14850 Dining

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.

This is the new incarnation of coffee shop, pastry shop, and sandwich shop that used to be the Queen of Tarts, in a small green building that was actually the railroad coal office years ago, and was renovated in 2006 into a beautiful, cozy cafe. An expansion over the winter of 2009-10 added plenty of comfy seating, and the patio's nice in good weather. Morning bagels and breakfast sandwiches, soups and salads, cookies and pastries, deli sandwiches ready to grab and go or made fresh to order, and of course coffee and espresso drinks are available.

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.

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.

In the former home of Buzz Coffee near the corner of Route 13 and Third Street, the Piggery Deli now offers not just coffee and breakfast sandwiches, but a butcher case full of local meats starting with the Piggery's famous pork. Breakfast sandwiches and burritos are now made with local sausage and bacon, and at lunchtime, grab a pulled pork sandwich on an Ithaca Bakery roll or a ham sandwich with local greens on freshly baked ciabatta. The food's not inexpensive, but it's made of real food grown by our friends and neighbors. Drive-through or carry-out; there's no seating.

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.

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.

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.