Stone Creek — Restaurant in Town of Marcellus

So, I’m sure you have gone to restaurants where you’re curious because they’re new and the menu is a little different and they’re a little off the beaten path and the menu looks good and your expectations are not necessarily all hyped up. The place opened on July 7. The wait staff was clearly well trained and mentioned that chef had them tasting everything so that they could comment somewhat intelligently on anything that someone might order and at least tell them their likes and dislikes and hopefully why His riff on Utica greens involved warmed, but not fully wilted, baby kale and pickled Fresnos. The parmigiano Reggiano was in small cubes. At first, when it arrived, I was not sure this was actually Utica greens as it also had thinly sliced brussels sprouts in the mix. One bite and I was curious was this actually what I ordered the second bite I was in love. The “wedge“ was a spherical cap of cold crisp iceberg, surrounded by a homemade “ranch“. A pepper oil ringed the preparation. the kicker to this all was the trompe de l’oeil topping, which was not crispy fried onions, but instead lightly dusted fine strips of red pepper, exquisitely, crunchy and crispy and flavorful. The succotash had me. With its corn, tiny beans that I could not tell if they were actually lima’s or soy beans, and a few wisps of kale in only enough butter to coat the vegetables and not pool at the bottom of the serving dish. Very toothsome and not overcooked. The blackened mahi sandwich was not overpowering, probably because it was not over salted. The fish was sliced thick enough to be recognizable and remain soft but thin enough to have body and not squirt all over the place. It was served with a coleslaw with a hint of thousand island to it But no red. Simple cabbage and herb. One of the things I particularly liked, except for a comment that will follow, as that things were not overalled. Thank goodness! My only criticisms are personal preference and not the restaurant itself. I tried some of the french fries, which were shoestrings. Crispy on the outside, a little over salted, but not oily and still a little bit of potato feel on the inside. I tend to like more potato than crisp and more like “steak fries“. They were good nonetheless. Everything was perfectly cooked. Everything… Except the wedge, of course. :-) The Utica greens were an interpretation that I loved that I wasn’t sure that they had brought the right dish, but I am a believer in the Socratic concept of destroying all preconceptions, and I’m glad I did I was pleasantly surprised in a way that I have not been at a restaurant that I thought would be just a rehashing, however, well prepared or not It will be interesting to see how this chef who clearly wants to use local ingredients and stay in season will handle the...

Here's the real review and this was based off of several people in my group. The overall thought is there is great potential here. Lots of good things and many frustrating things.

Atmosphere: Loud and warm. We were here on a night when it was about 75 degrees outside and it was very hot in the restaurant. We knew it was a bad sign when the front door and the bar area doors were both wide open which wouldn't happen if the air conditioning were properly working. It was very warm and my group was sweating. We were told that the vents cannot accommodate the entire restaurant and the kitchen was 120 degrees. They said they needed to get it fixed. It was also very loud in the dining room so be prepared to talk loudly.

Service: Very friendly but pretty bad. We ordered drinks and then appetizers. We finished our apps before the drinks got there. It took about 30 mins to get our drinks. They did apologize and said the ticket got lost. They also asked me if I wanted a chilled glass for my beer and I said, "yes". It never came even though I was told 3 times that they would get it... each time with an apology. We had to ask for water a few times as well.

Food: The drinks were excellent once we finally got them. The food was tasty but every dish was flawed. For example, the calamari was fine. Not hot but the cornmeal crust was a nice change of pace from typical fried calamari. The lobster carbonara had big chunks of lobster and the sauce was fantastic. However, the guanciale -- which is like a pork belly -- was disgusting. There were large chunks of fat in the dish and nobody ate them. The mahi was delicious but there were no vegetable at all on the plate. For $32, there should be more than a small amount of rice and a piece of fish. The pork chop was big and tasty with the sauce being the highlight. However, the person requested it medium rare and it came medium well. Also, they were out of mashed potatoes which comes with it.

So, just be prepared that there will be many things you will probably enjoy about the restaurant but also don't be surprised if things are also frustrating. For the price we paid, all 6 of us agreed that we won't be going back...

I dined at Stone Creek last night and was blown away. It was truly excellent in all ways. The service was impeccable and our waitress did an amazing job of highlighting the special dishes. Drinks were interesting and fantastic. All the food was 10/10 in terms of flavor, presentation, and had extremely generous portions. I had the best wedge salad and pork chop I’ve ever eaten. I was at a table for 2 and we had plenty of space. It felt intimate but not too crowded.

The price point is extremely reasonable for what you get—trust me.

I was looking around and every table was full and everyone was clearly having an amazing dining experience. My advice to you is to take these “1 star” reviews with a massive grain of “salt”—they don’t know what they’re talking about. I very rarely write reviews but I realized that out of the 100 people that were there having an amazing time, very few would share their 5-star experience on here.

This establishment is top notch and competes with the best restaurants we’ve been to in our major US (and Canadian) cities. I’m so proud we have a place like this in CNY—I drove 40 minutes from Manlius and it was so worth it. I will come again and again.

Bravi to the owners for investing so much in this restaurant and best wishes for much success and many more great dining experiences!

PS: pictured is the pork chop w/brussels sprouts and their famous loaded baked potato, and the...