The Upstate Tavern — Restaurant in Town of Verona

We were at Turning Stone for a concert and decided to dine here. And so glad we did. Everything about our experience was top notch. We selected this option because it looked fun and we weren't in the mood for anything fancy. There was a wait, about an hour, to get a table. The gentleman who took our information was welcoming and knowledgeable. They texted us when our table was ready and the same gentleman quickly seated us. This establishment has a fun and warm atmosphere, a sports bar feel. But we felt it was nicer than your typical sports bar. And I will say this very clearly: loved how clean this place was. That says a lot about a place, and, sadly, these days you don't always get that everywhere. Our server was excellent! She left us waiting for nothing! And, again, we appreciated that because great service is not that common these days. But our server was on it. Her recommendations were great, she knew the specials well and was able to offer informed opinions.

The food: we started with the poutine as an appetizer and it was delicious! The portion was so generous that we probably could have just had that as our meal. For our main selections, my wife had the Cobb Salad and I had the Shaved Beef on Weck. Both were excellent, both were very generous portions. We would have loved dessert, because the ones we saw other diners enjoying looked great, but we were full.

Something that really stood out: towards the end of our meal, a well dressed gentleman approached us and politely asked how everything was. I'm assuming he was the manager. We told him we were pleased with everything and he thanked us. Now, we really appreciated that, because that doesn't happen at most other establishments. That is a sign that a place really cares about, and works hard to please, its customers.

To sum up: this place is great, delivered in all the ways we value, and is fairly priced to boot!...

First off, dinner was good and the atmosphere was very comfortable with sports on the tv's and a well lit environment, very friendly.

We got the fried macaroni and cheese bites appetizer, it was good but a bit greasy and obviously a frozen product.

We both got the Chucks Tavern Burger, well prepared, and quite tasty. My criticism would have to be thet the brioche bun, while well toasted and a good bun, was too small for the size burger patty it carried. The burger over hung the sides of the bun and therefore there was no bun available to contain burger toppings that tried to escape.

I added bacon, caramelized onions, and a fried egg to my burger. The bacon was good but otherwise unremarkable, the fried egg was good if not a bit underdone for my liking, maybe another 20-30 seconds on the heat to tighten up the yolk a bit more so it doesn't all run off the burger. And the caramelized onions were very tasty and sweet, but chopped too small and therefore hard to contain. The romaine lettuce leaf, red onion, and tomato were served on the side of the burger. I guess that if one were to ask why they would be told it was so that the heat of the burger didn't wilt the lettuce. But I suspect it is more to make the plate look full with just a burger and handful of fries on it. The fries were wonderfully crispy and golden outside and fluffy and delicious on the inside, could have used a bit more salt but I like salty fries and I don't eat ketchup, so the fries have to stand on their own for me.

All that being said, would definetly eat there again. There were several other menu items I would...

We've been here many times, and usually the food is pretty good! Unfortunately, this time one of our two meals was cold. We had 2 meals, one fresh from the broiler, one that obviously was done well before that one. Couldn't send it back as it was a steak, and the sauce was so cold it was congealed. Chicken wings were a bit soggy, one seemed really undercooked and didn't get eaten a a result. Mac and cheese was piping hot, but dry and a little crunchy.

Wait staff was nice, I guess, but hard to know... they never checked in on us. Only interaction other than taking our order was to ask if I was done, as she noticed much of my cold meal uneaten. Didn't seem to care that I only ate about a third of it. Seeing that, a good server would ensure the meal was OK, I would think...

Also, the menu has changed drastically since our last visit... disappointed to see a couple of favorites gone.

Overall, wings, 2 meals, a soda, and a whiskey sour was 90 bucks without tip. Could have done better for that price, IMO.

Not for nothing, and I admittedly have no idea how restaurants make the decisions on where patrons are seated, but after we were seated, we were ultimately put between 2 parties, on one side, a larger group that was a bit noisy showed, and on the other side we were about 3 feet away from another couple. The place was empty! And before you answer, they were different waitresses for the tables. This didn't impact my...