Fairground Inn

Right when I walked in I could tell that the atmosphere was friendly. They have a nice variety to choose from on their menu. I looked around and immediately noticed that they give out some pretty nice sized portions! I ordered : HARBOR MASTER SANDWICH 12.99 Thinly sliced prime rib, sautéed onions and peppers, and American cheese on an Italian bun and onion rings on the side. Delicious!!!

The staff is very friendly. The food is always excellent. They have lots of choices for all dietary cravings. They have huge portions. The prices are VERY reasonable. The restaurant is clean. They always have lots of daily specials. They make you feel like family while you are dining there.

We have eaten here many times with only minor issues. Today was a party of 7, 2 of which ordered the beef dip with au jus. They weren't good, bland meat and kinda tough. Neither person ate more than 1/4 of their sandwich. I tried a bite of my Wife's, I agreed. Not restaurant quality. I said something to the waitress. She asked if the wanted something else. Both declined. At the end of the meal, she asked if they wanted boxes, both declined. The waitress brought the bill. Both sandwiches still on there. I asked for the manager who was "on the phone". Our party was ready to go so I didn't wait. Not impressed and definitely not good customer service. We would have been ok if they just removed one or if we had taken them home. But neither happened.

Great dinner location! We sat at the bar. Bar tender was on her own, so service was a tad slow, we didn't have anywhere to be, so it was no big deal to us. Salad was very fresh and the homemade dressing was excellent. Great cut of Prime Rib! Restaurant was extremely clean, everyone was very friendly and seemed to enjoy working there. Will definitely be back for another visit.

Great little place to go to. The food was good I wish I got something else. The burger was probably not the best choice. Still good just not great. The chili was awesome!

My husband and I had a last minute date night here and overall we enjoyed our meal here. I ordered the Bleu Burger and he ordered a pizza. I was really impressed with the way my burger looked and with how much cheese they put on it. I ordered it medium and I would say that it did come out somewhere between medium rare and medium. The patty itself could have used some extra seasoning but after adding a little salt it was great. I upgraded my side of chips to onion rings. They were very thick and while they were cooked well they were not very flavorful and needed a hit of salt when they got out of the fryer in my opinion. My husbands pizza looked amazing and tasted amazing with a little Parmesan and red pepper flakes on it. When we come back (and we definitely will) it’s gonna be for pizza! The pricing wasn’t bad at all and the restaurant itself is in a great location. The booths are very cozy and the music playing was a bit loud but it was fun to listen to a bunch of music that came out while we were in high school. Christmas decorations were still up on the ceiling but I don’t fault any restaurant for that until February. Our server was extremely nice and attentive. She never let our drinks go below 1/3 full and she checked in on us regularly to see if we needed anything. I wouldn’t say this is a place I would come back to on a date but it is definitely a spot for us to bring the kids for some pizza.

One of my favorite places to eat. Food is always amazing, staff is very friendly. Would highly recommend!

Haven't been in over 20 years since leaving Watertown. Place was packed on a snowy afternoon. Everyone's food was delicious and the staff was excellent. We has 6 people, but they got us right in. Highly recommend. But if you live in watertown, you know!

November 2025 Party of 3. Amazing chicken riggies. Even better service. Menu is priced right! I'll be back.

Weekly prime rib special and it was fantastic. 10oz prime rib, salad, garlic rolls and baked potato for $22. You can't beat that. The restaurant has been here since 1933 and the vibe was pure local. Everyone seemed to know each other. I was waiting for someone to yell "NORM!" Service was wonderful.

Have eaten here countless times and will keep going back. Varied menu, big portions, and everything is delicious. The wait staff are very professional, as in they're fast, friendly & experienced. Absolutely love the Fairground.

The Fairground Inn has been a local favorite of mine since I was a teenager. This is a very popular well run restaurant with a dining room and bar area. They have a nice well rounded menu from Italian classics, pizza, sandwiches, burgers, fajitas, steak, chicken and fish. The staff are very knowledgeable and attentive. Don't let the number of cars scare you away. Even though they are busy they are located alongside some other great restaurants like Coleman's Corner and Craft836. The staff can usually get you and your party seated pretty quickly.

I love this place, go here every time I'm in town! The white pizza is the best around along with their antipasti

A friendly server advised me to try the house salad dressing, and I'm glad that I did. The sirloin was cooked to order and nicely seasoned, pairing well with the French onion soup. Even as it got busy, service was great!

We were passing through and came across the Fairground Inn Family Restaurant. What a pleasant surprise. This place is great! The waitress was friendly and memorized all our orders. I had the prime rib. It was huge and only cost $24. It was actually one of the best prime rib dinners I ever had. Too bad I don't live closer or I would definitely be a regular. We really enjoyed the meal. Thanks!

Wonderful server Alley, love the family atmosphere, onion soup was fantastic, chicken wings with cattlemen bbq sauce, love it, wish wings were a little more crispier, filet medallions were delicious, that garlic butter was the bomb, frozen broccoli, wish was fresh, but was fine. Spinach salad was not a favorite, not sure what the point of serving in the shell is, American cheese on a spinach salad seemed out of place, not a fan of black olives, and eggs. Caesar salad was good with chicken, large salads for one person.

Is it fancy now is it perfect for family a date even a drink at a bar absolutely and our waitress was superb kind attentive and ready to make recommendations upon her request doting on my granddaughter having other waitresses look at her and very kind and her words I cannot say enough about this place the food is excellent I came another day and I had the prime rib amazing so much so that I had to bring my daughter with my granddaughter to enjoy the place so I'm absolutely going to be a repeat customer.

We ate here as a group of 11 and the experience was wonderful. They don't take reservations, but the owner Stephanie met us at the door and had us seated within 20 mins. On a Friday night. The staff was friendly and very efficient. Food was very good! Highly recommend !!

Great food, great verity, prices are okay. Something for everyone, pizza is good here. Great family place, service is a little slow but the food good,

We sat at the bar for dinner. The bartender was the most unpleasant woman that works in hospitality that I've ever had services from. This part of our experience was disappointing. Our food however was awesome!

I enjoy going to Fairgrounds. Their steak is very good and I never have a bad meal and the service is always excellent.

Had a late dinner here the other night. Love their club sandwiches! Hubs had the roast beef with fries and I had the turkey with chips. Also had the gimlet which was their drink special of the night. Great service as well as try out their house salad dressing! So goooooood! Came to lunch with a group of four ladies and a baby. Great service and a nice turkey club sandwich. This place is very popular and usually packed. The only downside is that the slices of pie I got to go were a little on the small side for the price of $4

Hands down, my absolute favorite restaurant in Watertown. My family has been eating here for years and we've never had a bad meal. My favorites are the broccoli chicken Alfredo on homemade linguine pasta, chicken parm, and the Friday fish fry special. I have a hard time choosing between them every time. French onion soup is also excellent. I've heard good things about the pizza too but I like my usuals so much that I've never tried anything else! I don't eat beef, but I have had several friends & family get the prime rib and rave about it. House Italian dressing is unique and SO good. It's sweet and creamy and tasty on salad of course, but also on the garlic bread. Complimentary warm herby dinner rolls are brought to every table and they're excellent. Servers are always friendly and attentive and keep your water glass full without asking. Restaurant itself feels like your Italian Grandma's house (I actually don't have a drop of Italian in me, so this is just pure speculation :) It's warm, and homey, and comfortable. Booths are original to the restaurant I believe. They have a weird lip on the edge that can make them tricky to get out of, but they're comfortable to sit in so the half second of awkward maneuvers when you leave is not a big deal. Prices are also very reasonable, considering everything is made from scratch and portions are generous. Will definitely be visiting again soon!

Always busy and food is tasty and delivered promptly. A nice place dine whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner.

we came here for my kid's birthday dinner and we were not disappointed. it was jam packed but we were seated quickly and our server was super friendly and attentive. our starter came after our pizza, but she had kept us informed of the delay and it all worked out. the pizza was delicious and cooked perfectly. the biggest surprise was weirdly the chicken tenders that were amazing. random, but a nice surprise! great spot!

Great food, great service ! Love the ambiance. I got the fried haddock dinner and it was amazing. My husband got the Italian trio and it was great as well. My son loved their fries !

Excellent food and prices. I've never had a bad meal at The Fairgrounds. Try the garlic "white" pizza, you'll be glad you did!

This place reminds me of the classic "dinner at grandma's" feeling. Everyone is super friendly, the decor is interesting, and the food is homestyle and really tasty. We had their Friday night haddock fish dinner with mac and cheese (the perfect side). Service was friendly and pretty quick for how fast they filled up. Looking forward to my next trip!

We have never had a bad meal or less than exceptional service at the Fairgrounds. It's a tossup each time... Italian? Or a gourmet sandwich? But it's always the house dressing. The wait staff is always friendly and attentive. They understand the importance of keeping the glass full. When newcomers to the area ask where to eat, I always tell them Fairgrounds. And I tell them to start with the fried pickles and breaded-mushrooms. The lasagna and the reuben are both amazing... As are the fajitas, and the chicken or veal parm. Great job... as always!

You can never go wrong with going on Thursday for the Prime Rib special!!!!

This place just opened back up after being closed for months because of Covid. The service was slow, but I could tell the staff was all doing their best! The service has nothing at all to do with the bad rating. We had heard good things from friends in the past and decided to stop in. My husband and I both ordered the same thing: clam chowder to start and Prime Rib with a side of spaghetti as an entree. The clam chowder was disgusting. I mean, it actually churned my stomach. It looked like a pile of lard in a bowl and tasted sour. I have never had soup so awful. The prime rib was rough, very fatty and just didn't have good flavor. The spaghetti sauce was also just terrible! Jarred Prego from Walmart could win awards compared to this. We left without finishing anything and went to Sonic.

I highly recommend the Fairground Inn! I placed a complex takeout order for a large group and they got everything right and were very communicative, and everyone agreed that the food was great! Thank you!

Food is bleh, wine list is bleh, but the service is SUPERB. Delightful. From EVERYONE. Cheap drinks - Irish coffee for $5! Really people. But the food isn't very good - it's ok. My spinach salad came in a chewy taco shell (NOT sure why), and was seriously disproportioned. My colleagues burger was greasy as were the onion rings with it. House chianti is a disaster. But service is impeccable and friendly, and you just can't get enough of the people in this tacky "too many things on the menu" local staple. YAY for people!

Alfredo sauce tasted like milk gravy. Other than that it was just ok. The service was really good but I wasn't impressed with the food.

This place has seriously amazing food only reason I not giving it 5 stars is because our server was not exactly up to par it's like she couldn't multi task she had 3 tables and we watched others that have 5 doing an amazing job. I don't want to mention names because maybe she just had a bad day. Food was amazing thou, compliments to the chef Who was working 02 JUN 2017.

Had a great meal at the Fairground Inn yesterday evening. The french onion soup was delicious. I ordered the queen cut prime rib as my entree. It was a beautiful piece of meat, done perfectly, with just the right amount of fat. The Italian dressing on the tossed salad was the best I've had in a restaurant, no overpowering vinegar flavor, very well balanced. The waitress was attentive but not bothersome. All in all a very nice dining experience.

Always a great meal, generous but reasonable portions, priced right. Fish dinner was perfectly breaded & spiced, really didn't need tartar sauce. French fries stay crispy even after cooling ... not sure how they do it. Competent, friendly, attentive staff. About my 4th visit, and have nothing negative to say.

We really wanted to this place. After fishing the Black River for steelhead a friend of ours told us one family owned a bunch of great Italian restaurants in town and we had to go to Fairground. We did. And, after reading the reviews here it didn't take much to realize that locals (who don't eat in many other cities) love this place. And, out of towners leave questioning the authenticity of the food, as we did. The sad thing is the service here is wonderful. Our waitress was awesome. She had great energy, was helpful and attentive. Meanwhile, the food fell far short of expectations, unfortunately. If you've eaten good/real Italian elsewhere, this place is going to disappoint you. However, to give credit where it's due, the portions here are huge and there's great value to be had, if you aren't keen on great taste. Another thing to consider is the clientele here seemed very old. Therefore, value reigns over taste. And, value rules here. Every meal literally can feed two. Huge! We ordered a pizza, that honestly was the worst I've ever eaten, even worse than pizza hut. We each took one bite and left the rest. (They ended up taking it off the bill). The sauce had no flavor and the dough was terrible. Honestly, it tasted like gas station pizza, which had been sitting under a warm light for hours, like you'd expect at a 7-11. The pasta itself tasted ok. I had it with a meatball and piece of sausage. The sausage was awesome, but the meatball lacked any flavor. The biggest letdown was the sauce. One comment on here was that it tasted like it came out of a can. I couldn't agree more. Although my friend said he broccoli alfredo was ok, Sorry if this review seems negative, but we can only comment on what we were served. Again, if you don't remain honest and truthful (even when it hurts) people won't respect your reviews.

We have never had a bad meal at Fairgrounds. No matter how busy or how slow the place maybe, we always get excellent service! I ordered the barkeaters chicken sandwich and husband ordered Italian sandwich. The portions are huge, so come hungry! If you have fries, order house dressing on the side -- trust me it's a must. They are also very accommodating for big crowds too. Love it here!

Great little home made food kinda place. Lots of hardy meals to chose from and the staff was polite. If your passing through town and you can't decide this place has great choices that'll please everyone. I had the manicotti with sweet Italian sausage. It was delicious. Blue dress salad dressing on the side salad was also really good. They provide fresh warm bread that was good and kept our water glasses topped off.

I only gave this two stars instead of one because I may come back one day and try it again. I've always heard good things about this place but was completely unimpressed. My mother and I got sandwiches and they were very disappointing, the waitress kept disappearing on us which was frustrating because an item i requested with my meal was missing. The thing that I really really didn't like is that after EVERY diner leaves they pull out a vacuum and use it right next to you, I was so grossed out thinking of all the dirt being kicked around by it. Plus it kept preventing us from being able to talk because the vacuum was loud. That was around lunch time so I can't imagine how annoying that would be during a busier time of day. It didn't seem like they used it in the bar area so if I ever go back I'd be sitting in there.

Every time we are in Watertown we eat here This is the place that I proposed to my wife also 28 years ago. So we love the place and the menu is also great.

Good solid down home cooking with great service. The antipasto salad was good and the portions were enormous. The highlight was definitely the butter pecan pie for desert. Overall good eats at a very reasonable price with large portions

French onion soup is I love their sandwiches, too. Always friendly when I come in. The ONLY thing that I don't like is the soda there. I usually drink water anyways but I got a dr Pepperdine day and it had a weird taste. Ask for water instead. Went back and the same thing.... hummm. So, I drink water from there but the food is awesome!!

Had not been to the Fairground in at least 10 years. Not much had changed - and that is good. Promptly seated in a spacious booth. Server was very friendly and helpful. Started off with the antipasto salad. Server correctly advised the two of us to share the small if we were going to order anything else. She was correct, it was a big plate. Followed that with the sirloin and prime rib. Portions were huge. Prime rib was at least an inch thick. Steak was properly cooked and the onion rings served with it were delicious if a bit greasy. Dinner rolls seemed to have been dipped in garlic butter and then heated up in the pizza oven. It works, they were very tasty. Wine list is nonexistent. They have 4 or 5 mediocre choices which the server advised us of when asked. Definitely do not push the booze here. After our mains we were stuffed and had no desire to try any desserts In summary we were pleased with our stop in at the Fairground Inn and hopefully will have the opportunity to dine there again.

Didn't meet prior expectations and were being rushed to order, didn't ask if we wanted an appetizer before dinner, ordered a side of pasta with my burger , both were served cold.

This restaurant reminds me of all the reasons I left Watertown and some of the reasons I miss it. The food is poor. It is typical Watertown Italian food - nothing authentic or special about it. But the people make the place. The waitress sat at our table, got at eye level with our four year old, and took her order. The patrons are the same old people who came the last time I was here over twenty years ago. They were old then too. In sum, if you are from out of town looking for a good meal this may not be the place for you. If you are local looking to connect with old and new friends - pull up a seat.

Great food, service, prices, and portions. The clam chowder may be the best I have ever had. It was that good. For my meal I had the hot mix sandwich which was italian sausage and meatballs. The sandwich is a fork and knife type with sauce completely coving it. The meatballs and sausage were very good. I added some fries and they were really overcooked. The only thing that wasn't good was the fries, not worth adding them. The sandwiches are huge. I had to leave a lot of the the bread and just eat the inside! The service was freindly and fast especially for how packed the place was. Great selection, cute home like atmosphere, and great location just a little ways down the road off the highway. Worth not stopping at the places right on the highway. Take the minute to head down the road if you are passing through!!! Did I mention that this place was really reasonably priced!

We been driving right by this place for years today we decided to stop for lunch. Very busy place with a good cross-section of clientele from older folks to young couples and a whole bunch of different families. Pleasantly surprised by the menu for pages stuffed full of salads, sandwiches burgers pizza, Italian dishes along with some American dishes. I try Italian sampler, OMG the portion size was huge I'm able to get two meals out of that. Lasagna, stuffed pepper, spaghetti with a big meatball and manicotti with lots of Sunday red gravy over the top of it. Very delicious and full of flavor well worth it. My daughter ordered the personal cheese pizza, unfortunately she's a pretty picky eater and didn't really care for. I offered to get her something else but she declined maybe next time she'll try something different like grilled cheese that's one of her favorites. Place was clean service was outstanding looking forward to another visit sometime.

Another arm of one of the two vast Watertown Restaurant Empires (they own Coleman's Corner just across the parking lot). This place was sorta meh. There's a lot of Italian joints in NY and they can't all be "the best", so sorry. The menu was fairly standard American/Italian. I tried a chicken salad which was decent (the chicken was in fact pretty well cooked, nice and juicy). Pizza rolls were also pretty good. But overall, nothing I or my dining mates had really stood out for us. Also pretty packed for 8:30 on a weeknight, which was surprising.

They are okey restaurant. Just wait time is so long and even made me wait on the front for like 10 mins. No greeting, nothing. I know they are well established in the town. But still simple greeting to the customer would be nicer.

Our continued search for the local haunts led us here, one of several family owned restaurants nearby. How do I know? It says family owned on the sign and has a list of the others like it itself in town. We ate in the bar area, noticing potato chips in metal spiral baskets with dipping sauce next to it for the bar stool crowd. We were at a table, however, and went with the Pizza Logs for our appetizer, egg roll crusts filled with mozzarella, tomatoes and pepperoni wrapped together. They came out hot with steaming marinara sauce. I ordered the Hot Mix sandwich (2 meatballs and a sausage) with every option, onions, peppers, mushrooms and provolone cheese. What came out looked nothing like a sandwich as pizza sauce was completely covering the entire giant sandwich. The sausage was suprisingly good and after biting a chunk off and analyzing its cross section it appeared to have shredded pork as well as grinded which gave it a much different and pleasant texture that was unexpected.

Pretty disappointing. Went with the family to share a meal while I was in town. Upon first glance inside, the decor offered a nice cozy feel to it while simultaneously playing top 40 music a little too loudly overhead. The lighting was also surprisingly dim for a place such as this, with the sole television screen in the dining area shining a steady hue of blue light over everyone from constantly having a bingo gambling game displayed. Not really sure what they were trying to pull off here as far as ambiance goes. Nontheless, between us all we had the chicken parmigiana, buffalo chicken sandwich, beef bourguignon special, and the manicotti. I was informed the special was fine but oversalted. The spaghetti with marinara that came with my chicken parm came out lukewarm while the chicken itself was a great temperature. I hate to be over dramatic but the sauce tasted like it came straight from a can, and that can must have been from the bargain foods supplier. I've had Ragu that was better! Honestly, this can only be a product of their menu being too large. There were way too many items on it. I felt bad for the cooking staff.

Friday night I went to the Fairgrounds Inn with a friend for dinner. We had the prime rib and it was wonderful. Tasty, tender and juicy. The salad with house dressing was superb as were the Sweet potatoe fries. It was so good that last night I decided to take my husband there to have their Thursday night prime rib special since mine had been so scrumptious. Boy were we disappointed. The salad was as good as it had been last week but I only ate a few bites so I could save room for my dinner. The prime rib was so dry and overlooked it just tasted bland. We left hungry. We may try again in the future but right now we would only rate them a 5 on a a scale of 1 - 10.

Stop in whenever in Watertown. Always excellent service, warm, comfortable, family friendly environment and very good old school Italian food.

While visiting my nephew and family they treated us to the very best Lasagna we've ever had. Many variations we've tried and by far your Lasagna is 5 star The staff was friendly and fast. Our waitress was so nice as to take a group picture for us. Do you deliver LOL If you're ever in Watertown, NY the lasagna is Top Shelf do yourself a favor and enjoy. The Austin's Allentown, PA

This is one of my all time favorite restaurants in Watertown. We come here every time we visit family. Today I ordered house salad and house dressing with crumbling blue cheese and for my lunch I ordered buffalo chicken sandwich. The salad was amazing and the side bread melted in my mouth. For my main course I ordered buffalo chicken sandwich. I was absolutely surprised that it was grilled not fried. This was one of the best buffalo chicken sandwiches I have had in a long time. Overall, my meal cost me just over $10 dollars and it was absolutely amazing. If you are driving through or visiting the area this place is a must.