Fairport's Winter Nights Run Through an Old Can Factory

On Liftbridge Lane West, a white yard sign with a red Lefty's logo and the words "Smashing soon" stands next to a red picnic table on a brick patio. It was still there on October 3. The picnic table matters here because the patio is a big part of the restaurant's plan. The water beside it no longer carries boats this season.

The New York State Canal System closed to navigation at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 14, and all vessels had to be out of the system by then. For most of the summer, the Main Street Lift Bridge ran on extended hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. from May 15 through September 9. After that it went back to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. until the season closed. Since September, then, the canal's evenings had already been getting shorter. Now they have stopped.

What stays open is a few hundred yards north, inside a building that kept Fairport working for most of the last century.

Two Restaurants Designed Around the Water

Fairport's two most-watched restaurant projects of 2026 both face the canal. Neither has opened yet.

When chef Steven Lara described Lefty's to WROC in May, he called it a California surf shack. "It's a small, 800 square-foot restaurant. We don't have a ton to work with. Obviously, our big game is going to be the outdoors. We're canal-front," he told the station. Lara also runs Angelina's in Rochester's South Wedge and has cooked for F.L.X. Table in Geneva. He told WROC he had been watching the Liftbridge Lane property for almost a decade before he got the call. The plan was to open in August, with lawn games, ice cream, and kids' food by the water. The State Liquor Authority received a food and beverage license application for 10 Liftbridge Lane West on July 31. As of early October, the "Smashing soon" sign was still up. The Lefty's website still says it is opening this summer.

Blackbird is the larger of the two bets. According to WROC, a Rochester restaurant owner plans a contemporary American restaurant with a rooftop bar overlooking the water. It would go into the early-1900s building at the east end of the Box Factory parking lot, under the smokestack. Six apartments would be built on the second floor. The Democrat and Chronicle places the project at 10 Liftbridge Lane East, the former BME Associates site. When WROC last reported on it, the building permit was still pending and the village Planning Board was reviewing the proposal. A September 9 update to that story said the owners now plan to open in December.

So the earliest a rooftop bar over the canal could open is the month the canal is empty of boats. That timing will shape the first season of both restaurants. Until they open, Fairport's evenings depend on what is already running.

The Factory North of the Tracks

According to the Village of Fairport, The Cannery district sits on the former American Can Company site, west of North Main Street and north of the railroad. The factory became American Can in 1909 and stayed Fairport's largest business until it closed in 1993. The redevelopment converted a 62,000-square-foot former can factory and a 42,000-square-foot industrial building into restaurants, shops, offices and flex space, as the Fairport Office of Community and Economic Development describes it. The buildings use two addresses: 75 North Main Street and 25 Parce Avenue.

The newest restaurant there opened just weeks before the canal closed. WROC reported that Allende MX Kitchen & Bar opened at The Cannery in mid-September after about a year of construction. Ofelia Ramirez and her husband run it. They also own Mecate, which has four locations in the Finger Lakes region, and they told the station Allende has a more contemporary feel and new menu items.

Here is what the complex and its next-door neighbors offer once it gets dark early, based on hours posted this month:

The Cannery also has things to do that aren't food or drink. Fairport Pickleball Club takes court reservations and runs open play every day, and Sew Creative runs its sewing center there. Iron Smoke posts its event lineup on its own October calendar. A whole evening can be planned on Parce Avenue without going outside for long, which counts for a lot in a Rochester December.

What the Canal Side Keeps After the Patios Close

Liftbridge Lane doesn't shut down. It runs shorter hours. Mulconry's on Liftbridge Lane East serves boxty and shepherd's pie. Its kitchen closes at 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 8 p.m. Sunday, and its patio is seasonal. Donnelly's Public House, at Water Street and Liftbridge Lane, has 33 craft beers on tap and a specials board that changes weekly. B-Side on Liftbridge Lane East has switched to winter hours.

The Porterhouse at Packett's Landing serves dinner Tuesday to Saturday from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Its Sunday dinners run only from May through September, so that option is gone until spring. Moonlight Creamery on West Avenue, across from the lift bridge, offers more than ice cream. It has a coffee bar and drinking chocolate made in the Mexican tradition, and stays open until 10:30 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 11 p.m. on weekends.

Monday is the hardest night in the village. The Porterhouse and Rustic Taco are closed. LULU Taqueria is open 4 to 8 p.m., both canal pubs stay open, and Allende serves until 10 p.m. The Cannery's newest kitchen keeps the longest Monday hours in the village center.

Morning Coffee Changes Too

The off-season shift reaches breakfast as well. WROC reported on September 25 that the South Main Street Starbucks, which opened in July 2025, is on the chain's national closure list. A closing sign has been posted.

The village's independent cafés open early. Junction361 on North Main opens at 7 a.m., 8 a.m. on Sunday, and has live music Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. FairPour Coffee Roasters in The Cannery opens every day at 8 a.m. Clementine Coffee in the Box Factory serves espresso with Mexican home cooking Monday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Alter Ego Eatery runs an entirely gluten-free kitchen Wednesday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Riki's, in the 1932 Fairport Hotel building a minute from the bridge, serves breakfast and lunch from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day.

The Dates That Fill the Gap Until Spring

Once the boats leave, the calendar moves indoors and to the Town of Perinton, with one big holiday weekend on Main Street. All of these dates fall between now and New Year's:

1. Halloween Parade, Friday, October 23, 6 to 8 p.m. The parade gathers at Johanna Perrin Middle School and walks to Potter Park. The Fairport Fire Department serves refreshments, and the co-sponsors are Fairport Rotary Club, Chase Farms and Squires Orthodontics. The winner of the Jack-o-Lantern Carving Contest will be announced there. Event details from Perinton Recreation.
2. Robot Revelry, Saturday, November 7, 1 to 3 p.m. A family STEM afternoon that collects non-perishable food for the Perinton Food Shelf.
3. Turkey Jam, Wednesday, November 25, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Aquatic center and gym activities the day before Thanksgiving, also collecting for the food shelf.
4. Come Home for the Holidays, Saturday and Sunday, December 5 and 6. The Fairport Perinton Merchants Association's annual holiday weekend. The merchants list the dates on Find It In Fairport but have not yet posted the program.
5. Visit with the Grinch, Sunday, December 6, 10 to 11 a.m.
6. Home for the Holidays with the Perinton Concert Band, Friday, December 11, 7 to 9 p.m. A concert, with Santa making an appearance.
7. Noon Year's Eve Party, Thursday, December 31, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Poolside family activities timed for children who won't make it to midnight.

Blackbird's planned December opening lines up with the end of that list. If it opens on schedule, Fairport will have a rooftop bar over the canal in the season when the canal is quietest and a former factory is carrying the village's evenings.

Part of my work is knowing how a place actually runs from season to season: which kitchens stay open on a Monday in January, and which corners get quiet until the bridge starts lifting again. If you're thinking about what the Fairport calendar means for your own plans, or you'd simply like a second opinion on where to take visiting family in December, I'm glad to talk it through. Let's connect. Renee DeMars