Main Street Grill and Bakery

PROS

Atmosphere - trendy-casual

Service - friendly and efficient

Lizzy's Sassy Salad Sauce - unless you are ordering a salad to which a specific dressing has been assigned, choose Lizzy's Sassy Salad Sauce to top your salad; this house-made specialty is good enough to drink (and also available in pint jars to take home)

Bread & Butter - one of the best parts of the meal (it is a bakery, after all); the butter is nothing to talk about, but the bread is stupendous; served hot, the soft, chewy baguette just melts in your mouth (no butter needed!); be sure to sample (or, as I did, eat all four pieces of) the cranberry pumpkin bread; if the deserts weren't so incredible (more on them below), I would say to get several free refills of the bread and call it a night

Portabello Nirvana - pan seared crab cake stuffed in a roasted portabello mushroom, finished with a garlic white sauce; though I didn't personally try this appetizer, my dining companion who ordered it seemed to enjoy it very much (he cleaned his plate, anyway)

Harvest Meatloaf - blend of lean ground beef filled with flavors of the harvest, topped with a balsamic brown sugar onion glaze and served with mashed potatoes, gravy, and sautéed vegetables; while the potatoes and vegetables were nothing out of the ordinary (though still good), the meatloaf (and gravy) was solid-comfort food at its finest; an unknown (to me) ingredient gave it an extra something special

Herb Shrimp Spaetzle - pan-seared Gulf shrimp served over homemade herb and roasted garlic spaetzle, finished with a citrus fire roasted pepper puree; I also received a serving of the sautéed vegetables with this meal (though, again, they were nothing special); the shrimp were cooked perfectly; while I enjoyed the meal as a whole, I wasn't blown away by the flavors; good enough to make the pros list, but I wouldn't order it again

Deserts - being a bakery, the bread and deserts (and, though we didn't order them during this visit, salads and sandwiches) are the stars of the show; this time, we tried the Peanut Butter Cheesecake, Oatmeal Cookie, Peanut Butter Pie, and Cannoli Cake; each choice was fresh, moist, and perfectly balanced with regard to sweetness and ratio of cake to frosting or filling to crust

CONS

Location - though it was worth it, Afton is nearly 30 miles from Binghamton and this restaurant is the only reason to drive out there

Temperature - despite the vestibule, cold outside air flooded the dining room every time the door was opened (which was often on a busy Saturday night); the temperature in the restaurant itself was comfortable enough when the door was closed, however

I can't even remember what I ate here because the neglect from our waitress was so significant...I even made sure my husband tipped at 15%...THAT'S HOW BAD THE SERVICE WAS! (for the record, I'll tip a "limited," but friendly waiter 20% because the actually give a sh#@!).

I do vaguely remember a chocolate cheesecake that was really good.

I'm giving three stars because I want to believe that this was a one-time screw up on their behalf and that the next time I go, the food will be memorable, the staff will be PRESENT, and I'll walk out saying, "first impressions aren't everything."  

I've heard so many wonderful things about the restaurant and my first time was a little disappointing.

One of the best places to eat in the area.
Great food and especially good deserts.