Canal Side Inn

Very nice for any occasion or just for great food, staff and chef are very pleasant and accommodating. It is one of our favorite restaurants once again.

Overall the best place I have dined out at in a long time! Everything was perfect. Highly recommended.

Wonderful service!

Outstanding on all levels. Presentation was beautiful. Service friendly and attentive. It’s a rarity when a chef visits each table with the sole purpose of truly wanting each patron to be delighted with their meal. We were and we would return again without a second thought. Exceptional!

Our 1st experience at Canal Side and certainly not our last.
Chef John personally visited each diner and thanked them.
Food was fantastic and we are looking forward to our next time.

Food was delicious, chef is very friendly! Filet Wellington was outstanding! Cheesecake was great.

Excellent fine dining experience. Excellent food and service. Atmosphere was quiet and romantic, perfect for Valentine's Day. Disappointed that some dinner guests were wearing camoflauge clothing, jeans and baseball caps to a higher end restaurant, especially on a holiday. Would be nice to see a dress code to match the overall experience of the establishment.
The chef was fantastic... personable, interactive, funny and charming.

We love this place. Highly recommend trying if you haven’t.

Our first time there, and we will be back! Delicious food and excellent service - most definitely worth the drive from Utica!

Great place to eat, great staff and outstanding food!

The food was outstanding, we had Calamari that was cut fresh and cooked to perfection.
We also had steak that was delicious also made perfectly.
The service was excellent from the time we walked .

Excellent!!! Food is wonderful. The chef and the entire staff is great! I recommend trying out this place.

An awesome atmosphere with great drinks and exceptional food.

You won't be disappointed, my third visit and won't be my last.

Excellent service and beautifully presented plates. Our meal was absolutely delicious. This now on our most favorites list. We will certainly be returning.

The new menu had a lot of great choices. My prime rib was done to perfection. It melted in your mouth.
The service is second to none. Very attentive. Chef John created a Fruites de Mer for one of us that was outstanding.He didn't have to do it. That's service!

Great food only exceeded by warm hospitality

The wait staff was great. Food was excellent, elegant presentation. We made reservations and were seated right on time. We were very impressed that the chef (also owner), came to our table to ask us how our dinner was and if the service was satisfactory. I would highly recommend the Canal Side to anybody who would like a real dining experience. We will be back and it’ll be soon.

Very nice ambiance and personal service. Menu is slightly on the pricey side. Out of 7 dinners, only 3 got raves, so that was kind of disappointing. Enjoyed the live music! I would suggest a table not right next to it though. Our conversation was limited by our location. The chef responded immediately to a special request for my grandson when he was at meltdown point saving the evening for all.

My wife and I split the delicious "surf perfectly prepared and presented. Chef John is world-class and very engaging. The wait-staff was very professional. The food, service and ambience make this one of my favorite places to eat in Central New York.

Everything about our dining experience at the Canal Side was top notch! First and most importantly the food presentation was attractive and all of our meals were delicious. Chef John is very talented! The new owners have done a wonderful job of creating a comfortable environment and everyone we encountered was friendly yet professional. We shall return!!

We did have an issue with fruit flies but overall was good

We had a very enjoyable dinner at the Canal Side. We had not been in awhile and did not realize it was under new ownership. The menu had many interesting choices. I enjoyed the pate for an appetizer and ordered the swordfish for dinner. My husband had the blue crab stuffed fish and both were delicious. The service was very good and the chef visited each table to check on the patrons. We will be returning in the near future!

Nice changes in the remodeling.
Nice to see the chef to come and say hello!
Great service. Will return to start at the bar with a cocktail!

Everything was absolutely delicious including the cheesecake— just phenomenal!

Traveling overnight through Little Falls with my spouse and found Canal Side Inn with a Google Maps search of nearby restaurants. We were not disappointed. We both started with a hearty soup du jour of clam chowder followed by the evening’s special entree of an outstanding farm to table Beef Wellington. As my spouse noted, you could cut the beef with a butter knife. We finished our meal with a very nice sized and pretty scrumptious shared maple bread pudding. This restaurant is a hidden gem in this little town. Like us, you won’t be disappointed.

Canal Side Inn has long been a favorite dining location of ours & does not disapoint under its new ownership & chef. It still provides a wonderful dining experience & continues their long tradition of great quality food- now by Chef John Luciano. We will certainly visit again soon.

My wife and I ate at Canal Side Inn on 2 consecutive evenings during our stay at the inn. It exceeded our expectations in every respect, and I am eager to dine there again. First, Chef John Luciano himself made our initial visit possible. A few days after making dinner reservations online, a person from the inn called and said they were unable to honor our reservations for the first evening because the restaurant would be closed for a private party. I was disappointed because Canal Side appeared to be the best restaurant in Little Falls (and well beyond), and I wanted to dine well during our 2-night stay. The woman said she'd call back with recommendations for some other restaurant in the area that we might like. A few minutes later, Chef John called to say he'd honor our reservations despite the party. We each had a different cut of beef (8-oz filet mignon for her, large steak for me as part of a surf-and-turf combo), and each arrived medium rare as ordered and beautifully presented. I had started with a large serving of duck liver pate that could have served as a meal in itself. The second night, we both selected one of the chef's creations -- haddock stuffed with blue crab, served over basmati rice. We declined desserts the first night because of the richness of our meals, but this time each of us had the chef's mile-high cheesecake, which was ethereal. As good as our meals were during the first night were, our fare the second night was even better. On each occasion, the service was well-timed and professional. The restaurant has a nice selection of modestly priced wines, too. Chef John stopped by our table several times on each occasion to chat with us.

We stayed in Little Falls for the night at The Inn at the Stone Mill as a get away. The Canalside Inn was the perfect dinner for the evening.

Duck pate, beef Wellington and an owner and chef who came by our table to greet us and thank us for dining with them. A wonderful evening with great food, good friends and people who truly cared about our experience. If you haven't been I highly recommend that you do.

We waited over 30 minutes just to get our drinks! When they finally came, one member of our party had to wait another 10 minutes to get hers. We had to ask for bread which was brought out cold. A restaurant of this caliber should NOT serve cold bread! When our food finally arrived it was good!
It was a very busy Friday night. Although I think there were enough waitstaff, another bartender would have helped greatly! The restaurant owner/manager came around to greet customers but maybe he could have helped make drinks!
We will try this restaurant again and hope for improvements.

I love this little gem of a restaurant in Little Falls, NY. The Chef greeted us, on our way to being seated in a romantic corner table with candlelight. The service was personable, courteous, & attentive. The food was absolutely delectable from the duck pate to the dessert. The waitress let us take our time, answered all questions, & even took a nice photo of us for my scrapbook. The Chef came out to ask our thoughts on the meal, before leaving. I really appreciate that! I will definitely be going back!

We all had a dinner special that was delicious. Service was by an inexperienced waitress Who tried very hard to make it a good experience. I would definitely go back.

The Canal Side Restaurant is a wonderful restaurant in a quaint setting that honors the village's character while providing outstanding food and service. Half of our party ordered from the menu and half ordered the daily specials... and everyone loved their meal! Not only was the food tasty and served at the optimum temperature, but it was presented attractively and with grace. Service throughout the meal was excellent - attentive without being hovering. An excellent little restaurant tucked away in beautiful Little Falls next to the historic Erie Canal.

Creative food from an unbelievable chef. Can’t wait to return. Nice atmosphere great staff

The food is fabulous, the service is superb and the entire experience is very enjoyable. There is a down home, everybody knows your name feeling in a sophisticated atmosphere.

I feel that the chef at the canal side inn watched an episode of top chef and then thought he could be one. From the presentation of the food on oversize plates to a stick of rosemary stuck in a meat loaf like it was a Christmas tree to the blandness of the food and for some reason excessive drizzling of sauces on the plates it was underwhelming overpriced and I will never go back again

An extradorinary meal, on par with the finest available in New York or Paris...really, no kidding. The chef truly understands what he's doing, with remarkable flavor combinations and NOT relying on the salt shaker to make up for the lack of same. In a world of faux gourmet (add sundried tomatoes, extra virgin oil oil and cilantro to a Burger King Whopper and call it "gourmet") Canalside provides the real thing, in a quiet, comfortable atmosphere and very attentive service. This is truly a destination.

We have been there twice this month and love everything about. The owner, the chef and staff go out of their way to make sure everything is wonderful

We had such a great time. Our dinners were fabulous as were the staff, owner Dave, and the gregarious Chef John!! Can't wait to return in a few days!!