Love this place. Great burger and overall the food is great. Beer selection is constantly rotating and is the best in ithaca.

Don't get the fish and chips! Not worth $18 for the plate. Super small strips of fish and the fries weren't tasty either. The poutine was good though. If you're craving fish and chips get it so where else. read more

Lovely little place! A bit small, but they're able to pack in a ton of people! If I had to choose again, I couldnt pick between the veggie burger, mac and cheese and their samplers! Will be back again! read more

My husband and I are from Buffalo, but were in town to see Taughannock Falls. This place had a pretty cool menu so we checked it out. I got the salmon, he got the curry. Both were really good! They also have a large assortment of cocktails of their own creation! I got the Patron Saint, very good! The only thing that's kinda meh about this place is that there's zero privacy. I think the table next to us was less than a foot away. And the waitresses seem a little spacey/preoccupied. All in, I'd definitely return if I come back to Ithaca! read more

GR8! Our party of 4 all had something different and thoroughly enjoyed everything! Clean plates all around. Nice beer selection and great atmosphere. Service was splendid. read more

We really like this place. The food is great. Everyone is very friendly. They are very busy around dinner time. Has a parking lot! Nice addition to the Fall Creek neighborhood. read more

Nice place, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood. Limited but delicious menu with a great beer and wine selection. The Thai flatbread was delicious and the sweet corn, poblano, and pepperjack Mac and cheese was nicely flavorful. They had some good options for a member of our group with multiple food allergies. All in all, a solidly good meal. read more

We came across this hidden gem as a recommendation from Ithaca Brewing Company...the outdoor patio was perfect on a nice summer night and the food was great!! read more

This restaurant was recommended by my college friend, and I had the opportunity to dine there in September on a trip out to Cape Cod. Wow! The fried chicken, a special on the menu that night, was juicy and crispy with a honey glaze, superb special-battered onion rings, and a tangy sweet homemade dressing with the field green salad. Best meal of my entire trip! Good job chef and owners! Thank you Lee Hamilton for a very enjoyable dining experience!! read more

Great food, including vegan, excellent selection of beers, and the service is wonderful!

My friend and I went for dinner tonight for the first time. The atmosphere in the restaurant was beautiful but we chose to sit on the lovely outdoor patio. We ordered the cauliflower dip as an appetizer, and shared the risotto and the French dip. We asked only that the horseradish aioli be served on the side. The cauliflower dip was absolutely delicious as was the risotto, and we were excited to have perhaps found a new restaurant to tell our friends about. However, the French dip came out not only with the aioli on it, but also with a hair. It took awhile to get the attention of the waitress, who brought it back to the kitchen and returned with a supposedly new sandwich that still had the aioli on it. Once again bringing it back to the kitchen, the waitress then returned with a sandwich that had tough bread, and beef that tasted as if it had been reheated as many times as it had gone back into the kitchen. I'm feeling fairly certain, in fact, that I basically received the same sandwich all three times. On top of this, there was no offering to compensate for their disgusting mistakes, and I ended up having to pay $14 for a sandwich that could have easily come from a school cafeteria. While the waitress was lovely, she did not seem to go out of her way to ask us if we wanted anything different, or needed any more drinks. On the whole I'm very disappointed and will not go back nor recommend a restaurant that obviously sits on its laurels simply because they feel they are the only game in town. I'm familiar with the restaurant business and I know it would not have cost them anything to comp that sandwich. Instead, their neglect cost them repeat customers and future recommendations. read more

Great casual dining in a fun and friendly atmosphere. The wings are a luscious messy treat and with just the right level of smokiness...a product of their smoker outback that beckons one in as soon as you get near the restaurant--like those smoky aroma fingers in the old cartoons. The finely chopped and lightly seasoned red cabbage bed that the wings were plated on made for a lovely presentation as well as a crisp and mildly tangy contrast to the wings. The garlic burger with cheese was equally yummy and the Gluten Free bun was a welcome tasty alternative to some of the lesser quality GF buns I've endured. Great prices and great locally sourced food. Looking forward to a return visit soon! read more

We love the cozy, friendly ambiance at Northstar, and the great service. The food is very good, and they use local whenever they can, a big plus. I love macaroni and cheese, and Northstar's is the best. The price range is totally reasonable, so it's not a splurge to go there. Yay! read more

Wow! Phenomenal food and fantastic service! Shout out to Corinne and Courtney for being the funniest, most pleasant, best waiting staff I've ever encountered. Everybody should eat here, if not for the delicious food, then for the wonderful company. Thank North Star for making my dinner special. read more

I have eaten here several times but our most recent experience was appalling. We made reservations for 8 people at 6pm and later called to increase that number to 9 people. We arrived a few minutes before 6 pm and were told our reservation was for 8pm. We had a toddler and other small child with us and had advised them when the reservation was made that we would need a highhair and a booster seat. They had to search for each and finally seated us after considerable discussion( the restaurant was half empty) We then waited 35minutes to place our order and then only after asking twice for our wait person. We them waited 40 minutes for our food ; only after one member of onur party spoke to the manager and threatened to walk out if we didn't get our food in the next 10minutes. It was delivered immediately. We had to lower the blinds due to the sun as no wait staff even noticed that half of us were being blinded by the sun. I noted the blinds were filthy when I helped to lower them. Food was passable but not hot. We will not be back!!!! read more

Ordered the meatballs as a side dish. Maybe the worst dining experience I have had. The meat tasted like it was seasoned with turmeric and cinnamon. Keep it simple: ground beef, egg, salt and pepper, garlic, onion, and breadcrumbs. I could not even finish it because it was so awful. Plus, the sauce was basically out of a Ragu jar. They have ok burgers, but this experience was absolutely awful. read more

You guys on Yelp really talked this place up. Maybe ok for a beer and a local beef burger but I was served a totally burnt pizza on a very slow night (and I am not picky about char). The unburnt parts of the dough had a Pillsbury quality that left me wishing I was at the Farmer's Market for a wood fired flat bread pizza. I really want to like this place but they need to step up their game to deserve their 4 star Yelp rating. read more

Super friendly people; well-chosen selection of beer and liquor (although the mixed drinks can be watery); hamburgers are great, both real and vegetarian; decor is better than most places in Ithaca. Northstar fulfills its mission of being a neighborhood gastropub. It's hard not to like them even more for endeavoring to use local ingredients and pasture meats. read more

Terrible service mixed with mediocre food. We have been treated poorly on multiple occasions here, as though the staff were doing us a favor by seating us, refilling glasses, etc. Not a professional establishment, and countless better restaurants around Ithaca. read more

Definitely one of the best restaurants in Ithaca. An incredible tap list, great food, and a super friendly staff. The menu changes pretty frequently, keeping things interesting and fresh. I'd recommend the fish sandwich with the mac and cheese and going at off-peak times (not Friday at 7pm) when the place is a bit quieter and the wait isn't so long. read more

Valentine's dinner was NOT good. Out of Prime Rib and Grouper at 5:00! No Absolute nor Peligrino. Fried chicken had an awful "breading" and no biscuits. The waitress gave me attitude when I pointed out the toasted dinner roll. They tried to slip in a baked, burned then breaded and fried boneless chicken breast into my fried chix basket. Gross!! Called to speak with someone the next day and was promised a response from an owner which never came. It used to be better, or this was a REALLY off day for Northstar!! read more

The food was perfect with unexpected but perfectly paired flavors. Locally sourced ingredients mean really fresh tastes. Staff was excellent even though they were pretty busy. Awesome bartender as well. Two thumbs up, best pub ever. read more

A close friend and I made Northstar our weekly hang out spot for almost two years. The food is only so-so, but the place is in our neighborhood and has decent beer so it worked. One night we went with my daughter and another friend and a group of waitresses sat near us on a break and stared rudely at my daughter. When questioned about it, the waitress in question (Lisa) denied anything happened. The she said that she and her fellows had stared because my kid had drank water direct from the bottle and they just "weren't used to that." I told her it was very inappropriate and was not pleased with the situation. I also shared with her that we had been loyal customers for years which made this treatment all the more unsavory. I shared the scenario via Twitter by stating that it is ridiculous to go out to eat/drink, spend money, and have to deal with rude wait staff and management that does not take customer service concerns seriously. I never received any reply or response from Northstar. Months later, my friend attempted to go back to Northstar for dinner and was told she would have to leave. Apparently we are not welcome there any longer for bringing this situation to light. Unbelievable! Do yourselves a favor and skip it. Mercado, Bandwagon, or Ithaca Beer have much better food and atmosphere. read more

I was very disappointed with the New Year's Day Brunch. Although my order was supposed to include 2 scrambled eggs, there was such a small amount, I'm sure it was just one egg. (I make eggs all the time at home and have ordered them out many times, there is no way that was 2 eggs). What was there did taste delicious. The bacon was so thick that it was not crispy but tough and chewy, the flavor was good though. The french toast was made from what seemed like a hard crusted french baguette. The crust was so thick and hard I could just barely cut through it with my knife. It was not soaked in the egg mixture long enough so it was dry and tough. (french toast should be made from brioche or some other soft bread. It should be creamy) Again, the flavor was good, nice and cinnamonny and the blueberry compote on top was delicious - but not nearly enough of it to compensate for the dry toast. The amount of maple syrup provided barely filled a quarter of the ramekin it came in. Really stingy with the maple syrup. The potatoes were actually pretty good, well cooked and well seasoned. I asked the waitress for some hollandaise sauce on the side for my eggs "...which I'd be happy to pay for", she came back and said the chef refused to do that. !!??!! One of the friends I was with ordered the eggs benedict, which came with the sauce, and offered to give me some of hers, but when here dish arrived, there was such a miniscule amount of hollandaise sauce on the eggs that there was no way she could share. Again, very stingy with the hollandaise sauce, (in addition to the maple syrup, blueberry compote and eggs). I've had drinks and burgers there before that have been very good, but I would not go back there for brunch. read more

I've been to Northstar a few times now and have been shocked at how terrible the service is. The restaurant was almost empty and the host sat us right next to the only other couple that was there. The food is ok but not dependable. The server brought out our food and it wasn't what I had ordered on the menu. Some things had to be replaced because they were out of them and she didn't warn us beforehand. When I politely told her that the menu said something completely different than what I was expecting, she did not offer any alternatives and left me to eat something I did not want in the first place. As restaurant employees ourselves, we are sensitive to the challenges of being a server but this service was truly unacceptable especially during a time where the waitress was clearly not busy with many customers. What she did bring out was also cold, flavorless, and even burnt. Overall really terrible experience and a waste of money. read more

This place is supposed to be known for its mac and cheese. Although it looked creamy like 'mom's' it was flavorless. I got that as a large side dish. In addition, my dining companion discovered a 2 foot hair in her order - just as a waitress was walking by. She quickly removed the order and replaced it with another which did not have a hair in it. My entrée was curry with chicken. It was low spiced, but not bad. However, I would rather have this dish in an Indian or Thai restaurant instead. Then, for dessert, there was the amaretto cheese cake. It had the look and feel of Jell-O Cheesecake No Bake Dessert Mix. It was shaped like a crème brulee and should have been called 'the crème dream. There was no hint of amaretto, and no cake texture to the dessert. It screamed 'help me - I am a Jell-O Cheesecake No bake dessert' in what is considered a restaurant that serves only locally grown ingredients .' The crust was some sort of damp chocolate graham cracker base. If you are looking for a New York style cheese cake this is not the dessert for you. Do you think I would be happy going back? read more