Most people are here to drink...and it's really full of wrinkled nosed professional alkies most of the time. Despite the slick interior, the population that dines here sort of reminds me of the type you would see at Myrtle Beach. Most of the folks wouldn't know the difference between Sysco and a real chef cooking. read more

We haven't been to The Channelside in several years and were very impressed with our meals tonight! Delicious and reasonably priced with excellent service. Today was Labor Day and a couple other restaurants we had thought about were closed. One of our party has to eat gluten free and this restaurant has several items on the menu that met his needs. We'll be back! read more

Ordered the poutine and blue crunch salad. Salad was fresh with a tangy and tasty vinaigrette. It was very refreshing on a warm summer day. Poutine was acceptable and tasty, but don't expect the poutine you'd get in Canada. I went around 3pm and the Service was prompt and friendly. The outdoor seating area is fabulous with great views of some of the islands (1000 islands). read more

Had a fabulous lunch sitting out on the patio overlooking the river. Had a great burger and our friends enjoyed their meals as well. The stuffed artichokes were amazing. read more

The Channelside - American Near Me - Clayton, New York

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After a long day of driving to Clayton, we were looking for an early drink and eats. The Channel side advertised apps and drinks during happy hour, at bar only, so we did not sit on the deck facing the lovely river. The bartender was full of local knowledge to get is started. We ordered Bourbon The apps were more than enough. We started with stuffed, hot cherry peppers and wings. Both good. We must be close enough to Buffalo for them to be authentic. Then we had fried local curds with raspberry sauce, quite a memorable first for a pair of Virginians. Must try Last was the prized bam bam shrimp. Don't skip these. You will love them. Overall it was tasty, fresh with friendly service. read more

The Channel Side features a better than average bar fare menu but the service is fairly slow. I highly recommend eating here if only for the spectacular view of the St. Lawrence and the Beer Battered Deep Fried River Rat Cheese Curd (with spicy horseradish and creamy raspberry sauces). read more

Water front dining, decent food, and ok atmosphere. Sit at the bar, you usually get better service. They have great wings and good salads. Nothing spectacular. They had clams on special a couple weeks ago and a great fish dish with a salsa that was yummy. But it's gone. Their regular menu is a good size, scallops and salmon are good options. I don't eat wings but when I tell you my family and friends love them, it's an understatement. Ask for Lori if you sit at a table she's the best waitress. And Johnnie the bartender is great. read more

It started with trying to get in for dinner for table of 6 and was told it was 2 1/2 hr wait. We got a call after 1 1/2 hrs and told us we could get a table. Out of our party of six only two of us had a decent meal. The rest were not happy at all. The waitress seemed like she wanted to move us along and end her night. Not the most warm and friendly gal. Would not go back and cannot recommend. read more

While on vacation we stopped here for lunch. Prices were higher than average so we thought it was a top notch place. Unfortunately everything was.. meh. First, my beer was warm. I had the same beer at the pervious bar and it was way better. Service has been slow. Very slow. We just got half our food. Some people orders salads for an entire but they came out first anyway. Seafood mac and cheese was fine. House chips were soggy, not full of flavor. Wings, COLD. We had two orders, we ordered crispy. both came in cold and soggy again. Flavor of both hot and parm were bland. Overall nothing terrible but nothing good. Would not recommend. Sorry. read more

Channelside is one of our favorite in Clayton!! Great service and great food!!! Best meatloaf ever!!! Love the owners!! read more

Great restaurant in the cutest little town, Clayton. The seafood we had was really fresh and was delicious. My mom had the meatloaf and I highly recommend it. My dad had the scallops and they were also pretty good. I had ahí tuna but I wish i would have tried the fish tacos after seeing other people's plates. I would not recommend the desserts, the only drawback for me and why I gave it four stars, they all seemed pretty standard and not freshly made. Overall this place has a great atmosphere, good food, and good drinks. read more

This place is great. After being repeatedly let down by the dining spots in Alex Bay, this was a breath of fresh air. Very lovely interior atmosphere and the staff was great. We didn't get to sit on the deck due to weather but it looks like a great place to be. I got the Italian sandwich and my wife got the fish fry. Both were very good. The real deal sealer was desert, we got the cheesecake. Seriously, get the cheesecake. read more

The Channelside - Sun going down from inside. - American Near Me - Clayton, New York

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The food was not as good as expected :( The staff was friendly and helpful, and of course the view is great. .. you're right on the river... Our waitress Lori was helpful and kind. After the 20 min. wait to get our bread, the appetizer and entrées came soon after. I ordered the pan seared scallops as an appetizer, one of the 3 scallops was well undercooked, no sear at all on the bottom, but the spinach was nice. For my entrée, I went with the special. Salmon with an apple chutney. The salmon was better. Good size portion and the apple chutney added some flavor. The asparagus was ok and the mashed potatoes were bland, aside from the chunks of garlic. So overall, I'd give it a second chance. read more

This was my very first trip up to Alex Bay over this past weekend with my parents to visit family friends of ours. It was my first time eating here and I enjoyed watching my first real sunset right there on the water, it was really relaxing and I would definately eat here again when I go back up there and this place has nice service. read more

awful steak. would not recommend. overall a bad experience because of the food, being on the water is the only reason i'm giving it 2 stars.

So the views and the service were excellent. We went there looking for lobster mac which was no longer on the menu. It was replaced with seafood Mac which I would not recommend. It was very dry and we had trouble finding the seafood. Ordered the tuna steak special which was very bland and not worth the $32 price point. The bang bang shrimp was excellent and I wish I had just gotten twoOrders of that. I truly blame ourselves for poor choices but for the $96 bill after tip, for two of us , I would have rather spent it at DePrinzios. As another reviewer mentioned , choose your entries carefully and understand the bill will be what it is. read more

We were looking for a nicer dinner place in Clayton and The Channelside fit the bill! It was a little pricey for some entrees but honestly you get a lot for the price and the food was really good quality. The outdoor space was lovely and the servers were friendly. My only complaint is that at times the service seemed a little slow when they did not appear to be that busy. Overall, it was a nice place to stop with a wide variety of food on the menu and gave us a nice dinner on the water. read more

Had a very nice lunch here. The steak salad was really awesome. Service was a little slow, but they are very friendly.

If it's your first time in Clayton and have never seen a river go to the Channel Side. If you have been to Clayton before or have seen a river then skip this restaurant. It is a waste of time and money. The food is below average and over priced. What is really depressing is this is one of four restaurants that seem to be under the same management. If that is true then let's hope that Channel Side is not the best of the four. Finally there are some good restaurants in and around Clayton but this is not one of them. read more

If you're in Clayton, do not miss this restaurant. Beautiful spot, especially at sunset. Great drinks and food in a welcoming, relaxed fun atmosphere. Servers helpful and friendly. It's our favorite, go-to place whenever we're in town. read more

Horribly disappointing service ... We walked in and were told there was a wait so we asked to sit at the bar and get an appetizer & some drinks while we waited for our table. We sat there for twenty minutes while the bartender asked others at the bar if they need anything else or a refresher ... Before ever even acknowledging our presence!!! read more

"You can't eat atmosphere." Well, atmosphere is what MAKES the Channel Side. Everything else is pretty standard and just OK. Relatively small menu, but a little of everything (apps, paninis, burgers/sandwiches, salads, entrees, and homemade desserts you might be tempted with, displayed for you on a tray depending on your server). Probably the signature item of the Channel Side is the deep fried River Rat cheese curd. At a reasonable price, you get about 5 sweet-and-sour-chicken-sized pieces of deep fried cheese curd (it sounds funky, but it's kind of like mozzarella sticks). The cheese is from the amazing River Rat cheese store just around the corner in Clayton, who get their cheese from a local farm. It is served with two dipping sauces--a thin, creamy horseradish sauce and a sweet raspberry sauce complete with seeds in it. These sauces taste great separate OR, believe it or not, mixed together! A little spicy and a little sweet, and both go great with the deep-fried delights. The chicken wings are usually pretty good too, though lately they've been skimping on the wing sauce; last year the hot wings were a lot saucier; this year we had to ask for extra sauce. The blue cheese dip is most likely homemade and delicious, though. To balance the decadence of the fried cheese, I normally order the Blue Crunch salad, which is delicious (and I am NOT a salad person!). The salad portions are huge, and the Blue Crunch (I order mine with grilled chicken for a few dollars more) is topped with crisp, fresh bacon, blue cheese crumbles, candied pecans, craisins, and a thick, rich vinaigrette. I have also tried the 50/50 burger panini, complete with bacon and a Dr. Pepper light BBQ sauce (which is sweet, obviously), and I wasn't all that impressed. The bread was somehow soggy, from the BBQ sauce most likely, and the burger meat was just OK, diner quality. The sweet potato fries I got on the side were great, though. The one thing that makes the Channel Side almost worth skipping entirely is the service. The wait staff are generally very friendly and try to be accommodating, but if you go at peak hours, your service is guaranteed to be slow, and you will see your waitress very rarely. If you need ketchup or a drink refill, good luck ever seeing your server after she drops off your food in a hurry. We went at 5:30 on a Sunday night and were seated in the "Skiff Room" inside (outside deck was full), in a very uncomfortable wooden booth with the sun beaming in (no blinds or shades). It took almost an hour for a panini and chicken wings. (We almost got the feeling our server knew we weren't spending a lot, meaning minimal tip, so she didn't bend over backwards.) We watched a large party outdoors get their beverages delivered at the same time as their appetizers, at least 15-20 minutes after ordering--beverages are supposed to come wayyy before appetizers! And a few months ago, friends of mine took their father out for Father's Day and ended up with the manager waiting on them. They started to get up to leave because it took almost two hours for their entrees; once they started walking out, the staff jumped to get them to stay and got their food right out, but they have vowed not to eat there again. So go for the amazing view, get the deep friend cheese curd, but don't go during peak hours!!! About 3 p.m. is ideal; post-lunch and pre-dinner is your best bet for getting seated on the back patio, which is literally right on the St. Lawrence River (P.S. luckily there are umbrellas on the tables, too, because it can get pretty hot in the sun). If you do go during rush, be prepared for slow service. Again, the staff are all very nice, but it is a small restaurant, maybe 10 tables total, so I don't understand how it could be *that* busy. read more

As I walk in the channelside I see very nice decor, happy waitresses and a nice atmosphere. Our waitress came to us promptly, she was great, very helpful. I had my glass of wine then she took the order. ...finally about 20 minutes after that I finally recieved my bread..... should it take that long for bread? I ordered the Cottage pie. When I got my dinner it looked great but was luke warm. The menu stated it was ground steak, fresh veggies and garlic mashed... honestly it tasted like a box dinner with ground hamburg. We asked what kind of meat was in the Cottage Pie and she said "I don't know, I think hamburger." I think she was right because it didn't taste like steak to me. She was kind and took that off the bill cause she saw I only ate a few bites. So, all in all, not a great dinner, but I did see a few other things on the menu that looked pleasing, so maybe I just picked the wrong thing? I would go there again because it was such a nice restaurant, I just hope my food would taste a little more fine dining. read more

Our service was incredibly slow, it took over 45 minutes to get our food after we ordered. We had the fish taco appetizer and it was bland and tasteless. We ordered martini's and I'm pretty sure that the bartender had never made one before. We had to find the owner to get it made right. Extremely overpriced for our experience. The view on the deck is unbeatable though. I would take pictures out there and leave. read more

Great view of the St Lawrence Seaway . Great views. Our food and service was very good. Only negative was the 1st 2 items we wanted to order were not available while standard items on the menu (all out). The waitress noted other items out as well. Great location. read more

Great view of the river and islands while you dine with very good food :)

Great place for lunch to watch the boast go by and enjoy a good local craft beer or wine and fabulous seafood mac and cheese.

The "deep fried" cheese curds are a total waste of 10 dollars. They have no flavor, barely breaded and I wouldn't even call them fried. The service was really slow, the only good thing I have to say about this place is the wings. read more

The food was excellent, but the service was horrible. Once we got our food, we were totally ignored for 45 minutes. We found our waitress at a far table conversing with friends. I finally cornered a nice kid who was seating people, who immediately jumped in with the dessert tray. Unacceptable service gets no tip!! read more

Great atmosphere and great food. Highly recommend fried cheese curd or mussels for apps and Channelside panini for a meal not just a snack.

Went there on a whim instead of JRECKS last week. My boyfriend and I walked in, and were immediately seated. We chose the option of outdoors because we were promised it was covered and cooler than inside. We are seated at a table on the patio, no issues. The table was a little wobbly, didn't think anything of it. Wind picked up, the table flipped over onto my boyfriend, who is in a leg immoblizer and arm sling due to an accident. Apparently the hostess set us up at a table that was not supposed to be used due to problems with the legs not folding out. Drinks went flying all over the place. This was after waiting approx 30 mins for waitress to bring drinks. I had to go find a waitress after waiting around 10 mins after this happened. I had to request a different table, and new drinks, as neither was offered. Boyfriend covered from chest down with water and soda, and table had landed on him. Watiress left stating she would be right back, after being extremely rude about the request. 20+ mins later she came back asked if we wanted to order or not. Half the things on the menu they were out of, or not being served anymore. Ordered an appetizer, which came out cold, then waited another 30+ MINUTES for a burger and chicken sandwich. We would have ordered dinners, but from listening to another table order, we realize half the things on the menu were not being served that night, but were not told by our waitress. Burger came out cool to the touch, but the chicken was good. We would have sent the burger back, but the waitress never came back until she dropped the bill off. No offer for dessert or anything. Waitress acted like it was a pain to serve us. We had been planning on going to JRECKS and then to fire training, so we were in jeans and tshirts, but not dirty. The waitress treated us like we couldn't afford the place, and were unwelcome there, which was untrue, as both myself and my boyfriend have well paying jobs. The other table she had on the patio was 2 older couples, who she was very attentive with, and when it started to storm offered to move them inside and apologized for them getting wet. We could not even flag the waitress down when she was out with the other table. The table behind us with a different waiter commented to us that they have never seen the waitress act like that, and the service was not normally like that. All in all, I will probably never go back. It seemed like just because we were a young couple who were not dressed in khaki's and polo's or dresses, like half the crowd that was at the bar area, we were not welcome. I have worked as a waitress previously, for 3+ years, in an upscale restaurant, and would never treat a customer like that. I tip 20% plus extra for service, but this waitress did not deserve that. If your going to make faces at your customers and roll your eyes while they are rolling and think that the customer is not going notice, your sadly mistaken. We were not offered even a remote apology for the table flipping over, or asking if my already injured boyfriend was okay. If I could rate this place a zero I would. read more

Very nice bar/restaurant. There was a bit of a wait for dinner (inside & outside seating). We had heard the poutine there was amazing and mentioned that to the waitstaff who suggested sitting at the bar to order it as an appetizer. It was amazing! It was almost too much for the 2 of us (but we powered through!) We would highly recommend this place - clean, pleasant, delicious food, reasonably priced. read more

Update: just noticed a manager response basically calling someone at our table drunk and blaming it on the customer and how could we hurt their feelings for what is a very honest review asking us basically not to come back all I can say is Wow!!!!! Lowering stars rating from three stars because the food was good... But vindictive manger gets you a solid one star. Congratulations on destroying my cousins outfit she was wearing that night, not helping her and now blaming me or someone at that table. This manager is horrible. Food was good. Had fish taco and blue crunch salad. During the meal, the table collapsed and the waitress was very slow to respond. Turns out, she was the manager on duty. She said the table leg is not stable. Unfortunately one person at the table was the recipient of all of the tables contents. They acted like nothing happened and did not check on the person. Food was good, service, less than stellar read more

Good food. Good service. Nice balcony in water. However dining area in back left hand corner far too loud. Rest of restaurant is fine.

Food is marginal. View just ok. Head out to the harbor hotel for a much better meal

This restaurant is a perfect dining experience and never fails to make their guests feel welcome. One is greeted warmly, service is impeccable, food terrific and prices are reasonable. Plus, the view is outstanding and you never feel rushed. read more

Go only if you care about location. The management is haughty, the service is slow, food is just ok. The mojitos are awful.

The restroom was out of service. Extremely long wait for the appetizer which was the poutine with runny gravy and cold French fries. House 3 of the 5 entrees were served cold when suppose to be hot. VERY DISAPPOINTED WILL NOT RETURN read more

Great atmosphere and food was good. However, for only two couples in the restaurant service was slow and waitress wasn't friendly.

I went to channelside for the second time after going with a friend of the owners. When I arrived with her, we were seated immediately, treated wonderfully and our service was quick. I thought this was a new GEM (since my hometown is all waterfront restaurants, it was nice to have something familiar) and boy was I wrong. This time, being someone unfamiliar and arriving at 6 PM a woman who I THINK was the owner promptly told us "If you want to sit outside its an hour." We said "we will take whatever, not a problem." Then we sat down to wait. In the time we waited she sat an eight top, sent two couples to the bar (which was never suggested as an option for us), and then came to ask us if we were the "Petits." I responded "No you never asked us for a name..." So then she wrinkles her nose and writes down our name TWENTY TWO minutes after we sat to wait. Then finally after 35 minutes of waiting I had had enough, the owner/hostess was nowhere to be found, and then when I stood up to head to the bar, she saw me and returned to the front. I asked how long and she said "well we have to clear some things off, but about 5 minutes." Thankfully it was five minutes, where we were walked to our table. Now there were two things about that walk, one good, one bad. The first is we were surprised to be given a seat out on the patio, which we had though was not an option. HOWEVER, we were walked past a total of 8 open tables that could have accommodated two in the bar and dining room. Our waitress was very friendly and she took our orders immediately. Our drinks came. We waited..... and waited.....and waited.... and 30 minutes later we got our appetizer, which was the cheese curd. Now the curd is their SIGNATURE dish, which usually is great, but this time it was just a mess, the cheese had melted all over the dish and oozed oil. There was no remaining shell on the cheese, it had all been crushed or gotten soggy. After eating our appetizer because we were starving, another 10 minutes later we got water and bread (shouldn't that have come out first?!?!?!?!). Another 20 minutes after THAT we got our food, which was luke warm, the potatoes had clearly been sitting under a lamp or in an over for far too long and they had NO garlic flavor what so ever. The chicken was pretty decent, as was the sandwich, but not astonishing for the price. We were uncomfortable with the entire night, and quite frankly the fact I wasted 75$ on a special evening with my husband makes me so angry I will never return even though I had plans to with friends next week. I understand circumstance, but to be treated so poorly by presumably an OWNER, and to be given such a drastically different treatment because I was not one of the "locals" is unacceptable. The service, was unacceptable, the condition of the food, was unacceptable. This might be a gem to the locals, but it is a nightmare to anyone they don't know or recognize. read more