Apple Dumpling Cafe

Food was very good, service super friendly, a nice detour off 81. Plenty of gifts to browse while waiting for your meal. Highly recommend the apple sandwich. Amazing baked goods, my only criticism is the huge plastic bags they use to wrap the wonderful cookies in. I wish they would use paper and help preserve the natural environment… seems like the right thing to do for a farm café!

A quintessentially NYS experience. The donuts are fresh, the caramel is amazing, and there is an ample selection of knick knacks, birch beers, and other fun stuff. Perhaps I’ve been living under a rock, but I didn’t know there was such a thing as beer soap. Über cool! The place has feel of a deli plus a general store plus a restaurant.

This is one of my favorite places to have lunch. The food is all homemade and reflects the seasonal fruit whether it be strawberries, blueberries, apples, etc. I can always count on a delicious meal and their desserts are fantastic! I especially love the coconut cake. It’s always a treat to go picking then come in for lunch and look around at the merchandise. You can sit inside the restaurant or out on the porch. I’ve been here too many times to count.

Went there for a quick lunch. Small menu, but great prices and great food! I had a grilled ham and cheese sandwhich and really have no complaints.

This place is adorable! I’ve never have had the Chance to dine in the café, since during the fall it’s always packed with at least an hour wait. So my boyfriend and I decided to go off season, and we were very pleased with our experience. The place is a country store and café. They serve breakfast and lunch. We came for lunch I had the open face Ruben, my boyfriend had the grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Both were made on fresh thick cut bread. I had homemade raspberry applesauce which was chunky & naturally sweet, I loved it! We both had a cup of Harty homemade cheeseburger soup to start. The place is casual and had a great feel to the environment. We bought homemade chocolate covered peanuts to take home that were yummers. The store have a huge assortment of sprinkles that could excite any baker. During the fall this place has tons of you pick apples, great fall day for any family.

pretty solid breakfast. yes the location is a little out of the way but that doesn’t seem to matter at all, we got there at 9am and still had to wait 20 minutes to be seated.
i went with a small group and we sampled a little bit of each other’s food. the french toast was good, and the malted belgian waffles were decent, i couldn’t really taste the malt though and i feel like the texture was a little thick to actually be considered belgian, but they were still good. the home fries weren’t that great, they were luke warm when they were brought out. the bacon was good but i felt the sausage was just a generic patty, didn’t seem to be made in house. one of the specials, the hashbrown casserole, was freakin amazing. when it was brought out it was so good that another person from my group wanted a side for himself, so when the waitress came back he asked for one and i asked for a refill and she seemed really annoyed with us for it and then when she brought it out she kinda gave us attitude. i’m sure not every waitress here was like that but this one seemed like she just did not want to serve us, so that was a bummer. also, there were a ton of flies inside and that was pretty annoying, but i guess that will happen when there’s a line of people out the door, there’s nothing stopping them from coming in.
on the way out i got a couple donuts to go and they were very good, right up there with the cider mill even! and the girl with the green hair behind the counter who served them to me was really nice, as was the cashier who rang us out.
as for the space itself, i liked the vibe of it. there’s lot of assorted spices and baking goods available for purchase as well as cheese, milk, cider, etc. i got the cider there a year ago and it was just ok, it was not made in house though, they just stuck an apple hills label over the original label. if you’re not in a rush this place is worth a visit.

Unfortunately JoAnn, the owner of this establishment, is extremely rude, ignorant, and unprofessional. I took my girlfriend and her mother, who is recovering from a stroke, to look at the fall decorations and eat lunch. While we were looking at the ceramics she had knocked into a platter and broke one of the pieces. JoAnn, the «wonderful» owner ran over to us and began sternly speaking about how it is ride to break things. We apologized and offered to pay for the merchandise while attempting to explain our situation. Joy sarcastically laughed and told us that we will definitely be paying for the merchandise. She did not care to hear about how it was an accident or any of the other merchandise that we were buying.
For my girlfriend and her mother’s sake I refrained from voicing my opinion until we were leaving. We sat down and are out lunch which seemed lackluster after my altercation with joy. The chicken salad sandwich was runny and the chicken chewy. The turkey melt was good in flavor but the bread was soggy. Overall the café food is rated a 2 out of 5.
During the check out I went to pay for the $ 100 in merchandise, the $ 35 lunch, and of course the $ 20 platter that we had broke. Joy had been present once again and made no effort to thank us for our visit, ask us how lunch was, or apologize for verbally attacking my mother before knowing she was handicapped.
After we checkout I gave JoAnn a piece of my mind. While it will not help her become a better person or learn how to provide a good customer experience in her location, hopefully she will at least be slightly more aware of her guests.
Overall, this restaurant and store has a lot of room for improvement and unfortunately it stems at the ownership. I doubt customer service and guest satisfaction will ever change and I will NEVER be returning. I do hope that one day JoAnn can realize that ignorance and unprofessionalism do not earn business. Success is earned not given and customers will find better places to spend their money.

Watch the people making the food! You might get to see them
licking their fingers then touching your food, touch unclean things then prepare your food, yikes!
It’s a nice atmosphere and would give them 5 stars for the other side of the business, the farm and picking, but solely the café 1 star. They really need to pay attention to proper food handling practices.
The kitchen overall is dirty, unorganized, lots of visual cross contamination, foreign unclean objects on prep areas. A person not part of the kitchen was using one of the prep areas to make their own lunch, was licking his fingers and then touching utensils at the prep station, putting dirty hands into ice cream bucket. We were appalled as we ordered to pies with ice cream. Would not be getting food from the café again.
Nice place to visit with family on the picking side though. The views of the hills in fall are very nice as well.

We were all starving after several fruitful (ha) hours of apple and raspberry picking, and the Café did not disappoint. The open faced apple sandwich was awesome (wish I’d gotten that instead of the chicken panini, which was still good) and most of my friends ordered that one. The best part was by far the donuts that we grabbed on the way out — at $ 0.50 each there’s no good reason to say no!!! Delicious with cinnamon sugar and the plain is great too. The only reason this place gets 3 stars is that our waiter had a rude attitude, though other employees who helped us out were very nice and accommodating!

Having worked at Binghamton University for three years, I can say wholeheartedly that this is the best weekend brunch spot in the area.
If you think you’re up for a food challenge, try the «large stack.» IF you can finish it all, you’ll get a coupon for a free large stack on your next visit. Three DINNER PLATE sized pancakes and two large sausage patties later, I felt more than stuffed. I don’t think I ate anything the rest of the day. When it’s in season, get apples and cinnamon mixed into the pancakes. Delicious.
It’s a good thing that not too many BU students know about this place yet, because it’s truly a hidden gem. Don’t pass it up.

I have driven the route from NYC to Buffalo via Binghamton more times than I can count. I mix it up and drive different ways, but unless I have a reason to be in Albany, I will drive through Binghamton at some point on the trip.
I usually stop once along the way to get a coffee or gas, but I rarely have a meal along the way. However, when I’m traveling with someone, we always stop somewhere along the way. That’s how I found the Roscoe Diner (and their famous deep fried french toast) some time ago. Well, I was reading
and learned of this place, with my favorite, breakfast food.
Thought it deserved a visit. Its only a few (pretty in the Spring) miles out of the way, and well worth it if you want a meal. On Sundays they only do breakfast, but the rest of the week they also serve lunch foods, which looked good on the menu. We had pancakes, which they are known for.
These are indeed large pancakes. No doubt about it. Had the short stack, and they were too much for one to eat. Both the bacon and the sausage served with them was terrific. I can understand why people love the pancakes, but I might have preferred them cooked with a little lest grease.
Three stars for a few reasons. Its a large place with some indoor and some outdoor seating. You seat yourself «when you see a cleared table». OK, fair enough. There was a table open, we took it (and yes, it had been cleared). It took a awhile, quite a while, for the server to come to take our order. She was charming, but clearly very very busy, so maybe they were shorthanded, I don’t know. I felt the indoor was very kitchsy (sp?), and it really was a little much. They have a store you sort of have to walk through to get to the tables. I don’t know, but it felt odd.
Another issue is, they have plenty of parking, however, its some sort of gravel dirt combo and had HUGE holes in it, really huge, the kind a wheel gets lost in no matter how slow you go. I was waiting to hear the bottom of my car scrape off on the edge. This place does a seriously brisk business, do something about the driveway and parking lot.

The vegetable soup, garlic potato soup, applesauce, panini sandwich… basically everything here for lunch is deeelicious. If you have room, try the rice pudding! Also, I like that the setting outside is picturesque.

Such a fantastic place for a home-​cooked country meal! Everything our party ordered from the massive pancakes (yes, they are massive) to the omlettes to the french toast was delicious and satisfying, not to mention a tremendous value. Makes you realized how much processed frozen cooking is going on elsewhere when you taste real homemade food. The setting isn’t fancy but the service is prompt and friendly and the view of the farm is lovely. Don’t miss this one, but be sure to get there early! Breakfast begins at 9 on Sundays, but by 8:40am there was already a line 30 people long.

Good food. A nice place to check out when you want country cooking.

What a gem!
I just went here this morning for my friend’s birthday with a few friends. Everything was right at this place. Beautiful views and a friendly dog greet you as you arrive. When you get in there is a store where you can buy anything from lip balm to gluten free cake mix. When you get to the dining area there is a sign letting you know you can choose your own table and then they will come to you.
The service was friendly, quick, and accommodating. It was really everything service should be.
They give really generous portions at very affordable prices. Nobody, besides me, finished half their plate. I had the Deluxe Oatmeal ($ 4.95) which was pecans, berries, and raisins with brown sugar all mixed into some nice and wholesome steel cut oats. Thankfully they make their oatmeal with water and offer you milk on the side. The oatmeal was definitely sweeter than I would prepare it, but I can indulge once in a while. I love texture and really enjoyed the crunchy pecans for some contrast.
Our waiter picked up that there were some veggie folk at the table and before I even ordered he warned that if anyone was a vegan that the has browns were made with butter. I knew right away I would have no trouble with my vegan requests. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals a lot.
After our meal we looked at the store for a bit and then checked out some of the animals that were on the farm. We met a sheep, a goat, two donkeys, and a pig. The goat really liked us and we posed for a picture together!
Basically, I definitely suggest this place. Really nice warm atmosphere, really good affordable prices. I’ll be back with friends.

We were looking for a place for Sunday Breakfast when my Mother recommended the Apple Dumpling Café.
First of all we were glad to gave a GPS direct us here as it is off the beaten path. Not so far off that the roads were bad but but I’m sure they don’t get much drive by traffic.
Having said that the place was packed by 10 a.m. on Sunday morning with people that looked like they were locals. Our wait was a very reasonable 10 – 15 minutes.
This place is a local version of Cracker Barrel with food and gifts

Awesome little hidden gem of a place up near the Greater Binghamton Airport. Great atmosphere, friendly folks, and tasty food. The pancakes and sausage I had were delicious.
One word of note for newbies: there are two distinct lines for seating, one inside and one outside. If you want an outdoor table (which I recommend) wait in the outside line, otherwise head inside and get your name on the list with the host/​hostess.
Anytime you drive through the middle of nowhere early on a Sunday morning and have to wait in line for a table, you know you’ve gotta be in a good place. Highly recommended.

After reading the other reviews here, I decided to give the Apple Dumpling Café a try. The Café is nestled within the store at the Apple Hills orchard, which features plenty of items like locally made cheeses, jams/​jellies/​relishes, homemade desserts, and country crafts/​gifts, oh and apples of course. The café consists of green patio furniture set up on a concrete floor, but the charm of the surrounding store definitely offsets the humble furnishings.
I had a good feeling when I walked up to the storefront and I was greeted by a giant farm cat and an ornery old dog. The friendly server brought me a coffee immediately (which was quite good by restaurant standards), and within a couple of minutes I had my french toast and sausages. The french toast is the best I’ve had in the local area. They make it with thick slices of their own homemade bread, and it’s served with powdered sugar and pure maple syrup.
Even though this is located about 10 minutes north of Bing/​JC, there still was a steady crowd coming in for breakfast on a random Tuesday morning as I left. There also were people coming in to grab donuts and takeout pastries as well. For the same price as Denny’s or Cracker Barrel, you can get a far superior «homemade» meal, and pick up some unique items to take home as well. I am planning on returning for their lunch menu sometime soon, and I will definitely take all of my out-​of-​town guests here for a great, cheap breakfast (and a nice slice of «local flavor»).

Apple Dumpling Café is the completely unpretentious version of Blue Hill Café in Westchester. Set 15 minutes out of the gritty storefronts of JC and Bing, Apple Hills Farm sits atop a hill among beautiful, rolling farmland replete with horses and swaying fields of country goodness.
My friend and I discovered Apple Dumpling our senior year and became lunch regulars. Practically everything (save the potato chips) is homemade– from the bread to the soups to the desserts. On this occasion, we tried two of the soups. Cheesy broccoli was, thankfully, not bright yellow, but rather a mellow, pale shade full of soft, flavorful broccoli, but kielbasa and kraut soup was a tad bland. The sandwiches come on thick hunks of 7 grain, white, or rye bread, accompanied, if you’re smart, by their own cheese (must be melty) and ham, bacon, veggies, chicken, or a plethora of other fillings. Macaroni salad and cole slaw are homemade and also delicious. (Apple sauce, in season, is obviously a must).
We ordered a sampler of different desserts, a real mixed bag from the disappointing praline ice cream pie (frozen icy solid to the point of being almost inedible) and overly sweet peanut butter and jelly pie (really too rich after such a rich lunch) to the pearly rice pudding (perfect) and raspberry brownie sundae (wait till the berries are in season).
The store has adorable, hokey lawn ornaments and other assorted tchotchkes, in addition to their own canned goods and loose spices. I actually don’t think I ever picked here, but would definitely try. Perfect for families or a respite from the drudgery of dreary Bing.

Based on the suggestion of a fellow Unilocaler, I decided to take the epic journey outside the protective walls of binghamton and venture forth into the wilderness of Upstate New York. Yes it was snowing, but the famed lore of fresh donuts, coffee, and supreme breakfast kept my spirits high. Yes, I got completely lost on back roads, fishtailed on slush, and couldn’t see out of my frosted windshield, but this is what epic breakfast adventures are about.
So when we walked through the front door of the restaurant/​gift shop, we were a little dissapointed. The café consists of plastic tables/​chairs on a concrete floor, sharing the space with a gift shop. I don’t mean to knock the setup, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. But we sat down, relaxed. Had some excellent coffee and hot chocolate. And began the eating portion of our adventure.
I ordered the short stack of pancakes, and let me tell you, I have never been served pancakes that were LARGER THAN THE WIDTH OF MY PLATE! That’s right. We’re taking 14 inches in diameter here. There was no place to put my sausage patties, so they were put on top. That’s a lot of pancake for $ 3.75. I ate maybe ¹⁄₈^th of it, but it was fluffy and delicious. My wife enjoyed her omlete, so cheers for that.
We will definitely go back during the fall and apple picking season. The apple dumpling café is located on the main area of the Apple Hills apple orchard. The café is better suited for apple picking and summer sight seeing. Driving through snow storms on cold january mornings isn’t quite worth doing to eat here, but if you’re up for an adventure, try it.