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    Mercato Bar & Kitchen

    4.1 (196 reviews)
    PriceyItalian, Wine Bars
    Closed 5:30 pm - 9:00 PM

    Mercato Bar & Kitchen Photos

    Business Info

    MERCATO BAR & KITCHEN ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Classy
    Moderate noise
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - Mercato Bar & Kitchen

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    DeAnna T.

    This was my second time frequenting Mercato's and it was just as great as the first time. Unfortunately, this visit was in January and the menu has changed and I'm unable to remember the name of the dish. I can tell you it was delicious! The pasta is made in house. Our server was pleasant and attentive. I love that the restaurant is small and cozy. The menu has a great variety and I can't wait for my next visit to see what's new on the menu. The dessert is always my favorite!

    pasta with clams
    Michelle L.

    Honestly, not too blown away by Mercato. For starters we ordered the crostini sampler. I would not recommend. Texturally, these were were all just mush and flavor wise did not taste like much. For mains we split the ravioli and pasta with clams. The pasta itself was nice and al dente, but the broth needed more flavor and was rather oily. I liked the ravioli. More of the tomato sauce would've been nice though. The dessert was great! We got the caramel espresso pot de creme. It was like coffee-flavored creme brulee without the sugared top. I loved the house made graham crackers it came with. Besides the dessert, I did not particularly love the dishes I tried. I may return, I may not.

    Butternut Squash Mezzalune
    Melissa S.

    Mercato was incredible. Great ambiance. Great service. Amazing food. We started off with the olives and almonds for an appetizer. I'm not exactly sure what sorcery they did here, but these were the best olives I've ever had in my life, to be honest... I've been searching for something to hit the spot ever since and I haven't found it yet! I got their Butternut Squash Mezzelune and it was just perfect. Great texture, good balance of savory and sweet. It was a delight from start to finish. My husband went for the fresh fish in parchment, which was cooked perfectly and melted in your mouth. We ended the meal with tea, espresso, and biscotti. It was a lovely date night evening. I can't wait to come back again!

    Scallops

    Phenomenal service and fresh seafood (actually shipped same day as caught, never frozen, a rarity in Ithaca). A Cornellian and former Cornell professor (hotel school) owns this place and the place next door. He is so down to earth, kind, and truly loves hospitality. He stayed after closing and had a drink with my group, and chatted about Cornell! Cannot recommend this place enough!

    Black pepper fettuccine
    Courtney K.

    The food continues to be 5/5. I think this has to be our favorite place in Ithaca!! Everything we get is cooked to perfection and so tasty. The pastas are made in house and I don't know how they do it, but the sauces are never oily and always the perfect amount. The flavors are always perfect too. This time we got the black peppered fettuccine and short rib ragu gnocchi-can't go wrong with either! Small side note is that some of the prices did go up just a few dollars in the new year :/

    Sara B.

    I was initially turned off because of the very small menu, but what Mercato lacked in quantity they made up for in quality (and vibes)! I was expecting to have more of a classic / red sauce Italian moment, but the menu wasn't like that at all. The chicken picatta was out of this world good. I make this dish at home so I'm hesitant to order out, but my version could never compare. Order it here, and don't look back. My husband really enjoyed his spaghetti and clams. It's a small, dark and intimate restaurant. Perfect for a date night. Only knocking off a star because our server was a little snarky. Otherwise, it was a top notch dining experience.

    Salted caramel.... Something! DELICIOUS
    Martin H.

    This is it! Old school... No reservations... First come, first serve. Definitely worth the wait. We ate at Mahogany and Antlers and this was our last night. Others were good, but this is definitely the winner! Recommended! The complainers definitely have not eaten in Ithica lately as there was not a close second!

    Black pepper fettuccine
    Honor K.

    This place is just perfection. We sat at the bar at around 5:40. The restaurant opens at 5:30 and all the table were already full but the time we got there, which excited me. We had the pleasure of being served by Shawn. He was attentive, hilarious and made a mean drink. He spoke about the menu like he was a chef himself and you could tell he was passionate about his work. My friends and I enjoyed our banter with him. Once we ordered we were given bread and butter. I'm a bread lover and this was some good bread. Airy and fresh. My drink selection was the Hemingway Daiquiri, that Shawn recommended, it was sweetish and had a nice acidic kick. 10/10. My entree was the black pepper fettuccine which featured guanciale, carmelized parsnips and pecorino romano. The pasta was perfectly cooked and delicious. The parsnips were sweet and paired nicely with the guanciales saltiness and the peppery spice from the pasta. My friends got the mushroom & goat cheese cappelletti and the gnocchi with short rib ragu. Both were delicious, seasoned perfectly and pasta was cooked perfectly. They also got an Old News cocktail and Shawn made an amazing lemon drop inspired drink for them. Both were delicious. We finished our meal with the vanilla panna cotta with blood orange. It was light and sweet! Wish there was some more blood orange so each bite could have a bit of it, but it was delicious none the less. Cannot wait to come back on my next visit to NY to enjoy this beautiful restaurant again!

    A  simple menu translates to we do everything to perfection!
    LaToya E.

    This place earned all 5 stars!!! From the moment we walked in the door Yxi took great care of us. She recommended their best dishes, which I actually now think may be everything on the menu. Ambiance.... check Service.........check Food............ check Presentation..check Please do yourself a favor and check out this intimate Italian spots located in The Commons! I promise you won't regret it. Thank me later by liking this review.

    Ricotta cheese cake

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    2 years ago

    Incredible menu, authentic food, attentive service and cozy, comfortable vibe. A perfect choice in downtown Ithaca.

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    3 years ago

    The best scallops I have ever had. It's not cheap... but if you're a foodie, you won't want to miss trying out Mercato!

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    The Rook - Upscale Comfort Food.

    The Rook

    4.2(181 reviews)
    0.3 mi
    $$

    Unique mac and cheese and good gnocchi!…read more I am debating giving the rook 3 or 4 stars... I was not a fan of the salmon mousse... far too salty and I wish it was paired with crisped bread or at least something other than Ritz crackers. I did, however, enjoy the presentation and taste of the macaroni au gratin. The square shape is very unique and I liked the cheese sauce. The lamb w gnocchi was also quite good. Pillowy and soft. The lamb was cooked well. Overall, I would maybe return. I enjoyed the macaroni au gratin as well as the lamb w gnocchi!

    Loved the Rook's design choices, filled with anthropomorphic art and light yet refined ambiance…read more It wasn't too crowded when we arrived and we were seated immediately. Staff was pleasant and quick. The menu is dominated by drink options (cocktails and wines), and happy hour is 4-5pm, which is perfect for an aperitif. The fried chicken is by far their speciality, with the macaroni coming in as a distant second. But while both were delicious, I'd say the best value and taste goes surprisingly to the simple summer salad, which was crisp, sweet, tangy, and refreshing. It's only $10 for a hefty portion of food and I'd order that again anytime (and that's coming from a guy who'd never normally order a salad). My only criticisms are that the Rook doesn't have many entree choices (which may be a good thing for indecisive diners), and that it's very slightly pricey. Otherwise, it's an easy recommend for me.

    Photos
    The Rook - Making cavatelli

    Making cavatelli

    The Rook - Schnitzel, a tad dry with rubbery re-heated tasting spaetzle.

    Schnitzel, a tad dry with rubbery re-heated tasting spaetzle.

    The Rook - Aperitif/digestif anyone???

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    Aperitif/digestif anyone???

    3812 Bistro - Fries with sauce action

    3812 Bistro

    4.5(162 reviews)
    20.8 mi
    $$

    We called 3812 Bistro on an evening to make a reservation. The host mentioned they may be full at…read morethe main seating area, hence confirmed a spot at the covered patio. This is a restaurant connected to Lakeside resort and the residents dine here. We were not staying at the resort. When we arrived, we were seated promptly. We had an awesome view facing the Seneca lake and Hector falls. From our seats, we saw the rains come in. We had light jackets and were able to have an awesome dinner. For the dinner, we had scallops for appetitizer, seared salmon, fish tacos and chicken parmesan. For dessert, we had bread pudding and cheesecake. All delicious and cooked to perfection. They have a puppy called Rocky who visits each table! Well mannered puppy!

    Nice place for some beer and burgers with a view. We were lucky enough to snag a spot outside…read more Ambience is kind of a rustic ski lodge inside. There's a friendly dog off leash who seems to be the house pet, but he definitely comes looking for food so be on the lookout. Service is friendly and helpful. We started out with some beer and ordered a pint of the two goats, red ale and a flight with the Seneca Lodge, peach blonde, war horse, and two of the red ales because they were out of the last one. Actually really enjoyed all of them. I normally go for darker beers, but the peach blonde was refreshing and would be perfect for summer. To start we ordered the spinach artichoke dip, which was OK but needed something crispy then pita. A toasted crostini was definitely called for. For entrées, we ordered two bistro burgers, which were both cooked nicely and complimented our beer nicely. Probably could've used a little more tomato jam, but we enjoyed our meal and the reasonable prices.

    Photos
    3812 Bistro - Coffee bar

    Coffee bar

    3812 Bistro - Fish taco

    Fish taco

    3812 Bistro - Salmon

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    Salmon

    Finger Lakes House - View from the terrace

    Finger Lakes House

    4.5(26 reviews)
    29.3 mi
    $$

    So we came here on a Friday night about 6 o'clock and they were supposed to be an open mic…read morehappening which we were excited about because we love performing an open mic. Since we've been out all day we were really hungry so we decided to eat something before we performed. At the moment there couldn't have been more than eight people in the whole place inside and out on the deck total. We were handed menus that had no prices on them. I ordered the buddah bowl with chicken strips and my husband got a quesadilla with steak. It took about 40 minutes for the food to come and the boot bowl was mostly a big bowl of greens with what couldn't have been more than a tablespoon of chicken chopped up on it. It was very tasty. My husband's quesadilla was the size you would expect loaded with cheese but literally one little tiny cube of steak in each of the six wedges. His quesadilla was tasty We only ordered water to drink because we were going to be singing later and it took about 15 minutes for the water to get to us. She "forgot". The whole time we were there nobody checked on us and place never got very busy no more than maybe eight people the whole time. We decided not to stay to sing because there was practically nobody there and the people who were there were outside on the deck while the place for the performers was inside in the bar. And as far as we knew we were the only people there who were planning to perform. The Buddha bowl which would've made a nice side salad to any other meal was $14, while the quesadilla was $13. In my opinion overpriced for what we got. We also bussed our own table.

    Can we just start with the Pickle Flatbread? Oh and the fact that there are 30 different brew ON…read moreTAP!!! (My honey managed to try 28 of them. The last two were ciders, so he took a pass and just left it at 28...or SEVEN BEER FLIGHTS!!!) We also had the Mexican Street Corn dip and then couldn't leave without trying the GIANT pretzel (could probably feed four!!) Our hosts and wait staff were as nice as could be. It was a truly lovely way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon! Can't wait to go back.

    Photos
    Finger Lakes House - Buddah bowl

    Buddah bowl

    Finger Lakes House
    Finger Lakes House - BBQ sampler, Maryland crab cakes with scallops, butternut squash soup, apple cider sangria, and  Sweet Walter Blackberry wine.

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    BBQ sampler, Maryland crab cakes with scallops, butternut squash soup, apple cider sangria, and Sweet Walter Blackberry wine.

    Gola Osteria - Flourless Chocolate Torta @ Gola Osteria

    Gola Osteria

    3.9(195 reviews)
    0.5 mi
    $$$

    Delicious pasta! Better than Thompson and Bleecker and perhaps my favorite restaurant in Ithaca!…read more We tried the eggplant roll appetizer which was warm and very cheesy. The anchovy salad was also good (I prefer the white anchovies which they used). The salad was also quite generous with the cheese. I enjoyed dipping the warm bread in the leftover eggplant cheese/sauce. For mains we tried the chicken, black spaghetti, and the pappardelle. I love mushrooms, so the pappardelle was my favorite. A rather simple buttery sauce which allowed the flavor of the mushrooms to really come through. Delicious! I don't usually like to re-order the same dish when returning to restaurants, but this was so good when I come back I will definitely be getting this again! Black spaghetti and chicken were also good- no complaints here. For dessert we tried the panna cotta which was a tiny bit on the runny side though I am just being picky. It was very tasty and not too sweet. The tiramisu was also good (on the boozier side). The desserts were rather small but the mains were all quite hefty portion sizes. Reservations were rather inconvenient to snag though definitely not too hard. Overall, I really enjoyed Gola Osteria and will have to return to try more of their pastas!

    I've been here twice. My experience was mediocre both times and I'm not sure why. First, I've had…read morethe carbonara, which was so salty I could not eat it. Truly it was hard to stomach, I took it home and combined with my own pasta and it was then edible. My partner had the linguine and thought it was okay. A stand out was the dessert, which was excellent. Next visit was takeaway, and I had the bucatini. Again; it was simply okay. For the price, it's really hard to justify going back. Very kind staff and service though, so I wouldn't be against giving it another try. Just don't get the carbonara!

    Photos
    Gola Osteria - You can see the empty table to the left that host refused to give us even though we booked months ahead with credit card.

    You can see the empty table to the left that host refused to give us even though we booked months ahead with credit card.

    Gola Osteria - House-Made Mozzarella @ Gola Osteria

    House-Made Mozzarella @ Gola Osteria

    Gola Osteria

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    Mercato Bar & Kitchen - italian - Updated May 2026

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