Cortland NY

We spent all day Saturday at the Tri-County Horseshoe Club (http://tricountyhorseshoeclub.com/) while the temperature outside continued dropping into the teens, then sub zero.
The tournament started at 8am and finished at 7:30pm.  The LeRoy Horseshoe Club produced one winner, young Ryan Cobin, from Dale, NY.
Ryan took Outstanding Youth Achievement and, pitching against players much older than he, took his class as well.
This is a well run indoor tournament.  Eight well maintained pits with room for players and visitors to mingle between matches. 
It has a separate lounge, with snack bar, office area and clean rest rooms.  The snack bar, that day, offered coffee; doughnuts, candy bars, venison stew, baked ziti, hot dogs
and hamburgers. 
At the end of the day, we wanted to find a nice locally owned restaurant for dinner before heading back to the motel for the evening.
Someone suggested Uncle Louie's Backyard, in Cortland.  I fired up the cell phone's navigator which took us right to the restaurant (by the way, that is THE greatest
little tool). 
 

Uncle Louie's Backyard is a neighborhood bar.  The fireplace, in the bar area, welcomes you to sit and get warm. 
There is a large dining room and a cozy bar area.  We chose to sit in the bar near the fireplace.
There is something on the menu for everyone http://www.odyssey.net/subscribers/jmcconnell/kent.html.
From my vantage point, I could see the kitchen through the kitchen door windows.  Very clean and well organized.  I could see the well stocked bar tended by a young lady who seemed very knowledgeable.
Our server was an attentive, personable lady who sensed that we were there not only to eat, but to relax.  I never once felt rushed.

We scanned the appetizers and found our favorite, spinach and artichoke dip.  Unlike many we have tried, this was served with pita bread cut in quarters.
The dip arrived piping hot with a delicious au gratin topping.  The topping was delicious.  The dip, unfortunately, had a fishy taste that masked any taste of the spinach or the artichoke.  While I liked the idea of a more substantial vehicle to hold the dip, the pita bread quarters seemed too heavy for an appetizer.

I ordered the 1/2 rack of ribs and Bob ordered the Philly steak sandwich.  The ribs made up for the disappointing appetizer.  They were fall off the bone delicious.  Four meaty ribs, with a spicy bbq sauce, was just right.
The Philly steak sandwich was huge.  The steak lay in a pool of melted colby jack cheese and topped with saute'd peppers and onions.  The entire sandwich was bathed in melted swiss cheese.   Both came with a choice of soup or potato and a salad.  Thumbs up for both meals.
Two downsides:
The restrooms were freezing.  Hardly what one would expect after coming in from sub zero temps. 
The bartender had an annoying habit of sitting on top of one of the coolers, so she was basically sitting on the bar.
On a scale from 1 - 5 (5 being the best) I'd rate Uncle Louie's Backyard as:
(2) Restrooms
(5) Value
(4) Food quality
(4) Food taste
(4) Food freshness
(5) Food presentation
(4) Menu variety
(5) Service
(5) Cleanliness
(5) Ambiance
(5) Wait time