The Retreat

Nice bar set up - but gets way too packed with older men trying to get a good spot to stare at the good looking female staff.  Great spot to sit outside in the summertime and have a couple drinks.

The food is average, a couple nice dishes on the menu but not overly impressive quality of meals on the menu

Great place to eat, drink and be merry.
Has something for everyone seafood, italian.....
Always seems busy for dinner so you may want to get there before you get hungry.
If not is a rush stop by the bar for a premeal drink, always tons of tvs in the bar porch area and more intimate setting in the restaurant part. I always get one of three dishes for dinner. Prime Rib (Great deal, great flavor), Chicken Riggies, or the broiled seafood platter. If looking for a good place to eat this is the place.

Food and service, eh. Porch seating and music, A+! Honestly the porch seating earned The Retreat the additional star, otherwise, my review is 2 STARS.

Food: Generic, casual neighborhood bar-and-gril type feel. Burgers, salads, throw in some mexican-style stuff, potpourri of simple. At my table there was calamari for appetizer, a salad, a burger, and sandwich/soup. Nothing exceptional, just mostly well-priced, mediocre food. Calamari was rubbery, but I wasn't setting high expectations.

Service: The wait staff were all helping each other out on the porch, it was packed to almost capacity and this is completely acceptable in my book. However, someone (not our waitress, maybe a runner?) kept asking coming by asking if she could take our plates...and we weren't even done yet! Before we'd even finished the appetizer, she started to pick up the plate with the calamari on it! I had to tell her that I wanted to finish it, we were just talking and catching up with friends so a bit slow to eat, but why justify why you want to finish consuming the food that you're paying for? She said, "Oh okay, just checking because it was just sitting there". Good observation.

Ambiance: Asked for a 3-top on the porch on a fair weather summer Saturday evening and was seated within 10 min. There just so happened to be an 80s cover band playing, surprisingly not obnoxiously loud. There was a nice current of cool air blowing through on a somewhat warm night, likely due to being so close to Onondaga Lake. It was an overall very pleasant lounging experience. The inside of the bar/restaurant, not so much, with dim lighting and glows from the 50"+ flat screen TVs mounted around the bar. Probably nice for watching sporting events, but it seemed mostly dead that evening.

All in all, a pleasant experience and the porch is a phenomenal draw for customers to just relax and enjoy a drink at the outside bar or listen to live music.