Schooners Riverside Pub

I used to love coming to Schooners until our last experience. My family was in visiting from CT and my in-​laws and I decided to take them to Schooners on the boat. We were able to get a dock no problem and then went up to put our name in. They gave us a 30 minute wait estimate. After 60 minutes we called up and asked what our status was. They pretended they didn’t have our name on the list but said they would seat as shortly. Another 45 minutes went by and we called again. They still said they would have nothing for another hour. We ended up giving up and leaving after 8 o’clock at night as our party was tired and frustrated. They were not apologetic nor were they willing to do anything to rectify the situation. AWFUL customer service. Used to love this place for decent cheap summer food and drinks but we probably won’t go back there after this terrible experience. It is a shame because this can be a fun place if they could get there service right. Wait staff has been fine when we have been seated before but it seems it is the management that is lacking organization.

Service took forever and had to physically walk up and ask the hostess to send waitress. Come on already!!! Food was basic fare for price. The steamed clams were decent. Frozen Drinks were overpriced and sub par. Overall the place would get a B– the biggest upside to the dining experience was the IT guy who is a solo jammer on the weekends. The Guy played good song choices and had a good voice.

What potential! Great view, and it’s wonderful being right on the river, but the food is iffy at best. And the management is not particularly interested in hearing about problems. I will probably go back for the environment and a beer, but not the food.

Michelin dining it is not. Laid back summer pub fare with local bands, above average scenery, and a carefree vibe, it is.

I have eaten here several times and I have no complaints. The most memorable dish I ordered was the pulled pork with a strawberry daiquiri. The food was delicious although I wasn’t carded for my drink or even asked how old I was. I was 21 but that seems like it should still be asked. The music is a little old for my taste but being right on the water makes it pleasant. The young waitresses don’t seem to take their job seriously but they weren’t rude or anything. Can’t wait to go back this summer.

My wife and I stopped here for the first time this past summer. The beer was good. The food was not. The burgers were over cooked and the fries did not taste good. You do have a nice view of the Genesee River. I would never go back there and eat again.

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.

The Genny Light is phenomenal at Schooners! Especially in a can! Live music on the deck!

I wish I never ate here because I am completely scarred by the experience. I wasn’t expecting anything fancy but what I got was more like garbage than typical bar food.
First off, the staff was not friendly at all. The young hostesses/​servers couldn’t be bothered when I asked if we can get a server for our group of four sitting at a table or do we have to order at the kitchen. I was told «oh, just order at the bar.» …This is jumping ahead a little but an hour later when we were done with our food a server happily waited on the table sitting next to us of guys.
DO NOT order the Spindipper dip appetizer. The menu made it sound like it was homemade when in fact it was just gross, frozen spinach dip that is sold in stores for 99 cents. It has more chemicals in it than actual food. And the tortilla chips that came with it were stale. Very stale.
I ordered the buffalo chicken wrap. The whole thing was soggy! But not because of too much hot sauce, it literally had a ton of water and practically no sauce. The worst part was that the CHICKEN WAS COLD. This chicken was precooked, refrigerated, and then MICROWAVED before making the wrap. But they couldn’t even microwave it right. The center was frigid! I was completely disgusted… both at the poor quality of their food and at wasting $ 8.50 on something I did not eat.
Also, two of my friends ordered the special focaccia melt that night. It was suppose to be the same thing but one came with lettuce and tomato on it and the other did not. So which one was right? We will never know… and never return to find out.

I have to somewhat be in agreement with the few prior reviews here. The location is great getting to sit out on the deck over looking river at night was great. But the limited beer selection and can not bottle really cheapens the impression. The food was standard fair and really the Cuban sandwich I had was not all that great and not too similar to others I have had elsewhere in regards to quality though I did get the privilege of up pricing my order by adding fries something most other restaurants consider a standard side. Overall pretty sure this is a location I will be not returning to anytime soon.

If you are looking for a great place to eat on the water… keep looking. I have eaten at Schooners many times and have cocktails there on a regular basis. If you are looking for fried, bland, bar food this is the place. I can say that I love the salt potatoes, but not much else. From burgers to wraps to taco salad it is all pretty standard. No extras, nothing to write home about. I guess if you get sloshed while there at the bar and decide you need something to eat, it may sway your opinion.
Schooners regularly has rotating liquors that are featured for $ 3 (most of the bartenders can make up some refreshing concoctions), in addition to a full bar with a multitude of flavored vodkas, and a very limited selection of beer on tap. The regular priced cocktails and beers can get pricey for the small plastic cup portion sizes at $ 4 – 7.
There is live music just about every night in the summer, which is a big draw to the bar. Bands range from country to acoustic to folk to top 40 to rock… a good mix for all ages.
The wait staff has some things to learn, as mentioned in other reviews. I visit Schooners at least bi-​weekly and rarely have good service. Our waitress last week took so long just to bring us drinks at a table that we were afraid she would forget to bring out our appetizer.
The moral of the review is: don’t bring out of town visitors here, don’t come for dinner (McDonald’s is cheaper and faster), and stick to just having drinks on a night when a band is playing.

This past Saturday evening while trying to show off one of rochesters gems. I was totally ashamed of the hospitality of a now tarnished gem on the river.
The hostess staff was terrible and no help from management recent visit with four out of town guests. We were told it would be a 45 minutes wait. I stood in front of hospitality desk for the entire time. The brainless staff gave «our table» away twice by sitting people who came after us. I explained this both times and was told it would only be 5 more minutes. Stay away from here until thr get staff that are capable of reading a seating chart and working with the public. Managemeny never helped. We need a restaurant that cares about their customers. Maybe a new establishment or new management. Stay away

Its ok, nice place to go and sit outside and have a drink but nothing to write home about. Nice if your a boater cause you can dock your boat and come in.

Oh dear Schooners, you’ve really managed to upset quite a couple of people on here!
Not a great choice if you’re going for waterfront drinking and dining, Schooners is kind of a dive but has a seating area on the water that is available even if you don’t want to order food or have table service. You can grab your drink at the bar and head down to the dock. For me, this is pretty much the best part about it. It’s a mystery to me how the place gets so packed in the summer and why the wait for a table takes on ridiculous proportions. I’ve never had bad service there, but I have had bad food. Cold fries and dried hamburger rolls. I had low expectations going in, but it was still disappointing.
If you’re in a bind and want a waterfront beer, Schooners will suffice!

after being told that our party would have a 20 minute wait, you can imagine our frustration when after an hour we were not seated and tables were being filled with people behind us. I asked how long the wait was and was told «i dont know» When a table finally became available we went to stand next to the table and were told we could not be seated until the table was bussed. We asked our waitress if she could help buss the table to which she replied «i am not a busser» and left us standing there. I then asked to speak to a manager. A kid walked up to us not introducing himself and stood there doing nothing. Our party decided to leave and go to silk o laughlins. Apparently schooners does not care about losing 8 customers. It was salt in the wound was that the waitresses kept referring to us as old ladies. I am 33. Bad business, schooners and for the over rated bar food you are serving you should be a bit nicer to your customers. A simple im sorry would have diffused the situation. Wont ever go back and our dinner at silk olaughlins was fab and our waitress was great.

I can honestly say the people who work here have a VERY exagerated sense of their own importance. We were told upon arrival that there would be a 20 minute wait for a table of 8. Now these are those white plastic tables and chairs that can very easily be put together, but the mental midgets at Schooners evidently can’t add 4 + 4 so over an hour later we still were not seated. And people who arrived long after we did were just sitting wherever they wanted to! So we waited for a large group to leave and headed toward that table. But no. The waitress says that we can’t sit there because the table needs to be bussed. Okay. Then start bussing we said. «I am not a busser!» was the response from the pierced nosed bimbo in the cut off shorts. So the MANAGER actually comes over and starts bussing the table. By that point we were actually over the whole experience. And left. It’s nice to know that the economy in Rochester is so good that Schooners can afford to lose a hefty amount of business because their waitresses can’t be bothered to pitch in and buss tables when the place is busy. And their hostess can’t keep on top of her job and seat people in a timely fashion. The over-​all impression is of a bunch of high school kids trying to run a restaurant. Fun to watch if you’re into those reality t.v. shows on poorly run dining establishments. Not worth it at all for a salad with warm french fries. This place sucks… hard!