Ithaca Ale House — Restaurant in City of Ithaca

I have always enjoyed coming here for dinner when in town. I had 1 night with my freshman son who I hadn’t seen since August and wanted to take him out to dinner. We double checked the menu for gluten free since his brother is gluten intolerant and they had gluten free buns as an option. We were happy to only have to wait 5 minutes for a table. The restaurant was about half full. After being sat, we waited a bit for our waiter to get our drink order. Not a big deal. After sitting for at least 15-20 minutes he came back with our drinks and we ordered. I ordered the onion soup with a salad as my main and was told they were out of onion soup. I was disappointed but started looking for another option. I wish I was told when we arrived or at least when we were sat. Then my son ordered a burger with a gluten free bun and was told they were out of gf buns. This time it was a game changer. He does not eat salads and there were no other options. The waiter blamed the hostess for not telling us. At this point we had no choice but to leave and find a new restaurant at 6:15 on my only night with my son. When I asked to see a manager I was told they don’t have one there. As I left I saw a gentleman that looked like he might be a manager. I was told he was the owner so I asked to speak to him. He was very busy expediting food but I was told to give him a few minutes. After over 5 minutes, and no acknowledgment from the owner I opted to leave and just put my review here. I was willing to wait but he didn’t even turn around to acknowledge I was there. At this point it was 6:25 and we had to find a new restaurant to have dinner at the commons since I had already paid for parking and didn’t want drive to search for something new. Very disappointing since all my other experiences there have...

This is my first time posting on Google Reviews because I have to warn people to steer clear of this place. I am visiting from New York City along with several professional academic and creative colleagues and this is by far one of the WORST customer service experiences I’ve had in my LIFE. Two of us joined our other colleagues who had already dined and worked at Ithaca Ale House multiple days in a row. When we moved from the bar to a booth for more comfort, we were confronted by the dining hostess, but tried to smooth things over and continue with our night. When I approached the bar for another round of drinks, I stood for over 10 minutes and was completely ignored by the bartender. He served multiple customers and closed out others, and even another man gestured towards me, but the bartender continued to ignore me. I finally returned to the booth empty handed and the night went downhill from there. Multiple employees denied me the opportunity to speak with a manager and we never received our second round of drinks. Further the bartender came over in a rage and accused us of not paying for our drinks, stating in a raised voice “I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO PAY YOUR TABS, I THOUGHT YOU JUST DIPPED.” I explained to him that we are decorated and accomplished professionals and while I cannot be 100% sure, it seemed because we were four Black women, that we were effectively denied service and criminalized. Please do yourself a favor and AVOID THIS PLACE!!! There are plenty other beer bars with better beer, food and service, who are not...

I have frequented this establishment since I moved to Ithaca over a year ago, but never had an encounter quite like last night. I arrived at the bar at 10:00pm exactly to order food from the older, short/blonde-haired bartender. As she walked away from the bar to continue helping others on the floor, she told me that "she would check" whenever she returned. At 10:02 she came back and said the kitchen was closed so I couldn't order. I politely responded and told her that I only came for food (specifically the egg rolls!) and was here on time- so I asked if she would be willing to ask her manager if he would make an exception for a fried food. She responded by saying "so you really want me to go back there a third time to ask my boss to do that for you when he already said no?" To which I said I could ask the manager myself if she could not because I was unsure when a second time occurred to prompt a third.

Needless to say, she consulted another bartender with ponytailed/brunette curly hair who came to me to reiterate the kitchen closing and said "yeah, if we were busier we might have been able to help you out" and never went back into the kitchen. I never spoke to a manager. Meanwhile, the floor, bar and outside patio areas were FILLED by other patrons and I am physically watching food continue to be prepared and served from the window kitchen.

I am disgusted and utterly disappointment in the unprofessionalism by all involved and the way I was spoken to/treated. I will not be returning. Melanin friends be weary of...