Wanted to try the rooftop setting and finally had a great night to do it. Nice spot with great views. Bar and food are both self-service, but understandable for the setting. Ordered draft beers and then went to other counter and ordered charcuterie board. Got a buzzer to know when it is ready to pick up. Great selection of cheeses and meats, excellent picked vegetables. Only thing to make it better would be a couple more crostini. Definitely will be back. read more

Loved this place! Just checked it out for a drink with my friend. We got the nachos, which were absolutely delicious. The espresso martini may have been the best I ever had. Bartender Garret was nice! Deff check it out. read more

Emerald Cocktail Kitchen - Espresso martini - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Syracuse, New York

I enjoyed Emerald a lot more when it first open but feel it has been lacking as of late. I'll never stop enjoying the setting, absolutely love the rooftop especially for a day like today when it was 80 degrees outside at the end of October. But they've recently removed a few items from their food menu and the serving sizes have shrunk while prices stayed the same. Drinks are good but service can be pretty slow even when they're not busy. It's just not my fave. I usually go because of the location and ambiance but they don't necessarily stand out for me when it comes to food or drinks. When you order from the rooftop bar I can't get past being served in a plastic cup (it does make sense but doesn't work for a cocktail bar like this) and they often use ice from the shaker rather than straining over fresh ice which is a no-no for a nicer cocktail bar as well. Has great potential for sure just waiting for better execution. read more

Emerald Cocktail Kitchen - Fall menu cocktails - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Syracuse, New York

I've been here twice for cocktails never eaten the food. Both times the rooftop was closed due to bad weather. We hung out in the lounge on the bottom floor. You had to kind of push your way to the bar to place an order. There was no real organization. The drinks were good and fairly priced. I didn't really get the vibe. They were kind of going for a speakeasy aesthetic but we playing obnoxious early 2000s electronic dance music very loudly. I thought maybe it was a fluke the first time we went but it was like that the second time too. We stayed for one drink and had to leave. read more

Great vibe here. Mid March and we were able to have drinks on the rooftop. Service was great with great drinks.

Super cute spot. I think they are definitely still trying to figure everything out as they are a new business. They seemed understaffed and overwhelmed. The drinks and food were great. Unfortunately we did find a piece of plastic in our cauliflower bites, and we got double charged because something wasn't working with their system. Overall we were glad we at least gave it a shot. read more

Emerald Cocktail Kitchen - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Syracuse, New York

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first syracuse rooftop bar, can you believe it? i just moved here from nyc so this is so exciting to have! the drinks were all so good. my favorite was the ourboros and venom cocktail. triskele was also excellent. there's three floors to this place - the top floor is the rooftop. the 2nd floor is where there more seating areas and where the bathrooms are. everything about this place from the way it was set up, designed and to the color schemes were all so pretty. the service was on the slower side but everyone was super friendly. read more

Emerald Cocktail Kitchen - Triskele - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Syracuse, New York

What a great spot!! I'm going to start by saying the food was absolutely fantastic. My friend and I got a few items and split them all. We are both vegetarian, and there was a great variety. There were definitely vegan and gluten free items so it is a very inclusive menu. The Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, feta honey dip, and truffle grilled cheese were all so amazing. The service was also great. The food came out quickly and our bar tender was so nice. Every floor has a different theme, which I think is so cute and creative. The rooftop is stunning with great views. This is a great spot for everyone of all ages because there is something there for everyone. Highly recommend trying this place out! read more

Food was AMAZING. We ordered the baked feta and the curly fry platter. Their garlic aioli was delicious. They serve many draft beers, including mass riot! Cocktails are in cute glasses. Service was great on the second floor, top floor was a little slow but I think bartenders are learning. read more

Amazing drinks and service. Lucinda was the best bartender and went out of her way to make the night special. Highly recommend! read more

Emerald Cocktail Kitchen - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Syracuse, New York

Food was incredible, cocktails are amazing, and service is wonderful. A plus was the all gender-neutral bathrooms... not many establishments have this, so thank you for being inclusive so everyone can feel comfortable using the restroom. read more

Great service, pretty spot, good food and cocktails we will come back especially during the summer

Lots of buzz of the opening of this place. It has three levels. First level is a cocktail bar and a few tables. Second level is a lounge area with bathrooms but no bar. The third level is the rooftop with a bar, table and a bunch of seating. Depending on which way you look the view is cool. We had some fun cocktails and they were all pretty good. After a while we ordered a bunch of apps. They were all solid. Mac and cheese eggrolls, bbq cauliflower bites, curly fries with truffle mayo to be exact. Service was excellent all around on each floor. I thought it was a little too pricey for Syracuse,NY, but not insane. This place is worth a shot in the summer months for sure. read more

Great staff, amazing cocktails and a nice skyline view of downtown Syracuse. For a place that's only been open for a few months, they've nailed the importance of great customer service, great drinks and a great atmosphere. Definitely get here for the sunset, amazing views. Definitely get the strawberry mule or the temptation. read more

a great addition to the syracuse cocktail bar scene! located in tip hill, emerald cocktail kitchen is a 3 story establishment, each floor having its own separate vibe. while it is technically a rooftop bar, it's nothing you would get in a bigger city, as it's location is outside of downtown and syracuse doesn't have much of a skyline lol. great setup nonetheless, but when it's popular on the weekends you can't get a seat on the rooftop. the first floor is a smaller longer type vibe with a bar, and the second floor feels like your grandmas house meets updated decor. the second floor can be kinda weird if no one else is sitting up there because it's SUPER quiet, and it's the only floor with no bar. also very bright on the second floor. service can be a tad slow when they're busy, but that's to be expected when everyone's ordering specialty cocktails. their drinks are great though, i've tried a bunch and they all slay. my favorite is probably the citrine. i also LOVE the variety of events they put on, their programming is top notch. i've only tried their emerald greens flatbread for food but it was a 10/10. there's a good variety of seasonal cocktails on their list, reasonably priced too, and they often have specials for their events!! i highly recommend emerald for date night, drinks with a group of friends, or for any of the events they put on. read more

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Went with my girlfriend to get lunch, reservations were not for the rooftop and would have a $20 cancellation fee if we didn't eat in the full service area which was no problem but the server was extremely rude and not attentive but seemed fine with every other table, water glasses had old bugs in it, the toast came out barely toasted and tasted odd with cold, rock hard butter so after all that we just decided not to even check the rooftop bar. was very excited to experience it but was very disappointed. would not recommend the full service dining area. read more

It was my first time going, and being on the rooftop, and this place is really nice. The ambiance is really nice, the view from the rooftop is beautiful. The service was really great, and their spinach and artichoke dip was freaking delicious! I'll definitely be back. read more

I would like to start off by saying that I understand that this place is new and I'm not here to criticize it but I would like to give a few suggestions. It is very evident that this neighborhood is not in need of an upscale cocktail bar. It seems as though the customer rather have a beer, glass of wine or a canned seltzer. In addition, I understand that this is Syracuse's first rooftop bar and the rooftop bar is beautiful, however, it cannot mainly advertise the rooftop bar on social media platforms when it is only open until 10- understand it is for noise purposes, but figure out another marketing technique. While I was sipping on my high noon on the second floor I over heard a couple next to me talking about the lighting. I completely agreed with them. The lighting at the bar should not be on the highest level, especially the first floor. The first floor is supposed to be a speak easy vibe. After visiting the top 4 speakeasy bars the previous weekend in NYC it is evident that no speakeasy has high tops. As a result the first floor should get rid of there high tops and lower the lights so the lights are extremely dimmed. In addition there should be added booths to accommodate for those who are forced to move from the rooftop to the lower two floors after 10 pm. People are going to leave the bar if they are not comfortable and the rooftop bar vibes are not replicated somewhere on the other floors. The second floor should not be as well lit as it is. It ruins the mood and no one wants to have living room lighting when they are at a bar. It should be lowered. The music was awful. You can't say you are a speakeasy vibe bar and blast music that doesn't match that vibe. It is evident that the bartenders are extremely talented, but the cocktails are too complex for them to make when they are serving such a high volume of customers. They should cut down the menu while they get acclimated to the new place and figure out what the CUSTOMERS want. The bartenders who were working the roof the night I went were extremely nice and it is not there fault if you have slow service it is because of the complex cocktails that they are forced to make to satisfy what the owners think the customer's desires are rather than what the customers actually want. In addition, they should find a better way to serve the food it's not the best atmosphere when waiters can't find who they're serving the food too. Again this isn't there fault, the managers need to become more organized and figure out how to run a bar. When I come back again I am hoping for some improvements. read more

I'll start by saying this is a new business, so I know there are some kinks to be worked out. But the owners and operators are not new to the food industry, so they don't get as much slack. We went here on a weekday evening around 6. It was fairly busy, a mix of mostly young 20's and a few older groups. The entrance area is very very small. The door is easily blocked by one group at the hostess stand. The staff at the door was very nice and gave a brief overview of each floor. The first floor is a "speakeasy" aka it is a bar lounge area with a dark color scheme. They had a bar area with about 8 seats and some tables and booths. The second floor was a bit odd. It reminded me of a rec room, with a big table. There was also some stool seating that faced a window looking out at the road. No one was hanging out in there when we were there, inderstandably so. At first it looked like it would be a great space to rent out for private events, but when you actually go in there, it's smaller then you think. It would probably be comfortable for 20 people max. It's also where the main bathrooms are, so I don't know if you can close it off anyway. The third floor is the selling point. It's the "rooftop bar." There is a second bar up here. You walk out at the narrowest part of the third floor, and this is where they have put much of the larger party seating. The bar is here too, and directly accross from it is several bulky tables with bench seating. Also, between the tables and the bar is the only way to get to the other side of the rooftop bar area, so it gets extremely crowded, as people are bunching up at the bar to order drinks. The other side of the building it the larger, more open area. However, seating is extremely sparse. There are a few tables with umbrellas, one nice area with a patio couch, rug and plants, but most of the seating is either metal bar stools scattered about, and tiny two tops. Only one side of the rooftop bar has a decent view of the city skyline. The rest of the bar faces people's home. In fact the one side sits right up against a private property. I would hate to live there. I don't know if they are waiting for more furniture to delivered, but the seating is so sparse on this side. I saw people having to use the barstools as tables when sitting on the same ones. When we finally managed to find somewhere to sit, a bench facing that same house, we then had to go back to the bar to order. That's fine, except as I said, the bar gets super crowded pretty quickly. They don't have wait staff, just runners and bussers. They do have a food menu too, so I'm assuming you have to go up to the bar to also order food. We only ordered one drink, which was terrible. It was a coconut/pineapple concoction, which no matter how you make it, would be very hard to mess up. However, they opted to use a Smokey mezcal as the liquor. It was the strangest, oddest thing. We each took two sips, then decided to leave it and leave the place. I have no idea how this place is going to function year around. Their primary selling point is the rooftop bar. That will work from April-October. The rest of the inside area is really small. I will add that the inside lobby and stair case area is really beautiful. They have an elevator, but really the upstairs doesn't seem very wheelchair or handicap friendly. I really hope they figure out the seating situation. I think they would benefit greatly from transitioning to a reserved seating option,where the hostess manages and sits customers either upstairs or in the inside bar and keeps a waitlist, so they can better control crowds. They don't even need to get waitstaff, just have the tables numbered and set up for QR ordering and delivery. The place too small and awkwardly set up to handle streams of customers coming in and out and expected to find their own seating and have to get up and move around frequently to order drinks and food. We won't be back anytime soon. *update: I saw they put in some additional bar top space for people to actually sit/stand at and set drinks on on the third level. Good. read more

My first time after hearing a lot of great things. The aesthetic was great, but I think that was it. The service was lack luster and non-engaging and they seemed annoyed. We ordered drinks, the mixed drinks might have had alcohol or maybe not, they were very weak. We ordered food or tried to but they were out of almost everything we tried to order, I find that surprising for 6:00pm on a Saturday night. I was not impressed with the food, the vegan burger was under cooked and the side was a bag of lays potato chips. For the price I feel like a bag of chips is a bit low brow, if I wanted a bag of chips as side I'd go to Panera. The brussles sprouts had great flavor but a LOT oil, so much that were hard to eat. The menu explains in detail that they are all about sustainability, but I think individual bags of chips are not in the least sustainable. I'd be willing to give this place a second try but I think they have some work to do. My suggestion is, work on the staff attitude, and work on the fine details of the dishes. Overall I wasn't impressed, hopefully it was just a one off experience and perhaps the next time I'll enjoy it. read more

where do i start... the swarming bees are relentless; a concern if u are allergic to stings... next, our drink was minus cinnamon sticks; thankfully bartender realized her oversight 10 minutes after delivery but drinks were half devoured at that point; we should have been given replacement drinks made correctly... the online menu is much more robust & appealing than the limited one offered at the restaurant; clearly the online menu needs updating... lastly, we were not allowed to pay with cash & were told the cash drawer was unavailable; also the wrong check was handed to us... and all these issues happened between noon & 1:00 pm when the establishment had perhaps 3 or 4 parties to keep track of... the only saving grace was the lobster avocado dip which was scrumptious... doubtful we'll be returning any time soon read more