Blarney Stone — Restaurant in City of Syracuse

I heard a lot about this being the best burger in The 'Cuse and as that is my favorite food item, I had to make a trip. Wow, am I glad I did.

But I need to get few warnings to all out first... if you do not like big crowds, avoid SU game times. It is packed with a sea of Orange. The bar and the food are ordered in different places. The entire place is cash only (There is an ATM on site near the bar.) and it's find your own spot to sit (this can be hard after the game starts).

You order at a pretty obvious counter on the opposite end of the building as the bar (to the left when you come through the main entrance) and they call out your name over a speaker to pick up when it's ready.

They have SU game specials for both food and drinks, but it's also very busy, even for early mid-day games. There are TV's everywhere so every seat has a good view of the game. That being said, the game will be on everywhere, so that's what you're watching, but it's a cool atmosphere and honestly was more fun than being in The Dome.

I was lucky enough to time my entry to five minutes before tip off and got a bar table and they had a game special of a 1/2 pound burger with crumbly blue cheese and bacon with fries for an unbelievably low price. I was a little worried because it was pretty cheap, but just wow, what a fantastic burger. Cooked perfectly, almost falling apart hand patty with crispy bacon and a really nice bun. Fries were also pretty good, not on the level of burger but I did finish them and I often don't. My partner got the standard cheeseburger and was also incredibly happy with it. I also ordered the "hot BarBQ" wings in a togo box. I was only able to have a couple at the table as I was so full from the burger. They were tasty, but didn't have much heat for "Hot". Still a really nice flavor. I would order again, but would ask for crispy as they were pretty soft.

The bar had a nice selection of taps, bottles and cans as well as a nice liquor selection with several nice whiskey's. Wherever I travel I always get a burger and this quickly jumped to one of my favorites. We will definitely be back...

01/2023: The burger tonight was back to the level I expect from Blarneys as my favorite in the area. The fries still aren’t quite where they used to be, but instead of being 5/10 compared to the old fries like they were in August, they are more like 8 or 9/10 compared to the old fries, which is still excellent. The wings were also solid though I’ll need to remember to ask for them to be crispier next time to match my preferences. Minor complaint/thing to keep in mind, if you make the mistake of going on a game night you can’t get a free glass of water from the bar, you have to pay for a bottle of water. They’ve also removed the steak sauce I used to dip my fries into and moved the malt vinegar to be packets you have to ask to cooks for. Not a deal breaker since I enjoy the food so much, just a bit of a bummer.

08/2022: Stopped by while back in town. While the staff is still great as always, the burger and fries were probably the worst I’d had since in the dozens of times I’ve been here since I first started coming back in around 2014. Based on last images the fries looked different than they had in all my prior visits so maybe they had to switch up. Not changing the rating since one bad meal out of dozens of visits isn’t a huge deal to me.

12/2021: The lack of any masks was a bit concerning considering how densely packed it is inside, but the staff is still great and the food is as good as it was years ago when was going multiple times a week. Blarneys is still what I reference when I think of what I want...

My colleagues and I come here quite often after work. We have been for years. Sometimes a couple of us come for a beer and a burger, sometimes a group of us go out for drinks or to celebrate something someone has going on. We have always enjoyed the atmosphere here. Theblast 2 times we have been there, the OWNER was so incredibly rude to us. He told us we were taking up too many of his tables and it was a busy night. We had a fairly large group, every one of us ordered food and drinks..quite a bit if both actually.. The first time, i assumed he was having a bad dat and let it go.. we had never had an issue before. A week later, same response from the owner. We took up 3 tables for probably 15 to 20 people.. we fit as many of us as we could at those 3 tables.. but again he came to us...rudely.. and complained we were taking up tables and he had customers waiting. So ok sir..we heard you. We all work in public service and within the community and have enjoyed your establishment for years as a place we can come after work, relax, have a beer or 2, a burger and destress from the day. We will however, find a new place to go, and share our experiences with others as well. I can honestly say we have never been treated like that ever, anywhere. Its...