Bistro 197 — Restaurant in City of Oswego

We live in Oswego, and have visited your business several times because we like to shop locally. We decided to make a reservation for Valentine’s Day a couple weeks in advance because you normally have a great menu for vegans. We arrived at the restaurant and were dismayed to find the standard menu replaced with the special Valentine’s Day menu, and only told of that as well after ordering drinks from the bar. When we originally called to make the reservation, we were never told of this either. Regardless, there were vegan options on this menu so we decided to press forward. We ordered our courses, and waited for our first course to arrive. I had gotten the French onion soup, and when it came out it ended up being lukewarm like it had been sitting out for quite a while. I understand this is not the servers fault, so I asked her if she would take it back and get another. She obliged, and about 10-15 minutes went by without her ever coming back to our table. I finally flagged down a hostess who said she would go find her. When the Waitress came back to our table, I asked her if there was any update on the soup, and she said “well obviously it is not ready yet, but I will go check.” She had an attitude as if I was inconveniencing her, and went back to get another soup. After I finally received the soup, i told myself “it’s fine, maybe it is a stressful night” as it was a bit busy when we were first seated. Once the salads arrived, i dove into my wedge salad, and found that the bacon pieces were as hard as stale bread, and were essentially croutons on my wedge salad And the core of the lettuce was not cut off properly, and brown and dirty. The final course arrived for us, and my Sirloin was swapped out for a Filet Mignon without mentioning it to me prior or offering me any other choices other than setting it on the table in front of me. As the night went on, it cleared out pretty substantially, with multiple tables opening up and remaining open through our dinner. We saw other wait staff being attentive to their tables, but we did not receive the same attention. We arrived at 7pm, and did not end up leaving until well after 9pm, and not by any choice of our own. Once we finally asked for the check, it was an additional 25 minutes until we were finally putting our coats on and heading out the door. For such a huge price tag that was on your Valentine’s Day menu, we were both upset and disheartened that the service we received was less than adequate, and that the food itself was also less than acceptable for such...

This place is great!

The short version: The food was tasty, ambiance was cozy, and the staff was EXTRAORDINARY!

The Long Version:

We were driving from Canada to Philadelphia and made a stop in Oswego. We did a quick search and came upon Bistro 197. Our waiter (I think his name was Jason) was funny, informative, and regularly checked on us. The crab bisque was just what we needed on this particularly cold, snowy night, and the seared tuna was on another level. I live in Philly where the food is top notch, and this was up there.

I had a fun basil drink which was herbaceous and refreshing, and my boyfriend enjoyed his beer as well as ordering it with it's funny name. I am so mad at myself, because I meant to take a photo of the drink menu, but maybe it's good I haven't spoiled it for you. The drink list is HILARIOUS! Jason had to come back to get our drink order because we were having too much fun reading it rather than ordering from it. Creative and tasty!

Now, once we left to get back in the car and check into our lodging for the night, we noticed we had a FLAT TIRE. Mind you, it was snowing, we weren't from the area, and it was getting really late. We came back in and sat at the bar while we tried to get in touch with AAA. What started off as a nuisance quickly turned to potential disaster.

AAA wouldn't come out, we couldn't leave the car or it would be towed even though we would happily leave it and cab to our location, and we didn't know how to change out the tire for the spare donut tire.

Not only did the staff save us from burning out all of gas, our battery, and then freezing to death, but they were so, so funny and kind. Genevieve and Maddy, you rock! I've never felt so welcomed and taken care of. Seriously, they had every right to tell us to scram but they didn't. Saints!

Since AAA wouldn't come help us with our tire, wouldn't come tow us, and if we left the car we'd get towed by the city, the Bistro 197's wonderful, sweet, and talented handy man (it's killing me I can't remember his name - points for 3 out of 4) volunteered to put on our tire for us. OMG this man SAVED US! I tried to give him the last of my cash, but he wouldn't take it. If someone can tell me this mans name, if he has his own yelp or site, or whatever, I would love to review his page too.

If the delicious food won't convince you, go here for the wonderful staff at Bistro 197. I can't thank...

Bistro 197 has two very different personalities regarding its interior design elements. The left side is bright & more traditionally bistro feeling being very open, the right side is warmer, intimate & more upscale bar feeling, with two TV’s playing a mix of sports-ball & pro-wrestling. The staff is friendly. Our server did spill my wife’s serrano & peach pepper martini on my wife & forgot to take my dinner order & my friend’s dinner order & returned later with an apology to take them. Expect a fresh, playful, & tasty craft cocktail program with fresh garnishes & delicious ingredients. There are New & Old World wines for many meals & occasions, including some local CNY wines. The beer & cider list is varied & leans toward regional New England craft beer selections on draught & in cans & bottles. Swill beers are also available for troglodytes dining out trying to “keep it real”. The menus are wittily designed for the astute eye with puns & themes here & there. The oysters are fresh & shucked clean on the half shell, & are accompanied by a bright & lovely mignonette. The beef short rib & gnocchis was comforting & post food coma inducing. I like my short rib with more fat between the muscle fibers, this was a bit over cooked & leaning toward dry, but quite tasty, especially the balsamic BBQ sauce it was served with. The crispy spring rolls with a spare amount of duck, ample cream cheese, & fruity hoisin sauce was comforting & tasty, & large enough to share between two people. The cadence of service is leisurely & occasionally absent for extended periods, yielding way for ample engaging conversation time. As long as you know this & take action to speak up & order more drinks, then you will thoroughly enjoy yourselves. The live music was free but worth paying for. We tipped the band via the convenient QR code on the table. I will definitely return to explore more of the menu, including the handful of mussels dishes & more oysters. This is likely the best restaurant for intimate...