14850 Dining

Offering wings, subs, and pasta dishes in addition to pizza, Bella Pizza has taken over the corner pizzeria stand in the Center Ithaca atrium food court. At the heart of downtown, this is a cluster of eateries we might wish were open longer hours -- like, say, at dinnertime or late-night. Lunch specials start at $2.25 for a slice and a soda. The pizza's crisp and tasty, and we look forward to exploring the rest of the menu.

Our expectations aren't that high when we go to a fast food outlet, but this Burger King sometimes fails to reach even that low bar. Whether the food's not hot, or we've gotten where we're going only to realize we've got a different item than the one we ordered, this BK misses the mark just a little too often for comfort. When they get it right, though, a Whopper with onion rings can sure be satisfying.

Now open in Ithaca's southwest, Chipotle is one of several chains specializing in burritos and similar fare assembled to order. Their philosophy leans toward quality food produced as sustainably as possible.

Collegetown Pizza has moved down Dryden Road to the former location of Mama Teresa's Pizzeria. As with most pizzerias, the slices that have been sitting out for a while are only appetizing at 2am, but the freshly made pies aren't bad.

D.P. Dough does one thing and they do it well -- an infinite selection of calzones with whatever you can imagine stuffed inside. I'm a fan of eggplant and ricotta, or go the Buffalo-style chicken calzone route. Check their Facebook for the daily $5 'Zone of the Day.

Doug's Fish Fry is worth the drive from Ithaca. It's a small privately owned Central New York chain with restaurants in Skaneateles, Cortland, Mattydale, and East Syracuse, that prides itself on simple, quick food, with no table service, no wait staff, and no tipping. Yes, a lot of the food is fried, but not all of it.

Ithaca's is the 475th franchise of this DC-based chain that specializes in just burgers, hot dogs, and fries, all freshly prepared to order. The Five Guys web site says there are over 200,000 ways to order your burger, but if you want chicken nuggets, or cheese sticks, or milkshakes, or cherry pie, you'll have to go somewhere else. For fast food, the burgers are outstanding. Vegetarian options are limited to a grilled cheese sandwich or a burger-without-the-burger, plus the fries, but we know lots of vegetarians who are delighted with these.

A new eatery from our friends at Gorgers Subs, opening soon on the Commons just a block from their sandwich shop. We're expecting excellent and quick tacos made from scratch with fresh ingredients, and we can't wait!

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 sandwich shop, pizzeria, and convenience store is perched on Ithaca's South Hill just below Ithaca College. We don't enjoy their pizza, though we realize tastes vary, and the wings and subs are pretty good.

There are a few select entrees from the main Collegetown Sangam Indian Restaurant here at this steam-table counter in Center Ithaca. The food always tastes fresh, and it's always ready when you walk up. There's also a small selection of Indian groceries and videos.

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.

Sharing a building with C.T. Bento next to the Hampton Inn, Smart Yogurt in Ithaca's Southwest offers frozen yogurt with an ever-changing array of toppings, such as pastel-colored M&Ms for Easter. The yogurts themselves range from a basic, tart yogurt similar to Greek-style yogurt, to fun "birthday cake" and "cookies 'n cream" options, and there's even a green tea yogurt made with top-notch tea imported from Japan. Toppings include the expected crumbled cookies and candy bits, but also a surprising variety of fruit, some of it fresh.

On the east end of the Shortstop Deli in Downtown Ithaca, Sweet Melissa's is a seasonal ice cream stand offering a variety of soft-serve treats, hard ice cream, and more. There are even vegan options made with coconut milk from GreenStar Co-Op.

That Burrito Place makes burritos, nachos, quesadillas, and rice bowls to order, on a quick assembly line. Nothing unusual here, just tasty Mexican-style food to go. Watch their Facebook for daily specials. (If you want to eat in the restaurant, you'll be standing up. There's no seating, unless the weather's nice and you hit the bench out front.)

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.