The Cottage - Dining at Lake Placid's Finest View

Mirror Lake (considered downtown Lake Placid) is the view from The Cottage - albeit about 30 ft. lower

So I must admit that The Cottage is a place that I've been before - just not with a camera, or my family.  However, the results were still the same...good drinks, good view, better company, and an even better view.  The restaurant/bar sits on the edge of downtown Lake Placid and even closer to the edge of Mirror Lake (for those not familiar with the geography of North Elba, NY, the actual Lake Placid is much larger than the body of water pictured above, however, the landscape lent itself to building the downtown area here instead of on the namesake lake).  Anyways, we knew it was a local hotspot so the kids went down early to get our names on the list and post up at the bar for a noontime drink while the old folk slowly collected themselves and got ready for the rest of the day.  Check out their famous bloody mary's and what they do to a middle-aged mother after the jump.

Despite my previous visits, I had never been made aware that The Cottage was famous for their bloody mary's.  Naturally, if you're at a place that is known for something, you throw whatever preconceived notions you have about it out the window, and you get it (lucky for me, I LOVE bloody marys, especially in Lake Placid for some reason).  This particular incarnation was easier to love than a puppy on Christmas morning - the straw nearly exploded from the force that I was sucking this meal of a drink down with.  Oh, and they were stiff too...what a combo.  After a couple of these, we started to get hungry, but the parents still hadn't arrived, so we just decided to order an appetizer.

This was delicious and the mason jar was a definite bonus point.  The next one came with a spicy pickle which really topped it off (insert phallic intonation here).

That appetizer was the Cottage Nachos - your basic nachos, except the blanket of cheese was smothering homemade chili.  The chili wasn't too spicy, but it kept you wanting more and by the time the chips were gone, there was still some chili left, but being the economical bunch we were, my brother and I used our hands to shovel the rest of it into our mouths - we were raised with good manners I swear, or at least I was, but there are certain times that we abandon those, like when we're a few drinks deep by 12:30 in the afternoon.

Anytime, anywhere, I would be glad to get my hands on these.

Finally everyone showed up, we all got one more drink, and waited a few more minutes for our table to be prepped.  We carried our collective buzz over to the cozy windowside table and perused the menu.

Two bloody marys and a glass of water - wonderful.

After some indecision, we decided on the following items (I'll spare you any in depth details, mainly because I was too busy drinking and eating to actually take any mental notes): BBQ Chicken Salad, Lisa's Favorite, The Greek (a standard salad, not pictured), Beef Stew in a Bread Bowl, and The Stuffed Shirt.

BBQ Chicken Salad - housemade bbq chicken, black beans, and corn topped with ranch.  Pretty good, but the chicken was a little on the sweet side.

Lisa's Favorite - open faced roast beef sandwich on French bread topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms, melted brie, and a creamy horseradish sauce.  This was mine...I ate it all.

Beef Stew - super rich, super awesome, comfort classic.

The Stuffed Shirt - roast beef, tomato, red onion, and cayenne mayo all inside a pita.  Won "Best Named Dish of the Day" and stayed true to it's name as my brother could not finish it.