The Steer... three years later

We decided to go out and have dinner at The Steer tonight after our day on the campus of Niagara Country Community College for Becky's art show opening reception and artist talk. We had been planning to go over to the Steer for a few weeks now but hadn't had to right opportunity because of either being sick or bad winter weather. 

It has always been one of our favorite nearby restaurants but the last time we were there was in February 2020 just before everything was closing down because of the covid pandemic. In August of 2021 we were shocked to hear that the Steer was permanently closing but fortunately that only lasted about a year and in late 2022 they reopened. We had been wanting to stop by and give them some of our business. The Lake Effect Diner closed at the same time and has not reopened yet. 

We went over there around 5 pm and the parking lot was almost empty. There were a few people sitting at the round bar and the dining room was empty. The waitress offered to seat us anywhere and I jokingly said if there had been a fire in the fireplace then we would sit next to it. She immediately said she would light the fire and we sat at the table next to the fireplace. It was a gas fueled fireplace so it was roaring and producing a nice warmth in a couple of minutes. We were happy.

They still had Flower Power IPA on tap from Ithaca Brewing and I ordered a pint. Becky had a glass of Stella. The menu still had many of our favorites and Becky ordered their Knuckle Sandwich with shaved beef steak. I got their Bruschetta Chicken Sandwich and we shared a large order of honey sweet potato fries. We were very happy and the food was wonderful. I had a second beer... a pint of Harp Lager. We were also happy that they had all new tables in the dining room. As much as we have enjoyed being at the Steer we had commented many times of the need to have new tables. 

It was nice to have the dining room to ourselves as we have still be wary of being in bars and restaurants because of so many illnesses spreading around this winter. We stayed until 6:30 and at that point the bar area was full with lots of people eating at the bar and the nearby high top tables. It was a good happy hour crowd for a Wednesday but the dining room was still empty besides us when we left. The parking was lot was now crowded too.

We had a wonderful time at The Steer and are looking forward to going again sometime in the near future.