Worth visiting near Watkins Glen, NY?

In Watkins Glen I'd hit up Rooster Fish.

You'll be 30 min from Ithaca with lots of vegetarian options, the Ithaca brewery, Finger Lakes Beverage Center, etc. Horseheads brewery is well worth the visit as well.

 

Bandwagon brewpub in ithaca had quite the diverse menu food was excellent, house beers were passable.
And everything Aaron said.

 

No help on the Vegan angle, but Wagners has a beautiful winery/brewery on the East side of Seneca Lake, in Lodi. I had some very good food there, the beers are decent too. I also suggest Roosterfish, and a trip over to Ithaca, cool town. Maybe do some hiking while you're in the area.

 

North of Watkins Glen is Two Goats, a cool brewpub with some good beers and a great view of the lake. 20 minutes south is Horseheads brewing, also worth a visit.

 

Check out Starkeys Winery and brewery on Rt 14 Just North of Watkins Glen. It's across from Glenora Winery. Also be sure drive up Rt 414 on the east side of Seneca lake to Two Goats Brewpub. It's just south of Atwater winery. More wineries per mile on rt 414 than the other finger lakes wine trails.Spectacular view of the lake and some of the very best tasting craft beer in the finger lakes. Visit Finger lakes Whiskey distillery on the east side of Rt 414 before getting to Two Goats. Wagner winery and brewing is located a bit further North on Rt 414- Stone Cat cafe and Red Newt winery Bistro on Rt 414 should have a vegan menu. The area bordered from Ithaca to Watkins Glen and Interlaken to Hector is home to a dozen back to the earth small vegan minded vegtable farms- farm to table food is a big theme in the area.The Farm sanctuary is near Trumansburg which is a prime vegan tree hugger community like Ithaca. The farm sanctuary should also be able to advise you on all the tofu joints in the region. For yourself; visit Three Heron Brewing just north of Trumansburg for some of the finest BBQ in the region.

 

This is happening at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds July 18 to 21. If you're a music lover, this is a worthy event.

http://www.grassrootsfest.org/festival/

 

I fully support the tip to visit Wagners... great winery and decent beers

 

My wife and I were just up there last weekend, great place to relax.
Pretty much everything I was going to recommend has already been said above.
Wagners is a great place to chill, drink beer and wine on the deck overlooking the vineyard and the lake.
Same goes for Two Goats. Nice hiking at Watkins Glen park--waterfalls are worth the effort.
One thing to keep in mind, you're probably going to run into a bunch of bus tours and bridal parties visiting the wineries. We found that earlier in the day is better as far as crowds and intoxication levels go.

 

Pretty good reference here:

http://fingerlakesbeertrail.com/content/

 

Not an hour dude- thirty minutes to Ithaca- vegan central. Hike Robert Treman state park and Buttermilk Falls State park in Ithaca. Catch Taughannock State park between T-burg and Ithaca too-the falls are higher than Niagara Falls.

 

I agree with all the above suggestions and will also add you NEED to got to Ithaca. I would suggest the farmers market if at all possible. It has a culture that I am sure your gf will enjoy. She will thank you for the trip.

 

fork and spoon, Google "Edible Fingerlakes-vegan". All the tofu tapas places are on tap there.

 

Yes, just half an hour to Ithaca. If you get to the Farmers Market, you've GOT to check out Macro Mama's. It's what I would eat every single day if I could convince someone to cook it for me.

I love Two Goats. The vibe is great and the beers are slowly improving. It's roast beef or popcorn, though. Stone Cat was already mentioned, but they sure do have good vegan possibilities. It's one of the best restaurants in the area.

 

Two Goats. Nice place, decent beer. Def. worth a visit. Take the ride to Ithaca. You won't be sorry.

 

Was just there last weekend. Farm Sanctuary has a list in the Visitor Barn of vegan options in and around Watkins Glen which is a great help. We always go to Rooserfish when we are there. They always have something good on tap and a good variety of styles, plus they cater to vegans. There's also a place down the road that serves vegan ice cream. Take her there and you'll be a hero.

 

For sure the famers market. I used to leave the wife home and drive from Rochester solo to do the farmers market, finger lakes beverage center, ithaca, horseheads trip for a day.

It's a pretty upscale famers market with tons and tons of amazing prepared food. Lots of wine to sample, ciders, ice cider, etc. Definitely worth it.

Ithaca is vegan central, seriously. Most of the restaurants from fast food all the way up to high end have lots of vegan options. I'm a huge fan of doing lunch at the Ithaca bakery.

 

Yep, you're gonna get some "WOO!" girls

 

Well said Aaron. Nothing in cuse emulates what ithaca has to offer in the summertime from a local embracement perspective. Need more breweries in our city.