The NYS service areas have been closed and under construction, actually being torn down and rebuilt…read morefor several months. Today we stopped at this newly opened location. It was midday on a Friday. I was totally shocked to see a LONG line for the ladies rest room. The kind of line you'd possibility see at a large sporting event or concert, not at a thruway rest area. Once inside, I saw there were 5 stalls and 3 sinks. I'd estimate the old building had closer to 20 stalls. Move on to the food. There's a Starbucks and a Shake Shake. The line here was longer than the restroom line. Then I noticed there was seating for less than 20 people. I can tell you there were numerous people who were just as unhappy about the situation as me. So, NYS spent millions on these 'improvements'. Makes no sense. 2023-73

This is a review specific for Starbucks. We travelled home…read moreon December 8th and my wife tripped due to a poorly laid carpet at the entrance. This happened right in front of the Starbucks coffee shop sometimes between noon and 2PM. Few tourists came to help, but the girls from Starbucks were particularly nice and offered us free hot chocolate! We were a bit shaken by the accident and a hot drink served with a smile made a difference. Please extend our thanks to the Starbucks team of Sunday afternoon, in addition to our thanks offered in person.

The Junius Ponds Service Area is located on I-90 westbound between exit 41 (Waterloo) and exit 42…read more(Geneva). Restaurant options include: Shake Shack Starbucks (Drive-Thru) Applegreen Market Store Taste NY Food and Drink Products The restrooms were clean and large and the parking lot held many vehicles. There is a Sunoco gas station right next to the travel Plaza.

The only redeeming feature of this service area is Shake Shack. There is hardly any indoor seating,…read morefood in the convenience area is over priced and I noticed a lot of expired products. No paper towels in the bathroom.... And hopefully you have the superhuman strength to pull open the doors to get in. Not sure who designed this place but it's awful. It's also filthy; no one wipes tables or cleans the floors that I have seen. Everything is sticky and gross. I honestly hate stopping in the new Thruway rest stops and I usually avoid it.

This travel plaza has Starbucks, Shake Shack and Chick-fil-A in it. It's very big and clean. They…read morealso are doing a lot of of this electronic purchasing of food and drink with the screen, cutting down on the personal interaction, but feels like it adds to time quite a bit. So I'd have cash with me in case the screens have a line. The cash didn't have lines at any of the places. The restrooms were clean. Parking easy. Well plowed, which matters this year.

I don't usually ever review rest stops. On the way decided to stop to Syracuse, to use the…read morerestroom. This is the first time, I've stopped at one of the newly remodeled rest stops on the Thruway. Location was modern, clean, only draw back, didn't seem like there was a lot of general seating. If your looking to check out the chain: Shake Shack, its one of your food selections. Overall, no issues .. on a side note for a hilarious laugh, there are instructions on how to wash your hands in the bathroom.

This is the stop when we're on s trip. I will drive an extra 50 miles passing gas station after gas…read morestation to find a Love's. We get an extra 10 cents off gas with the app. That's part of the appeal. The hot dogs and lemonade is another. The biggest appeal though is i know the bathrooms are going to be big and have plenty of stalls. So if there's a wait, it will be minimal.

Clean and well maintained facilities with everything one would need from a service station of this…read morecaliber and size. Nothing negative to say.

Cleaner than the last one, the vendors have changed since some earlier reviews. It's now Burger…read moreKing, Dunkin and Mobil with the Applegreen convenience store. There is a pet area here too. This was a quick break for the restroom and then heading onwards. For those who are thinking about staying longer in an RV, the Thruway service plazas have a four hour limit. [Review 1533 of 2024 - 449 in New York - 22556 overall]

This is in Port Byron. Which is funny because my friend Ron was the first person ever to give me a…read moreglass of Port wine, back when I was a kid. So I guess you could say I was introduced to Port by Ron. The problem with the service plazas along the Thruway is the same as it ever was, if you'll forgive me for paraphrasing the Talking Heads, or directly quoting them I should say. The problem is that they are very stingy and penny-pinching, so all the chain stores here charge more than their regular franchise menus. Add to that a set of generally very disgruntled employees, and that the gas here is $20.30 more than it should be. I find this kind of thing pretty appalling to be honest. And don't nap for too long at this relatively safe rest area. If you do, when you get off the highway they may give you a hard time and claim you're scamming them. My previous review said.. What I really don't like about these travel plazas are the prices and the really annoying selection of chain type eats and drinks. It's so corporate and it just drives me crazy. The gas prices are anywhere from 10 cents to $0.30 more expensive than off the highway. The single solitary reason that they do not get one star for me is that it's so convenient. So many rest stops make you twist and turn and zig zag and spend a couple of minutes driving to the rest site. Or cross the highway or even walk to an island in the middle of the road. Looking at you Angola. But anyway - this remains the only travel plaza owned by Lord Byron himself. I can prove it. And I will do so. Exactly 10 years from tonight. Give or take.

Driving through upstate New York on our way to Niagara Falls. We made a pitstop at this travel…read morePlaza. Plenty of parking. Spacious table and seating for dining. You have a choice of Popeyes or Dunkin' Donuts. There is also a market for all your other needs. The restrooms were clean. Mobil gas station on the premises.

I don't know what was going on with this location, but I wasn't a fan. The bathrooms were…read moreincredibly small, and the lines for food and drink were almost out the door. They need way more people working here and should def expand to have more bathrooms.

Very clean establishment vending machines so the credit card or cash to use them which is not bad…read morebut there's no service people but the place kept peccable so if you have to go to the bathroom, this place is a must.

"It does the job." The next rest area on I-81 NB is 131 miles!! So if you're continuing north to…read moreSyracuse, Oswego, Watertown, the thousand islands, or Ontario, you may want to pay this place a visit. It was clean enough and had a few vending machines. It also had a now old-school area full of tourist brochures and free seasonal tourist magazines for things in the region. My mom would always love collecting these on our drives, I somehow resisted the temptation this time. Would have been 5 stars but the parking spots are the dumb angled ones and the cleanliness wasn't quite what you find on the NYS Thruway. Still a nice rest stop compared to what you'll find on most of America's toll-free interstate highways. I think the hand soap was even the moisturizing kind! Wow.

This was a nice stop on my travels. I needed to get out and stretch my legs as well as use the…read morefacilities. This rest stop is divided in a way. Regular vehicles park to the left when you pull off the highway and big rigs park to the right. Plenty of space to walk about if you needed to and plenty of space to take a seat. Inside it was well maintained. Facilities were clean and in order. I putzed around outside for a while and walked the grounds. They were mowing grass the day I was here so you kind of had to keep moving to not be in their way. Things to note, aside from table/picnic area, there is a pet area available. But the pet areas don't seem to be maintained as well as the rest of the area, disposal bags were missing even though there was a place for them. Police station is on premise.

I have to say, if you're going to revolutionize the toilet, you may want to put a sign up? It was a…read moregood conversation started for me and some strangers. But still. You as a state know it was unusual. You also left the flush buttons that don't work, so the whole thing feels like you're committing some bathroom faux pas. Plus the cost this bathroom revolution cost vs. how much water it saves...seems like it will take some time to recoup those tax dollars. But this random stop on the lonely highway makes for an experience all right. I don't need bathrooms to be experiences though. It was clean and there were some sort of foamy waterless toilets, but it did feel like I was in the middle of an experiment.

This travel plaza has gone high-tech. You order food on various kiosks at either Burger King or…read moreDunkin' Donuts. It's also very very clean, which is lovely. Parking was easy, but I do think the parking lot is on the construction part of it was blocked off. This is an easy stop on the Thruway on a very dicey weather day.

This is a great rest stop, with clean bathrooms, water bottle filling station, nursing mothers…read moreroom, some tables inside and outside to eat, a Dunkin, Burger King, and convenience store. There's also a fenced area for dogs.