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In the basement of the Dewitt Mall, this tiny cafe offers breakfast, lunch, and Sunday brunch featuring lots of local food and creative recipes. Enjoy a cup of soup and a sandwich, or creative breakfast platters available any time. It gets crowded fast, especially on weekends, so be prepared for a wait -- both before and after you're seated.
New from the folks who brought us Xeo's Cafe and Mexeo is Cafeo, a tiny cafe in Collegetown that's strongly reminiscent of a sidewalk cafe in Paris, with a counter and a few stools, a few chairs outside, and top-notch coffee. There's brewed coffee if you just need a cup of joe and don't want to wait, but if you've got a few minutes, go the brewed-to-order pour-over route for the freshest possible cup of your choice. Of course you can have the usual espresso drinks, like a well-made cappuccino or latte, but first try the Vietnamese espresso, made hot or iced with sweetened condensed milk.
This restored old building in lower Collegetown has been turned into a beautiful eatery with gorgeous event space upstairs that features live music on some weekends. During the week, stop in for breakfast, brunch, or lunch Tuesday through Sunday, but be prepared for a long wait on weekends. The brie stuffed french toast is decadent, the steak and eggs the best in town, and the burgers, made from local beef and served on ciabatta with homemade sundried tomato puree, are out of this world.
This legendary College Avenue eatery moved to much roomier digs on their current corner in the mid '90s, and has expanded way beyond their bagel roots. With a wide variety of sandwiches handmade to order from fresh ingredients, including many vegetarian options and lots of top-notch bread, this flagship CTB location also makes fancy espresso drinks, serves brewed fair-trade coffee, offers smoothies, and has a bar at the back with a few draft beers and carafes of sangria.
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. Leave a little room for dessert, such as traditional baklava or a cinnamon baklava roll, honey cake, or a semolina cookie, along with a cup of the very strong middle eastern coffee -- or regular coffee or tea.
This non-profit, volunteer-staffed cafe on the corner of Routes 13 and 38 in Dryden is open Monday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch, plus has a weekly Thursday night all-you-can-eat pasta night. Stop in for coffee or espresso drinks using beans roasted by Cortland's Coffee Mania; fresh pastries or breakfast sandwiches in the morning; and soups, quiches, sandwiches, and paninis at lunchtime. Check their Facebook for daily specials.
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Serving Ithaca for over fifty years now, Hal's has offered inexpensive breakfasts and overstuffed sandwiches to countless generations of students and locals. Hal Kuntz, the original proprietor, passed away years ago, but his memory lives on in the tasty food, and his wife, Sandy, still presides most mornings.
When I told a friend in Florida I was going to visit the Ithaca Bakery, she exclaimed, "Oh, I love bakeries!" I had to stop and think for a moment, then explain that our Meadow Street "bakery" doesn't just do bread and pastries. They do bake the fresh bread, rolls, donuts, cookies, and cakes for a number of hotels, stores, offices, and other eateries around the region, but I was there to visit the eatery part of the business. Any time of day, you can satisfy your appetite at the Ithaca Bakery for just a few bucks for a bagel sandwich or deli sandwich, or spend $8-12 for a full meal.
In the Fall Creek area near the Ithaca Falls, the Lincoln Street Diner, formerly Ziffy's, serves breakfast all day, hot and cold sandwiches, burgers, and daily specials like chicken and biscuits or a NY strip sandwich. The omelets are generous, and the signature breakfast is a pile of home fries and corn bread smothered in sausage gravy.
Dubbed "The Diner of Fate" by those who know, Manos offers the usual diner fare, from breakfasts 24 hours a day to sandwiches, burgers, and entrees, plus a full bar (and a nearly identical food menu) in the attached Ichabod's. Manos is perfect for an inexpensive but filling breakfast. Later in the day, try the fries with a side of gravy, and if you’re in the mood for a big meal, the turkey dinner can’t be beat. Ichabod's also features a nice, fresh salad bar, great with your dinner. The downside of a decades-old diner is that the building is showing its age.
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In the former home of Buzz Coffee and Orange Blossom Pancake Company near the corner of Route 13 and Third Street, the Piggery Deli now offers lunch daily and dinner Wednesday through Saturday, plus a butcher case full of local meats starting with the Piggery's famous pork. At lunchtime, grab a pulled pork sandwich on an Ithaca Bakery roll or a ham sandwich with local greens on freshly baked ciabatta. There are also sandwiches and entrees made with local, pasture-raised chicken and beef.
While it's definitely the place to be on a summer evening, Purity Ice Cream traded away its "made right here" cachet to gain additional indoor seating space. The ice cream is made for them elsewhere. They also offer pies and seasonal eggnog, quite good but overpriced.
Whether you call them subs or grinders or hoagies or whatever, Shortstop Deli specializes in those long sandwiches on fresh-baked French bread, or smaller sandwiches on kaiser rolls. They've got the usual ham, roast beef, and turkey, but they've also got seafood salad, eggplant, seitan, or prime rib. For the last few years, the Shortstop hot sub menu has had a selection of the famous Hot Truck French bread pizza subs. Supplement your sub with a fresh hot bowl of soup or chili. In the morning, enjoy their own custom coffee roast and a breakfast sandwich.
Stella's is attractively decorated, has a fantastic bar selection, and offers a varied and creative menu. If the prices, portions, and service better matched the atmosphere, it would be a favorite. The burger, made with local beef, feels overpriced except when it's half price for "happy hour," and the $10-12 sandwiches feel skimpy, too. The fancier entrees head north of $20. The food's pretty tasty, so we wish we felt the portions and prices were better matched. The coffee shop side is much simpler and a better bang for your buck.
At the foot of the Seneca Street hill, The Shop has handmade espresso drinks, French press or pourover coffee by the cup, and even a nice selection of good tea. There are locally baked pastries, there's local art on the walls, and there's often live music. The Shop even shares its home with Model Citizen Custom Tattoos. Talk about your multitasking opportunities.
This Canada-based chain of coffee, donut, and sandwich shops snuck into Ithaca a few years ago thanks to a deal to open a coffee kiosk in most Tops Friendly Markets stores, but we finally have the full experience. Tim Hortons offers breakfast sandwiches in addition to the coffee and donuts, plus the famous Timbits, but in the afternoon and evening they add excellent freshly made sandwiches and soups to the mix. Stop in for a snack or a meal, and pick up a canister of their great and affordably priced coffee for home, while you're at it.
Is it the simplest restaurant concept ever? In the space best known as Juna's, Waffle Frolic features handmade waffles, from basic to buckwheat to gluten-free, with a wide variety of toppings including fruit, Nutella, bacon and eggs, and even all-natural, free-range fried chicken. There are also variations on the grilled cheese sandwich theme. A meal gets expensive fast, but it's a fun treat. The coffee, roasted by Coffee Labs in Tarrytown, is top notch. Our biggest concern is that the often-confused service better matches the food's simplicity than its price.
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