Ithaca is on Cayuga Lake in upstate New York and not far from the fine wineries of the Finger Lakes and the Corning Glass Museum. But the town is best known for being the home of Cornell University and its nearly 20,000 students. If that isn't enough for you to call it a "college town," it is also the home of Ithaca College, which is situated just to the south of Ithaca. With parents and prospective students at the two schools visiting Ithaca, it should not be surprising that there are so many restaurants there from which you can choose.
Maxie's Supper Club and Oyster Bar is a New Orleans-style fish house that serves barbecue and all kinds of Southern comfort food. There are a lot of great restaurants in Ithaca, and Maxie's is certainly among them. Not only is the food exceptional, Maxie's will serve you later than most restaurants---until 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends. Start your meal with a cup of soup. Maxie's crab/corn chowder is as smooth as silk and full of meat. Maybe the best dish in Ithaca is its take on Shrimp and Grits, morsels that are dipped; and when combined with the nutty taste of the grits, your taste buds will revel in the sensation.
Maxie's Supper Club and Oyster Bar
635 West State Street
Ithaca, NY
607-272-4136
maxies.com
This restaurant is very contemporary, and so are those who eat inside the restaurant or out in the fresh air. Owner and chef Doug Gruen insists on quality in both substance and presentation. He is the only chef in the place, thus the reason it's open only 5 day each week. (It's closed on Sundays and Mondays.) But you'll be willing to wait until it opens because the food is consistently good.
The inventive menu has such appetizers as fried baby artichokes with a spicy herb aioli and Santa Fe black bean crab cakes that are served with chips and salsa. And for entrees, you'll be blown away by such dishes as Kentucky Bourbon Black Angus Sirloin Steak with Jack Daniels pan drippings gravy and mushroom caps, and served with smashed Red Bliss scallion potatoes and grilled asparagus, or roasted chicken that's topped with a roasted garlic sherry wine reduction and served with baby green beans and potatoes.
Blue Stone Bar & Grill
110 North Aurora Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-272-2371
bluestoneithaca.com
Joe's Restaurant serves Italian food, and it's been in business since the early 1930s. The food is consistently good, which is the reason why this is a popular place for locals, students and visitors. All the entrees come in three sizes and are priced accordingly. The restaurant reasons that Italian food should be served family style, thus why the largest size is called "famiglia."
Start your Italian feast with one of the appetizers like fresh tomatoes diced and tossed with sweet red onion, fresh mozzarella, balsamic vinaigrette and served on toasted bread crisps or lightly breaded pasta pillows filled with cheese and spices, deep fried and sprinkled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and served with a side of homemade tomato sauce. For an entree, you can go for the grilled salmon dressed with a fried caper piccata sauce on a bed of asparagus with homemade pizza bread or pan-seared jumbo scallops dusted with toasted spices and rested atop linguine tossed in garlic butter.
Joe's Restaurant
602 West Buffalo Street
Ithaca, New York 14850
607-256-3463
joesithaca.com
