Bull and Bear Roadhouse — Restaurant in Town of De Witt

Stopped at Bull and Bear in East Syracuse on the way home from vacation. Great come as you are type of setting. Options for inside or outside seating. My partner and I were there for a late lunch early dinner, and was still moderately busy. The server was helpful, kind and attentive despite being the only waitress (seems to be the trend these days). Overall it was a good experience with decent food. If we are in the area we would stop again, but wouldn't likely go out of our way. We ordered 23oz blue moons ($8 each, a better deal for the 23oz I later learned). We shared a firecracker shrimp which was tasty, but not as crispy as one would hope for. I would have almost preferred them grilled rather than fried. We shared a full rack of of St. Louis style ribs. Different than what we are used to. They were not bad. Tender, moist and cooked well. The rub, to me, was too salty to the point they it became one note and took ober the ribs. The BBQ sauce was good,, tangy and sweet which helped to cut the sauce somewhat. For side, an order of sweets w/maple butter. I assumed (incorrectly) that this would have been mashed sweet potatoes with maple butter, it was not. Was sweet potato fries. The maple butter for dipping did not work in my opinion. The butter did not have maple flavor at all and was gritty (like maybe maple sugar was used?), The slaw was ok, average as coleslaw goes. I added pepper. We ordered corn bread which a side order comes with 2. It was moist and tasted good. My partner wanted fries with gravy. Fries were good. I didn't care for the gravy as it had too much spice heat for me but she liked it. We took home an order of the funnel cake dessert poutine which was very good in...

Bull and Bear Roadhouse: More Bull Than Bear for My Brisket

Bull and Bear Roadhouse sounds like a place where cowboys wrangle their taste buds on hearty, delicious fare. Let's just say my experience was a bit more... rodeo clown than championship bull rider.

The cheese curds? Well, they were cheese curds. You get what you expect, a delightful little appetizer that's hard to mess up. But then came the Brisket Caesar. Now, I'm a brisket enthusiast, the kind of person who cheers for smokers in BBQ competitions. This brisket, however, left me feeling like I'd wandered into the wrong corral. It was soft, which sounds good in theory, but the texture was eerily reminiscent of pressed lunchmeat. Not exactly what I signed up for at the Bull and Bear. Sadly, I couldn't even finish it.

Thankfully, my dining companions fared better. My friend soared with the wings, and the other seemed to enjoy his "Poutine So Mean" – a dish title that sounds more like a threat than a culinary creation.

Service: The staff were friendly and attentive, like a good cattle dog herding you to your table.

The Verdict: Bull and Bear Roadhouse has its merits. Wings seem like a safe bet, and the poutine might pack a punch (in a good way?). Just maybe avoid the brisket Caesar unless you're a fan of mystery meat textures. This rodeo might be better suited for some, but for me, it was a bit...

My fiancée and I stopped in for some lunch, it wasn’t overly busy. We were seated fairly quick. We ordered drinks, an app to share as well as a sandwich each. The fried pickles were alright, hardly any breading on some. My fiancée got a chicken sandwich off the regular menu, I got the sandwich of the month, “call me peaches”. The chicken on both was VERY crispy, more breading than meat. Both sandwiches had too many pickles, especially for a sandwich that boasted its peach slaw. I wound up having a pile of pickles on the tray because they all slid off the sandwich. The bun was soggy and drenched in slaw and sauce to the point that I gave up eating it all together. What really left me aghast was the fact that the waitress saw my hands covered in saucy slaw and had the audacity to ask if we needed more napkins, to which my fiancé said “yes please!” When she returned to the table, she handed him 1 (ONE), singular napkin. I understand that everyone has bad days but as someone who has worked waiting tables, it always paid off to be personable. Just being polite doesn’t cut it. All employees looked like they hated their jobs. Overall: Less than stellar, probably...