Canal View Cafe

My very favorite local restaurant! a «must-​do» for us at least once every week or two. Consistently great food. We like that I can order a sandwich for dinner while my husband can order and enjoy a full meal. Clean, casual surroundings with lovely views. Local antiques and memorabilia used in the décor can be appreciated while waiting for an order up. Or… we can joke with the friendly staff whom we’ve come to know and look forward to seeing at each visit.

Found out that Canal View has opened this year so we decided to hit the Canal View Café for a winter trip to Sylvan Beach. Great place to hit during the winter, they keep the roads clear of snow into the area.
We were greeted by the owner and promptly seated. Lindsey took our drink order and we ordered the Utica Greens with sausage. Best greens we have had. They continue to be great tasting.
They offer an Italian Plate or Italian Casserole but I was in the mood for a variation of what was on the menu. Lindsey took my change order adding Chicken instead of sausage as I wanted a breaded chicken breast and what came out was the most fantastic tasting and large dish of food I have ever had. Add some extra sauce — yummy. They charged extra for the new version but well worth it. See pictures of the plate.
Spouse had the Chicken Caprese over pasta and it was very good as well. See picture. They have a nice Craft Beer selection and I wanted to try something local. Lindsey suggested the Saranc Smore Porter and it was very good.
I would recommend Canal View Café when your close or in the Sylvan Beach area during the summer great seating outside, during the winter a great place to hang out and enjoy some great food. Their food and service was great.

Beautiful Spot — Great Food — Nice Staff — Get there Before the Season Ends.
This is a like a roadside inn on Cape Cod displaced to Central New York. It has the simple good food and hospitality of a great summer night on the shore. The Café, true to its name, sits along side the old Erie Canal junction with Oneida Lake. Most seats look out over the parking area to the lake or canal. The food is great. We stopped in for a late lunch, as we were finishing the early dinner crowd started to arrive for the Sunday night Harvest dinner special. They were all locals and knew each other so the place has a nice friendly atmosphere.
Our lunches were great. Cups of soup — Italian Wedding — New England Chowder. Both good examples of the type. The IWS, was a little salty to my taste (but we don’t cook with any salt at home, so we are sensitive to it. Haddock sandwich was great and large; the chicken spiedie* was wonderful. The meat was perfectly moist and grilled to perfection. The house made potato chips were great. The onion rings were good — not hand-​made at the café but good.
Solid offering of bottled beers. Both local crafts and national brands.
We will certainly try to get back before they close for the season — Nov 22.
*For those not in the know — a spiedie is are a CNY speciality — brought over from Italy to Binghamton, NY. Marinated cubes of meat are roasted on a spit and pulled off the spit into a long roll. The trick is get the meat seared and cooked but keep it moist.

Great food and great service. This was my first visit, and I will definitely go back. Outside atmosphere is pleasant with the landscaping including small waterfalls and ponds. Our waitress showed no signs of late-​summer fatigue/​impatience as can often be found in seasonal resort towns.

I was there on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, around 6pm. Parking was not bad. It was busy (not packed). Very brief wait to be seated. Nice atmosphere. Good food. Generous portions.
Unbearably slow waitstaff. Got worse when her friends sat at the table across from us. It would have been nice if she was that helpful (and quick) for us.
Restaurant was half empty when we left. No excuse for slow service.
With that being said…
We will be back again, but not anytime soon.

Food was good. Very clean inside and nice theme. Service was a bit slow, but friendly. Burger was a pre made frozen burger but did not taste that bad. Price was a little high.

Had a wonderful meal last night at the Canal View Café. The place was charming and the staff was so friendly, efficient and accommodating. We started on the deck by the pond, with the view of the canal in one direction and of the lake in the other, and stayed to watch the sunset. Wine bottle oil lamps in wrought iron stands lined the deck. Ask about the legend of the chicken, and if at least two of you are drinking the same wine, get yours in the chicken pitcher from Italy.
Moving indoors for dinner, we ordered apps of bang bang shrimp (7 large pieces) and fried calamari, which was lightly fried, not greasy and came with some excellent marinara. Entrées ordered included the fish «Feast» which was excellent, a fried fish (haddock?) which was ample and awesome, a fish and greens sandwich, and the Chicken Caprese which was very flavorful (huge bowl… could be shared by two). All entrées except the sandwich came with either soup or salad. The Italian wedding soup was the best I ever had.
Visiting the Canal View Café on a weekday was probably a good choice as the traffic was not extremely high by the beach. The limited parking spots around the beach seem to be «pay to park» so it was very nice that the restaurant had its own free parking lot around back.

All the reviews are right. Super friendly fast service. Bam bam shrimp is tasty maybe a bit over sauced. Italian wedding soup definitely homemade. Excellent. Skip the clam strips but the garlic fries are to die. Pork sandwich tender with yummy gravy. Will definitely come back

I didn’t know what to expect. We spent a rainy day checking out the retro games at the amusement park and needed a place to grab dinner. Not wanting to go to the nearby dive bars or the overpriced places we opted for the small restaurant, the Canal View.
We were a large party that came in on a rainy Saturday and the host helped us get seated right away without a wait.
We dine out often and this is the best place I have been to in a long time. I consider us to be sort of a picky family; we’ve not returned to places where the waitstaff is really rude, the food sub-​par, or the dishes dirty. And I always post on Unilocal my findings!
We all tried different things off the menu and everything was fantastic. I had the beef gyro with fries and I loved it. Everything was fresh, hot, and the waitress was on point. She was quick with re-​fills and really tried to please us. So welcome because in my experience good waitresses or waiters are hard to find.
I’ll be back to try some of their pasta offerings; they looked really good. When you find a place that is this wonderful you just have to return.

Great place, great food, great staff! The owner really makes you feel welcome! Loving the new beer selections. I’ve had just about everything on the menu — you really can’t go wrong!

Amazing food and friendly staff! This place was extremely clean and run very well. The food was the best on Sylvan Beach, ate there several times on our vacation and will be back! Try the clam roll, just delicious!

Great service & loved the Utica Greens! Huge portion could serve 6+ as an appetizer

I’m happy to report that Canal View continues their 4-​star status for 2012! Great spot on the Canal! I love their daily specials espeially the veal scallopini but if that’s not available, Chicken Caprese never disappoints!
One of my favorite spots in Sylvan Beach!

Always go to the Canal view when we are at Sylvan Beach. Consistnetly good food and fair prices. Old time Sylvan Beach photos and décor add to the appeal in addition to the great view of the Canal and Lake.

Canal View Café is a good place to go for a fine comfortable meal on Oneida Lake. As you would expect, this place is located along side the canal right outside the Sylvan Beach amusement park.
The menu is pretty diverse and there are always some specials to check out. The service is always pretty good and everything on the menu has been good to try.
When looking for a lighter bite, their Gyro Platter is a good choice. When looking for a bigger meal, keep an eye out for their Saltimboca (choice of chicken or veal) which is becoming a favorite of mine. They also have some of the best Clam Chowder in the beach.
What I like about Canal View is that it’s one of the few places still within the beach that offers a little more than a glorified bar menu and still offers a great view of the lake.
This place has slowly but surely become one of our go-​to places when looking to grab a good meal on the water.