OSWEGO – Did you know that Canale’s Restaurant in Oswego has a stunning outdoor seating area that looks like you stepped into an exquisite Italian courtyard? Did you also know they have an amazing upper deck overlooking Utica Street and the downstairs courtyard, while giving you a beautiful view of Oswego’s stunning sunsets? Oh yes, and did I mention that the deck is also connected to an upstairs banquet room?
Yes, I really am talking about Canale’s Restaurant in Oswego, NY. I’ve driven by the restaurant countless times, thinking the outside was decorated quite nicely with pretty lights and flowers illuminating the city street. Yet I didn’t realize there was a gem of a sit-down dining courtyard tucked away neatly inside that pretty packaging.
Naturally my husband and I have eaten at Canale’s several times, but usually indoors. I knew about the outdoor seating area located out front, but never had a chance to experience it due to a lack of planning on my part.
So, for complete editorial (and selfishly personal) purposes, my husband and I quickly drove over for an early Friday evening meal.
The warm, melty cheese of my entree stretches endlessly along the tines of my fork, as a utensil full of yumminess enters my mouth; upbeat music playing in the background.
The crust of my Chicken Parmesan is cooked to perfection; my fork easily cutting through the meat which is wonderfully bathed in warm layers of sauce and cheese.
I’m not sure what to eat next – my Chicken Parm is intoxicatingly good, but so is the Manicotti side dish that came with my meal. Decisions can be so hard, can’t they? They smiling waiter makes a quick stop at our table to make sure we’re enjoying our meals, pleased by my giddy smile and thumbs up signal.
The early evening summer sunlight spills gently through the grapevine-filled pergola above us, the soft glow of whimsical patio lights illuminating the courtyard with a welcoming hue.
Deep shades of red and yellow cover the walls of the courtyard with just the proper amount of brick, woodwork and tile to make one amazingly cohesive patio.
The courtyard is also garnished with a dazzling array of lush greeneries and colorful flowers that makes one feel as though they have arrived in Tuscany for a well-deserved vacation.
I am utterly smitten by the food I’m eating. I feel like I am in Italy, succumbing to a nirvana of cuisine-made bliss in this amazing outdoor escape.
Upstair deck area. Photo by Shea O’Malley.A band introducing themselves as The Dirty Doves, begins playing soft rock music for the audience. Everyone I see is enjoying themselves in this dreamy courtyard.
A young seven-year-old boy named Thomas Frye and his young relative get up and start dancing to the music. Frye tells the band his favorite song is We Will Rock You by Queen.
With this song clearly not in their musical repertoire for the evening, the band pumps out a working version of the song much to the delight of this young boy, his family and everyone watching. It was clearly one of the best parts of the evening.
In getting permission to include the young
boys narrative into this story, I also discover his parents, Chris and Lynn Frye are out for the evening to celebrate their anniversary with family.
“We live in Syracuse [and] we just came up for dinner, so we’re not local,” (Lynn) Frye said. “They used to have a location in Liverpool, but they closed it. We used to go there all the time. We come up [to this location] a couple times a year.”
“For special occasions,” her husband added. “Our anniversary’s tomorrow, so we had family all in town – so we did our own anniversary dinner,” Frye said. “We always enjoy coming to Canales for all our special occasions. We love it and they’ve always been so good to us, so it’s great.”
If you’ve never been to Canale’s outdoor courtyard, one can only expect to be served excellent food with first-rate service in a wonderfully, delightful environment. And if you’re exceptionally lucky, some band will pump out a favorite song for you too…
An Oswego staple since 1954, Canale’s offers some of the best home-cooked Italian cuisine in Upstate NY.
Part Owner and Manager Nick Canale Jr. said the initial phase of their outdoor dining began 17-years-ago with a small patio located in the front of the restaurant. Great public response got them thinking about adding more outdoor space on the opposite side of the restaurant with a house they owned and operated on Utica Street.
An apartment upstairs, offices downstairs and a walk-in freezer and cooler in the garage, Canale said they wanted to take advantage of the home’s front yard space while creating a deck space that tied into the upstairs banquet room.
With approval from the city, Canale said the porch was torn off the house, a new door was opened up into the restaurant, flooring was raised with cement and concrete, with construction beginning on the new courtyard.
“So that whole first floor – it’s all part of the restaurant now. We’ve got offices in the second story of what used to be the house; and the bathrooms and the bar and another office are in the first floor of where the house used to be,” Canale said.
“It’s really worked out – people seem to love it. We had a lot of help in the early stages of the process from Rich Trombley. Without him we probably couldn’t have done the whole thing. He’s a good friend of my father’s and he helped us with all the concrete – and all the stucco and a lot of the brickwork and everything. He was a major part of what we did out there,” Canale said.
“It was a team effort. We didn’t want to take away from downstairs when we did it, and I don’t think we did – I think we enhanced things because the deck acts as a roof for part of the space downstairs now. And having the big sliding glass doors upstairs really opens up that banquet room to the outside.”
Canale noted that his cousin Rick Canale and team created and continue to maintain the beautiful flower arrangements located throughout the entire outdoor space.
Now back to our fantastic Friday night trip to Canales. Our wonderful waiter Richard Barnes told us he’s worked there for a year now and loves it. He also emphasized how much the outdoor courtyard has really had a major impact on the business’ appeal.
“The customers are really nice. We get a lot of regulars that are just so sweet. It’s wonderful at times to see people – to chat and catch up. [We get] a lot of regulars – the whole town is pretty much regular,” Barnes said.
“On the weekends in the summer when we have a band, every table is booked. People rent out parties here – bridal showers, funeral after-parties, graduations – it’s non-stop in the summer,” Barnes added. “If you ever want to do a reservation, definitely do a reservation; but if you don’t care about seeing the band and just listening, the upstairs [deck] big round table is the best view -the sunset is incredible. The upstairs is so nice – it’s a little more private but so much fun,” Barnes said.
Now, you might be thinking it’s too late in the summer season to enjoy this fantastic outdoor experience, but you’re in luck. The Canales band lineup extends until Dec. 9, Wednesdays through Sundays.
Weather permitting; bands will play in the courtyard, so there is still plenty of time to enjoy your outdoor culinary fun. On less fair-weather days, the band will be relocated inside.
For more information on the entertainment lineup including dates and times, please click here. To schedule dinner or banquet reservations, please call 315-343-3540 or click here to visit their website. See you there, and oh yes…enjoy!
*Note: The video was created from a series of pictures courtesy of Nick Canale Jr. taken during the creation of their outdoor expansion start to finish. The video was created by Shea O’Malley with an assortment of a few of own pictures/videos added for effect.
A big shoutout to Nick Canale for his time and effort in making this story possible – thank you!
missing or outdated ad config
I’m speechless …