Foodie favorites and unique eats: Get your fill during Downtown Dining Weeks

Downtown Dining Weeks 2022: Featured foodie favorites

Savor the best of what Syracuse restaurants are cooking up, for less.
Published: March 7, 2022
Downtown Dining Weeks

The annual Syracuse Downtown Dining Weeks are back, happening now through March 13.

Fifty participating restaurants, all locally and independently owned small businesses, are currently offering special menus and pricing deals to diners for the duration of the event, which continues through this week.

Featured deals across establishments include three-course lunches for $15 or less and three-course dinners for $35 or less, among other specials, which differ by restaurant.

Below, take a closer look at a few of the many participating restaurants and check out their deals.

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The Sweet Praxis location on East Water Street (left); a variety of donuts, muffins and focaccia (right)

The Sweet Praxis

A local bakery specializing in vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free foods, The Sweet Praxis brings both savory and sweet choices to the table. Co-founder and owner Jennifer Walls said the shop prides itself on working with a variety of dietary restrictions.

“We kind of like to say, there’s a place at the table for everyone here,” she said. “And that applies not just with food preferences but with human beings as well.”

This week, customers can choose three items off a set lunch menu, to build their own trio consisting of one savory option, one salad option and one sweet treat.

Savory items include the choice between a focaccia flatbread or Vietnamese bánh mì-inspired wrap. The flatbread is served warm, slathered with a house-made creamy white bean spread and topped with roasted mushrooms, parsley olive oil and asiago cheese. It can be made vegan by substituting the asiago with plant-based feta from local company PMA.

The bánh mì wrap, which is gluten-free and vegan, features tofu marinated in a five-spice blend, white bean spread, pickled onion, carrots, jalapeños, radishes and a touch of cilantro, all wrapped up in a gluten-free tortilla.

For the salad options, the restaurant offers a choice between its spicy broccoli salad or its Mediterranean grain salad. Among the dessert options are three seasonal cookies: carrot cake, vegan salted chocolate and vegan/gluten-free Thai coconut.

Check out The Sweet Praxis’s Dining Weeks lunch menu and Sweet Treat Deal here.

 

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The 'Classic' with sausage (top left); example of a Dining Weeks lunch deal (top right); bagel with cream cheese (bottom left); Water Street Bagel Co.'s wood fire oven (bottom right)

Water Street Bagel Co.

Located at 239 E. Water St., Water Street Bagel Co. is a beloved favorite in town for breakfast, brunch and lunch. Among Syracuse University students, it’s best known for beating away the “Sunday scaries” with the help of a delicious bacon, egg and cheese.

Sophia Hutchens, manager at Water Street Bagel Co., explained the restaurant’s special process that goes into baking every one of their bagels, which begins two days before the end product hits their shelves.

Each bagel is hand-separated and formed. They’re proofed, boiled, then baked in a wood fire oven. It’s this extra touch of flame that produces the unique taste of their bagels, Hutchens said.

For this year’s Dining Weeks, the shop is offering a lunch deal similar to the one they featured last year. For $12, customers get to choose from five different bagel sandwiches, a bag of chips or fresh fruit and bottled water, hot tea or coffee.

Hutchens recommended customers try the pepperoni pizza bagel, citing it as a big seller. Her other top pick would be a simple bacon, egg and cheese. “Can’t go wrong with the classics,” she said.

Check out Water Street Bagel Co.’s Dining Weeks lunch menu here.

 

 

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Pie's The Limit's location nearby the Syracuse Cooperative Market inside the Salt City Market (top left); the business' logo (top right); house-made Meyer lemon pie (bottom left); savory sausage handroll (bottom right)

Pie’s The Limit

One of the several local vendors found inside the Salt City Market at 484 S. Salina St., Pie’s The Limit is a unique pick that specializes in all forms of pie — both sweet and savory.

“There are lots of bakeries in Syracuse, [but] there aren’t really any that specialize in pie, and there aren’t any that are trying to popularize a savory pie in particular,” kitchen manager Roxanne Broda-Blake said. “That’s definitely part of our mission, [to] make savory pies more of a thing in Syracuse.”

Some examples of the kinds of pies you can find at Pie’s The Limit include the classic chicken pot pie and spicy Italian sausage hand rolls. The restaurant offers some vegetarian and vegan options as well, like their cheesy spinach and artichoke roll.

For Downtown Dining Weeks, Pie’s The Limit is offering combo meals for both lunch and dinner.

The $15 lunch deal includes customer choice of one savory roll, a bottled water and any one of their monthly desserts. For dinner, the pie shop’s three-course $20 Dining Weeks deal consists of your choice of either one chicken pot pie, any two savory rolls or two chickpea curry hand pies, plus a side of roasted broccoli, bottled water and finally, choice of dessert: a slice of chai custard pie or a slice of shaker-style Meyer lemon pie.

The vendor may just be starting out, but they’ve already claimed a piece of the pie for themselves in the downtown small business scene. Check out Pie’s The Limit’s Dining Weeks menu for both its lunch and dinner deals here.

 

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Otro Cinco's interior creates an intimate, fine dining experience.

Otro Cinco

A staple in Syracuse fine dining and sister restaurant to the Westcott neighborhood’s Alto Cinco, Otro Cinco has been on the scene for nearly a decade but recently adopted a new identity.

Originally opened as a crossover between the Mexican fare offered at Alto Cinco fused with Mediterranean cuisine, the restaurant has of late began to focus exclusively on serving Spanish and Mediterranean dishes. Sarah Pallo, Otro Cinco’s general manager, says their menu (and their style) has completely changed.

“That’s kind of something that we’re highlighting during Dining Weeks,” she said of the new change. “It’s very focused on sharing.”

Diners will choose an item from the menu’s first course, two items from the second course and an item from the third course to split over a shared experience in dining the Spanish way, which emphasizes togetherness and socialization.

All diners receive bread and olives at the table to start, and then servers will take them through the three courses, finishing with a sampling of sherry wine and Marcona almonds.

Pallo hopes Otro Cinco will serve up an authentic experience for diners that incorporates Spanish cuisine and culture.

“That was kind of the impetus to really transition more toward that menu and that kind of food. After the pandemic I just felt that there was this need for people to [gather],” Pallo said. “We were all missing it so much.”

Check out Otro Cinco’s Dining Weeks dinner menu here.

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Sherry tasting flight (top left); the lounge area inside Otro Cinco's lobby (middle); a selection of tapas (bottom left); Otro Cinco's chicken and olive paella dish (right)

Other participating restaurants

 

317 @ Montgomery
(315) 214-4267
317 Montgomery St.
Dinner Menu

 

A Mano Kitchen & Bar
(315) 303-1630
344 S. Warren St.
Dinner Menu

 

Anything But Beer
(315) 928-6951
201 S. Salina St.
Dinner Menu

 

Apizza Regionale
(315) 802-2607
260 W. Genesee St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

appeThaizing
(315) 424-8424
208 W. Genesee St.
Dinner Menu

 

Board & Bar Charcuterie
315-497-6229
208 W. Water St.
Dinner Menu

 

Byblos Mediterranean Cafe
(315) 478-3333
221 N. Clinton St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

Cake Bar
(315) 401-4898
484 S. Salina St.
Sweet Treat Deal

 

Cathy’s Cookie Kitchen
(315) 263-9363
266 W. Jefferson St.
Sweet Treat Deal

 

Clinton Street Pub
(315) 424-1187
127 W. Fayette St.
Dinner Menu

 

Danny’s Steaks
(315) 991-8554
216 Walton St.
Lunch and Dinner Menu

 

Darwin on Clinton
(315) 373-0484
110 W. Fayette St.
Lunch Menu

 

Daybird
(315) 960-0000
250 S. Clinton St.
Lunch Menu

 

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que
(315) 579-0339
246 W. Willow St.
Dinner Menu

 

Eleven Waters
(315) 554-3500
500 S. Warren St.
Dinner Menu

 

Epicuse
(315) 382-0274
334 S. Salina St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

Erma’s Island
(315) 278-3753
484 S. Salina St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

Farm Girl Juicery
(315) 216-5024
484 S. Salina St.
Sweet Treat Deal

 

Firecracker Thai Kitchen
(315) 362-1700
484 S. Salina St.
Lunch and Dinner Menu

 

Funk ‘n Waffles
(315) 474-1060
307 S. Clinton St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

Glazed & Confused
(315) 214-5544
211 N. Clinton St.
Sweet Treat Deal

 

Jamaica Cuse
(315) 399-4027
117 E. Fayette St.
[Visit or call for Dining Weeks specials information]

 

Kasai
(315) 310-8500
218 Walton St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

Kitty Hoynes
(315) 424-1974
301 W Fayette St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

Lemon Grass
(315) 475-1111
113 Walton St.
Dinner Menu

 

Luna Food Lover
(315) 514-8304
105 W Fayette St.
Lunch Menu

 

Mamma Hai
(315) 559-0072
484 S. Salina St.
Lunch and Dinner Menu

 

Miss Prissy’s
(315) 703-3000
484 S. Salina St.
Lunch Menu

 

Modern Malt
(315) 471-6258
325 S. Clinton St.
Lunch and Dinner Menu

 

Oh My Darling
(315) 290-3330
323 S. Salina St.
Dinner Menu

 

Pastabilities
(315) 474-1153
311 S. Franklin St.
Dinner Menu

 

Peace, Love, and Cupcakes
(315) 472-2200
121 W. Fayette St.
Sweet Treat Deal

 

Pita Dream
(315) 504-7482
214 Walton St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

PMA Foods
315-708-6892
2 Clinton Square
Lunch & Dinner Menu

 

Prime Steakhouse
(315) 299-8047
101 E. Water St.
Dinner Menu

 

Prontofresh
(315) 422-1303
133 E. Water St.
Lunch Menu

 

Razzle Dazzle “Our Vegan Corner”
(315) 870 – 3777
140 Walton St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

Salt City Coffee & Bar
(315) 888-9185
484 S. Salina St.
Sweet Treat Deal

 

Shaughnessy’s Irish Pub
(315) 554-3542
550 S. Warren St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu

 

SOULutions
(315) 927-9428
484 S. Salina St.
[Visit or call for Dining Weeks specials information]

 

Sweet on Chocolate
(315) 991-4062
208 Walton St.
Sweet Treat Deal

 

Talking Cursive Brewing Company
(315) 907-6060
301 Erie Blvd W.
Dinner Menu

 

The Fish Friar
(315) 468-3474
239 E. Genesee St.
Lunch Menu

 

The Hops Spot
(315) 646-2337
122 Walton St.
Lunch Menu
Dinner Menu
Vegan Dinner Menu

 

The Tasting Room & Cheese Bar
(315) 382-0274
334 S. Salina St.
Dinner Menu

 

Three Lives
(315) 218-5001
316 S. Clinton St.
Lunch and Dinner Menu