A (Former) Student’s Guide to Cortland
Since we’ve only been to Cortland once before in our life, and it was to stop in at my good friend’s Italian grandmother’s house for dinner, I don’t know much about the scene in Cortland.
That brought us to seek out some advice of someone who knows the town better then we. Enter Twitter maven and former SUNY Cortland student, @sportschickblog. Here’s her take on training camp in Cortland and some of the good places to eat and check out between practices.
Basically Rex Ryan is right when he says Cortland is "great because there is NOTHING to do there.” I don’t know if you were there last year, but Cortland is a very small city. Basically two roads lead you everywhere… Main Street and Tompkins Avenue.
Main Street hosts all the bars in Cortland, which is obviously why we were a top party school in the US – haha. The bars are categorized by "townie bars" and "student bars."
"Townie bars" to STAY AWAY from are The Tavern, Lucky’s (which I think just went out of business), and Ducci’s. Also, Stone Lounge is a student bar, but is known for drug use… STAY FAR AWAY!! [unless you are hep to that scene –Ed] From being in Cortland last summer I know the Jets staff and players were informed to stay far away from Stone Lounge because of the drug use and police activity there. Anyone at Stone this summer is a poser and looking for drugs. Last summer they had an issue with men pretending to be players and taking advantage of women. This was NEVER publicized, but you should know to tell your readers just to "absolutely don’t go to Stone."
Now onto the good stuff!!!
The bars I’d recommend are Dark Horse Tavern, which is where I watched every Jet game the past 5 years, AND where the @MangoldManiacs are having their party Sunday night!!! Red Jug Pub which is on the side street of Main Street called Central Ave, they have darts, pool, and great JETS drink specials, Central City (more of a Bar & Grill place, but I saw a TON of the coaching staff there last summer), Woody’s (where all the Cortland alums go!!), and Beer Goggles (a fun Country bar with a Mechanical Bull).
As far as places to eat, Cortland has the typical A&W, McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Applebee’s. But those aren’t the places to go … aka … Townie Heaven, haha!! The restaurants to go to are Garcia’s, Fabio’s, Doug’s Fish Fry, Central City, Hairy Tony’s, and Hollywood Diner.
Garcia’s is a GREAT Mexican restaurant, and Sanchez and Mangold loved it there!! It is on Route 13 right past the McDonald’s and across from Wal-Mart. They have the best Margarita’s in town! Fabio’s is on the outskirts of Cortland on Homer Ave. Fabio’s is the best Italian food in Cortland and I saw Keller and a few lineman there once.
Doug’s Fish Fry is just that – a fish fry, but they get all their food fresh every week. Doug’s is also famous because it is family owned and operated, and they are HUGE Jets fans. They have a mural inside the restaurant with a fathead helmet signed by the team, staffers, and media from last year. And pictures from 2009′s Training Camp. Central City is the Bar and Grill I mentioned above, but it’s one of my favorite places to eat in Cortland. The coaches more than the players can be seen at Central. Hairy Tony’s is more of an upscale and pricier Central City, but it is right on Main Street next to the Dark Horse. Cotchery, Sanchez, and Ihedigbo love it there!! And finally Hollywood Diner is a quick diner place that’s fairly good on Groton Ave. No player or staff sightings there, but it’s good for people who are looking for a cheap bite to eat.
Besides eating and drinking there is jack-squat to do in Cortland, maybe that’s why all us Cortland grads are brainiacs ;) … but it is a fun time. There are two local mini golf places on Route 13, Shipwreck Golf is the one I’d recommend. And there is one movie theater, the Plaza 6, but it is an absolute dump. lol
On the operations side, I do know that all the players and coaches stay at Glass Tower (also home to the Chick in sophomore year, haha) and the staff stays at West Campus apartments (my junior and senior year spot, lol) off campus. All operations are moved from Studio West to Corey Union this year because SW is being renovated. I know last year the Jets frequently practiced on the Lacrosse practice fields, because our Football stadium is turf. Before I left in May there was construction going on on the lacrosse fields, so my assumption is practices will mainly be there.
Our thanks to @sportschickblog and her help!
15 Responses to A (Former) Student’s Guide to Cortland
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Going up to cortland august 5th to visit my girlfriend in homer (about 15 minutes from cortland). she works at mcdonalds and met jones and two others last year… She wants to take me to garcias so bad she said its amazing so id recommend that place too… Im in the works of converting her into a jets fan from a ravens fan (damn blind side movie)… hopefully this camp will help lol
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I attended Cortland, walked at graduation in May, and what is said about Stone Lounge is completely untrue.
Stone Lounge is the most upscale bar in the Cortland area. What is said about the bar having drug use is NOT TRUE. Drugs involve certain students that attend Cortland, but do not pertain to ANY specific place in the area.
Where this person came up with that information is unknown to me, but I went to this bar almost every Friday and Saturday night, and have never seen any drug activity at this facility. The bathrooms are also monitored by bouncers, so I doubt anything could even go on in secret areas.
When I visit Cortland, now as a Jets fan AND graduate, the first place I will go is Stone Lounge.
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Also, there is no possible chance that Cortland could ever be considered a top party school in the US.
Load of misinformation here. I sit here dumbfounded.
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EddieC … I think the party school part was an attempt at humor … thus the HAHA.
I don’t know anything about the Stone Lounge, or her intentions … but I would think that her warnings to the readers here will do the opposite of her intent … :)
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i actually attend Cortland now and i may be wrong, but she could be referring to when cortland was ranked #5 party school in the nation in the 90′s by playboy magazine lol, but i’m probably wrong….and Stone Lounge is great btw
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She’s right about Stone Lounge. Looks classy, but is very sketchy! Plus, the owner Joe is a big a-hole! And the only good thing about Stone Lounge is the awesome bouncer, Varrell! =)
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stone lounge is totally sketch, the owner is the biggest creep, and i know that the part about the drugs was heard from a jets player during pre-season last year. well done with this guide, excited for camp this season especially with hardknocks!
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Hey I’m thinking about making a road trip up with my 8 year old for a weekend. Where is a good place to stay near practice? I don’t think we’ll make it to the stone lounge.
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Country Inn and Suites is right across the street from the 281 parking lot which is located right next to the food but it’s probably all booked up…i think there is a comfort inn which is about a 3-5 minute drive from campus
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Lysol says:
What’s wrong wi getting a little culture. Go to the Tav! Duccis is the hang. See you there to obtain your tshirt.
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Came the up here from Brooklyn in the 90′s to go to school (the mention about the #5 ranking in Playboy is correct) and decided to to stay in the area. Part of the appeal of the place is that while there’s nothing to do in Cortland, it is located near a lot of things (Finger Lakes, Skiing, Syracuse). As a former student and current “townie”, I think the review is pretty accurate (not sure about the Stone Lounge comments). The Dark Horse is the place to be, that place has been famous with students since before I was born. Tony’s also has some good food. HoBeau’s, a bar/grill about 3-4 miles down 281 from campus in Homer, has awesome wings and burgers. Mark, the owner of Doug’s, is a huge Jets Fan and season ticket-holder. He makes his employees (many of them Bills fans including my buddy) wear Jets shirts at work. This whole Jets in Cortland has been a dream come true for me. I’ve been a Jets fan forever. I used to go out to Hofstra to watch training camp with a friend and his dad. Saw all the greats of the early to mid 80′s. Then I went to college in Bills country during the early 90′s, a sad depressing time for a Jets fan in central NY. You couldn’t even see a Jets game unless they were playing the Bills. Now the Jets are all over the place. Its amazing. I took my 2 sons to camp a lot last year, making 9 pactices. I plan to go as many times as possible this year. Hope they keep camp here for a long time.
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Ducci’s closed maybe about five years ago; it’s where the Red Jug is now. And while I’ve heard some things about the owner of Stone Lounge, I’ve never witnessed or heard about any kind of drug activity there. It’s true that there’s no one spot for that kind of thing in Cortland; like with most places, it’s everywhere.
so…. how do you get to the Stone Lounge?