Ithaca, NY restaurants?
 

I know about the Moosewood Cafe. Does anyone have any other recommendations? Thanks!

Personally, I think Moosewood is rather hit or miss. The menu does change constantly but overall, fairly bland.

Other recommendations:

Thai cuisine. Others prefer Taste of Thai on the commons.

Aladdins: greek/middle eastern/mediterranean natural foods eatery. Actually, a pretty good alternative to Moosewood and not as expensive.

Maxi's Supper Club and Oyster bar (run by former Cornell Hotel Students)

Madelines: cute little bistro down on the Commons. On the pricey side.

Four Seasons: vegetarian/Korean (though not sure it's still there). It's in the Collegetown area so don't expect anything in terms of ambiance/decor. Cheap but good.

Heights Cafe: probably one of the best restaurants in Ithaca (also on the pricey side). American contemporary is probably the best way to describe it.

Pangea: another new american. great outdoor seating in a back garden.

Oh . . .if you have the time, you must (I repeat MUST) get ice cream from Cornell's dairy bar.

Some links:

http://www.ithacanet.org/Entertainment/#dining

http://visitithaca.com/dining/dining.cfm

For pizza -- go to the Nines. Great deep dish pizza.

Madeline's is very good. So is Thai Cuisine -- although I believe the ownership has changed.

Just A Taste -- tapas with flights of wine -- pretty good

Thanks for all the recommendations! visitithaca.com is a nice site---links to the restaurant websites.

I will definitely try the ice cream!

I do hope while you are in Ithaca you take advantage of the good summer weather and enjoy some of the state parks in the region. There are some great gorge/waterfall walks one can take.

Taughannock is especially nice. It's actually the highest waterfall in the eastern U.S. (higher then Niagra).

Can't resist one more link: http://www.physics.cornell.edu/physi...es/ithaca.html

Has good suggestions for things to do in Ithaca. Some descriptions of the restaurants recommended above. The list is a bit old (includes Little Joe's - Italian place that was a Collegetown institution and is sadly, no more).

i must disagree with #2 on 4 Seasons. Yes they are still there but they are not cheap nor are they good. =/

there are now 3 korean restaurants in collegetown and none are half decent.

When I was in school, we preferred Purity milkshakes to the Cornell Dairy Bar. Purity was on Rte. 13 near Ithaca Bakery, itself good place to pick up dessert-- I don't know if either are still around.

If you're a fan of Moosewood, I may be wasting my time mentioning Billy Bob Jack's Barbecue and John Thomas Steakhouse. JT is overpriced (for Pete's sake, we're in upstate) but we got great service for a large party there last weekend. BBJ's is a reasonably good barbecue for upstate New York, with good hot chili. Viva Taqueria is a more reasonable attempt at Mexican food than Coyote Loco.

The Nines, as mentioned, has great deep-dish pizza, but be prepared to wait for it. A block down Dryden Rd. you have the Chariot, which shares owners with the Nines and a pretty good thin crust, with faster service. Their corn nuggets are very good with beer.

That physics dept. link could use some updating-- La Bella, Little Joe's, Dano's, and Lotus are all no more, and I think Jasmine's may have changed ownership.

What StudentExplorer said. ^

As I recall, Cornell Dining dishes/silverware had a habit of making its way to Chariot :)

And yeah . . . the physics link is not so good for restaurants. But it is a nice start for listings of things to do in the Ithaca area - particularly the parks/hikes.

That's the plan: dinner Friday night; hike during the day on Saturday, go to a wedding (no, not mine, that was a l-o-n-g time ago) Saturday evening. Eat ice cream in between all of the above. :)

For those late night munchies, a visit to the Hot Truck is a must!

http://www.thehottruck.com/

Expect a wait, possibly surrounded by drunk college students, but oh so worth it. The absolute best french bread pizza subs in the world. Get a triple-sui, or a ra-ra-balls. Just don't visit a cardiologist afterwards. I'm getting hungry just typing.

Mmmmm . . . hot truck . . . ^ ^

I think I need to make a trip back to Ithaca real soon.

Hot Truck has not been the same since ShortStop took it over (mostly coincidental-- I like ShortStop otherwise). Several key components of Hot Truck culture have been decimated: all frosh are on North Campus, it is staffed by townies instead of fraternity types, many nights during the school year they are gone by 2am, and of course Bob himself is not there any more. No more sitting in the front seat on a frigid February Tuesday at 3am chatting about campus in the 70s. And delivery? What the heck is that about?

In fact, I think I like the sandwiches better downtown than at the actual truck-- they have a wider selection of drinks :).

If I may ask Choster, what year are you?

Class of 2000 here.