Don’t drive by too quickly at night or you might not spot Cathy’s Corner Cafe at 929 Avery Ave. in Syracuse.
My dear wife Karen had me with the text words open house and free food.
I love the holiday season.
Our great and longtime friend Michelle — you might recall her from Martinfest, which my goodness is rolling around again in a few months we decided as we sat Wednesday night at a table with her brother Scott — invited us to come and appreciate the atmosphere at Cathy’s Corner Cafe on Wednesday night.
Michelle’s picking up some shifts at the restaurant’s new location on Syracuse’s west side in the famed Tipperary Hill neighborhood, and had been welcomed by owner Cathy Comer to invite some folks over during a few special evenings before the official hard opening. The open houses would include great food spreads from the menu.
Cathy’s Corner Cafe is no stranger to Syracuse eaters. Comer ran her place previously on James Street, on the east side nearer to Karen and I’s neighborhood, and also downtown. She also caters events.
This new location is at a corner in a fairly residential pocket of Tipp Hill, where a popular restaurant by the name of Smorol’s used to do business. I was on lookout as Karen drove after she rolled into the driveway and picked me up after work with a horn toot. Still, with no light shining on the restaurant sign, I almost missed it. However, the popularity of the open house had plenty of cars parked all around the joint, and that was a big sign that something was happening there.
Bright barroom
We entered the door under the dark sign and were greeted by a bright and cheery looking barroom. A Blue Light bottle for Karen and a glass of Cabarnet Savignon for me were reasonably priced, coming to $8.75 total.
You can eat in the bar if you like.
Michelle came over to greet us, and waved Cathy over for pleasant introductions. Comer said with a smile that she and the staff were ready for the hard opening, set for Friday evening.
There were tables available for sitting in the barroom, but Michelle suggested that we’d be more comfortable in the main dining room, separate and behind the bar. And, as we passed an array of vegetables and finger foods, she added that the big food was set up in the dining room.
Fine and comfortable.
More space in the dining room.
The dining room looked and felt accomodating.
Michelle cleared some space for us at one of the tables that held one food serving tray by moving it to the next table. Soon, her brother Scott walked in and we made it a table for three.
A representation of the food. We ate the big and tasty cold shrimp before I remembered to take the picture.
We walked around to the various food stands set up around the dining room, helping ourselves to chicken riggies and ziti and macaroni and cheese. Waitresses also cirled the room carrying trays with hot-from-the-kitchen new arrivals, such as pizza and crab cakes. My favorite food of the night was freshly carved roast beef served on fresh rolls. I said yes to the horseradish sauce, and I went back up to the carving station and asked for a second. They were small.
Scott ordered us all a second round of drinks as we caught up on our lives. Martinfest is coming at the end of February, and he said he is most likely to take the Friday before and Monday afterward off from work to prepare and recuperate. His girlfriend, Lizzy, works with Michelle and Karen at SMG. Scott works at Verizon, in the call center. He said this is the most stressful time of the year there because he must address customers not paying their bills during the holidays. He added that before he started going out with Lizzy, he was likely to take all of his vacation days right after the holidays to get over that job push and then be left with no time off the rest of the year, but she straightened him out from that bad habit.
I asked Michelle if we were eating food off the menus that would be available hereafter. She responded by bringing me the dinner and bar menus.
Available in the restaurant.
Available at the bar.
Before the three of us decided it was time to depart, we all agreed that we enjoyed the food and atmosphere at Cathy’s Corner Cafe very much.
Karen and I decided that we’d come eat here again. And that we’d walk to the bar and hang out if it were located in our neighborhood.
Have you been invited to a restaurant open house, and if so, where was it, and what did you have to eat? What do you think of Cathy’s Corner Cafe after looking at the pictures and reading the menus? What are your selling points for a good corner cafe?
Mark Bialczak 
Cathy’s does look cool! My only complaint is that she needs a light in her sign. 🙂 I have to ask, Mark, do you actually really know someone everywhere you go because you’re such a friendly guy? Or is it also because Syracuse is a small, close-knit community? Because I didn’t think Syracuse was that small, and actually you always seem like the “a stranger is a friend I haven’t met yet” type of guy. 🙂 So is it an either/or or both thing? Does Karen know as many people when you go out also? Either way, I wanna live there and hang out with you two! 🙂
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It’s a combo of many things, Rachel, all of the above. My bloggy life and picture-taking has made me even more open to talking to everybody, I think. Karen knows loads of people, too. Though now that we are 11 years into our relationship, our worlds have merged greatly. Finally, come on up.
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That’s so cool! And yet, you can’t get her to blog?
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Oh, Karen has a FB page, but she’s happy leaving the blogging to me, I’m pretty certain. She did write the guest movie review for me here when she went to see “The Lego Movie” alone, though, right?
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That counts for something. Yay, Karen! 🙂
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what a lovely spot this Cathy’s! And lucky you for scoring free food. It all sounds comforting and delicious. One of my gripes of suburbia is the sameness of restaurants and shopping. Much prefer the neighborhood restaurants found in the city. Liking the look of Cathy’s brightly lit bar. And would especially like a plate of the Chicken Marsala.
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Great! You can get the chicken when you visit us. What would Larry choose? I’d stick with the beef, probably the steak sandwich? Karen, depends on how the day went.
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The food prices look awesome, Mark, but the carpet on the floor had me thinking that it’s not a “very small messy child” kind of place. Still, it’d be great for a date night (if we had very many of those!)
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I’m wishing you more date nights, Mrs. C.
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Thanks, Mark. Living several hours away makes our date nights usually Hulu or Netflix and popcorn. More date nights to you and your lovely wife, too!
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Thank you, Mrs. C. Our circumstances are far less stressful, alas. 🙂 Grown kids, one roof.
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The cafe looks inviting and warm. You must have been hungry or the food looked too delicious to resist for you to only remember to take a picture after you had had a bite already.
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Shrimp cocktail. How could I wait? Thanks for stopping by, zambianlady!
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We prefer the non-chains, comfortable places. This looks like the kind of place we would love to try. Good luck to her!
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It is comfortable and friendly. You and hubby would love it, Colleen. 🙂
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On the “if we ever get to Syracuse” list then!
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🙂
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love your new header picture.
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Thanks, Louise. I don’t think I changed it!
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cafe look very homey. the food basic but hey thats what most of us want when we go out. I converted the prices to $A pretty on par with similar stuff to here. you are lucky to have that cafe….. will look it up when i get to the east coast.
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Yes, look us up when you get here, please!
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I like the Christmas-themed menus!
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They are spirited, Kerbey!
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The food looks amazing! I would have a difficult time choosing what to order. We only have a couple of “local” eateries, the rest are chain drive thru and restaurants.
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We’re fortunate to have local places like this right in the neighborhoods to go along with the chains and drive-thru’s, Apple Pie. You need these in your neck of the woods.
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This is so supportive and kind of you to let others know what is going on, Mark. especially featuring a change in address of a local favorite! The place looks welcoming, bright but cheery. I love the Tiffany inspired hanging lights and the prices sound great. Free food is always my favorite announcement, too, Mark!
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Yes, we don’t get to hear an announcement like that too often, Robin. Music to the ears!
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Well I think I’ll have the salmon although I am tempted by the steak. It looks very welcoming. I like the lights in the main dining room.
Maybe you should become a food critic/ restaurant reviewer? 🙂
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I am content taking a crack at commenting on food once in a while right here, Rachel. 🙂 You are the second to comment positively about the lights in the main dining room. They are atrractive!
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Oh heck Mark. I just ate and now I’m hungry again. That place looks great, and the prices are fab. They are even great for a town like mine, strictly small town mid America. We don’t have very many neighborhood places, mainly because we have an idiot running the town, but we do have a few nice little places with great food. My fave is Cecelia’s, owned by my grandkids former baby sitter. She has the best lasagna in town, bar none! And she is now open in 3 locations, and delivers too. Since I can’t always get out I love the delivery part, and always feel lucky when I can call early enough to snag some lasagna. It sells out faster than burgoo at the picnics. Now, stop posting pictures of food when I can’t slide thru the wires and grab it up, because I seem to be hungry all the time lately (and still losing weight any way). Guess I’ll go eat more of my pork roast. You can keep your beef.
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The pork roast sounds good, Angie. And the lasagna. Delivery lasagna. I’d snag some of that if I could!
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It’s actually better than my home made Mark, so when I get the urge for lasagna, I call Cecelia early enough to order a couple of pans of it as soon as it comes out of the oven. It’s the only way to insure I’ll get it before it’s gone.
Think I’m going to try to make pork salad (like ham salad) with some of my leftover roast today, just to see if it tastes good. It’s great as cold sandwiches, and as hash, but someone mentioned ham salad so I just want to experiment a little bit on what is left before it gets to be used food.
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Sounds good to me, all varieties of the pork, Angie. None of it sounds used.
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That looks like a nice friendly place and the prices are great! Reminds me of neighborhood places that my parents would take us as a treat growing up in Wisconsin. 🙂
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Mid-slice of America, Jackie. I’m glad places like this can go generation to generation!
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Oh, there are a few ) more will spill out in the future, I’m sure –
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$8.75 for both a beer and wine?? I would be lucky to get just the wine for that price! The parmesan salmon sounds good too……. oh, why do you have to write about food????
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Sorry to torment you so with our Syracuse prices and tasty cuisine, Ros. 😦
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How fun and yummy, Mr. B! You are not alone in eating the food before remembering to take a picture of it – I do that all the time. Food must be photographed always. LOL. It looks like a great place and it’s nice to know the owner and waitress.
I hope you and Mrs. B enjoy this nice but rainy day and weekend. 🙂
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Thanks, Mrs. B. We have just mapped out our afternoon plans. Plowshares Peace Council Arts and Crafts Fest for my community blog Wednesday, ‘Horrible Bosses 2’ for my Film Review Blog Monday. I guess I am working today while my dear wife Karen gets two dates out of the deal. 🙂 You and Mr. B have a good day over to the east. Dodge the drops. At least there are no flakes, knock on wood.
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Seems like a down home favorite to me. One of those places where everybody knows your name before they even actually do.
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Somebody shouted out Cliff when I walked in, Marissa. I don’t actually know it all … though there are some arcane bits floating around up there sometimes. 🙂 Good judgment on Cathy’s Corner Cafe all the way from LA, my friend!
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Syracuse seems to have such a village feel Mark – I love it! The new café and bar sounds and looks like a place I would frequent if I lived there. 🙂
Diana xo
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One cool aspect about Syracuse is that there are indeed restaurant/pubs sprinkled within the living neighborhoods. That is a good thing, to keep a walking component to life. Alas, this is a car-drive five miles from our house. 😦
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I think that’s brilliant Mark. Our rival city, 3 hours north of us (Edmonton) does a way better job of building self-contained communities than we do her in Calgary. Lucky for me though, I’m an urbanite so I can walk to a lot of favourite places. 😉
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This looks like it’s going to be a great place, friendly, cozy and delicious. I’ve been to soft openings, during my 800 or so years as a waitress, and know it’s always a combo of excitement and nervous fear for all involved. I love Karen’s choice words that drew you in, and I know they appreciate your visit.
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I bet you have some stories to share from those 800 years as a waitress, Beth. We’ve seen some. Please, some more?
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Looks like my kind of place.
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It’s very comfortable, Dora. You need one out there in California!
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Hey this joint had me at beer. The place looks comfy,and the menu seems inviting. I would be curious about what they prepare from scratch and what they get pre-made. As for pricing the dining room prices are what I would call neighborhood prices, where as the bar prices are more like Downtown prices for Indy.
You got a beer and a Cab for $8.75? Would the Blue Light you mentioned be a Molson? Now that is unheard of around here. Any place with prices like that wouldn’t have a Blue Light bottle or would they be likely to have a Cab. You guys have a winner,winner Strip Steak dinner. For sure.
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I think they make it all, because she also has a catering business. But that’s just an assumption, Benson.
As for the beer, that I can flat out declare. My dear wife Karen prefers Labatts Blue Light, like Molson also brewed in Canada. And not only did they have a Cab, they have me a choice of two labels, but I of course forget which one I nodded my head to. The first one. Karen said, but Mark, we had the Black Horse in Cape Cod and we loved it, and I said, oops. The Cab tasted fine.
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Labatts! That’s the name I was trying to remember. Thanks for the correction.
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Now that they’ve moved to the West Side, are they going to have to pay protection to the gangs out there? I bear both the Jets and the Sharks are pretty fierce when they’re not singing and dancing…
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That’s your Story and you’re sticking to it, Austin?!
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Yes. 🙂
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I’ve always imagined that running a restaurant must be infinitely harder than it appears from the outside. I waitressed once in a pinch for my father-in-law years and years ago. What a disaster I was. There’s a real art to being a good server!
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I agree, Barbara. To be good at food service is truly an art. That’s why I appreciate the best restaurants at the top and the best wait staff no matter where. It’s hard work! Our friend Michelle was all over it this night, even when the food was free.
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MMMM, looks like yummy food. It is great to find places to eat that feels comfortable and the prices are right. 🙂
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It is a good neighborhood place, PJ, and I think Cathy was smart to throw an open house a few nights in a row to welcome people. Now only if it was in our neighborhood, we’d walk there.
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Maybe they will be so successful they will open a second eatery at a place near you. 😀
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Let them concentrate here first, PJ. 🙂
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