Contact Info for Seneca Harbor Station
Seneca Harbor Station is a lovely restaurant on the southern tip of Seneca Lake. Built in the old train station, this Watkins Glen restaurant serves up delicious seafood and beautiful vistas.
If you’ve ever been to Watkins Glen, New York, you already know it’s a beautiful small town on the southern shores of Seneca Lake. We drove through town on our way to visit some of the area vineyards (Lakewood Vineyards and Barnstormer Winery), and as we turned left at the fork in the road we passed a Seneca Harbor Station. Originally the building was a train station dating back to 1876 and has since been renovated into a restaurant. With spectacular lake views, we knew we wanted to come back later for dinner.
Before dinner we had a chance to stroll around the old train station. You can still see the train tracks and if you want a gorgeous sunset view of the lake make sure to walk out on the dock. When we visited the leaves had just begun to turn and it was truly spectacular. You don’t realize how long the Finger Lakes are, but we were surprised to find it reminded us of the sea with the water stretching out to the horizon bordered on each side by beautiful fall foliage.
Seneca Harbor’s dining room was part of the original train station with 16 foot ceilings and a gorgeous mahogany wood details. The spiral staircase inside also gives you a sense of what it must have been like when it was first built. We were welcomed into the large open dining room and we immediately noticed the stunning views of the lake. It was getting chilly, but we were told that in the summer they open up the beach patio, so you can enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail while contemplating the views. They even have live music on Fridays and Saturdays during the summer.
While the Seneca Lake area is best known for its wines, there are also a good number of local craft beers. In fact, you can go on a “craft beer trail” just like the Seneca Lake Wine Trail. Since we’d already been wine tasting, we decided to sample a local IPA. For our entree Pedro chose the Grilled Lobster Tail and shrimp. I chose the fresh grilled salmon with orange and ginger glaze. Both dishes came with our choice of sides and we opted for the mixed vegetables and baked potato.
While we waited for our dinner, we were able to enjoy the ambiance of the restaurant, which is perfect for a relaxing dinner after a day spent exploring the trails at Watkins Glen State Park or vineyard hopping, as was our case. The large dining room is decorated with water themed decorations including a full sailboat sail. Our server also brought us some very tempting garlic bread which we tried hard to resist so we could save room for our dinners!
The lobster was perfectly done grilled in olive oil and seasoned with lemon and dill (of course served with some butter for dipping.) The shrimp were also perfectly tender. We also enjoyed the orange ginger glaze on the salmon (which is one of the staples in our kitchen at home). The glaze gave the salmon a different twist and it was lovely alongside the mixed veggies and baked potato. For dessert we were convinced to share the homemade apple crisp and when the waitress asked if we wanted it a la mode, who were we to refuse!
Seneca Harbor Station is a great place for dinner if you are visiting the area and for us it was a fantastic introduction to the Finger Lakes. We ruskommend it with 4 boquerones for the views, the delicious food and great service. Make sure to budget in time to walk around the area, and if you have the time, you can even enjoy a boat ride around the lake. After all, the main reason you came to the Finger Lakes was to treat yourself with food, wine and nature and Seneca Harbor Station meets all three of those requirements.
Information about Seneca Harbor Station
Ruskommendation for Seneca Harbor Station: 4 boquerones
[usrlist Service:9.0 “Food:8.0” “Quality/Price:8.0” “Atmosphere:8.0″ img=”03.png” size=20 avg=”true”]
Ruskommendations: Learn more about how we score the places
- Address: 3 N Franklin St, Watkins Glen, NY 14891, USA
- Telephone: +1 607-535-6101
- Average price per person: $25
- Hours: (Sun-Thu) 11:30am-9:30pm; Friday and Saturday 11:30am-9:00pm
- Official Website
the lobster looks amazing, this is a part of the world I have not really heard about before, great article