Address: | 305 Stewart Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA |
Phone: | +1 607-645-0152 |
Site: | carriagehousecafe.com |
Rating: | 4.3 |
Working: | Closed 9AM–3PM 9AM–3PM 9AM–3PM 9AM–3PM 9AM–3PM 9AM–3PM |
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A Private User
The Carriage House Cafe is beautiful, the food is consistently fantastic, and we have found the staff to always be friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, the Carriage House is a pretty small place, but their brunch is so popular that the little cafe gets quite overwhelmed with crowds on the weekends. When that happens, quality and service are sure to suffer. Do yourself a favor and go during the week when it is so much quieter and cozy. Or if youre in town for the weekend, then go either before 10 a.m. or after 1 p.m. To address a few of the other reviewers weve read on here, who look from posting dates as though they obviously went in during the worst rush of the week and the year (graduation): Personally if we did not want to wait for a table, wed go somewhere else, instead of waiting 40 minutes, and then getting mad at the restaurant because we chose to wait. If weve ever had a problem at the Carriage House, theyve always fixed it or given us our money back. Why leave disgruntled and go away to write an angry review when you can ask to talk to a manager and get some satisfaction in that moment? We agree that this cafe is expensive, and wed like to see them find ways to reduce prices. But Ithaca restaurants in general tend to be kind of over-inflated due to the Cornell and Ithaca College effects. Once you get outside of Ithaca, prices dip dramatically in everything from petrol to hotels to restaurants. So whos to blame? A lot of people want to be in Ithaca -- its a beautiful place -- so plan on paying for it while you are there.
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Deborah Hayes
Thought this would be a great place for brunch. Hoped for a wonderful Mothers Day outing with my daughter and mother but was not at all what I expected. Granted it was Mothers Day so they were busy but I understand this is not out of the norm. Service was extremely slow. Took us almost 30 minutes to to be seated in a very noisy café. After ordering within five minutes it took over an hour to get our food. Iasked twice if they had forgotten us. Order two French toast and an omelette. Wanted just reagular meal that were listed in the menu provided but then ordering told they changed things daily to their special. Why give a menu if you only go off you daily specials. Omelette came well over cooked and crispy. It was obvious it had been sitting on grill for extended time. Worst off the bill. I knew the place was pricey but didnt expect a 75.00 bill for two French toast orders, homefries which were cold, and over cooked omelette. Oh and three coffees. The 18% service fee was high. It didnt really bug me. The price of the meals for the waiting and waiting and waiting then being served over cooked and cold was asking to much. Parking is horriable as well. Tried it, was impressed. Sorry cant give a thumbs up on this place.
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Zenn Lutinsky
This stacked stone basement boutique brunchery is a sure thing if you are not going cheap or simple. The food here is flavorful and inspired. Bring a date for one of the best brunches Ive had in the area. Brace yourselves! They have a Reuben! This spritely take on the best sandwich ever is really taking some liberties with the ingredients, and thats fine... You didnt come in here for diner food. Personally I feel nixing the rye on a Reuben is playing with fire but it works on french bread specifically because this is a lighter cousin to the one we all love. The kraut/slaw mixture is all the rage lately and the thousand island here is good, might be homemade. The cheese is a little lacking but not egregious, makes sense here... I will however take offense to the light spring mix side salad served next to this mutant. If you had to remove the fries... Perhaps fried green beans instead. Just unholy! But a decent salad nonetheless. All in all 7.5/10. Would eat again, if I lost my arms and legs and couldnt fight off the men force feeding me. But for screwing with a perfectly good recipe, not bad.
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Thomas Burkholder
We arrived at 9am for brunch on Sunday since other reviewers had noted the lengthy wait. We were seated immediately and were waited on shortly thereafter. The coffees took too long to arrive, but that may have just been my coffee deprivation. The coffee was good and strong, without that burned French roast taste. The meal took far too long to arrive, nearly 40 minutes for ours and we noticed that others were waiting a similarly long time. My breakfast sandwich was tasty as was my wifes strata. My sons brioche french toast was dry like it had been in an oven for a long time and tasteless. We really have no reason to return here when we could go to CTB, Ithaca Bakery, or the very excellent crepe (Veronikas Pastries) and burrito (Solaz) places at the Ithaca Farmers Market.
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Meurcie Redding
Carriage house is one of the most charming brunch spots in all of Ithaca. The food is fantastic and created from local and organic products. The coffee service is awesome as well, with a selection of artisan coffee and espresso drinks to choose from, and the servers are always pleasant and professional. My only disappointment is the number of times I could not get brunch there because of the wait! It would be awesome if Carriage House accepted reservations- but if you take the time to call ahead, or you arrive early that problem takes care of itself. I havent gotten to try their cocktails and evening entertainment yet, but I hope to soon!
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A Private User
I recently brought my family to the Carriage House Cafe in Ithaca and thought it was one of the best coffee houses! Starting with the beautiful gardens. Ambiance of stone walls and wood beams,with antiques in just the right places. Delicious coffee and homemade pastries filled the counter. Service was excellent and the food was beautifully prepared. The raspberry drizzle on the french toast added to the beauty and taste. There burger is great and on Tuesday it happened to be $9.00 burger day. Not bad for local grassfed burger in Ithaca. The homemade ketchup sets it up nice too. I highly recommend this cafe. See for yourself
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Jim Hilker
The Carriage House Cafe is an outstanding place to get fresh house-made food. The owners and chefs apply intense focus on providing a relaxing environment, great food and drink, and a wonderful decor and garden, which all come together to give customers a very pleasing experience. Ive had breakfast there a couple of times and coffee there a number of times. I look forward to returning soon! Take a look at the inside of Carriage House Cafe by clicking on the "See inside" image on this page. Great job of utilizing the latest Google exposure marketing!
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Crystal Cun
Years after leaving Ithaca, I still dream about the brie-stuffed French toast (and do my best to replicate it at home). Luckily, Carriage House is still open and going strong, so I can head back every few years or so for another fix! If youre unfamiliar, the French toast is the perfect sweet/salty combo, a luscious pillow of brioche stuffed with brie, perfectly browned and drizzled with berry coulis. Be sure to get there early for weekend brunch, we arrived right as they opened to find a long line and just barely snagged the last available 2-top!
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An Nguyen
Loved this place! My sister and I came to explore the Ithaca area and heard about The Carriage House Cafe so we decided to stop in. This is a really cute cafe with a small outdoor seating area. I ordered the Strata special that came with a very simple, but delicious side salad. My sister ordered the grilled cheese with fig and that was amazing too! The best was probably part about this experience was our waitress, Sarah who not only was amazing, but she also wrote down a few places for us to explore on our visit to Ithaca.