Esperanza Mansion

Awful. Terrible. Bad. Disgusting. Overpriced. Cheesy. Unbearable. Nice view.
I hope that’s enough characters.

I wish I could say I’ve been here because this place looks beautiful. But
I had a bad customer service experience when I tried to book an anniversary lunch party for 10 people. Their employees’ apathy and lack of interest made it seem like they were high school kids running the place for the summer
Despite these lukewarm Unilocal reviews, Bluff Point is a convenient location for those who were coming to the lunch, so I called the restaurant about 6 weeks in advance. I was able to make a reservation with an unenthusiastic woman, but since she couldn’t help me with info about a limited menu or other party options, she said she’d give my number to the right person. This right person never called me back. I emailed the place via their website and it took *weeks* for the General Manager to finally email me back. Instead of answering my question about limited menu options, though, she wrote that I didn’t «need» a limited menu since they already have a «lovely menu» which she offered to send me. (Their menu is online. Didn’t need one sent to me.) I tried to get her to *specify* the options for a small lunch party, but her second response was just another offer to send me their menu. In my third email I asked when it would be convenient to call her so we could talk in person, but in her third response – oh, wait. There was no third response. She just stopped emailing me back.
Ultimately I cancelled my reservation because I didn’t want to risk getting the same bad service from the restaurant. I’d have even preferred if they had been snobby, but they were just amateurish and indifferent.

Came here for my sisters wedding. The view honestly is amazing and you really can’t beat it. The banquet space is also nice. However there’s nothing that can make up for the rudeness and cluelessness of the staff. As we were leaving the morning of the wedding to get hair and makeup done the front desk asked if THERE WAS A WEDDING THERE THAT WEEKEND! All the rooms were booked for the wedding and over 100 people were coming that day. It’s mind boggling how that is even possible. Secondly there is a patio area that the venue refused to allow the wedding to use (because they get people coming in for dinner). There’s no conceivable way that can be more lucrative than allowing the wedding to use and pay for that space for the night. As a result, be prepared for strangers walking in on your «first look» photos and ruining nice moments. And last but certainly not least the female waitress with short red hair and glasses was probably one of the rudest people in the service industry I’ve come across. Scolding me for playing with my 1 year old niece after we essentially rented out the whole place (minus the patio…) for being loud to «customers eating» was strange. And then lying about what the open bar situation was is not just rude but wholly inappropriate. She obviously didn’t know my parents were the ones funding the event and so I knew what the drinks situation was.
As for little things, like the wedding favors not making it to all the rooms etc and no one there seemed to smile at all it was less than enjoyable.
I wanted very much to like this place. Luckily the band and the company made it a great night. But I would think twice if I were you.

My boyfriend has a vacation house on Keuka lake and he took me here solely for the view. I was extremely disappointed in the food. You could tell 90% of everything was NOT made in house. The flatbread pizza with pepperoni and chorizo was chewy and super sweet. The grueyere dip had an undertone of chicken stock and the strawberey bruchetta tasted like jam… The bread it was on was questionable. Our waitress was inattentive as well. If we come back, I would only come here for a glass or bottle of wine and the view.

There were some things I loved about this place, and some things I wasn’t a fan of. We came here for a wedding and stayed for the weekend at the inn, so I got a taste of a lot of things that this place has to offer.
Let’s start with the good!
1. The bartender, Alyson. She was great! Dealt with a huge, huge crowd and still managed to keep her pleasant attitude.
2. The view. I mean, duh. It’s gorgeous here!
3. Parking was extremely easy and every room has a spot right outside.
4. The wedding hors d’oeuvres were yummy. I loved the grilled cheese and tomato soup shooters in particular, as well as the spring rolls.
Now for the things I didn’t like…
1. It seemed like the woman working at the check-​in counter didn’t have any clue what was going on. She couldn’t tell me the hours of operation for the bar and when I went to check in it took FOR​.EV​.ER.
2. The rooms were nice, but the bed was wet. I know that sounds weird, but it wasn’t just in our room. The sheets and rug were extremely damp. There’s no other way to describe it. I don’t know if it’s from the old AC units they have in there, or if someone had the door open (even though it wasn’t humid out?), or what happened. But the whole weekend the sheets felt damp and it was just gross.
3. The wedding entrees were… not good. As loathe as I am to say it, I have to — my food tasted like hospital food. The risotto had the consistency of paste and it was just not working for me. That being said, the salad that we had with our entrees was freaking delicious. I don’t know how they could make such a good salad and serve such nice hors d’oeuvres but put such a gross entrée in front of me.
4. I didn’t like that there was absolutely nowhere that you could leave empty glasses or used plates. I found myself walking around with my trash for long periods of time.
All that being said, the wedding I attended was nothing short of gorgeous and the way the venue was decorated was just beautiful. I think the takeaway here is that it’s really up to you to make the most out of this place. Overall, the gripes that I have are pretty small in comparison to the usual annoyances of attending an out-​of-​town wedding!

My husband and I had dinner here last Saturday night. We ate outside on the terrace and the view is spectacular. However, my Santa Fe chicken salad was barely edible; hardly any chicken and drowning in a mayonnaise dressing. My husband said his duck was OK. Dessert was best – a chocolate-​peanut butter cake that was not cloyingly sweet. My advice – go for drinks before the sun sets and sit outside on the terrace. The view is really what the place is about.

While at the lake my girlfriend and I went here for lunch. I’ve been here a few times over the years — including a private lunch for 25 of my family members that they did great at!
I think their « Unilocal» account doesn’t represent this great place accurately, at all.
Esperanza is one of the best view/​food places on Keuka Lake and even in all of the Finger Lakes. The place is rich with history for you buffs, but it also overlooks the lake. It was recently reviewed in another source as a primer wedding destination as well.
Back to lunch. We arrived later in the day and had a salad and sandwich. Both we’re great! I’ve also had flatbread pizzas that we’re a great.
If you want to eat relax and enjoy the lake– this place needs to be on your to-​do list. If you don’t enjoy the food and view you are missing out!

The view of this restaurant is definitely breath taking. However, the food is really disappointing. It took us 30mins to get our soup, and another 40mins to have our entrée. French onion soup is very salty. Chicken and steak are very dry. With all these awful food, we paid almost a hundred dollars. It was really a bad choice.

beautiful view from terrace. Service lousy and food is mediocre.

PROS: Amazing views, outside seating. The fish chowder was pretty good, and flatbreak pizza was OK.
CONS: Don’t sit inside (smells musty), food is really mediocre and spendy for what you get. We had a steak dish that was drenched in a horrible sauce.
I would drive 10 minutes and go to The Lakeside Restaurant that has beautiful outdoor seating on the lake with great food!

This restaurant gets two stars for one reason… they gave us our entire check for free because of how awful all of our food was. If you want to go here go for the local wine selection and the spectacular view and not for the food. Although we didn’t get a window seat even though there was one.
The Duck Confit Wontons were cold… I guess I just think when something says wonton and it’s fried that it should be served hot. Nope! Unfortunately, this was the best part of our meal.
The beet salad was
salad was mostly this spicy greenery (arugula) with a few beets and some cheese, cranberries and pecans (I thought were supposed to be candied? but weren’t) the dressing was not right and tasted like oil mostly. The beets were flavorless and in general it was awful.
I ordered the special which sounded great, but apparently they only had 3 left and I wasn’t the lucky one so when the waitress came back and told me I had to order something else I was very disappointed because there was nothing else on the menu that looked good to me.
I ended up ordering steak, I ordered it medium rare and it was rare, like raw rare. My husband ordered lobster mac and cheese. This was the last straw. They charge over $ 30 for this dish and it had two small, inconspicuous pieces of claw meat that were obviously frozen in a huge bowl of noodles.
My husband tracked down the manager who never came to our table. She let the poor server, who was thrown out to tables on her first night at work with no training, do the dirty work. She did clear our whole check including the alcohol. This tells me that they are well aware that their food is a problem because I worked in food service for several years and never did I experience someone not having to pay for their alcohol. The server was very nice and the manager did take care of our check, but overall I wouldn’t go back here.
It’s too bad that this was such a bad experience because we were looking forward to a night out from our small children, paid a babysitter and ended up eating ice cream instead.

Interesting to see the other reviews because I couldn’t have been happier with our experience at the restaurant. We went on a Wednesday night and were seated out on the patio immediately. The view from the bluff down to Keuka Lake is literally breathtaking at sundown.
The food all looked so good that it took us a while to settle on some shared appetizers and a main course. Everything was prepared well and delicious, especially the beet salad, the special shrimp and chorizo croquetas, and the seared tuna on white bean salad. With the refreshing Albarino wine at our side and the reasonable prices, we thoroughly enjoyed our romantic evening at the Mansion and will definitely go back the next time we’re in town.

Our experience started when we dealt with Debbie on the phone. She was very accommodating, and helped us rearrange our stay around a pair of weddings at the Mansioin that weekend. The check-​in (by Debbie, in person) was flawless, and we enjoyed every minute of our stay at the Esperanza. We stayed at the Inn portion, and our view of Keuka Lake was breathtaking. We stayed two nights, and had dinner on the terrace at their restaurant. It was so good that we came back for our second and last night here. The pizza is excellent, and the salmon is out of this world. The staff of the restaurant were efficient, courteous, and helpful as well. This was a stay we’ll never forget, and we WILL be back.

This place seemed fine at first glance (except for the hostess who was completely inappropriately). The place no longer reeked of cat feces nd there are gorgeous views, try to sit on the patio. We promptly ordered beverages and they came fast enough, but after we ordered the tapas AND our entrees, it easily was an hour until our tapas finally came (they still got some of it wrong) and then it was at least another half hour after we finished the tapas, the man who appeared to be the manager was very nice (not a trait that most of the workers had) also there drinks were not a sufficient size, so we had to get several refills. This place gets a 3 out of 5 because the food was great! The service was a 1 star at most!

Well, things seem to have changed since the first review of this place was made. To start with, they no longer serve dinner in the restaurant. They DO have a bar/​grill, but it has no air conditioning, and on a humid summer’s day, it is absolutely sweltering. Also, the food is lousy.
As for the accommodations, as long as you don’t have a large, noisy wedding there, you’ll probably get some peace and quiet. If you stay in one of the modern suites, notice how they cheaped out on just about everything-​the ‘Mr 2^nd’s’ porch carpet for the floors, the tiny, cheap TV, the cheap, sticky paint on all the cheap furniture, and the ‘hillbilly whitewash’ on the pine walls. Makes the place look like a Motel 6, except for the fact that they are charging you luxury rates!
The view is good (if you get an upper room-​the lower rooms look out straight onto the cars parked in the parking lot). Frankly, for the price they charge, I expect a LOT more than this. Sadly, though, it looks like this place is a failing business, so don’t expect it to be open much longer.

Great view and it’s in a renovated mansion, very nice. Excellent food and service. This is definitely the best restaurant in the Penn Yan area.

The past reviwer is definitely correct. The esperanza mansion is a beautiful place to come to. It overlooks the beautiful Keuka Lake. Definitely a sight to see. The previous reviewer is also correct that this is a quiet place, and it should be kept like this exclusively.
I give the esperanza 2 stars because of the food and smell. I was visiting the area and went with my mother who lives locally. As we entered the dining room, it stunk of cat food. Not a fishy smell, but it’s hard to describe. Mostly a cat feces smell, mixed with cat food, it was awful. Open a can of cat food and breathe in, and go to the cat box. The smell persisted and wasn’t appetizing at all. So, I question how clean the place actually is.
We ordered an artichoke dip, which was very good. This is one of the only reasons that the esperanza is getting 2 stars. Not much on the menu for quality, a lot of meat dishes, ummmmmmm yes, mostly all meat dishes. I ordered the chicken sandwich which was sub-​par [ under average ] It had melted cold cheese [ possibly microwaved ] and the chicken was ok. My mother’s prime rib was hideous, she ate non of it. She asked specifically for the meat to be cooked medium well, and it arrived very rare. It actually looked disgusting. She had 2 bites, and off to my grandmother [ who eates anything] Our waitress was older, but not particularly friendly at all.
Stay away from the food, or any wedding parties for that matter. I love food and know what good quality is. I would recommend the esperanza for a glass of wine only. Enjoy the terrific view.

This place is absolutely beautiful. My wife and I rented a room at the hotel and found it to be very cozy. You’re not going to find a big screen TV with Vegas style amenities. This is a scenic, romantic, place to be. Don’t expect to party here. It’s a nice place to take your significant other and enjoy each other’s company.
The restaurant is pretty good and has awesome views of Keuka lake. I’d definatley come back here again.