Applebee's
2300 North Triphammer Road
607-257-6200
Ithaca Northeast
Hours: Daily for lunch, dinner, and late-night fare
Considering the disdain with which “cookie-cutter” establishments are viewed by some, I was very impressed with how smoothly this trendy, yuppie-oriented chain restaurant has fit into the area. Applebee’s offers very speedy and friendly service, a pleasant surprise to anyone expecting anonymous or uncaring treatment. The food is good, reasonably priced, and plentiful, as well. Hot, tasty soup and a grilled chicken sandwich made a good lunch, and a recent visit for dinner yielded an excellent “Bourbon Street Steak,” their 10oz. sirloin with Cajun spices, all cooked perfectly as we’d ordered them. (Web Site)

Collegetown Bagels & Appetizers
Triphammer Mall
607-257-2255
Ithaca Northeast
This bagelry and appetizing establishment offers a wide variety of breakfast and lunch sandwiches and simple entrees from 6:00 am until 7:30 pm. It's informal as dinners go, but that's fine. CTB has an excellent selection of retail gourmet items, along with an ever-changing variety of prepared food items. It’s very vegetarian-friendly. (Web Site)

Corners Deli
200 Pleasant Grove Road
607-257-4019
Ithaca Northeast
Hours: M-F 8:30am-6:30pm, Sat 9-4.
This Community Corners institution is a family-owned delicatessen specializing in Middle Eastern specialties in addition to a wide array of fresh American-deli-style foods. The overstuffed sandwiches and pitas barely leave room for the exceptional baklava and other desserts. Great falafel and gyros, and fresh roast beef whose aroma permeates the neighborhood. In the morning, stop by for a pastry or rice pudding and a cup of flavored coffee. (Web Site)

Friendly’s
Cayuga Mall, Triphammer Road
607-257-5797
Ithaca Northeast
We’ve never been a big fan of Friendly’s, but they certainly have their place in the local dining scene. This restaurant, across Triphammer Road from the Pyramid Mall, offers decent service. There are also Friendly’s locations inside Pyramid Mall (next to Café Square) and along Fast Food Row on Route 13 south of downtown Ithaca. We find Friendly’s does best at breakfasts (which are inexpensive) and ice cream (expensive but with good variety). For lunch and dinner, we suggest going elsewhere.

Kyushu
2300 North Triphammer Road
607-257-6788
Ithaca Northeast
A new Japanese hibachi restaurant and sushi bar in the Tops/Applebee's plaza on North Triphammer Road in front of Pyramid Mall, Kyushu offers hibachi-style dishes (cooked table-side), fresh sushi, and a variety of other Japanese meals. The food is delicious, well prepared, and surprisingly affordable; complete lunches cost $6-9, and complete dinners $12 and up. Things seem vaguely uncoordinated, but on opening day, we won't complain. (The hibachi chefs certainly aren't uncoordinated, or someone would lose a finger!) When the staff has everything down pat, they may well rate a "5."

Little Thai House (Triphammer)
11 Graham Road
607-266-8780
Ithaca Northeast
A new Little Thai House, at the Graham Road entrace to Pyramid Mall Ithaca, features tasty Thai food in a more relaxing setting than the original Little Thai House on Dryden Road in Collegetown. This one’s a top-notch sit-down restaurant with prices to match. The menu still bears a few remnants of the months as Little Pisces Seafood and Grill, such as a grilled grouper wrapped in banana leaves, and the “Forest & Sea” combination of steak and jumbo prawn. I really enjoyed the massaman chicken curry, with a delicious peanutty flavor. The potato chunks were underdone, but not disastrously so.

Rose, The
Triphammer Mall
607-257-5542
Ithaca Northeast
This casual American-style restaurant offers wings and fajitas in addition to an array of sandwiches, steaks, chicken and fish entrees, and salads. The salad bar is a meal in itself.

Wok Village
23 Cinema Drive
607-257-8881
Ithaca Northeast
This attractive and casual Chinese restaurant offers lunchtime dim sum on the weekends, a plentiful and ever-changing weekday lunch buffet, and nice dinners consisting of traditional Cantonese, Hunan, and Szechuan Chinese dishes, plus an array of Vietnamese specialties. (Web Site)