Millhouse Family Restaurant

3670 Lake Road, Brockport
Visited Feb. 21, 2010
Written by Tyler

(Image courtesy of rochester.metromix.com)

Situated on the corner of Ridge (Route 104) and Lake (Route 19) roads in Clarkson, Millhouse Family Restaurant made me do a double take the first time I noticed there was a diner out in the Town of Clarkson.

Just as soon as you think you’ve bypassed all the restaurants in the Village of Brockport when traveling North on Lake Road, you enter the town and immediately see Millhouse in a small plaza on the northeast corner of the intersection.

Being a short drive from most other restaurants in the Brockport area and its location at a relatively major intersection help make Millhouse noticeable.

Its location, in the same general area as Clarkson’s town buildings and Hafner Park, where I have attended several events over the years, is probably to its benefit. Some hungry diners may stop here rather than heading into the village, and I’d be willing to bet Millhouse often capitalizes on crowds leaving the various events at the park.

In fact, the first time I dined at Millhouse was after one of my siblings’ soccer games at the park five summers ago. We had heard good things and, given our love of family-style diners, we decided to give it a shot. There were a few other families with us, and it was a Sunday morning, but the service was good and everyone seemed to be pleased.

I hadn’t been back since, so I recently decided it was time to make a return visit.

The restaurant had a comfortable “at home” feel that I very much prefer in family restaurants. There was plenty of seating, mostly booths, and we were seated and waited on quickly.
The menu consisted of standard diner fare for the most part, but one of the exceptions that caught my eye were the French roll-ups, described as crepes (essentially, thin pancakes) rolled up, filled with a choice of fruit filling and topped with whipped cream.

I have to say, these didn’t disappoint. Often times at smaller diners like this, those “exceptions” to the typical diner menu don’t go over well and fail to meet the unrealistically high expectations of the consumer, but that wasn’t the case here.

From the appetizing presentation, through each filling bite, these roll-ups were a satisfying choice. The crepes were made from a pancake/egg batter, though I’m not sure of the exact ingredients or proportions, but they were definitely different than those of typical pancakes.
I chose an apple filling, which was rather thick and gooey, containing rather generously sized apple slices. I was pleased with the filling; much more so than I would be with a thinner one with more of an applesauce consistency.

Another plus to the roll-ups were their perfect balance of sweetness, thanks in large part to the apple filling. They weren’t overly sweet, but not bland enough to require syrup either. I just cut right through them with my fork and wolfed them down.
There were no real thrills for Drew on the other hand, who opted for a traditional short stack of pancakes.

Simply adding butter and syrup, Drew worked his way through the stack with no real excitement, but no displeasure either.

Millhouse offers takeout and also had a solid display of pies and other deserts. There is also a sit-down counter with a TV on the wall.

We agreed Millhouse was no HFR, but nothing to complain about either. I was very satisfied with the roll-ups, which were definitely different and unexpected to me. I had imagined myself getting something more generic, like Drew did, but I left pleasantly surprised and impressed. To Drew, it was just another diner, another regular-old stack of pancakes.
We would definitely return, probably sampling some other items. On second thought, maybe I’ll leave that to Drew or someone else and I’ll stick with the roll-ups.
This was the first time I had crepes, so I really didn’t have anything to compare them to, but I definitely have a great first impression and look forward to trying them again … if I can find them.

Ratings:
Service/Atmosphere- Quick service and not very crowded, but not empty either. Quite comfortable and easily accessible. Not quite the hometown feel of HFR, though.
Food- I was quite impressed, Drew was pretty neutral. We probably need to try more of their food to know for sure, but I’ve only heard good things here.
Value- Very reasonable … no complaints.
Overall- More or less your typical family restaurant, but to us that’s a good thing. Nothing that really stands out, but nothing to complain about either.

Grade: B-