Lucatelli's Ristorante
205 Elmira Road
607-273-0777
Ithaca Southwest
Lucatelli’s is best known for its plentiful Italian-style entrees. It’s also best known for its juicy steaks. And, it’s best known for its extensive antipasto salad bar. The food’s tasty, the parking’s easy, the pasta and gnocchi are fresh, and if you haven’t been here in a while, what are you waiting for? Lucatelli's has a surprisingly good bourbon selection -- important to this bourbon afficionado. The shrimp cocktail features four large, juicy shrimp and deliciously sharp cocktail sauce, and the "side" of pasta (one of the choices with each entree) looks like a meal in itself.

Mama Teresa’s Pizzeria
139 Dryden Road
607-272-6262
Collegetown
Hours: Til 3am weekdays, 4am weekends
Mama Teresa’s has adequate pizza, and good dishes such as chicken or eggplant parm. Their regular pizza doesn’t really have enough sauce, but the sauceless veggie pizza has a nice array of vegetable toppings. Free delivery.

Napoli Pizzeria
401 East State Street
607-272-3232
Downtown Ithaca
Hours: 11am to 1am (weeknights) or 2am (weekend)
Napoli, at the foot of the State Street hill in the Gateway Center, has some of the best pizza and wings in town, for dine-in, carry-out, or delivery. Hot and cold subs and Italian specialties round out the usual pizzeria menu, but they also have ribs, burgers, and fried clams, shrimp, or scallops in addition to the typical fare.

Nines, The
311 College Ave
607-272-1888
Collegetown
Like the Chariot, the Nines offers great pizza and a variety of entrees and sandwiches. The entrees lean toward an Americana theme, and there’s a good selection of beer on tap at the full bar. The square deep-dish pizza is its forte, with a broad array of toppings and a thick crust. The four slices easily feed two or three people. If you’re not in a pizza mood, try the astonishingly good ribs or the roast chicken. The Nines used to house one of Ithaca’s fire stations (now next door) and offers great music many evenings. They’d rate a “5” if the service weren’t so often slow and inattentive. (Web Site)

Souvlaki House
315 Eddy Street
607-273-1650
Collegetown
If you’re a fan of Greek food, you should never move to a town that has none. If you’re in Ithaca, the options abound, and Souvlaki House represents the best combination of good food, reasonable prices, and good service. In fact, Souvlaki House offers both Greek food and Italian food, with the area’s best souvlaki, Greek salad, and stuffed grape leaves, plus very good chicken (or veal or eggplant, etc.) parmigiana. Inexpensive lunch choices include subs, souvlaki and gyros, and Greek-style pizza. We recommend a bottle of Demestica, a Greek wine, with your meal.

ZaZa's Cucina
622 Cascadilla Street at Route 13, Ithaca
607-273-9292
Ithaca
A new restaurant from the owners of Madeline's, ZaZa's Cucina transmogrifies the dumpy old Video Ithaca building into a sumptuously designed space. The food fits in perfectly, with a good variety of ambitious yet well-prepared appetizers ($5 to $8) and main dishes ($14 to $23). An appetizer pizza adorned with thinly sliced apple, melted brie, and fresh tarragon, all drizzled with truffle oil, was star of our dinner. Following closely were the main dishes, a handmade ravioli stuffed with wild mushrooms and finished with a walnut cream sauce, and a herb-encrusted rack of lamb with soft polenta and braised escarole. The desserts were good but not great, with the chocolate cherry dome cake lacking an assertive cherry flavor, and the blood orange sorbet being a bit too icy. Service was good, though another couple was seated right next to our table despite plenty of empty tables further away. [ACE] (Full Review) (Web Site)