The ambience of the service is 10 out of 10 But unfortunately, the food didn't taste good and also was definitely not fresh If I ever visit again, I would just get a drink read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - Outside view - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

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Where Racism Still Gets a Table Before You Do I want to preface this review by saying that Schooner's has always been a summer staple in my life--even after I moved away more than a decade ago. I've celebrated countless birthdays here, marked life-changing milestones, and shared laughter with my white friends and family. My connection to this place runs deep. My family has also had a longstanding relationship with Shumway Marine, storing our boat there over the winter months for decades. Schooner's was always a place filled with positive memories--until now. During a recent visit with a Black companion, I experienced something that left me shocked, deeply uncomfortable, and frankly, heartbroken. We were visiting from North Carolina and decided to stop in for lunch. When we approached the host stand, the hostesses told us they needed to "check" on table availability. When they returned, they were unexpectedly accompanied by a large, bald white man who appeared to be a bouncer. Without any greeting or explanation, the man immediately asked for our IDs. This was not only inappropriate--it was alarming. We were entering a restaurant, not a nightclub or private club. It quickly became apparent that the staff was looking for any excuse to deny us entry. The man examined our IDs with excessive scrutiny, then began asking a series of pointed, interrogative questions about our visit. The tone was invasive, the questioning uncomfortable, and the message unmistakable: we were being targeted. We were being discriminated against--blatantly and unapologetically--before we could even be seated. Despite the discomfort and shock, we remained composed and chose to stay. As we waited several more minutes to be seated, we watched as the hostesses whispered among themselves and proceeded to seat multiple white parties who had arrived after us--while we continued to stand by, ignored. Eventually, we were shown to a table, joined by two additional guests, and waited patiently for service. Over 30 minutes passed without a single acknowledgment from any server. Staff walked past our table repeatedly--some making direct eye contact, others outright glaring--but no one stopped. Meanwhile, the white patrons around us received friendly, prompt service. When we asked a passing waitress where we could order drinks, she told us she'd be right back to take our order. She never returned. After 45 minutes of being ignored, humiliated, and made to feel wholly unwelcome, we left. The contrast between this visit and every prior experience I've had--with white companions--was undeniable. This wasn't inattentiveness. This was not a misunderstanding. This was a deliberate, targeted pattern of racial discrimination and exclusion. The entire experience left us feeling dehumanized and disrespected. I am not writing this review out of anger, but out of a responsibility to speak honestly. If you value fairness, dignity, and equality, I urge you to reconsider supporting this establishment. What happened to us was unacceptable--and I will never return. read more

We checked into the marina for two nights stay. Hooray they have a restaurant. And it's open. Considering that we're at the end of the season there's been a lot of marinas that don't have restaurants so we felt lucky. The service was good and the food was good. The ambience was to die for as you're sitting on the water. I had an Italian Sausage dinner and Peggy had the nachos. I finished mine Peggy took part of her home. Both being good signs since I finished mine and she wanted to save it. I wonder if she'll share it tomorrow I'll have to be on my best behavior. Normally this is where I tell you to stop in and check it out but they're gonna be closed for this season so you'll have to do it in the spring Have a good winter. From the old guy read more

My visit to Schooners was terrible. The fish fry I received was over cooked so bad that it was dry and the breading could not be cut by the plastic knife. I complained about it but that went on deaf ears. read more

Great location...if only the river was not brown . Had the tempura shrimp and lobster roll and both were good and reasonably priced. Waitress could have been a little more attentive, had to ask for water refill. read more

Got here on Memorial Day at 3 and got a table despite the fact you have to make a reservation at the hostess stand. We waited at the bar for 10 min and when I went back to the hostess, she sat us by the musician immediately seeing that there were open tables. It was kinda frustrating watching people walk in and get a table. We got our table, which was perfect and ordered quickly. We were told our food would take an hour!! Glad we were hungry. It actually took 30 min I ordered 2 dozen clams, shrimp and lobster cakes. Food was pretty good, also had the traditional rum buckets. Yum yum and good music. Spent $100 for all, but was worth it and fun. read more

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Ahhhhh Schooners! i'm currently sitting at home thinking about it so i decided i would write a review. First off this is my favorite place to be! i absolutely love spending my summers at this establishment! From the views to the food to all of the beautiful lady's working. Last summer they introduced new items to the menu and they absolutely killed it! One of my favorites are the steamed clams! Anyways only a couple more months until they open, see you soon schooners! read more

Happy to give a great review to Schooners Riverside pub for lunch yesterday. The food was terrific. We ordered the arugula salad with chicken, avocado salad with shrimp, lobster cakes, and buffalo chicken wrap. Everyone loved their food, and it came out quickly. The service was friendly and the waitress checked back on us often. Great atmosphere - was perfect on a sunny day on the deck and the restaurant was clean and well maintained. Felt like being on vacation - love that! Sorry to see that other folks had difficulty in prior reviews - my experience was the exact opposite! We will definitely go back. read more

Great service and food today. The fried fish is awesome. Drinks were delicious. Felt safe and comfortable during covid. Beautiful day! read more

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Love it here. Great service and such a fun vibe. Live music 6 days a week. Food was great and service was fantastic. I never feel rushed here. read more

Set up for covid social distancing. Masks required when walking through restaurant. Seated, you can take the mask off and feel a little normal. Servers wear masks all the time. Location is great right one the water and was able to bask in the sun and breeze and drink a few weak drinks. Most important for me was to be able to sit outside on a nice day and feel somewhat normal... as if I hadn't been locked away in my house for 5 months. I would go back for the location and drinks, regular live music, but not the food. read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - View from the lower deck directly on the water. - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

Living in the Rochester area, I know you don't go to Schooners for the food but, rather, the atmosphere. A table by the water was great. Drinks were good. The food, however, was terrible. I ordered the lobster roll on lettuce instead of the bun (I am gluten free). I told the server I was GF. The lobster roll is listed on the menu as "tender chunks of lobster salad in a light dressing..." What came out was imitation crab (see picture). Strings of imitation crab. (And for those non-GF people, imitation crab usually contains wheat making it not GF). If they ran out of lobster, they should take it off the menu and not try to pass off imitation crab as lobster. Very disappointing and would not come back for food. read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - Lobster roll on lettuce (except there was no lobster in this...it was strings of imitation crab, and gross!) - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

Great place to be on the water and enjoy Rochester. We went to drink and they had a good variety of cocktail options to please our entire party. Our waitress, Nicole was fantastic. The view cannnot be beaten. Live music was also refreshing too. Overall, a very casual place to enjoy some drinks and bar food, right on the water. read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - a drink in a plastic cup on a table - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

Great food, great service, great view! The staff was pleasant and on top of what they were doing. Highly recommend.

I can't help it- I love this place. The food is very good. I always get the steamed clams and the in house smoked wings, they are delicious! I don't even get a sauce on them as they are perfect as they are. There are a ton of drink choices and we always have a great time. The live music is the best- it does get super loud at night but it's a bar so makes sense. Almost everyone there is friendly as well. I just look forward to coming here every summer. I would love to see a more gluten free / friendly menu but I say that about everywhere! read more

Took a minute to find it. The food was good. The staff were friendly. The funnel fries are a must. It is a quiet place to eat outside read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - a boat in the water - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

Great atmosphere right on the water - Feels like vacation. Very friendly service, good live music. Ordered elote corn salad, lobster cakes, and Buffalo chicken wrap. All were tasty & came out quickly. We will be back! read more

My husband and I were part of a birthday party table of 14 last night for dinner and drinks. Our table was completely ignored by servers. We had to go to the bar to order our drinks. I asked for a server to come to our table three times so we could order food and no one ever showed up. My husband and I ended up leaving and went elsewhere to eat. The band music was so loud we couldn't hear to talk to anyone. We noticed servers were completely ignoring tables and were hanging out by the bar and talking to each other. People at other tables started leaving as well for being ignored. Tables weren't cleaned off after other parties left. The bartenders were rude due to being overloaded from individual people ordering drinks instead of the servers. It was a hot mess. I don't know how this place stays open. Where was the management? read more

Decent bar and grill on the water. We stopped in for an early lunch and got what we expected. Inlet views, good food, and good service. I would say that none of the above were great but all were good. We expected pub style food and that's what we got. I had the fish and chips and my wife had the fish tacos. Both meals were good. Fish was well done which I really liked. Fries are well seasoned and tasty. My wife's fish tacos were good as well. Service was good too, but I like it when a server is checking frequently and ours was rarely checking in. All in all it was a good lunch, but I would probably try another place in Rochester before I come back here. read more

5 stars ALL THE WAY, Staff is super friendly and attentive. I had a rocking time with the live bands and the drinks. If you haven't been here I highly recommend it, if you're not at schooners this summer then where are you! I will be there everyday this summer. Come and see me I'm single and I'm 52 years old looking for a smoking hot wife! read more

The wings are super good, and the atmosphere is super chill and lovely. Not the best service so don't go when you are in a hurry... very good about masks in the DINING room. Maybe include dietary restrictions on the menu... that would be nice. I will be back regardless of all of this... as long as it improves! read more

First time here. Friendly waitstaff for sure. It's the food I'm not a fan. I love lobster roll but it's fake lobster. Wine slushie is tasty but it's wine ice crush with fruity flavors. Would reconsider what I'd order next time! read more

I had a great night at schooners, I was tended by Eric and he is an awesome bartender. Great service all night!

I stopped for a casual lunch. A nice young server came over right away, and I then waited 30 minutes for one sandwich while tables of multiple people who came in after me got their orders. My order arrived, cold and late. They did take it off the bill, leaving me to pay $3.25 (!) for a small plastic cup of coke. First and last time there. read more

We stopped on Thursday afternoon my wife and daughter with her husband and a three-year-old and a 2-mth-old. We live in Niagara Falls NY and we are staying in a beautiful house rental on Cranberry pond. after visiting the Beach we looked for a place to Eat and have a beer. I am so glad we ended up at this place, it is great and has the perfect atmosphere we where looking for. Food was excellent my daughter raved about the Lobster roll. Incredible lunch and will definitely bragg about or visit read more

I had extremely low expectations walking in here given the bad reviews on here. It honestly wasn't bad at all. The novelty is the fact that it's on the water. The food wasn't anything special, but I thought it was pretty good given the expectations and nothing I would complain about. The frozen drinks were good and honestly pretty strong for the price you're paying. I'd go back read more

I'm so sorry to say that Schooners dropped the ball today. We ordered two salads: coconut shrimp and lobster stuffed avocado salad. The brussel sprouts in my salad were ALL moldy. The greens on the lobster salad were yellow and wilted. We have been regulars for lunch every summer but not anymore! Where is the accountability of the food coming out of the kitchen?! read more

Based on previous reviews, I kept my expectations very very low, and was therefore pleasantly surprised! For a busy weekend we were seated promptly and server introduced herself quickly- good start. Wings were actually good- like I would order again good. tender and meaty with good crispy outside. Our friends got the fried green beans which they love, but not my style. Hubs got the lobster roll which I would have been disappointed with but he said was decent (overly processed lobster meat-more like salad- on hamburger bun). I liked my boss wrap- subbed grilled chicken for tenders, ham and provolone with saucy lettuce- good! Friends got the poutine fries which as poutine pros they approved of (but $5 extra I did not think worth it). Overall solid outdoor dining experience! Albeit plastic everything (chairs, cups, utensils). read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - Boss wrap - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

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I came here to visit friends in town who we're staying with family on the lake. This was walking distance for them so we gave it a whirl. It was a perfect summer night -- light breeze, warm air, and the sunset on the water -- I can't complain. The view is nice and it's right on the water by the docks -- sailboats everywhere. And now I'm infinitely more envious of all these people on the water. Schooners is pretty much an open space outdoors with seating on the upper and lower decks -- mostly plastic tables and chairs. We ordered Coronas -- it seemed like the right idea on a warm summer night. Also I didn't see anything else that piqued my interest. They ~$4 each. Our server was really sweet and her timing was impeccable as she appeared right when one if us needed a drink. I did like that on a Sunday night we were able to hang late -- till about 11pm. Although the crowd, while light, was a little rambunctious. Girls cat fighting and bros hitting on them all while we sat calmly reminiscing about high school. Thanks to the other reviews, I planned accordingly and ate beforehand. Wasn't willing to risk my money for potentially bad food. So no comments there. I'd stick to this place for a few drinks on the water if it's a convenient stop for you. read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - Sunset at Schooners - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

This place is under rated - here's why: Two stars average rating is not correct for Schooner's, a seasonal water front restaurant on the Geneses River across from Charlotte, open roughly Memorial Day through Labor Day. I would give a 2 star rating to a dive bar but not here. Yes, the food is reasonably basic. Occasionally inconsistent. The staff is young, and service at season start may be "new". There are no white tablecloths here. Dont come here for filet mignon and baked potato. But the atmosphere is relaxed, casual, and fun. The entire place feels like its outdoors - celebrate the season and outdoor feel. The food choices are varied enough that you should find something to eat. Come enjoy a band, never a cover charge, from party rock to Jimmy Buffet acoustic. Best outdoor boater restaurant/bar feel in Rochester. I think many people dont know about this casual hidden gem because of its location, almost across the river from Pelicans Nest. The docks are excellent for arriving by boat. The secret to docking like a pro here is to play the river, which has a slight current south to north. Leave room and let the current gently push you to the south side of a dock. read more

Schooners Riverside Pub - The Harbor Town Belle paddlewheeler, built on the Genesee, passes Schooners. - Pubs Near Me - Rochester, New York

Took three friends there on a Tuesday evening. It wasn't crowded even though it was a beautiful night. Everywhere else we tried was packed but not here which should have been my first clue. We ordered califlower buffalo bites which were marble sized deep fried glops of dough. Horrible. My fish were supposed to be a fish wrap and the fish was obviously frozen and only had lettuce on the soft taco with bland tasting cod. The mayo dip had no spice or zip although the waitress said it was spicy. My boyfriend's onion rings were the only saving grace but they cost $10 for 8 rings! The fries were good but his $17 burger with cheese and ground bacon had no flavor and tasted like a 7/11 microwave frozen cheap burger!!! What a rip off and the worst meal I've ever paid $100 bucks for. Never going back for food. Maybe a drink bc of the view... read more

Schooners is a place you go to for drinks and scenery on a warm summer day. It's not necessarily a place you go when you want knock your sock off, amazing food. Remember this. With that being said, I have had a few decent experiences here. The 2-tiered deck with the outdoor bar and seating area has tons of tables to eat at. The chairs at the tables are plastic deck chairs and this should be kept in mind because they are not the most comfortable chairs to sit on. There was live music tonight (Tuesday) and it was ok. We sat on the lower deck so that we could talk and look at the water. Tonight my friends and I had sandwiches, burgers, etc. Their menu is a pub type menu with appetizers, salads and sandwiches. I always ask the server for advice on what to order. I had it narrowed down to 3 choices and my server suggested the Turkey Reuben because she gets it a lot-they know! It was delish. The rye, caraway seeded bread was toasted and yummy and the sandwich fillings were as well. I was delighted with what I ordered and my friends enjoyed theirs too. read more

Love the atmosphere and the food was great. Our server was very attentive and in a great mood.

This evening I was refused entry to Schooners Riverside Pub because I am a 100% service connected disabled veteran with a service dog. I was told by the security there was a strict "no pets" policy put in place by the owners, (which does not apply to a Federally protected service animal under the Americans with Disabilities act). We asked to speak to the owner, at which point another gentleman who I assume was the manager repeated the claims and rather rudely told us to get off the ramp leading into the establishment. We were looking forward to listening to some of the only live music available post covid in Rochester, and had high hopes in listening to the "Honey and Vinegar" show scheduled for May 21, 2021. Now we know not only do they not adhere to the federal Americans with Disability Act, but we are seriously in doubt if any veteran would recieve the service the deserve. 1 star only because we cannot give negative ones. By the way Shumway.... it has been reported to the ADA as discrimination to a disabled person. read more

Always fun, always friendly service. Great music spread and always look forward to opening day like Christmas!

If you're going down to the water to eat, I would say here is my first choice on the river. But the past few times you've let me down. Brought my GF and she asked for broiled fish on the fish tacos. The waitress. Very nice, goes "sorry we only carry frozen fish Sticks" and I guess I get it, they are only open a few months but would it hurt ya to bring in some fresh seafood for the few Months your open. Honestly service always great. But food is just going downhill. read more

Schooners has a really fun, casual vibe. We noticed from across the river that the bar seats were already full at about 11:00 in the morning on a Sunday. The mood is raucous and you can watch people gassing up their boats, and motoring in and out of the marina. The food--is abysmal. My son's jaw dropped as he saw what passed for nachos being placed in front of my mother. It seemed as though they had poured some Velveeta or some other permanently melted cheese product over a pile of chips, and then covered that with some shredded cheese to make it appear as though real cheese were over the whole mass. The shredded cheese wasn't even melted. Bizarre. My mother, being 83 years old, ate it anyway, but I dare say that it wouldn't satisfy most palates. My own Mediterranean salad had a completely flavorless tahini sauce/dressing, which seemed to be just yogurt or sour cream, and in the midst of it was a completely rotten piece of lettuce which no longer even resembled lettuce in shape. It was like a slimy dark green blob. The chicken atop the salad was cold, and when I had asked if I could have just the salad without meat, I was told that it would still be the full price ($11.99). To recap, the 2-star rating is for ambience. View. People-watching. Eat somewhere else first. read more

don't even know where to start i'm here from out of town and my friends reccomended the smoked wings. all i can say is they tasted like dust mites and butt flakes. never eating here againnnnnnnnn! read more

Our friend went there and told us about it. I suggested to my love one we could go there for our third year anniversary. That place is awesome, great vibe. We sat on the end row of the deck by the water. We had lot of visits from the brown ducks and one fat huge fish by our table. I ordered monkey's lunch drink along with my lady friend, she ordered lava flow. They were definitely delicious!! I'd rather lava flow. They made monkeys lunch taste too rum-y. We ordered quesadillas for the started, we got full after that but still made a order for the dinner. We got bilge plates! We were already full and ate only 1/3 plates and bought home for the leftover! It wS perfect weather with the hot sunny would like to go back there eventually and has my suggests for anyone to check it out for themselves. I opposite the negative reviews others put down the comments and wanted to see for myself. Glad we made that choice! read more

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The cutest place in Rochester. Was in town for work and found it and I'm so happy I did. Great food and friendly bartenders. They took care of me well. Great lobster roll. read more