The Cider Mill — Restaurant in Town of Onondaga

Traveling through New York, we stumbled upon this really lovely location. The service is even more friendly than the reviews can attest, from the owner to the waitstaff, we were blown away by the kindness and hospitality while also still given our space to enjoy our meal. This place has mastered balance. Super bonus that they were amazing with our Pooch on the patio. Our food was beautifully plated, perfect to sometimes large portions paired with fresh ingredients and balanced flavors. You get so much bang for your buck here as a road tripping foodie.

The buratta with fresh grilled peaches, pecans and hot honey is a flavor combo I am now going to have to have more regularly in my life! The arachinni started with a delightful crunchy exterior that gave way to tender risotto and flavor packed mushrooms. For beverages, we chose the cider mill mule and the Strawberry Rhubarb negroni. Both were well crafted, the negroni perfectly balanced on just being a tad sweet while still bursting with fresh strawberry flavor and I believe Rhubarb bitters. I had the salmon with farfelle and my partner, the quarter chicken. My portion was huge, bright with dill and capers, the pasta al dente. The smoke from the salmon added a beautiful base note to the cream sauce that danced on the line of rich yet light with the offered lemon wedge that I spritzed it with. The chicken.....Oh damn, the chicken! I don't think we have ever had chicken so masterfully prepared that the skin was just the right amount of crispy, the glaze's heat was light and sweet. The meat was moist, falling off the bone. We almost ordered a second! Miraculously, we still had room for dessert. The apple cider donut is just as beautiful as the photos in all the reviews show it to be. The donut was fabulous. As a donut AND autumn lover, I had high hopes and they were not let down. It had great structure, able to support a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream without ever becoming stogie. Its flavor was lightly of apple, not too sugary and overall a great way to wrap up our night. We definitely took the place up on the 'buy a pitcher for the kitchen', they deserved that an more!

I cannot urge you strongly enough to stop here if you have the chance. Thank you, The Cider Mill for being a surprise highlight...

I went this summer and again last night. I vowed to myself in the summer I would not go back… but we needed a quick meal last night and we ordered take out again.

The first time we went I ordered A TON of food for the wife and I because we like to try a decent portion of the menu and have leftovers for later. We ordered 2 apps, 3 entrees, and shared a desert; over a few of their signature drinks.

The drinks were good, the apps were plentiful, and the timing was right on. We ordered the Steak, Chicken Thighs, and a lobster roll. Everything was decent, the steak was a little over cooked for my liking, but the lobster roll, was not edible. We couldn’t even take a bite. Both my wife and I spit it out and respectfully asked them to take the plate away because we could not eat it. We went on enjoying our meal figuring the lobster roll would be taken off our bill.

No apologies, no questions, and no it was not taken off our bill. When I asked why it was still on the bill, they went and got the chef and said he would like to talk to us.

He was the most rude person I’ve ever encountered and I have worked in the culinary field for 20 years. He was so offended like I was calling him ugly or something because I didn’t like the food. He went on to ask me 20 questions about why I didn’t like it, what about it I didn’t like, and told me he had served 37 of them today without a complaint. After some scratching and clawing I got them to take it off the bill.

Last night, we ordered take out. Again the food was ok, the apps and desserts were good again but the main courses was lackluster. Shrimp tacos with 3 tiny shrimps in them filled with corn for 20$!? Do better.

Best part is we specifically asked for Demi glaze instead of bbq sauce on our braised short ribs and they covered the short ribs in whole peppercorn balls. As they fell into my meal it made the ENTIRE thing inedible. Spent the whole night picking little balls out of my food instead of enjoying a Demi glazed covered short rib like ordered. I didn’t even have any Demi glaze on or in my box just a huge pile of peppercorn balls on top of my food. Almost like the chef said you want to change it, then I’ll make it so you can’t eat it. Never again. Never never never...

After reading several positive reviews from locals my wife and I made a date night reservation to check this place out. We were promptly greeted with a warm welcome from the host. It was nice to see that on a Wednesday at 6pm the restaurant was almost full with happy patrons. Our server, Lucinda greeted us and was very helpful with suggestions on their new spring/summer cocktail list. My wife had the “pickle” cocktail and I had one of their Manhattans. Both were delicious and the pickle cocktail surprisingly different from the norm. We took Lucinda’s suggestions on starters and shared the oysters Rockefeller and lamb lollipops. They happily obliged to leave the Parmesan breadcrumbs off the oysters as I am dairy free. Nothing was lost, the oysters were delicious and fresh. The lamb lollipops were a perfect shareable app but could’ve benefited from a little more of the sauce (pomegranate reduction?). For entrees my wife had the Rigges and I had the double cut pork chop. Again everything arrived promptly and hot after we had finished our apps. Portions were large and could easily be shared. Pork chop was cooked to perfection but I regret not asking for of the chimmichuri sauce that came with it. Lucinda was great and so friendly she made us feel very comfortable. And a note on the ambience and atmosphere while we were there; all the staff and patrons were in such a great mood, there was such a positive vibe. We didn’t have room for dessert but this clearly won’t be our last visit. Very well done and I...