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CAROGA LAKE - A historic building, fresh food with modern flair and the Ward family’s hard work and dedication have made Nick Stoner Inn Seafood and Steakhouse a destination restaurant for diners from all over.
The property at 1810 State Highway 10 in Caroga Lake has had a long history in the community, being one of the first built in the small tourism-driven community in the Southern Adirondacks. The downstairs of the building where the restaurant now is was originally built as a barn space for horses and oxen in the 1820s. The original foundation and some beams are still visible in the space used for the Fulton County restaurant.
The upstairs of the building, built in the 1860s, now serves as an event space for weddings, baby showers, company parties, breakfast with Santa and an annual Halloween party. The third-floor inn has 14 rooms that are rented during the warmer months of the year.
At one point, the space was a fancier fine-dining space, where guests wore suits and ties and gowns. Bringing back the steak and seafood of that era was not intentional, but was a happy coincidence, said co-owner Rebecca Ward.
Nick Stoner Inn Seafood and Steakhouse is surrounded by a golf course, with the 18th hole located just outside the restaurant entrance. For many years, the inn served as a pub for golfers — cue the 19th hole jokes — with a small kitchen for food like burgers and sandwiches.
Rebecca Ward and husband Charlie have operated the business now for close to eight years, taking ownership of the building about three years ago during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since taking the reins, the Wards have done extensive renovations, including the installation of new plumbing and electrical updates.
Traditionally the business had only been open seasonally, but the Wards converted it to a year-round operation about five years ago.
“We took a gamble, and we risked a lot, we put all our money into the business,” Rebecca Ward said. “We put everything we had into this place and started remodeling the downstairs into the restaurant.”
The Wards along with their three daughters, now all adults, were able to stay open throughout the pandemic, offering take-out items and cookouts. They also introduced a variety of unique items at the time like boouncey smoothies and fair food. They found their niche to be seafood and steaks.
“We’re all hands-on — we do everything,” Rebecca Ward said. “Our youngest daughter, myself and my husband, we do everything in the kitchen, just the three of us. My husband is the main cook. He’s an amazing cook.”
The Wards cook the way they want to eat, Rebecca Ward said. Everything they serve is fresh and cooked to order. The restaurant does not use a microwave, all of the steaks are hand-cut, and if someone wants grilled onions on their steak, an onion is cut up and sautéed then and there. The rolls are freshly made by Dolgeville Bread Basket and all of the entrees served at Nick Stoners are served with fresh bread from the bakery.
The menu includes a wide variety of food from fresh steak and seafood options like big hand-cut 50-ounce steaks; fresh four-pound lobsters grilled to perfection; grilled swordfish in a buttery lemon caper sauce; scallops topped with crabmeat dressing; and other items like wings and burgers.
Many patrons of the restaurant come from an hour or more away, Rebecca Ward said. A good 75% of diners travel from the 315 area code (Syracuse, Watertown etc.), while various other customers travel from the east and the Saratoga Springs area.
Nick Stoner Inn Seafood and Steakhouse was recently nominated best restaurant in the eastern region of the state for the New York State Restaurant Association’s Rise Awards, alongside seven other local eateries.
IN HER WORDS
The Daily Gazette: What are some of the most popular dishes you serve at the restaurant?
Rebecca Ward: It’s the hand-cut steaks right now. In a regular restaurant, you get the 12 ounce or 14 ounce steaks, here it’s at least 18 ounces. Our steaks are huge. And our seafood is huge, it’s fresh right from Antonucci’s. This week we’ve got a 50 ounce tomahawk steak for two and it’s got a four pound grilled lobster with it, as garnish. We watch a lot of cooking shows, and I got the idea for the lobster garnish on a tomahawk steak, it’s something new. We do U-10 scallops, that’s our biggest dish right now. The last month or two our filet topped with U-10 scallops, and those big colossal shrimp has been very popular.
DG: Do you take reservations?
RW: We do a lot of reservations, people want to know if they are coming from an hour-and-a-half away if they can get a table, they want to make sure they get a table. We do a lot of reservations, but some people just come in.
DG: What are the prices like at your restaurant?
RW: We have a $15 burger, we do 75-cent wings on Sundays, but you can get an $80 to $150 meal as well, say you get a ribeye, then add all this seafood and everything on top, a lot of our menu is market price.
DG: What are some of your favorite things about your business?
RW: People traveling, saying they’ve heard such good things about us, traveling an hour or more just to eat here, just that feedback is the best feeling. When we get people telling us we’ve got the best steak or the best seafood they’ve ever had, it’s just such a good feeling. Or when we’re doing an event, and we get everything perfect, it’s hearing that afterwards is everything, that’s the reason why we do what we do, making people happy.
DG: Is there anything else you think people should know?
RW: We really put our all into everything we do here, and there really is something for everyone.
The restaurant is open Thursday from 4-8 p.m., Friday from 3-8 p.m., Saturday from 12-8 p.m. and Sunday from 12-5 p.m. The restaurant seats around 70 people at one time.
