14850 Dining

Ithaca probably had plenty of chicken wings already, we're checking out Buffalo Wild Wings, the latest chain restaurant to open in town. On Route 13 in Ithaca's southwest, Buffalo Wild Wings serves not just wings and so-called "boneless wings," but wraps, burgers, and even ribs. We were pleasantly surprised that the wing sauces had lots of flavor. The hot actually was, and the spicy garlic and garlic parmesan both weren't shy about the garlic.

This Collegetown eatery, in new digs across from the Dryden Road parking garage, offers healthy, fresh, design-your-own wraps, salads, and smoothies. The custom wrap and salad menu (starting at $6) features no fewer than 35 ingredients to choose from, not counting the tortillas and meats (grilled chicken, tuna, or eggs), plus a couple dozen dressings. Or pick from one of the $6 pre-designed salads or wraps. Check it out from lunch through late-night if you're tired of bagels, pizza, and cheeseburgers.

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.

No surprises at this franchise pizza shop. They have the advantage of being cheaper than the local pizzerias, but that's about it. Their poor food and service is made worse by the fact that they are extremely poor neighbors, and are rude to people who live and work near them. Go next door to Napoli, or call Papa John's if you want chain-pizza prices.

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.

Now open across from the State Theatre, in the former home of the Prize Diner, Gorgers offers soups and gourmet subs on homemade bread, with locally sourced ingredients wherever possible. At $3 for soup, $6 for salads, and $7 for subs, the price is definitely right. Try the coconut shrimp po'boy, served with pickled vegetables and a Thai sweet chili sauce on a homemade sub roll, or make any of the subs vegetarian with eggplant instead of meat. The potato salad, made with a balsamic vinegar reduction, is a tasty side dish. Ready for a challenge?

One of Ithaca's top pizzerias, this latest incarnation of Italian Carry Out (which used to be on Meadow Street) also offers hot and cold sandwiches, wings, fish fry platters, and such Italian dinners as lasagna, chicken parm, and a variety of pasta. Delivery takes a while and they might not get your order quite right, but they'll cheerfully fix it.

For delivery, carry-out, or to eat in, check out Jack's Collegetown Grill on Dryden Road, offering burgers, cheesesteaks, generous breakfasts whenever they're open, and Ithaca's only vegetarian wings, as late as 4am on weekends. It's an oddity at an eatery that serves so many burgers, cheesesteaks, and actual chicken wings, but vegetarians will appreciate the tofu wings. They expanded in the summer of 2012, with a new bar area so you can enjoy your food with a pint of beer and the game on TV.

A tiny, casual eatery for take-out or eat-in service. You can order items from the menu, but your best bet is to select two already-prepared entrees from the steam table as a combo (or one large portion) for $6.25. We recommend the Pad Thai and one of the other entrees, such as red curry chicken or eggplant and tofu. For a treat, add a Thai iced coffee to your meal. Some dishes are deliciously spicy, and there's good chili sauce if it's not hot enough.

This quick, new eatery in Collegetown, formerly Xeo's Cafe, now serves Tejano-style (Tex-Mex) taquitos and the like using fresh, local ingredients. The taquitos are tortillas wrapped around a variety of fillings, mostly local pork or beef. The vegan taquito, with marinated tofu and potatoes, is excellent, too. True to the Texas roots, it's not a vegetable-heavy cuisine, but there are a couple of vegetarian options. It's minimalist Mexican. We like it.

Our favourite among the area's traditional, round pizzas is from Napoli Pizza, at the foot of the East State Street hill in the Gateway building. Napoli's roots go back decades in downtown Ithaca, and they know how to make their pizza. Napoli also has by far the best wings in town, great cold or hot subs, and beer on tap if you're dining in or waiting for your pizza.

They style themselves an upscale bakery, but Panera Bread is really just a soup, salad, and sandwich eatery with counter service. The food's not bad, but the slim portions, high prices, and general air of confusion behind the counter make it tough to justify a return visit. The many-columned menu board, with its "signature" and "premium signature" price bumps, is also optimized for making you spend more than you thought you were going to. If the place is full, it's probably because someone who bought a $2 item has parked at a table for two hours to enjoy the Wi-Fi.

This quick eatery on Dryden Road makes hot and cold sandwiches to order in white or whole wheat pitas, with your choice of a whole host of veggies. Start with your choice of ham, turkey, tuna, or maybe go vegetarian with falafel or hummus. While the filling's grilling, pick out your toppings from an impressive selection, and Pita Pita's friendly crew will fill your pita layer by layer. Pita Pita even has breakfast pitas, featuring scrambled eggs mixed with hash brown potatoes, cheese, onions, peppers, and ham, bacon, or crumbled Italian sausage. Formerly part of the Pita Pit chain.

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.

This pizza shop at the east end of the Ithaca Commons is perfect for a late-night slice, and delivers decent subs, pizza, wings, and even fried chicken. They're not trying to be culinary artists, but they hit the spot when they've got what you need.

This combination pizzeria and brewpub has good deals on decent pizza, wings, and subs, with both pizzeria and pub-style dining rooms, and a bar with a few beers brewed in-house. 

This pizzeria has offered freshly made pies and pizza by the slice, plus lasagna and other Italian dishes, salads, and side dishes for many years in the Cafe Square food court at the Shops of Ithaca Mall. The pizza's especially good when it's fresh, and the Italian entrees are a pretty good deal.

Subway has captured lots of attention with its $5 foot-long offers, its weight-losing spokesman, its toasted subs, and, yes, its "Chuck" exposure. What it comes down to is that Subway is a decent place for a decent sandwich made with decent food at a decent price. If you skip some of the gloppy sauces and the potato chips, it's even a healthy meal.

This new counter-service eatery in the Center Ithaca food court on the Ithaca Commons offers tacos, enchiladas, and the like, both meaty and vegetarian. Listed only.

Pretty good pizza and subs in lower Collegetown, often with tempting special pricing. Stop in for a slice or call ahead to order a pizza or three to go.

Ithaca has had food trucks for decades -- the Hot Truck and Louie's Lunch -- but, except on special occasions, they're always in one place. Enter the Good Truck, our first entry in the fad of food trucks that pop up in different places around town. Common stops for this taco truck are next to The Shop or The Westy, or at the Food Truck Roundup at Thompson Park in Fall Creek. The locally sourced food is tasty and almost, but not quite, worth the $5 per taco price.

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.

Affordable and unassuming, this taco and burrito eatery provides a limited menu of pretty good if unexceptional California-style Mexican fare. The burritos used to be humungous and cheap, enough for two meals, but the portions aren't what they once were. The soft tacos offer better bang for the buck, and the soup's a pleasant surprise.

What is it they say about the underdog trying harder? Wendy's is dwarfed by McDonald's and Burger King, but we think that, as a general rule, they offer the best-tasting, best-quality food of the three. Despite occasional missteps like chicken nuggets dressed up as "boneless wings," Wendy's has very good burgers, delightful spicy chicken sandwiches, and top-notch (and affordable) side dishes like salads and baked potatoes.

This franchise of the growing "Wings Over" chain offers a chicken-heavy lunch buffet and extensive delivery. The hottest "Afterburner" wings are hot enough for Ithaca, if not Buffalo, and flavourful as well. Vegetarians are basically out of luck, unless they're satisfied with fries and macaroni salad. Poultry-eaters, though, might enjoy the 15 varieties of wings, and those who can't stand bones should try the "boneless wings," excellent hand-battered chicken strips sold by the half pound.