We stopped for an early dinner here after hiking at Letchworth State Park. The outdoor dining was fabulous. The atmosphere was light and airy. We both ordered mocktails. I'm always grateful when mocktails are on the menu Because I don't drink. The flatbread pizza was out of this world delicious! Staff was friendly and I will be returning! read more

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Grilled pork chop special was outstanding this week! Talking with servers is always personal and makes for an excellent evening out overall. We' ll be back soon. read more

Big Tree Inn - Big Tree - Hotels Near Me - Geneseo, New York

We were excited to try Big Tree Inn while visiting our son at SUNY Geneseo. Their patio was relaxing and inviting. We enjoyed the majority of our items greatly: the soup was heavenly; the burger was huge and delicious; sandwich was wonderful; mocktails were creative and tasty; and the grain bowl was divine. The fries were pretty good but needed a few moments more in the fryer to get a little crispier. Interestingly, the Seafood Cakes had the reverse issue -- they were overdone. In all, our time was pleasant and we will return again. read more

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I stopped here with my wife for Sunday brunch. We were happy to see this landmark open again after closing during Covid and not reopening to this year. I ordered the eggs Benedict and my wife ordered the brûlée French Toast. I also had a side of the cheese hash browns that were more like a casserole potato. Everything tasted great. I also ordered a Bloody Mary, the waitress asked if I wanted it spicy or mild. Spicy of course! It was very good, It was horseradish forward and very good. The meal was great we ate near the fireplace in the front parlor. The waitress was friendly and checked in throughout our meal. We certainly will be back. read more

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Well, I went there with my daughter and the place is clean and there was no one there. The server was nice. The food was not that great the steak Frida's were not seasoned enough in our opinion and I had the shrimp étouffée which was really spicy, which I asked for, but it tasted like it was drown in lemon so I know there was lemon in it but for me it wasn't that great. It is a touch expensive. read more

Big Tree Inn - Shrimp étouffée - Hotels Near Me - Geneseo, New York

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We brought the kids to the place where we had our first date 25 years ago. Unfortunately, the quality has dropped since then. The burgers we ordered were raw. Our waitress was sweet, and it wasn't her fault, but I'd avoid the Big Tree from here on out. read more

Recently opened after being closed since the pandemic. Sat in the tavern. Late afternoon. Cocktails, soup, salad and a wrap. Thomas at the bar was cordial, friendly and mixed a great Manhattan, luxardo cherry and a Cosmo. Tania our waitress was very attentive. Food was excellent. Red Pper Gouda soup. Grilled Chicken Bacon, Ranch wrap, Seasonal Salad. Atmosphere is relaxed, cozy, warm and friendly. Cheers! read more

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Excellent service, very good food, good to see the big tree maker reappearance! Here's hoping it continues to thrive. read more

The restaurant just recently reopened and we were excited to try it. We knew the menu was limited but figured we would give it a shot. We sat in the dining room and not the tavern side. Took a while to get our drinks so we decided we had better order our meal. When the food came out the plate of chicken and biscuits didn't have any biscuits (we thought). Were told they were in there? They must have broken them up and let them melt into the gravy because there was a doughy consistency in the gravy. The fries were cold with the chicken wrap ( with not a lot of chicken) and the order of beef tips were a little tough with no sharp knife on the table. It is probably early in its new life, but they have some improvement to make. We will try it again, but will give it a little time to work out the kinks. read more

I know they had a slow start but tonight the six people in out party had a great dinner. The staff was attentive and innovative. I had only the house wine and I was great. We were all happy to have this great meal and hope this continues read more

I keep reading the same things over and over here. I almost felt like I didn't need to write a review until I realized that all of the other reviews were under the HOTEL category, the restaurant. And that made me realize that people might be overlooking the reviews here on Yelp. Like everyone else, we went with high expectations. There was a group of 8 of us. We've been doing a dinner out at least once a month an historic restaurant in the Rochester area and this month it was time for the Big Tree Inn. When we arrived for our 7 PM reservation, the pub was packed with diners. Surely a good sign. We met some friends at the bar but after waiting for ten minutes for the bartender to appear (she finally did but never offered to serve us), they indicated our table was ready. We sat down to an empty dining room and from there, everything was downhill. The waitress, very sweet and knowledgeable, announced that the food coming out of the kitchen was going to be slow that evening. Okay, no big deal. We did see the packed pub but it was strange that with an empty dining room this statement was made. But go back and read the reviews under the Big Tree Inn hotel category. You'll see the same theme running over and over. Obviously, they have a problem with keeping chefs or line cooks. We ordered drinks and appetizers. The cheese boards we ordered as appetizers came from an area creamery but were singularly unexciting and quite pricey at $15 for the small amount of food that there. Bread did arrive and it was good with several different infused butters. When dinner finally did arrive, I was shocked. Several of our party had the lamb shanks. On special that evening at a reduced price. It was clearly on special as it was Saturday night and it had not sold and these were shanks that were not cooked to order but clearly a day or few days old and rewarmed. They were tough, overcooked, and dry. But it didn't end there. I ordered meatloaf. It was probably the single worst dish I've had in a restaurant in decades. I should have sent it back but I didn't want to create a scene. The combo veal/pork and I believe lamb was grey. My wife later commented that she thought I had ordered a steak as it was charred black on the outside like the steaks of a few of our party. This was a piece of almost inedible meat that was charred so black and so dry that it had a crust that was difficult to cut with a normal knife. It also was clearly a very old piece of meat. I could go on about some of the other dishes but why bother. A few at the table ordered desserts and they were just as bad. The cheesecake, at $6, was probably the smallest sliver of cheesecake I had ever seen in my life. I believe it was advertised as as banana cheesecake. It was a piece of plain cheesecake with a slice of banana on the side. The bread pudding, which I normally love, was indicated to be cake like so I avoided it as that's not my idea of bread pudding. It was also probably the smallest serving I've seen in my life and judging by the amount that was not consumed, was no better tasting. This is clearly an establishment that needs to revamp what its doing. There's obviously a need for a new chef and kitchen staff. Any restaurant that is serving warmed up versions of a menu on a Saturday night is in desperate straits. read more

I grew up in the area and recently returned. The restaurant was always a hit-or-miss depending on how the school was running it at the time. About ten years ago, I had an excellent experience at The Big Tree. They had an experienced restaurateur running things and the menu, food quality, and service had vastly improved. Now, after three recent visits I can attest that while the menu is still enticing, the food is not quite as good as it once was and the service is consistently slow. Not just a little slow, but snail like. Also, they've gotten rid of my primary reason to visit The Big Tree and put up with the glacial service - brunch. Now, they only offer brunch on rare occasions. It is just so sad that this beautiful dining rooms are empty or filled with antsy, long-waiting customers. This place has so much potential and the community has so few restaurant choices, that is just a shame that they can't retain strong, experienced management to keep the staff moving and the food up-to-snuff. read more

I would not recommend this restaurant to ANYONE. I've been to this restaurant twice and both times I instantly regretted it. The first time me and a group of friends went and were treated horribly by the woman at the front desk. The food is unseasoned, bland, served cold, took two and a half hours to be served to us and wildly over price for what we received. In addition to that the staff at the front desk (an older woman not a student) was so unbelievably rude to our party we went so far as to file a complaint with management and were told that she was terminated because of how frequently it had been happening. I decided to give the place a second try after a year had gone by foolishly hoping that my experience would be better. They apparently replaced one rude employee with another and I was again greeted by one of the most disrespectful restaurant employees I have ever encountered. I have never been treated that way at any restaurant ever. I didn't bother to stay for dinner after the abrasive woman in the front turned her nose up at me telling me all about how they were a "fine dinning establishment". I made a yelp account specifically to complain about this place. Save your money, save your meal plan. You'd be better off somewhere else read more