9 Best Restaurants in The Adirondacks and Thousand Islands, New York

This restaurant near Whiteface Mountain Ski Center earns high marks for its American fare, served in an attractive dining space with cloth-covered tables, candles, and a wall of windows. A section of the menu is devoted to the restaurant's namesake, trout. The delectable fish may be panfried or served in more- complex ways but it's not all about the fish here. Options include Long Island duck and New York strip steak. The cozy pub serves hamburgers and sandwiches.

This café-bakery has light fare like soups, hot and cold sandwiches, and baked goods. Bag lunches are available, too, for skiers, hikers, or anyone who just likes to brown bag it. Outdoor seating is available.

This family-oriented restaurant actually floats on the water (the foundation was once used as a dredge on the New York State Canal System). The oak-trimmed dining room has antique buffet tables. Try the prime rib (also served Cajun style), seafood pasta, porterhouse steak, or shrimp scampi. The menu also includes plenty of chicken and pasta dishes. The restaurant is part of Captain Thompson's Resort. A deck has open-air dining.

Enjoy upscale fare in a casual, comfortable space with cloth-covered tables in this chef-owned restaurant. The menu at this local favorite emphasizes seafood: shrimp scampi, sautéed or broiled scallops, king crab legs. Filet Oscar is butterflied filet mignon dressed with crabmeat, asparagus, and béarnaise sauce; veal Oscar is similar. The menu also includes chicken Parmesan and other chicken dishes.

This lively first-floor restaurant and bar at High Peaks Resort has been a hit with locals and out-of-town visitors ever since it opened in fall 2008. The menu has classics like big hamburgers and homemade pizza as well as steak. It's also great for breakfast.

In the heart of downtown, this English-style brewpub serves standard pub fare and manages to project that neighborhood-meeting-place feel that Brits love. Dishes include fish-and-chips, stout-and-cheddar soup, assorted wraps and salads, blue-cheese-topped steaks, and buffalo burgers. Try the sampler for the gamut of microbrews Davidson Brothers produces.

Despite billing itself as the village's "best-kept secret," this sports bar and restaurant near the shore always seems to be hopping. The daily menu includes pizzas, burgers, appetizers, and dinner specials where the chef gets creative with what's in the kitchen. Cheese sauces are common. There's fish on Friday and prime rib on Saturday.

The restaurant's country-rustic decor is accented by plenty of ponderosa pine, and wildlife art adorns the walls. The menu includes sandwiches, burgers, steaks, and chops, which you may order at a table or at the bar.

The upstairs dining room, called 110 West Main, begins service at 5:30 pm daily; breakfast and lunch are served downstairs; and all three meals are served outside, weather permitting. Salads and sandwiches are popular—try the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. Alfresco dining is in a New Orleans–style flower garden with wrought-iron gates and a stone archway. Wine tastings are offered on some days of the week.