The 10 best American restaurants in Oswego

I was impressed at the upscale decor. Then came the shocking surprise that it was tied to a Best Western. Form there came the awe of a beautiful covered patio with a view of the river and lake. The stage was set for greatness, but then... I really wanted to give a higher rating because of the awesome outdoor bartender, but I was so disappointed in the food that I would rate it in my bottom 5 of worst seafood dinners. I've been traveling for 21 years and always pay full price, tip over 20%, and then if there were any issues, try to leave evidence of what was wrong and point it out for the kitchen staff to correct for the future, which I did. Captains Broiled Platter... Sounded good, looked good, and failed to meat even the most remote expectations. Shrimp, scallops, haddock, and lobster claw were all extremely overcooked. The haddock was so bland it required salt, pepper and tarter sauce to still remain dry and unimpressive. The grilled squash was cooked well, but again, needed seasoning. I think the worst was the lobster claws. When you crack open a shell and a dry rubbery piece of meat has shriveled to half its size that butter doesn't help, you know there is a problem. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Five stars for the location, the beauty of the establishment and the service. You really can't have a better location than this: on the Oswego Canal by the Oswego River and at the entrance of Lake Ontario. The restaurant takes advantage of this location by having a large outdoor seating area with an outdoor bar. Also the inside has lots of big windows all around so you can enjoy the view even when inside. The decor is pretty and sober. It is a very large restaurant. We sat at the indoor bar and our bartender, Lyndsay, was attentive and conversational even when busy. Note that the restaurant is attached to the Best Western Hotel. They have a full bar yet the wine menu is limited and common. The food menu looks interesting. As it was Friday we ordered the special, Prime Rib. It was cooked correctly but it lacked flavor even when dipped in the Au Jus and the horseradish sauce. It comes with a side salad which was a nice mix of mesclun and had a good dressing, I ordered it with balsamic vinaigrette. We ordered double side of vegetables instead of vegetables and mashed potatoes. The vegetables were steamed properly yet lacked flavor and presentation.

Service was spot on, very attentive and observant. Food was extraordinary and arrived in the proper order and in due time. The drinks, from a multitude of beers, wines and mixed drinks, down to the virgin cocktails and sodas arrived quickly and refilled without hesitation. Myself and my fiance will definitely be returning and will be encouraging friends and coworkers to come experience fine dining by the water

This is our new go to spot ! Its a 90 min drive for us but its so worth it!! The ambiance alone is to die for if you love the water like we do ! Now add the food and OMG !! Its the place to make memories !!!

Place is closed for the winter. Will be open Memorial weekend. Beautiful place, Staff goes out of your way to make you Feel comfortable. ❤ Aex's on the Water 💧

Showed up early on a stormy day and was seated in seconds. Dinner was great, the fried pickles and French fry’s were the absolute best!

The place is beatiful, but I didn't like the drinks and the chicken in my salad had no taste

I was pleasantly surprised finding this place inside of a hotel of all places. The menu is good. It is varied. You can get bar grub under 20 bucks or splurge and get a nice entrée whether it’d be land or sea the seafood platter broiled was the best in the area. I came back twice in one week so that says a lot because it’s the only place I returned back to.

Excellent service from our waitress Crystal! She went above and beyond to find our kiddos ice cream at the end of their meals. Wonderful and attentive to any of our requests. Food good as always and nice view of the River with a ship in port. Server who brought our meals was also very pleasant and friendly. Very enjoyable meal!

Amazing, it was so long since we did not have something new and good...ours were perfect. Thank you Mariah for the excelent service, you are the best!

This place was very nice and affordable for a family of 5. Plenty of selection and food, though it seemed to come out slower, was delicious. Great ambiance and our waiter was very friendly and attentive.

Great food and service! Mariah made a wonderful espresso martini and sassy blush sangria!

We eat here a couple times a month and the staff is always friendly and kind. I've never had a bad meal and the drinks are always on point. Most recently I had an apple pie martini (made by Melissa) that was delicious.

Mariah was the bestest bartender ever for my friends and I! Thank you so much Mariah! We love you and we will be back soon! We are going to vote you the best bartender in the USA miss Mariah ! Drinks are fabulous and made with love. Come in, hangout, and have a good time!

The fish and chips were awesome, I told the waiter they should add it to the menu. The pizza was really good too. Service was excellent as well.

I’ve been here in the past and never had any issues. I went the other day and ordered the chicken gnocchi, which I get often. The gnocchi was ok, but the chicken was extremely hard to eat because of how dry and flavorless it was. The presentation was also shocking; I’ve never had it served like this, and the portion size was smaller than I’ve ever received before. I had higher expectations based on my previous visits, so to be completely honest, I was in utter shock. Paying $25 for dry, skimpy chicken and overcooked gnocchi was extremely disappointing. I wish I went to bistro or even got a frozen dinner over this.

Great Clean atmosphere 🙌 The menu was creative 🫡 Service was great 🙏 The food was delicious 🫶 Recommend stretch bread pork ribs

Well, it wasn’t the food. It was the bartender on Monday, August 25. The young lady took my order and the food sat in the window for 20 minutes. I ordered the stuff sold. The lady Chef looked at the ticket and then finally 15 minutes later, she said to the bartender who only had three people sitting at the bar. Remind her the order was up, so I ate cold, stuffed crab yes the menu has so many good food items on it. Unfortunately, I’m here for the next month for work and when I find a place I go every night and I skipped it. I’ll try if I walk by and see her not working, and hopefully things will be improved. Very disgusting to be paying very expensive prices forhorrible service.

Nice place, great food, fresh & well prepared, nice bar area, great staff. Four stars for atmosphere only because we were seated in the back alcove & it needs some love. Our view of the river was thro dirty glass & window frames that need a touch up. Would go back again & recommend to fellow visitors to Oswego. The River Walk & old downtown are fun, safe & walkable. Four stars on atmosphere only because we were seated in the back alcove & it needs some love. Our view of the river was through dirty glass & windows that needed a touch up. It's a renovated historic building so that's understandable.

This was our 2nd visit to Red Sun and again we had a wonderful meal. My food did come out not completely hot, I pointed this out to my server and she apologized and quickly took my food back to the kitchen. I’m just a few minute my meal was out and nice and hot. I don’t usually send food back but if you don’t tell them there is a problem they won’t know. My husband thoroughly enjoyed his pizza. This is our go to when we are in Oswego. Great spot for dinner.

Party of 4 for dinner. We tried their specials, ribeye, chicken pasta and pizza. All good except for the pizza. I ordered small margarita pizza. First 2 slices tasted delicious but 3rd one all I could taste was salt. Not sure if it was the cheese or someone dumped salt. Service was fantastic!

Meh. This meal was $27. I was excited to have a twist on a carbonara, but this was just some pasta with mild sausage and a few pieces of Asparagus. Not even close…Carbonara is not made with tomato sauce.

Today is November 18 me and my two best friends came from out of town to celebrate one of my best friends, birthdays, and we’ve never been here before the atmosphere was absolutely relaxing. Everybody was so nice the young lady who are waitresses her name was Megan as polite as she wanted to be kept coming back, asking if we needed anything she was absolutely amazing. We sat at the bar for happy hour Jake, the bartender recommended we had the pork chops to die for absolutely to die, for we were able to meet the cook Before we left and we told him how wonderful his food was we will definitely be back and I wish there were more stars on here because I’d like to give you more stars

Had a really nice time at La Parilla. The food I had was very enjoyable, a chickpea appetizer which was something I rarely see was very good. The fried softshell crab was quite appetizing as well. What really impressed me was how nice the place was and how fantastic the staff and atmosphere was. It was such a great energy on what was a gorgeous day. The set up on the water with how well designed the restaurant is, fantastic. Looking forward to going back and bringing more friends along. Enjoy!

Great space on the water. Plenty of options for everyone. The mussel chowder was so full of mussels that it took 2 dishes to remove the shells. The broth was flavorful but the potatoes were definitely left to big and awkward to eat. The bolognese risotto was thick and creamy.

Really delicious food. We loved the home fried potatoes, blackened salmon and chicken paella 🥘. Was not a fan of today's soup with tomatoes. Can dine in. Highly highly recommend as good was sooo tasty

We visited LaParilla while stay at the Best Western Plus at Oswego NY. Loved the large Patio with the shaded overhead which provided shade on a warm Summer evening. The atmosphere was beautiful sitting out right near the river. And bug free. Our server was excellent seeing as we visited on a busy evening. She was efficient professional friendly and fun. The one person entertainment( guitar player who had an excellent voice and offered a variety of songs) also thankyou for singing Happy Birthday to me!! Appetizer: canalope with pershuta with a tangy ( spicy with enough heat). I highly reccomend. Cocktail: home made (choices white or red wine) I choose the white. Crisp cold with the right enough of fruit. Also I ordered a Watermelon cocktail. Since it was my birthday the bonus was a huge cocktail which came in a very cool souvenir plastic bucket.Thank you LA Parilla! Entree of choice( highly reccomed) was the signature chicken Riggies. Which you have a preference on how spicy the dish will be made for you. I chose a level 3. This is the best chicken Reggie I ever had! Lots of chicken with the right amount of pepper and mushroom along with cheese. Taste compared to a chicken wing! Lots of leftovers to bring home and enjoy! Entree came with a large fresh salad. Entree did not include bread. Which I requested. Nice assortment of artisian bread nice and warm. We were not charged for the bread. Good prices for the meal along with a phenomenal atmosphere and server. I only wish I lived much closer so I could enjoy the dining experience LA Parilla offers!

Place wasn’t exactly what I thought, I was hoping for a more relaxed dining environment. When we got there it was pretty empty but outside they had some party going which was loud and we were sat by the door with the constant in and out. Food was a bit under seasoned, appetizers were ok but I do recommend the Clams if you need one, the steak needed more seasoning but the temperature was cooked perfectly. Got an Old fashioned not made well. Staff was nice and the best part of the experience.

Great spot to grab a burger and watch a game 🔥 the food tends to be either overcooked or undercooked the couple times I’ve been there but the staff is great. Forgot to take photos of the other dishes I’ve had lol but the French onion soup is excellent.

It was a cold rainy night and the only seating was outside. The fire pit was nice but it was still chilly. The fire pit did create a nice atmosphere. We were sitting near the opening so it was still a little chilly. Food was okay. I personally had the chicken fajitas which was okay. The flavor reminded me of packaged seasoning. Wasn't a big fan. My cousin had a burger. He said that it was okay. The restroom wasn't very clean. It may just be because they had a party going on.

The staff did a great job. I was not super impressed with the food. The chili tasted like uncooked paprika and chili powder, the meat in the burger was not seasoned and relied on the sauce to make up for it, and the daily pizza special had no sauce and the toppings just fell off the thin crust. The French dip was ok but the roast beef was just stacked in the middle so it was a thick wad of meat. We had a hot brownie with ice cream for dessert and that was the best dish. Hard to screw up a brownie . I would try here again but it definitely does not deserve as high of a rating as it has. Average food, at best

Nice place nice atmosphere. I’ve only stopped in a couple times just to get a couple drinks. Next time I’ll try the food. The menu is a little bit of Italian pizza with like bar food. Staff is good. It’s worth checking out.

Waitress was very sweet, food came out as ordered hot and well prepared. Decent beer selection. Menu is comprehensive. They were "in the weeds" when we got there, but got us drinks quickly and were attentive during the wait for our order.

I went here because I was staying at the hotel across the street, so it was convenient. I thought it was a restaurant, not a sports bar. They seated me quickly, but I couldn't even hear myself think because of the game on TV being blasted at extremely loud volume. So, I changed to a table outside far from the speakers, but then I spent my entire time shooing swarms of flies and other bugs away from my food and drink, and trying to prevent my napkins from blowing away in the wind. When I finished, it took the server 20 minutes to bring my check because she was busy talking with a friend. That should be done on her own time, not mine.

Great meal again today! The Friday fish special, with mac & cheese, was delicious. Their fried fish is some of the best in the area. Victoria was attentive, and service was quick.

Leaving one star, because no stars isn’t an option. If you are new in town or looking for a new place to eat… it isn’t here! This place is absolutely disgusting! My husband and I stopped in today for lunch. After being seated we noticed that the restaurant was full of drain flies! They were everywhere. Nothing worse than bugs landing all over your food. Both my husband and I run restaurants, both know that drains flies usually means things are uncleanly. After we ordered our entrees, when the food arrived, the server set my plate down and I noticed a very long black hair in my food, wrapped into my fries! I immediately pushed my plate away and my husband asked what was wrong.. I pointed out the hair and called the server back to the table. She was even like “that’s disgusting!” My husband and I both made it very clear that we just wanted our check, the server took my entree off but gave my husband a box for his. After making it very clear that he was unhappy and was not going to eat it, we were still made to pay for the appetizer and drinks! 30$! While we were waiting for the server to come back, there were drain flies landing all over the plate my husband had in front of him. These flies are mature drain flies, very large and all over the place. I would suggest an infestation! After the server came back to the table, we assumed she would have spoken to the manager.. however she just took the entrees off and apologized. Believe me, this was and is no way shape or form her fault. This falls on the management of this establishment. This place shouldn’t even be open! Someone should really contact the health department, their food brand auditor etc….. oh and stay away from the bathrooms and salad bar! The salad bar is filed it black flies and the food looks as if it sits there all day! The bathrooms are sticky and filed with flies! The owner and managers shud be ashamed to say they work or run this place. Absolutely disgusting! This clearly seems to be an ongoing issue of you read through the google reviews, which the “owner” responds too… but what is actually being done? Clearly nothing because the first review complaining of flies was over 3 months ago! Clean your restaurant or close your doors! I attached photos of the flies on my husbands food and the hair in the fries 🤮🤢

We had a great dinner, our waitress (Desire) was awesome. Came and asked us a few times if we needed anything else ,asked about our meal. We were in and out in no time. A very enjoyable visit.we come here once a year from dexter ny and its always our first choice.

At Ruby Tuesdays reopening right now the food was absolutely delicious. The service was excellent love the girls here. They’re awesome and they take care of you. The atmosphere is always good here. Everybody chats with each other. I’ve been waiting for this place to open up and they did not disappoint. Special thanks to Kim and Linda and of course the rest of the staff. You guys are awesome.

We ate here while staying at the Holiday Inn Express next door. I had the bourbon glazed salmon. It was delicious. My husband was happy with the fish and chips. Our server (Linda) was friendly and attentive. The hostess who seated us was also very friendly.

Kiara was our server and she was absolutely phenomenal! We went out on a monday night date night and she was so sweet! She is great at her job and we will definitely be coming back to see her!! My baby even loved her. The cooks did awesome and the salad bar was clean and always filled.

I’ve eaten at this location before but my experience this time was different. There were not many people at about this time. Service was quick and the food was delicious. Our server Kiara was kind and professional. She check on us enough times where we were still cared for but not constantly overwhelmed. Will definitely eat here again.

Kiara, and Hostess were very friendly and knowledgeable of the food and drink menu. Both made us feel like they were glad we were here

Definitely not the worst place I’ve been to, but DEFINITELY far from the best. I paid $34 for a foot long ham and cheese sub, 5 chicken tenders, & fries. The man who took my order wasn’t rude, I don’t know if he was having a bad day or what but he said a total of four words. He didn’t respond when I asked how he was doing, he didn’t respond after I said thank you, and he didn’t confirm my order with me. He stayed silent and wrote my order down, which isn’t totally bad but it didn’t make me feel welcome by any means. The ham and cheese sub was pretty decent, id give it a 6/10 compared to other sub shops I’ve been to. But it was by far the most expensive. The chicken tenders? By far the worst I’ve ever had. It tasted like chicken but with the consistency of jello. The fries were pretty amazing I won’t lie, super crispy and seasoned very well. But even at half the price, I still don’t think I’d go back.

Just lost loyal customers of 5 plus years. We've always given $10 tip, more with inclement weather. We are right across Minetto Bridge on 45. We see their deliveries go by and deliver to Seneca Hill Manor, farther than our address. Their excuse is that it's too busy or that their orders are larger. They delivered a salad earlier today...a single salad. My wife works there and recieved it. But we cant order $38 in wings and some desserts, along with a $10 tip as usual? Very disappointed....💩

Awesome place to get some food. The sandwich kings 🤴 😋 prompt service 😎 great atmosphere. FRESH ingredients!

Just ordered 4 subs. All were made incorrectly. Asked for a philly cheese steak, got a meatball. Asked for an Eric Cole on wheat , got it on white. Asked for no onion on the turkey, got onions. My wife's sub was made correctly, but looks like it went through a grinder. This sucks because we used to love this place. Will continue to go there because they are the best sub shop in Oswego. Just disappointed.

We haven't ordered in a while and tonight we wanted bacon cheeseburgers subs but instead we got BLT subs. This was a delivery, we live a mile away, our sub is cold, we open it up and it's the wrong sub. The girl who took our order entered it wrong, a mistake, ok, shit happens but make it correct. I asked for a refund, to correct the mistake, no they want to deliver us new subs, we are not waiting another 25-30 minutes for cold subs.

My favorite place to eat in Oswego! I've eaten here since 1987. Wherever I'm on town or by first stop. They make there own bread so it's always fresh. Excellent choice of sandwiches and Salsa Wings!

Awesome local shop! We were in a rush between games and they came through with 2 sub trays for the kids in 20 mins! Plus, they were accommodating to our needs, got us in and out quickly, and all with great customer service!

I attended a Celebration of Life for my brother-in-law at this establishment on August 2nd 2025. The food was inedible. My sister had family, friends and coworkers attend this event and the food was burnt and most did not even eat. I cannot believe that an establishment would think that what they served was acceptable. I’m adding a photo of the pizza and the chicken bites wrapped in bacon that was served. My sister, a grieving widow, would not say anything, she just paid the bill. Shame on you Lombardo family for taking advantage of a widow. I would not recommend this establishment to anyone.

Friendly service, great view of the Oswego river when sitting in the Florida room, fried haddock was good, lasagna was delicious, served with extra sauce and garlic bread. I also recommend the chicken parmesan. Fyi the mashed potatoes are instant- and flavorless. We ordered from the "lite" menu so portions (and prices) were reasonable but not huge. We enjoyed live music coming from the main dining area. Only 4 stars for atmosphere because the restaurant's main entrance is cluttered with cleaning and maintenance type products and cardboard boxes. Bathrooms need attention for cleanliness and odor control. I spoke candidly with the manager about this, and he was very receptive. I will update this review upon my next visit as needed to see if these areas have improved. This place has so much potential due to location. I'd love to see this place thrive, not just survive...

Great food and service! The coconut shrimp was delicious and the orange sauce for it.

This restaurant made us wait 45 minutes for a chicken Ceasar salad and chicken riggies and we WERE the ONLY people THERE in the dining room and the chicken came out burnt? With all that time..how do you burn chicken for a salad? This is horrible cooking and horrible service. The view of the river was beautiful and the restaurant was rustic and original and the waitress who came to our table was nice and attentive but we didn't have her untill the last 20 mins because she must have just started work so when we got there we had an older gentlemen and come to find out he's the owner! Interesting! Please take the time to fix these issues as they will cost you customers such as myself

Warm Fuzzies in this tavern/restaurant with many regular customers, all welcoming to new comers with great conversations, a gracious host and favorites coming from the kitchen keeping customers coming back for more. This establishment may offer the best Chicken Wings in town hands down! Charbroiled burgers packed with flavor, French Onion soup with authentic tastes you'd hope for, if FO is one of your favorites. Fried fish dinners, a must to try! A crunchy coating packed with flavor, keeps all juices inside, not greasy but light and tasty. Excellent bar food, nice dining options and a place many locals appreciate genuine hospitality and customer appreciation!

Use to come here when I was younger. to be honest, nothing really bad nor good. Quality isnt the same. There was no sense of anything special about the food. I feel like it was overpriced.

30 bucks a plate for overcooked seafood, 'mashed potatoes' from flakes, and 'prime rib' that was actually a sirloin that may have possibly been boiled. Also, they burned the ham. 0/10 do not recommend.

Amazing service and food. We went for breakfast. The pancakes my daughter ordered were massive. Wife and other daughter got some stuffed french toast meal. They said it was very good. I got the standard breakfast of 2 eggs, toast, 4 sausage links, home fries, and sausage gravy on biscuits (started my diet last week 😂). Anyway. Everything was great, the home fries were superb.

Soooo greasy. It feels dangerous for your heart just to look at it. Service and pops and mom vibe are very cool !

Food wasn't bad. You get a good portion. The stuffed French toast wasn't very stuffed. A little bit of cream cheese and a few blueberries. Fruit was from frozen not fresh which makes them weird in my opinion. Waitress was rude when asking questions.

We came here as a larger group, 8 people, so I can understand a longer wait, however we waited for a while for our table when they were not busy and didn’t have our orders taken for another 20 minutes. We then waited an hour for our food while other tables who got here after us were seated and served promptly. Waiter asked an hour after we ordered to clarify an order. A couple seated before us had to complain to get their food. We were polite and respectful, and the wait staff refilled coffee a couple times, they were nice enough. Came here on a whim and at least it was cheap, but will not be returning.

We had a large party of 8, so we expected there might be a bit of a wait—but we ended up waiting over an hour and 15 minutes for our food. At one point, I had to get up and walk around just to stretch—we’d been sitting for so long. What made it especially frustrating was that several tables seated after us received their food well before we did. To make matters worse, after all that time, our server came over to ask someone in our group to clarify their meal—and even then, they still got an order wrong. Even with a big group, this level of delay and disorganization was completely unacceptable. After everything, the food ranged from okay to pretty good, but it definitely didn’t make up for the experience.

This is a perfect little diner. We were all really happy with your food and the service. The only thing to know is they only do breakfast on the weekends. No lunch foods and no fryer. We’d stop again for a quick bite to eat. Great.

"Bring your bankbook" it's getting really expensive. They have a great breakfast and lunch menu. Try the western egg sandwich on Italian toast or the hot turkey sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes. Both items are excellent choices. The hot turkey sandwich with mashed potatoes and gravy is not available at this time (9/8/20) maybe in the near future. "Update on 4/26/23 I had a great philly cheese steak sandwich with cheese, onion and mushroom on a sub roll, My waitress "Stacy provided outstanding service to me!!! I had a great lunch. I highly recommend it but "it's getting really expensive $

Fun neighborhood bar. Good mix of locals and super nice bartenders. Great place to see old friends around the holidays.

Happy hour every day 3pm to 5pm only downfall they don't serve 🍲

Becauase I'm the manager and it's a great place to enjoy a drink and good conversation.

Great times good people

Nice people

Fun for drunks. Pool tournament on Tuesday nights

Cold drinks,and friendly people