The Lake House Restaurant and Lodge

Having had some great meals at The Lake House several years ago, decided to try it again. It was a special night too and it was totally ruined. What was once a beautiful wood burning fireplace is now a gas fireplace that shuts off for 5 minutes every five minutes, so annoying. When I made reservations, the gentleman that took it was quite short with me and I should have known then. Let’s move on to the wait staff. From their very limited wine list, I ordered the best they had. So the waitress comes back with it, opens it and slops ¼ of the bottle down the arm of my expensive new shirt and vest. All I got was a very weak «I’m sorry». The wine was not bad but the giant spill started the evening off on a very sour note. I figured, ok, the worst is behind us. Was I ever wrong. There were four of us. Two of us order the prime rib. Dry, stringy and tough. I had noticed someone at another table wrestling with his food, now I know why. I wondered if the chef had been confused and served tripe instead of prime rib. I sent it back, I refused to eat more than a taste of it. I tried cutting into different parts, it was unfit to eat. The baked potato, geeesh… While it had a nice glaze on it and was visually appealing, not cooked done, enough said, you have all had an underdone potato. Same sentiments from one of my guests too. Two of my guests somewhat enjoyed their dinner, one had salmon, the other strip steak. Maybe they were just being polite.
One of my guest’s wine glass was empty, the waitress came over and asked her if she wanted another glass. Guest said yes so the waitress goes and get another bottle and never consulted me. She should have asked the person that ordered the wine in the first place if they wanted another, not just gone off and fetched it. We didn’t need another whole bottle.
If it was the last restaurant on the planet I would not go back. I would rather starve. It pains me to write such a critical review but people need to know what other people have experienced.

Disappointing is the word to describe our first time here. My wife and I both ordered beef, fillet for my wife, steak au poivre for me. The fillet had a strange aftertaste to both of us. They did try to correct it by bringing out another but the second fillet also had an weird taste. The steak au poivre was really nothing close to what I’d consider it to be. No pepper crust just a brown gravy with crushed pepper on it. Both meals were served with a pile of lumpy mildly warm mashed potatoes. Not what I’d consider «fine dinning.» The best thing about the meal was the wine, soup, and bread. Skip the salad it was blah. The beef my wife ordered was taken off our bill which was good of them however overall it was not worth the drive from Utica.

Been here a couple times. My Dad lives in the area, and he really likes it. Food has been very good when I have been there. Staff has always been friendly and nice. Atmosphere is what I like to call Hill Billy Heaven. Not dirty, just hill billy. Believe me you will know what I mean if you go. It does have a nice view over the lake. Prices seem high, especially since they obviously do not put much into the building or property.

I really really wanted this to be a great review– but I also want to be honest, so it’s not possible. First, to be very clear, I believe that the problems at the Lakehouse are strictly management. Most of the food we had was good– so the chef is at least competent (probably better than that, but it was tough to get past the rest…) The server we had was nice, but seriously overworked. I had very high hopes for things to be better than when we were there about 2 years ago since I’d seen some articles about ownership change, plus it’s summer! Should be automatically perfect right?!
We decided to take a drive on a hot summer Tuesday (about 45 minutes from our home in Whitesboro) and it was a lovely drive to the lake. The setting is beautiful– nice view and beautiful breeze on the porch where we ended up sitting.
We called ahead, and made a 6:45 reservation, knowing we’d arrive early and have time for a drink before dinner. First thing we noticed was the very worn down not clean seeiming interior, ok– no change there… we were there more for the lake view anyway so we sat on the porch for a drink hoping to move inside for dinner, we were given a drink menu and a regular menu to get a «head start.» After awhile a woman who I believe was the owner, came asked if we’d decided on drinks, I asked for a wine list since there were wine types listed on the drink menu, but no brand names or other information (I later found out that was because the house wines are all boxed– glad I asked!) a little while later our actual server came over and took our order, she wasn’t sure if all the wines were in stock because of the busy weekend, so we selected 2 and she managed to find one. Unbelievably, the wine was bad… stong, astringent alcohol smell and taste– not drinkable. She told us she would get us something else, and the owner came over— since she didn’t know what to select for us, she offered to have the chef select a nice crisp dry chardonnay for us. he did, and it was delicious, I believe she may have also discounted the bottle which was nice, although she didn’t say that she did. We never moved inside, as we took a look and decided it was actually cooler and cleaner outside.
Service was extraordinarily slow– 2 servers for the whole restaurant, they probably needed 4 – 5, it was busy! Our server was a very nice young lady, who kept apologizing for everything, including her inability to take care of us since she was so swamped– I felt bad for her for sure. The young man that was working was running like crazy too, but spent more time than he should have telling people how frazzled he was. we were there for about 2 hours, which wouldn’t have been a huge issue, we weren’t in a hurry, but after an hour we were getting hungry!
Food was a mixed bag– bread that was brought to the table was very dry and stale (we ate about half because we were so hungry and drinking wine) We ordered steamed clams which came in a butter garlic sauce — very well done and delicious. I had shrimp linguine, olive oil and garlic sauce (I think maybe some white wine may have been in there as well) also delicious. My husband got the last of the prime rib — we know since someone came out onto the porch to yell to everyone that the prime rib was out (this was at least half an hour before our food arrived.) He did get it, but it was a nasty reddish color either from sitting under the heat lamp or being microwaved to heat. dry and mostly inedible — we told the server and she did take it off the bill, but he was hungry :(and by then we just wanted to get out of there.
When we got the bill, prices were all over the place– didn’t match what we expected, but they had removed the prime rib, and the wine was reduced. It was confusing, but I think it was just mistake after mistake and we certainly didn’t overpay.
Overall, I would say that it will be a very long time before I attempt to go back there, if ever. The owners need to make up their mind what they want the place to be– family restaurant, tavern, fine dining, bar with food? Then go for it– use the location, clean up – get a real manager and help your servers when they need it. They have a gold mine waiting to happen – if they put in the work– not an easy task, but so easy to see the potential.
One last note– don’t lose your chef!

Ok. SO we were starving and this was kind of our only option. I ignored the MANY one star ratings. It’s true, it’s kind of dumpy and cluttered. We stood in the empty restaurant for almost 10 minutes before I yelled «hello» into the kitchen. There were so many crumbs on my seat cushion I have up and just took it off the chair. The menu is way over priced. We both got burgers and fries. They were cooked perfectly.

Worst place EVER. No A/​C. Owner tried to rip us off selling mixed drinks with no alcohol. Food had hair in it (wife’s mashed potatoes). Daughter’s food undercooked. Place was empty but still no service whatsoever. Shrimp cocktail was warm thawed out frozen shrimp. All three of us got diarrhea the next day. How did Dept of Sanitation even approve these sleazes to serve humans?

Beware of this hotel!
If you book make sure that you have a guaranteed room in their main facility. If they move you to their satellite facility you will be surprised at what you get for your money.
It is nothing like the main facility advertised on their web site.
With their «satellite facility» you get:
Very small rooms
No Mattress pads
No waist basets
Smelly and unclean rooms
Bugs
Bathrooms were not stocked with clean towels
Owner is very rude
Get your guarantee for the main facility or you will be very disappointed with your stay at this hotel.
If you try to express your dissatisfaction with their deceptive advertising, they will not let you get out of your reservation and will charge you for the rest of your stay.

Well if you read Lynn’s comments same exact thing happened to me the place is an absolute dump. Went to an address advertised on website sent me to totally different place my shoes were sticking to the floor when I walked in, the bed sheets were soiled smelled like dirty cats absolute worrrrrrrst place and not like it’s cheap.
I too had planned a weekend away at Cooperstown and was looking for a place quiet just outside of town to stay please stay away from this place!!! It will ruin your whole Cooperstown experience!!!

BEWARE OF BAIT AND SWITCH WITH THIS DISHONEST BUSINESS!!!
I made the mistake of booking a weekend at this B & B for a wedding we were attending in Cooperstown NY. On the day we were leaving to drive up, Gene, the owner called to find out what time we were arriving and gave me a different address to go to check in. When I questioned the difference he told me that this address which is listed is their ‘corporate address’ not the property address.
Well seven hours later we pulled up to a place that looked NOTHING like the pictures-​I went to check in and was told by the staff that this happens ‘all the time’, this is their annex! I called Gene, who claimed that the place we had reserved, six months earlier, was booked and I was welcome not to stay the second night.
The ‘annex’ was disgusting!!! It was FILTHY, the rooms had bugs in the light fixture, the towels were dirty, and we checked out first thing in the morning. Gene put through the charge for the second night, which I disputed on my credit card. In addition, he had taken the money for the first night back in January although the
site stated we should pay when we arrive. When I told Gene on the phone he had our money since January and should have saved the room, he again lied and stated That
had the money since January NOT him, although my charge statement clearly stated The Lake House!
STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE

Ok from the outside the place looks nice. Once you get in the mood changes. Very old inside, a bit musty. It took a bit for someone to seat us. The food was ok, but for the price and menu selection it should have been much better.

At 1:30 pm The Lakehouse Restaurant greeted the five of us with a charming exterior that disappeared after we crossed over enclosed front porch.
The entry was cluttered with boxes, folding tables, office equipment, paperwork, and a dog and did not feel like a main entry but more like a back room; however there was a lot of potential for the space to look charming.
Standing in the staff-​less space for many minutes we had to finally call the restaurant from a cell phone to let them know we were inside the building. Then more minutes went by before someone came to meet us.
We asked for a table by a window to see the lake and were shown to a tired patronless dining room and told we could sit anywhere. We chose the only table near to a window that could seat us all located in a corner that overlooked a tent covered deck cluttered with patio furniture.
Many more minutes passed before waitstaff arrived with menus and to take our drink order. We ordered three sandwiches, a salad, and a few sides. We had run out of conversation before the food arrived.
The sandwiches were tasty and warm but not hot, the entrée salad had so few lettuce leaves that you could count them, and there was breading on the sweet potato fried that was not mentioned in the menu. Waitstaff did not visit us again until the end of meal, and only then to bring the check, which they waited for while clearing the table.
Summary: the food was just ok but could be better with some tweaking but the atmosphere and service was very disappointing. I would not recommend it.

After receiving a recommendation to try this restaurant, we were surprised that it took over an hour to be served four mediocre sandwiches. The view is beautiful, but the service and quality are lacking.
Although my family lives very near this restaurant, we will not be returning.