Jared Paventi 🧂
@jaredpaventi.com
dad+husband abandoner of xwitter syracuse.com restaurant critic substack writer of things pr guy st. bonaventure alum cny’s leading fake meteorologist past bylines: deadspin, october, other defunct sites my back hurts linktr.ee/jaredpaventi
Good food, strong drinks, video & arcade games and nostalgia: restaurant critic @jaredpaventi.com found it all at Three Lives in Syracuse's Armory Square. www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/...
Finding power-ups in the chicken tenders and potent potions at Three Lives in Armory Square (Dining Out Review)
Armory Square video game bar levels up with potions, shareable plates, and old school arcade games.
thisiscny.com
Critic @jaredpaventi.com found a lot to like about The Exchange, the nearly three-year-old gastropub situated in an historic bank building on North Main Street in Homer, about a half-hour south of Downtown Syracuse and a 15-minute drive from Tully. www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/...
A Wellington misfire, but plenty else to like at The Exchange in Homer (Dining Out Review)
House-crafted ingredients highlight visit to Homer gastropub.
thisiscny.com
Meatballs were one of a couple surprises when reviewer @jaredpaventi.com visited the 27-year-old Thompson Road Tavern on a recent Saturday evening. www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/...
Some of Syracuse’s best meatballs are hiding in plain sight at Thompson Road Tavern (Dining Out Review)
Exceptional value, solid food and lively crowd highlight visit.
thisiscny.com
Some Central New York restaurants impressed food critics Charlie Miller, @jaredpaventi.com, @jacobpucci.bsky.social and @wandercuse.bsky.social with ambition, others with consistency. A few managed to do both, night after night. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
Central NY’s best restaurants of 2025: Our Syracuse food writers pick their favorites
These are the top spots we reviewed this year.
thisiscny.com
More than 20 years after opening, the Limp Lizard in Syracuse remains a reliable haunt for smoked meats, cold beer, excellent service and solid value. @jaredpaventi.com reviews: www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/...
Syracuse’s Limp Lizard brings all the smoke to each dish (Dining Out Review)
Smoked meats, cold beer, excellent service and solid value. What more could you ask for?
thisiscny.com
Reviewer @jaredpaventi.com shed tears when he visited LakeHouse Pub in Skaneateles. Was it the excellent quality of the meal or the copious amount of horseradish he added to his beef on weck sandwich? www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/...
Horseradish mandatory, tears optional: LakeHouse Pub delivers standout beef on weck (Dining Out Review)
Buffalo's other legendary food stars at this Skaneateles pub.
thisiscny.com
The upscale Southern cuisine at Ruby Begonia's in Chittenango largely delivered, reviewer @jaredpaventi.com said. I know I've got my eyes on that cornbread. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
Everything’s coming up roses at Ruby Begonia’s in Chittenango (Dining Out Review)
Upscale southern cuisine is a short drive from Downtown Syracuse.
thisiscny.com
While there were some inconsistencies, cheese-centric bistro The Wedge in Eastwood has many bright spots, finds reviewer @jaredpaventi.com. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
Creative starters and stellar service at The Wedge in Syracuse, but inconsistencies linger (Dining Out Review)
Eastwood bistro brings brings cheese to each course, including the cocktails.
thisiscny.com
If you're a fellow French fry fan (I am), @jaredpaventi.com has been kind enough to point us in the direction of Amber Inn in Marietta. He said the dive bar met all his criteria for excellent fries and has plenty else to enjoy. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
If you like French fries, you need to visit the Amber Inn in Marietta (Dining Out Review)
Cold beer and warm vibes on the shore of Otisco Lake.
thisiscny.com
In many ways, Gangnam Style Korean Kitchen reminds reviewer @jaredpaventi.com of another popular local restaurant: A family-owned and -run restaurant with limited seating and little to look at, but a menu of traditional, homestyle and unpretentious dishes. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
Gangnam Style Korean Kitchen brings the heat in more ways than one (Dining Out Review)
No-frills Korean restaurant offers big flavors in Syracuse's Westcott neighborhood.
thisiscny.com
It's not quite the much-missed Clark's Ale House, which several of its menu items invoke, but Crooked Cattle is certainly worth a visit, says reviewer @jaredpaventi.com. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
Armory Square’s Crooked Cattle brings the roast beef sandwich back to Downtown Syracuse (Dining Out Review)
The owner of Ale 'n' Angus pays tribute to the legacy of Clark's Ale House.
thisiscny.com
One would hope that a restaurant named Mr. Pho would make a decent bowl of its namesake noodle soup. One would be wrong, says reviewer @jaredpaventi.com, because it turns out Mr. Pho makes an exceptional bowl of pho bo, the traditional Vietnamese beef broth and rice noodle soup.
Mr. Pho in Armory Square: A pho so good you name the restaurant after it (Dining Out Review)
Restaurant brings popular Vietnamese dishes, extraordinary value to Armory Square.
thisiscny.com
Aurora Brewing Co., a well-regarded maker of hazy IPAs, tasty sours and true-to-style lagers, has brought their beers and a full-time kitchen to Tipp Hill. Reviewer @jaredpaventi.com visited recently to sample some starters, deep dish pies, skillets and more. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
There’s more than beer at Aurora Brewing Co.’s Tipp Hill taproom (Dining Out Review)
Tipp Hill taproom slings burgers, pizzas and a first-rate chicken wing dip.
thisiscny.com
Buyer’s remorse at a restaurant is real and was the topic of conversation after reviewer @jaredpaventi.com's most recent visit to Daniella’s Steakhouse in Geddes. It’s not that anything was wrong with his meal; quite the opposite, actually. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
Service and high standards remain hallmarks of Daniella’s Steakhouse (Dining Out Review)
Playing shoulda, coulda, woulda after dinner serves as a reminder to trust your instincts.
thisiscny.com
The Syracuse.com surge is all because of @jaredpaventi.com, I assume
Joshua Benton@joshuabenton.com · last yr.New by me —> From now on, I’ll tell you every month which 25 local U.S. newspapers are having the most traffic success on the web. Any guesses what (often forgotten) newspaper company owns a shocking 7 of the top 11, beating out far larger peers? www.niemanlab.org/2025/07/how-...
When @jaredpaventi.com doesn't miss, he does not miss. This is truly excellent, on Hulk Hogan and what he means to men of our age. realdirtnap.substack.com/p/dont-ever-...
Don't Ever Meet Your Heroes
When someone dies, the good memories don't always outweigh the bad
realdirtnap.substack.com
"At the Golden Spike, chicken breast tenders are hand-cut, hand-breaded and deep-fried until golden and just cooked through. ... I’d put them alongside the Western Ranch Motor Inn as purveyors of the area’s best chicken tenders," said reviewer @jaredpaventi.com about this pub in East Syracuse.
Striking gold with elevated bar food at East Syracuse’s Golden Spike Pub (Dining Out review)
Scratch-made dishes focus of family-owned bar and grill.
thisiscny.com
Reviewer @jaredpaventi.com visited Su Su Dim Sum on East Brighton Ave. 🥟 Dim sum is the Chinese equivalent of small plates. Popular in the cuisine and culture of China’s Guangdong province, a dim sum menu is made up of small fried, steamed or baked items served in shared portions.
Feasting on dumplings and noodles at Syracuse’s Su Su Dim Sum (Dining Out Review)
Former diner on East Brighton Avenue now home to dumplings, duck and more.
thisiscny.com
“Wok and roll nachos.” The menu at Meier's Creek Brewing Co. in Cazenovia whispered these words to @jaredpaventi.com, demanding his attention and a place on his dinner order. www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/...
Not-cho typical nachos at Meier’s Creek Brewing Co. in Cazenovia (Dining Out Review)
Cazenovia brewpub continues to pack 'em in after nearly five years.
thisiscny.com
Meier's Creek Brewing Company's Cazenovia location has been a fun spot to visit since it opened five years ago. We return this week for syracuse.com and @thisiscny.com to a new menu, including an Asian-inspired riff on nachos.
Not-cho Typical Nachos at Meier’s Creek Brewing Co. in Cazenovia (Dining Out Review)
Cazenovia brewpub continues to pack 'em in after nearly five years.
syracuse.com
My journey with genetic testing continues this week at Dirt Nap. If you've ever lost a loved one to cancer, particularly a parent or grandparent, we look at how your risk increases and why genetic testing could be helpful.
Jared's Genetic Testing Journey: Did I Inherit Cancer? (Part 2)
How DNA and cancer work, plus a friend makes me bleed.
realdirtnap.substack.com
You can get Chinese dumplings and noodle soups anywhere in #CNY, but how many places make their own dumpling dough and hand-pull their noodles? Su Su Dim Sum does. It was our latest Dining Out review for @syracuse.com and @thisiscny.com. Go read it and drool a little bit. I won't tell anyone.
Feasting on Dumplings and Noodles at Syracuse’s Su Su Dim Sum (Dining Out Review)
Former diner on East Brighton Avenue now home to dumplings, duck and more.
syracuse.com
We all die eventually, but few of us get a chance to dig into how while we're still kicking. Today begins a three-part series at Dirt Nap where I take you through my genetic testing journey to determine if I inherited genes for the cancers that have affected at least two generations of my family.
Jared's Genetic Testing Journey: Did I Inherit Cancer? (Part 1)
I'm going to die one of these days, so I might as well narrow down how and when.
realdirtnap.substack.com
We all experience grief differently when death impacts us, but what about people who work in death-related industries? How do they separate their days being around grieving from their everyday life? We ask a funeral director how he achieves work-life balance when death is always a phone call away.
Every Funeral Has a Director
How do people who deal with death of every day not allow death to overwhelm them?
open.substack.com
It took two weeks to get a reservation at Grotto in N. Syracuse and, when we got there, it was a roomful of regulars. And, we can see why. It's mix of red sauce and out-of-the-box, but not too crazy, Italian brings a little something for everyone. Read my review at @syracuse.com + @thisiscny.com
It’s no wonder why Grotto in North Syracuse has such a loyal following (Dining Out Review)
It's a throwback to when value, quality and service were restaurant hallmarks.
syracuse.com
trying to switch off the AI bloatware that has been pinned to the top of every single menu in every single app
