Papa C’s Eastside Cafe

My whole family loves Papa C’s. Delivery breakfast, Cajun ranch wings, pizza. U name it. We’ve never had a bad meal!

We tried Papa C’s 4 years ago because of a groupon-​type deal, and have been regulars here ever since. I’ve always loved everything I’ve had from the build-​your-​own chicken sammies and calzones, to the wings, pizza, subs, loaded fries, and chicken parm. I don’t care if they’ve been on tv, or if the décor has been renovated… good food is good food — period. I’ll be a customer for life.

I just had the Fried Catfish Hoagie. Delicious. The best Fish sandwich I’ve had in the area.

This is an excellent restaurant. The important thing that some negative reviews seem to be missing is that this is a pizza place/​diner, nothing more or less, and should be judged on that. As an aside, we have eaten at every level of restaurant from fast food to five star and three figure ($$$$). You need to rate restaurants in context of their peers, in terms of how good whatever food they should be good at making is, and the level of service as it compares to similar restaurants. We have been here a dozen times and this review is a composite of our experiences.
The food: The pizza is delicious, with a perfect crust, it’s one of the only pizzas my wife actually likes. The stuffed peppers, packed with orzo pasta as opposed to the traditional rice, were huge and delicious. Their breakfast is solid, if not spectacular and very standard. The best way to spice things up is to order a side of their house made meat sauce. Yes, it’s A WHOLE dollar extra. Get over it. We’ve eaten places where there was absolutely NOTHING on the menu less than $ 10.00. On the price thing, I was able to order a sausage and artichoke omelette with the aforementioned sauce for $ 8.50. It came with toast and very tasty home fries which were cooked to a crispy perfection. Their fish fry is very good. Their chicken parmigiana was really good as well. My only criticism, and this is derived from my personal preference, is I prefer pasta sauce to be a little sweeter, so I don’t order meals which are heavy in sauce unless there is a counterbalance. For example, I ordered their ravioli, house made, which is stuffed with a deliciously sweet ricotta and smothered with mozzarella. The cheeses balance the sauce and it’s perfect for me. By the way, they are very accommodating and will make anything right for you that you’ve gotten your panties in a twist regarding.
Service: a little random, with a whole team approach which I believe sacrifices cohesiveness for speed. I don’t care, I love to see young people working hard for a living. I don’t mind the occasional faux pas. I’ve seen them at the 5 star joints, so I just get over myself.
Give it a try, but a fair one. I think you’ll be pleased. If not, you can leave a snarky review. It’s your right.

Very pleased with the experience at Papa C’s. There were two in our party. I ordered the TLC sandwich and my guest ordered a personal sized cheese pizza. The sandwich was grilled turkey, grilled pepperoni with lettuce, tomato, and thousand island dressing — all on a freshly made bun. Yea, the bun was baked on site. The flavor combination was excellent! Loved it. Accompanying the sandwich was freshly fried potato chips — fresh and crispy! I’d definitely go back for that sandwich! My guest’s pizza was very good as well. The cheese was a higher quality than the common pizzeria and the sauce was homemade. Delicious! The crust was Brooklyn style thickness — just the way we like it. The gentleman server was attentive, informative, and not overbearing. We enjoyed the conversation with him. We’re looking forward to trying more off the menu!

I hate to do this. The menu was updated maybe 6 – 8 months ago, and in one Unilocaler’s humble opinion, it has gone downhill. Just a tidbit, and nothing to do with the place. Last time we were there, a fellow diner behind us was talking with their waitresss (also ours) the waitress was saying how much she liked the burgers there. As she walked away, the kind gentleman at the table said to his wife, «I can tell by her ass.» wow. ANYWAY, the place has gone downhill.

I really do want to give this place higher than a 3. I have been here before and after restaurant impossible and the décor is night and day. When I went before the show I said if never come back because it looked so bad, but then I tasted the food, it was good and as a cook I appreciate good food so I changed my mind and decided to grin and bear the décor to enjoy some more of those tasty wings and the Fairport fatty sandwich. Man that is a good sandwich.
So then restaurant impossible comes to town AWESOME! I’ll get a reservation! Haha nope all booked which is ok I expected no less but man that would have been cool, if your booked your booked right? So I decide to show up just days afterword and WOW it’s gorgeous in there! This place is so patriotic and country it’s great!
The food is as expected still good but what’s even better is they got rid of that obnoxiously massive menu and implemented a much easier menu that focuses on good dishes. All the prices are impressively good however the dishes would hold more value if they came with a side of chips and a pickle rather than just a sandwich on a plate. My personal favorite dish is sals favorite sub! WOW! You can’t get a better sandwich than that! Meatballs,(tastes freshly made) capicola, and sausage wish marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese! I can eat that ever time I go and be completely happy! So if someone tells you the cooking here is bad, well I’d tell you they’re lying.
So why doesn’t this place get a 4 or 5? There is always parked cars in front of this place. Big no no. Fire hazard and blocks view of the restaurant. But that’s just a minor point the major issue is every time I go here I wait a LONG time and NEVER EVER GET A TABLE CHECK! For the love of god ask me if I am enjoying my meal! It’s service 101 a server should always always always come back after delivering a meal to make sure the customer is enjoying the meal. What if my burger is raw or something is off? Well then I will wait 20 minutes just to tell my server that and now everyone else has finished eating and I’m hungry. Luckily that did not happen but I’m. Sure it has happened to many because table checks are no where to be found here. Also I feel my server is annoyed to be waiting on me rather than excited to have customers, I’ve experienced cold coffee multiple times and when my coffee runs out (I’m a heavy coffee drinker) they don’t check to see if I want more coffee. I tend to be very stressed out by the service here. Guys your sitting on a gold mine here but you have to up your game on service or you will never make it. Seriously.
So why do I keep coming back, it comes down to the food, the good is so good here I will keep coming back but this place has lost my fiancée as a customer so as you can imagine I will not be coming as often as I would.

I’m not sure if the people of Perinton/​Fairport are the pickiest people in the word, but my young son and I stopped in this morning and had a lovely experience.
This was our first time at Papa’s C, so I have no idea what it looked like prior to the makeover. Their new decors is great — everything seems really fresh and clean and has that «new» feeling.
The hostess was super friendly and attentive — she stopped by several times to make sure that we were okay.
As far as prices, I have to disagree with what others have said as far as it being outrageously overpriced. To me, it seemed comparable to other places in Fairport. A side of sausage is $ 2.50 — Riki’s charges $ 2.95. Eggs Benedict is $ 7.25 at Riki’s and $ 8.00 at Papa’s.
My son loved his waffle, so we will definitely be back again!

Apparently this place was on Restaurant Impossible. Sure doesn’t seem like it.
Yes, it does look like a fresh coat of paint was slapped on in the inside.
Food was dull and over priced. Ordered a salad and a wrap and it was 20.00. Starters the salad was small. They didn’t follow instructions very well either asked for blue cheese got ranch. Asked for sliced banana peppers got whole peppers. Salad itself tasted old like the lettuce was bought from Wal-​Mart and had been sitting in the refrigerator open for a few days. For 10.00 could have went to a really café/​restaurant and got a larger salad with better ingredients and what I want on it. Also was charged 0.50 for the banana peppers. The wrap was laking on ingredients and size. Also came with small handfull over kettle cooked chips. For 9.00 I could have went to Wegman’s and got a better wrap with chips and a drink for cheaper.
Wait staff was very poor and clueless. Could go into detail, but I will leave it at that.

Even after the Restaurant Impossible re-​make, Papa C’s still has some fundamental flaws that need addressing before it is ready to take the next step. In reality, the renovation of the dining room really only put lipstick on the pig.
A simple example is the fact that the staff STILL parks their cars in front of the restaurant. Even for a delivery service, a coned-​off parking space is only a few feet away from the door, and doesn’t obstruct the view of the restaurant. Maybe they’re too lazy to park on the side and walk, maybe they just don’t care about parking or the view. I don’t know. What I do know is that I wouldn’t let my staff park any of their vehicles in front of my place of business. Where these cars are always parked is also in a designated fire lane — a safety hazard especially when it’s needed.
The menu is basically the same as before the re-​make and the prices are about the same. Robert Irvine has obviously tweaked their cooking and prep times and coordinated the menu to match (especially for dinner) but there’s still just not enough «oomph». For a cheesesteak, I’ll drive over to Mac’s Philly Cheesesteak instead of getting the Scooby Doo. It’s bigger and cheaper.
I’ve been here before and since the re-​make and had both breakfast and lunch. The cooking is alright. It’s not great, but it’s also not terrible. It’s café/​diner food for breakfast and lunch. The breakfast is far better than Log Cabin — at least in terms of cooking. Temper your expectation; at least until you see the bill. They are typically $ 1+ or more than other locals and they dime you for every extra. The cold sandwiches don’t even come with chips or a pickle. Here’s an example: Kickin’ Chicken sandwich (hot) with fries — $ 9. Chicken Caesar Wrap (cold) by itself — $ 8. If you order an Italian pasta dish for dinner, salad, and a drink your bill will be right around $ 20.00 (yikes).
Where’s the daily early bird or senior special? A military discount would be a nice idea especially since there’s a VFW post directly across the street and they have some major events throughout the year that draw huge crowds. These specials might grab a few VFW members/​friends before the weekly bingo game. A little pro-​active marketing and some «here’s special coupons for our neighbors» or «could we set up a grill at your next flea market and donate half the profits?» type thing would bring in a few more customers and get the Papa C’s name out there.
Other reviews have talked about the longer than usual wait for meals to be served. That’s not a big deal for me if the cooking is better than passable (and it usually is), but the servers could definitely be more active with the coffee during the wait which would increase interaction with the staff. Customers are more than happy to be patient if they at least feel like they’re important to their server.
I hope Papa C’s can stick around for years and be a profitable business for their owners. I really do. No one wants to see a business go under. But the future seems, at this point, to be very uncertain for them.
The most important constructive criticism I could ever offer is «BE NICE!» The staff seems so very uninterested in interacting with their customers unless necessary. They just present an air that they don’t want to be there or don’t care. Some of the staff have been just downright rude in the past. And for Heaven’s sake — stop parking your cars in front of the restaurant!
Doesn’t that just send a message that is really all you need to hear?

We went here soon after the makeover. We have always loved the breakfast food, but were hoping that the décor and service had improved. The new décor is great, but the service still stinks! The employees are as slow and unfriendly as they have always been. The food takes forever to be made and they make no apologies for it. They are completely unattentive. It’s unfortunate because there is so much potential. We won’t be back.

Visited after Restaurant Impossible makeover, and was very unimpressed. The dinner menu is very short (barely 1 page long) and an odd blend of basics and attempted fancy items (that are overpriced). Also, the acoustics are terrible, with a only about ¹⁄₃ of the tables in use but still very noisy from all the hard surface and open floor design. Although there’s not a lot of competition within a few miles radius, it’s worth driving a few more miles for some better local options.