South Hill Cider — Restaurant in Town of Danby

My wife and I were taken to South Hill Cider just outside of Ithaca, NY by my stepdaughter and her husband. It is a cidery, orchard, and venue which also has a small food menu as well. We came to taste and buy ciders.

Ciders like other beverages have those who like them and those who don't. This is why flights (tasting of several) can be helpful. The 4 of us shared 3 flights. I like that each flight comes with a slip of paper which identifies and describes each cider in the flight. You pay a premium for this experience. Each flight of 4 samples costs as much as a full bottle of the most expensive cider in the flight. The total volume of a flight is about as much as if you ordered one glass of cider. The 3 flights available are the "House Flight", "Premium Flight", and "Dessert Flight", progressively more expensive.

From the "House Flight" we preferred the two semi-dry ciders "Old Time" and "Rośe". "Prelude" and "Baldwin" didn't resonate with us.

My bias is dry ciders have become a cliché much as IPA to beers. I can enjoy one from time to time, but there are many more flavor characteristics which I think are too frequently lost in them. Clearly, my tastes differ from much of the market both sell to.

From the "Premium Flight" which are the only ones with a specific year notation, "Chisel Keeved 2023" was the only one we really liked. Unfortunately, it is a bit of a tease putting it on the flight because it's not for sale by the bottle at this time. It will be available to their premium club members in about 60 days, and the general public some time after that. We are here now having traveled by car about 2,000 miles to get here and it does not sit well with to pay for a sample of something I can't purchase now. The least they could do is make an advisement of that on the menu board and on the slip of paper which accompanies the flight. Our son in law lived the "Goldwin 2023". "Golden Hour 2021" and "Perry 2022" didn't do it for us. The latter was particularly disappointing as it had no pear flavor in it at all.

From the "Dessert Flight" we enjoyed "Ice Cider" and "Classic Pommeau". We did not care for the "Royal Ice Cider" or "Chisel Jersey Pommeau". The latter, I describe as "too medicinal". I am not a brandy aficionado, so don't let my reaction deter you from trying them if you like brandies.

We purchase bottles of all of the ones we liked othe than the one they won't sell later in the year. We will enjoy them after we return home.

I recommend trying this place out and seeing what you...

We visited South Hill Cider this past weekend for one of their live music events. I want to be fair in my review: this is a gorgeous location outside Ithaca, the cider is delicious and the staff were all friendly and helpful. We have seen these events for a while now so we were excited to finally go to one but the experience unfortunately left a bittersweet memory. First of all, it gets very busy, and all the times we’ve passed by during a weekend event it looked just as busy. It’s so busy there’s an overflow parking area. This is of course not a problem, but it is surprising that after all these events with similar crowds only one food vendor is available on site. The place is out of town, no other food options in the area really, and the event took place during dinner time. This meant that everyone flocked to the one dinner option available and the wait for food ended up being 2 hours long (I wish I was exaggerating, I am not). The only other things available to eat are snacks and cheese boards which are not substantial and frankly a little overpriced.

The second thing is the price of beverages that came in 8oz cups and cost $7 each. Comparing with similar options in the area (Ithaca Beer Co. charges $4-5 for the equivalent amount, Hopshire charges $7-8 for a full pint) the cost seemed a little unreasonable, especially when charged on top of paying a $10 cover to enter. Hopshire recently also had live music but no cover, and I don’t remember paying a cover for Ithaca Beer Co events with live music.

I honestly don’t mind paying a cover for the band (we knew about it ahead of time and the band was great) or paying a little more for good quality local cider. When putting everything together though, the cover, the insane food wait after you’ve paid, and the pricey drinks, I’m not sure we would be...

We went to South Hill Cider for a tasting and lunch. I really wanted to like this place; the cider, the food, and the setting are all great. The customer service, however, needs work.

Their menu has several sandwiches on it that contain bread and melted cheese, but also meat. Because my husband is a vegetarian and happened to be craving grilled cheese, I asked if they could make one. They said yes and rang me up with no issues. It was on the small side, and he was still hungry after, so I went back up to order a second one. I was then lectured about ordering for an adult from the kids’ menu by both employees.

I never ordered from your kids’ menu; I simply asked if you could make a grilled cheese sandwich based on looking at other menu items that you offered. Why gatekeep food based on age? We’re paying customers; does it really matter what mouth consumes the food? I’ve worked in food service (and at a winery where we regularly serve “kids’” items to anyone who pays for them). You stand to gain nothing but a lost sale and a bad reputation by lecturing your customers.

They said, “We’ll go ahead and make a second one for you this time since you already got one, but just know for future reference that only kids can have kids’ menu items.”

As if there will BE a “future reference”…don’t worry; we won’t be back. There are plenty of places in Ithaca that aren’t so pretentious. Do better.

EDIT: I amended my star rating from 2 to 1 because of the owner’s thinly-veiled condescending and dismissive response to my review. Good cider is not worth putting up with...