The Stinger
Graziano's

Graziano's

5960 West Touhy Avenue, 60714, Niles, United States

Beer • Wine • Italian • Bar-lounge


"I remember their salads being served in large family-style bowls, filled with onions and a delicious dressing, but that wasn't the case anymore. The salads now came in individual bowls, looking like pre-packaged garden salads that had been sitting in the fridge for who knows how long. The type of lettuce used was different, and even the dressing seemed off. I was so disappointed that I pushed it aside and opted for the minestrone soup instead. The minestrone was quite good, though it could have used more noodles. My family ordered a variety of dishes—there were five of us in total: pizza, eggplant Parmesan, chicken Vesuvio, fettuccine Alfredo, and bowtie pasta in creamy vodka sauce. My husband, who also grew up in the area and always orders the chicken Vesuvio, said it tasted completely different this time and was over-salted. He found the chicken dry and didn’t enjoy it. Thankfully, my bowtie pasta still tasted familiar. However, I found myself downing water because the food was unusually salty—I couldn’t remember it being that way before. The prices have certainly increased, which we’ve all become accustomed to post-Covid, but for five people, our bill came to around $177 plus tip. Only two of us ordered alcohol; my mother-in-law and I each had a glass of rosé priced at $10 each. To our surprise, it arrived in a glass that was barely filled to a quarter. I was not pleased with that. We were also shocked by how empty the restaurant was for a Saturday night at 7 PM—it was nearly deserted. Such a stark contrast to what I remembered."

Dwyers Irish Pub

Dwyers Irish Pub

65 Webster StNY 141205811, North Tonawanda, United States

Pubs • Casual • Seafood • American


"After a day on the boat we decided to come to NT and find a place to eat. It was a beautiful Saturday night and everywhere was super busy. Since we had no reservation, we couldn't even take a few seats this evening. It was also a bit waiting here, but there was a band so we decided to come to JP Dwyer. The restaurant is quite large. Many tables inside and they can accommodate groups. They have a large outdoor terrace and a good number of seating. It is definitely a historic building and a plunging kind of bar. First, the service was not good. It took a long time to get menus, water and finally drinks. The attempt to refill was even harder. Once we were able to order the food, a ridiculous amount of time took. We waited well over an hour. We ordered very standard bar type food. The server hardly came back to check us out. People who came after us got their food before us. We asked the server about food status at one point and she said it was not ready and she would check. 15 minutes later the food came. Some were hot and fresh. Other objects were cold, an object was not edible. I understand it's busy and places are understated, but we'd rather have got the food as it was cooked so that people could eat their food hot. It didn't seem like the server looked after a lot or was aware of when the food was up. My pizza logs were hot and delicious. The sweet potato fries were cold. I loved that they were running shoes and still very crispy. They would have been hotter. My important one had the steak sandwich and he said it was good. Other friends had the wings and said they were very good. Another friend had a burger who was burned like on one side of black car. It was really obvious and the kitchen would have caught this and not sent out. It took so long to get our food that we had to drive the boat home in the dark. No big situation. Seems we came in a bad night. We watched the band and the people. If you come to NT in summer at a weekend make a reservation for the place you really want to go to avoid this kind of thing."