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What are some of your favorite restaurants in Syracuse? I will get the ball rolling:
Italian:
Dominicks - Huge portion at '80s price.
Saucy Swan - Very tasty food. Homely and cosy. Unique cotton candy with a different flavor everyday served as desert at the end.
Mexican:
Alto Cinco - Great food. Very college feel. Tight space. Catfish burrito a must try.
Fish Fry:
Kitty Hoynes - Nice Irish restaurant. Ginanormous portion. Very reasonable price.
Korean:
Chorong's House - Restaurant is nothing special..you are literally in someone's else home. Best Korean food I have ever taste (and I have been to Korea). 15% service fee automatically on the bill. Surprisingly on the pricey side.
I wish I could contribute more... my husband and I tend to go to the same places for the same meals. We try other places at all kinds of price ranges and end up wishing we went to our regulars instead. lol
I'm not big on Italian because I make it at home pretty frequently. I'm not Italian but I grew up in my godmother's Italian family. Even ordering is awkward because they don't often know what I mean and I forget to order it by the spelling. Biscotti is bish-gaught (and I make/eat it how I was taught- savory and with pepper and served with espresso), ricotta is rig-aught, manicotti is mani-gaught, etc. We only like going to Carrabba's in Fayetteville for nicer dinners and
we rarely order Italian there... we go for the bloody steaks, garlic mashed potatoes and *amazing* kahlua-soaked brownies with chocolate mousse between the layers and topped with real whipped cream and hot fudge. My sisters will even accept that dessert as payment for babysitting. lol. Yes- it's a chain... it's also the only place where we can get a rare-as-possible steak that's always tender and perfectly seasoned. I don't think we ever leave there for less than $100. We also like going there to meet up for apps/drinks with friends, WHEN we go out for that. They have a huge platter of great white wine/butter/garlic mussels for $10. Again though, we rarely go out for that since we have a full bar stocked at home. It really irks me to pay $32+$6 tip for 4 double vodka tonics, for DH and me, when I know that the real cost is somewhere around $5 or less. lol - what can I say? I'm cheap but tip well... it's the worst of both worlds. :P
Japanese/Chinese - Oriental Star (Japanese) in Fayetteville - sit down or take out. GREAT sushi, a decent variety of Japanese beer and they offer the typical "Chinese place menu" as well. Pretty low prices, imo. During lunch-mid-afternoon hours, you can buy 3 rolls of sushi for $9.95. It goes up to a whopping $12.95 at night. lol - and it's GOOD sushi.
Papa Gallo's is great Mexican/Spanish-inspired food, if you like cilantro. They're heavy with it so if you don't, be aware.
Mully's has great pub fare... shockingly good, actually. I used to work there and the place is clean and they manage to put out good food.
Fish fry at Coleman's is good. It's a tradition in our family, to go to the Good Friday service at Sacred Heart Basilica and then to Coleman's for the fish fry, for our one meal that day. I think everything there is good with the exception of their chicken riggies and corned beef, of all things... they don't cook it long enough. Their vodka sauce is a-maz-ing, however. And you can't beat the ambiance.
Kitty Hoynes has a great shepherd's pie (kicked up a notch with a splash of brandy) and the only Irish soda bread I've ever liked. Once upon a time, I had brandy beef stew there. OMG. The mushrooms and beef, swirling around in broth that seemed like bordelaise... wow. I hope they still have it, for all of your sakes.
it's also the only place where we can get a rare-as-possible steak that's always tender and perfectly seasoned..
And that's something that's increasingly difficult to find around these parts. Syracuse is a "Pittsburgh-rare" kind of town - unless I'm at a more upscale place, any kind of beef ordered rare comes to the table at least medium-well, without fail.
The catfish burrito at Alto is outstanding, and their guac is very good, too. Asti is my go-to dinner spot in Little Italy; in that neighborhood, Biscotti has terrific pasties, Columbus has great bread, and Lombardi's is a very good grocery (and, on the days when they have bread deliveries coming in from DiLauro's, makes great sandwiches at the back deli counter).
Darwin on Clinton Square is doing great things with sandwiches. It's one of a small class of real foodie places in Syracuse, the sort of place that Man v. Food would stop by if the show didn't prefer the places with mass appeal.
bc is always terrific. New Century is one of the best Vietnamese places I've been to, anywhere. I'm a huge fan of the food at Kitty Hoynes (I never expected to find great food in a place that appears to primarily be a bar). L'Adour has a great atmosphere and an excellent chef; it is also a very good fallback for seafood in a town that is a bit short in that category.
Syracuse is a very underrated food town (for those who know where to go). My only gripe (aside from the bizarre obsession with overcooking steaks and burgers) is the lack of good bagels and other assorted deli food. As the city's Jewish population drifted eastward and spread out over a wider area, a big culinary void was left in the city. It seems strange to have a Northeastern city of this size without any adequate bagelries or kosher delis. There's a million-dollar idea for any chef who has a way with pastrami and is looking to relocate to a place with extremely low rents.
Thai--AppeThaizing..one on the Hill, and another coming soon in the Clay/Baldwinsville area.....corner of 57 and 31 by the large grocery store.
Rileys--just plain good food and cocktails at a decent price. Service is always good; atmosphere is genuine. Probably the best place in the Syracuse area to get real food, well prepared, without pretense. Stands up to the best of them...but doesn't intentionally try to be foo-foo at all.
My only gripe (aside from the bizarre obsession with overcooking steaks and burgers) is the lack of good bagels and other assorted deli food.
What about Brueger's and Brooklyn Pickle? They're not hipster, unknown hole-in-the-wall places, but I think they're still pretty solid. BP is as good a deli as I think you'll find anywhere and certainly as good as anywhere in Cuse
And that's something that's increasingly difficult to find around these parts. Syracuse is a "Pittsburgh-rare" kind of town - unless I'm at a more upscale place, any kind of beef ordered rare comes to the table at least medium-well, without fail.
I don't know why people order good, expensive meat anything but rare... you might as well just broil a cheap grocery store steak to death at home for $6. I like enough blood to pool around as a sauce for my starch. lol - German grandpas will instill, I guess, a love of bloody beef, warm/dark beer, stinky cheese, dark/grainy breads and seedy, spicy mustards. :P
And maybe a taste for whiskey from all the sips snuck out of his standby glass? lol
proulxfamily...yum. i'm headed off to market for...bloody beef, dark beer, some stinky cheese and already have some dark brown bread rising.
have you ever had beer cheese?
let some really sharp chedder, come to room temp, & put it in a food processor w/ some flat dark beer and blend until it's a spread. eat with pretzel sticks.
What about Brueger's and Brooklyn Pickle? They're not hipster, unknown hole-in-the-wall places, but I think they're still pretty solid. BP is as good a deli as I think you'll find anywhere and certainly as good as anywhere in Cuse
Brooklyn Pickle (the Midler location; I've never been to the Westside one) has let me down one too many times in the past few months. Quality control is really non-existant. I've just about given up; I really used to enjoy their sandwiches. Even when they were good, though, I don't think they made their own corned beef or pastrami - they was essentially just very high quality cold cuts.
Bruegger's is consistent; I'll give them that. I'm not crazy about their bagels, though. I'll gladly eat them, but they're not my favorite.
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