Richardson’s Canal House

Everything was good except the rubber steak my son had, I tried a piece and quit chewing after 2minutes. Manager didn’t come out to apologize nor did they take it off the bill.

Nothing short of spectacular– fresh and delicious — well prepared food, fantastic service, quaint and lovely dining room on the canal. Cannot wait to come back!

We went during the Austrian menu week and had a great meal. The food is fresh and well prepared. The wait staff was attentive and friendly. Overall a great place in the Pittsford area for a nice dinner.

We all loved our family gathering and dinner at Richardson’s. All of us were from out of town and together in Pittsford for a family event. The excellent food, attentive service and cozy space made for the perfect evening. Thank you to all for helping to make this a wonderfully memorable event for our family.
Sharon

We dined at Richardson’s last night for the first time and I must say not only did it live up to our expectations but went way way beyond! Everything was first class; the atmosphere, the food, and the service; from the hostess, the bartender, our waitress and servers! I LOVED my swordfish entrée and spectacular dessert; fig and apricot sorbet! Can’t wait for the patio to open!

Stopped in here on my way back from Rochester for a quick lunch and was not at all impressed with the selection or quality of the food. I ended up getting the Kobe Burger and it was overcooked and didn’t even taste all that fresh. Rather disappointing but I should have been tipped off as the average guest age was probably just shy of 80, never a good sign.

Always an excellent meal. Love the outside canal side space, the cozy pub room or the more elegant (although a bit dated!) dining rooms. The service is always great. They have both a casual/​light menu and a full dining menu.

Really disappointed! Ordered the goulash from the Ocktober fest menu and evidently I got the bottom of the pan version: 3 chunks of meat and the rest was the beef remnants that accumulate on the bottom after the slow cooking process… ok for a diner but not here. More disturbing was the absolute poor service by the server. We were 2 of three people in the restaurant and had to ask for bread twice and finally went to the bar myself to get a beverage refill. The server did apologize twice, «sorry about that» but the service did not improve. I will return as this is not customary for this restaurant… perhaps it was due to the fact it was a Monday night.

After living in the area a long time, we finally decided to try Richardson’s.
The atmosphere was great, and there are multiple dining areas throughout the restaurant. The host that greeted us was extremely friendly.
We had a drink at the bar before dinner. Despite only being four people at the bar, we had to wait several minutes before being waited on. The bartender was cleaning glasses and wiping down the bar while we sat there starring at him. He was not friendly, and seemed annoyed we disrupted him. We had one drink and went to our table. By contrast, we went to the Erie Grill after and the bartender was fantastic.
The waitress was nice, but really had no personality. My wife and I, in our mid-40’s, were the youngest people there by far. She may be used to dealing with older folks (no idea).
I was looking forward to scallops only to be told they were out. The food was extremely ordinary. We eat out a lot and do not mind dropping $ 120 on dinner for two if the food is good.
However, the food was very blah. My wife’s fillet was cooked perfect, but had no flavor. My dinner looked microwaved.
For the money, there are many other Restaurants in the area with better food and more lively staff.

Our second time there in five days. When the weather is nice being on the patio is the place to be. Our table of six had a delightful experience. There was something for everyone. I personally had the catch of the day. The snapper was expertly prepared and made an attractive presentation. The server was experienced and very patient. We had a great summer time dining evening.

We liked the outdoor patio, and views. This is a good place to go if you’re looking for a nice patio dining restaurant. The food is OK but nothing spectacular. I had a steak and baked potato. It was cooked properly, and served with marrow butter. Which I guess you’re supposed to also use for the potato because they serve it plain. My husband got the lamb chops with rice. The rice is your basic plain white rice… The kind you get with Chinese takeout. We were thinking it would be a pilaf, or even jasmine rice… Something other than bland white rice for a meal that cost over $ 100. The food was ok but not worth returning for. If we go back it’ll be for drinks on the canal.

Stopped down to have a drink with my friends and ended up staying for food. We sat outside and their outdoor dining area is one of the best in the city, perfect for a nice night. We had a seafood tower and appetizers along with some great wine, the wine list here is extensive but fairly priced. The food was delicious, the staff was attentive and friendly, and the atmosphere was perfect for a summer night… Highly recommend!

Enjoyable night on the outdoor patio. Dinner was superb and accommodated the need for gluten free options. Service was great, relaxed, not rushed.
One of the best summertime spots in Rochester for the quality of food, ambience and scenery.

Have been twice for business dinners in the last month. Dined outside both times. Very beautiful and comfortable. Service is good but not over-​the –too. Had the RICHARDSONS salad and didn’t like it at all. Too bitter. Next time had the baby spinach salad … Much better. A colleague ordered the Fried Green Tomatoes and as a southern girl I was glad not to have ventured there — they looked big and undercooked and underseasoned. Granted, I didn’t taste — but they were visually unappealing. Tenderloin was very tender and delicious. Second trip had the striped bass special and it was way overcooked. Sides were boring and bland. My conclusion– the food is mediocre but there are many restaurants locally where you can get excellent food. Not a bad choice to go here, but I won’t be recommending it.

The Pro’s: They have a beautiful patio for eating outdoors on a nice day. The margaritas are really good. They serve warm bread (This is always a plus for me). The food is decent.
The cons: We waited 40 minutes for our food. Our server was nice but after he took our order he never came over to our table to apologize for the wait or offer more bread, drinks, etc. The weather was warm, he looked busy with a good amount of tables, and we weren’t crazy hungry, so we didn’t wave him down to find out what was taking so long. However, I still found it odd that he never came to check on us or tell us what was up with the wait time. When we did finally get our food the steaks were overcooked and barely warm. They tasted fine but they would have been better if they were hot and cooked how we ordered them. The server did come to check on us once we had our food and when we told him about the issue he apologized and offered us a free dessert. That made us feel better about this place overall.
We will go back on another day to see if this was just a fluke due to being understaffed on a Monday.

A classy and oddly casual quiet experience. Our waiter was amazing and very attentive.
Show up early and take a gander of the painting found in the front entrance. They should make an «I Spy» game for it… an adult one of course. *this review does not contain spoilers* d (*.*)b
The clientele on my Saturday night visit was on the mature side. Some patrons were dressed borderline cougar chic. But none of this deterred me from having an amazing meal. The bread and butter was served warm just the way it should be. I was a fan of the super food slices with sun flower seeds.
My friends ordered the baked chicken, and naturally, I had to steal a few bites… and stole some mashed taters in the process. Both were amazing. Whatever brine they used must have come down from heaven itself. The meat was very succulent and tender. Probably the best chicken I’ve ever had in a restaurant. It tempts me to break out of my «no chicken when I eat out» rule. The mashed potatoes had your run of the mill herbs and preparation. But the balance was unmatched and it was whipped to perfection.
For myself, I decided to go with the side of oysters on the half shell, served with champagne mignonette (THE BEST EVER). I was too busy chatting it up with my friends to ask where the oysters were from. And now I am sad because they were delectable. They did a thorough job cleaning them. There was absolutely zero dirt found in them. The juice and meat were very sweet as well. I wish I was’t so full from a previous shindig. My mouth was jonesing for a second order!
Next time, I am bringing my appetite!

An Extraordinary Restaurant!
Hmmm, where to start. First of, the restaurant is located right next to the Erie Canal. Entering the restaurant, it was a cozy, warm atmosphere with the upmost professional Hostess and Waitress. It was October so we went with the Butternut Squash Bisque which was creamy and nicely seasoned, and the Chilled Shrimp which were these massive prawns that were accompanied with seaweed salad and cocktail sauce. For mains, we ordered the Honey Hill Farm Chicken and Block Island Swordfish. The chicken was moist and presentation was picture perfect. The swordfish was beautifully presented as well, but it hurts me to say it did smell fishy. As in I could smell it 10 feet before getting to my table. We then ended the meal with dessert which we got the Pumpkin Cheesecake. I LOVE how it was crustless and placed on a gingersnap cookie accompanied with cinnamon whip crème. I find that unique and innovative.
Overall, it’s a pricey, up-​scale restaurant but the atmosphere and beautifully presented food makes it worth it. Definitely would return on special occasions.
Cheers!

Came here for lunch on a cold, rainy day but Richardson’s managed to warm us up! Old fashioned but endearing décor matched with comfort food and nice people make it work. I had the fall squash wrap-​interesting but delicious too! Just be careful, some of the nuts were really hard, almost hurt a tooth. Co-​workers all had salads, the fall harvest salad looked delicious.
Definitely will be back on warmer days to check out the patio!

We ate here on a beautiful Wednesday evening in July. We had heard from someone that it was a bit old and stuffy, but we tried it anyway and were so happy that we did.
It was hopping, and we had to wait about ½ hour for a table, (without a reservation) so we ordered wine and sat overlooking the Erie Canal watching crew teams train, and paddle and tour boats float on by. The grounds are so pretty that we didn’t mind the wait. It got chilly by the time we were seated, and there wasn’t room near one of the patio heaters, so we opted to eat inside.
The meal was spectacular. Every course was a treat. The server was very knowledgeable about the property’s history, (it was a brothel during the construction of the Erie Canal!) and we took a tour of the place after we ate. What a wonderful evening! It’s a great destination to celebrate something special, and we’ll be back!

I absolutely loved this place! The seating inside the restaurant felt like I had stepped back in time to an era far gone. The homestead style house, was cozy yet comfortable. The room we sat in was only big enough for 4 tables which kept the ambient noise down to a dull conversation at the table next to us (poor them).
But let’s move forward to the most important part, the food. We began the dinner with a round of fresh baked bread complimented by heavily salted butter. It was bread, good bread, but still bread.
For our appetizers, we chose the black pepper fries with blueberry ketchup (this is a MUST TRY) and a lobster salad, both were equally exquisite, however if you only try one, make it the fries.
For the main course, it had to be the cut of the day, which just happened to be a 20oz boneless ribeye. The fabulous cut of meat was ordered, and properly prepared to medium-​rare, accompanying this glorious hunk of beef was a baked potato, and steamed vegetables, both were excellent, however my eyes were firmly planted upon the meat goal before me, ultimately a goal I failed to obtain (I blame the fries)
For desert I ordered myself a crème brûlée to go, I know, I know, crème brûlée to go is rather odd, but seeing that I had to leave some of my unmet goal on the plate, this crème brûlée most certainly was not entering me at this time.
Several hours later, I did enjoy it quite well, as well as 3 hour old, in a plastic container crème brûlée could be enjoyed.
As you can see, it’s not simply me that recommends this restaurant, it’s the quality of the dining experience that demands your visit.