. Unfair to us but actually seemed like very nice people. We were not allowed to use the library for the first few hours, which has the best view because the wedding party was, and the Inn is supposed to be locked at 9 for security..(you get a key if staying there), We gave it up at 10:30 pm and went to bed. We should have been advised of wedding when we booked. It is a room with a bathroom...not a suite as advertised. I get it that its "historic", but actually run down. The restaurant Caroline's was terrible..for lunch I got seafood stuffed mushroom caps...they tasted old and musty and the plate was full of water, the hollandaise that came with it was canned, thick and tasteless. The French onion soup was dishwater with tons of nasty, tasteless, fake, cheap, rubbery plastic "cheese" I could not chew and mushy onions. The garnish on my plate was rotten lettuce. Too tired too travel outside park at night, so we gave Caroline's another chance...mistake. I thought I'd be ok with the Danish brie with berry sauce..wrong, cheap, low quality, rubbery, and stale crackers..horrible. Husband got pork chop...soggy apples on a very small tough chop. $38. Rum and coke was weak and had a rotten piece of lime and flat pop. I have no idea what kind of food the other reviewers who raved about the food normally eat...canned catfood perhaps? Two stars because some of staff were very nice, problems we had were not their fault. I noticed the owner only replies to positive reviews. It was a $600 dollar fraud. (between room and food) One night. Park is fabulous, just plan to eat elsewhere and don't count on the higher priced rooms (suites..lol) Check out is 11 am...less than 24...

Glen Iris Inn and Letchworth State Park are absolutely beautiful. We had our wedding photos done here 29 years ago and it still is just as beautiful. We are now visiting the area from Florida and wanted to ride through the park and see the sights as well as dine at the Glen Iris Inn. It was great that someone was holding a wedding there today as that really brought back memories. We took a photo by the sign to commemorate this trip and were instructed we had to walk around the other side as the wedding was about to start. No worries at all! We go inside and see the hostess, as for a table for two for lunch. She says ok, turns around to grab menus then suddenly turns and says, “Oh I’m sorry I can’t seat you, your too late. Lunch stops serving at 4:00 and it is now 4:04.”. What the…..!!! I tried telling her were are up here from Florida, and we had wedding photos here 29 years ago blah blah blah and all she could say is we could get a cocktail drink. Great, get a drink on an empty stomach. After a bit of back and forth we left highly disappointed. Four friggin’ minutes. Guess we shouldn’t have stoped to talk to the nice staff outside protecting the wedding area and getting a commemorative photo and we could have spent way more money at the Glen Iris than we did at Letchworth Pines, which I might say had great service and the prices were tremendously cheaper,, which is to be expected from a roadside bar. Maybe at the front gate to enter the park when they told us to show the receipt that we paid $10.00 to get in to the park that was refundable if we eat at the Glen Iris, it was then it would have been nice to know they shut down lunch at 4:00. We would have made sure we were there on time instead of enjoying the beauty of the park. So, we didn’t get to use the $10.00 towards our meal but that’s ok, the park was stunning and well worth the $10.00 entry fee. The hostess did put a damper on...