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    Pete's Cayuga Bar

    4.4 (13 reviews)
    InexpensiveDive Bars
    Closed 6:00 pm - 1:00 am (Next day)

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    Recommended Reviews - Pete's Cayuga Bar

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    3 years ago

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    5 months ago

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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    5 years ago

    This is very nice little bar. Enjoy it before the hordes of students descend. Incredible bartenders.

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    10 years ago

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    13 years ago

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    13 years ago

    The best dive bar in Ithaca! Cash only, but drinks are cheap and good!

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    Review Highlights - Pete's Cayuga Bar

    Cheap drinks, sports on TV's, darts, a pool table and an eclectic mix of locals, college students, and passersby.

    Mentioned in 3 reviews

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    Chanticleer - The tab for the most expensive glass of tonic I've ever had.

    Chanticleer

    (25 reviews)

    $

    What a s*^%%# little bar…read more I came here at the recommendation of a local, but these folks are running game on drunk kids late at night. I ordered a double tanqueray and tonic and watched the guy pour the drink. Poorly. (Pun intended) He put the tonic gun on full blast and dribbled tonic into the glass. The bottle stopper was closed, so he had to finger it open as he continued to blast tonic into the glass. I could tell the drink was mostly tonic and said, "Hey friend, that's not a double!" He looked offended and swore it was because they don't use anything to measure their tonic, they just rely on the bottle dribbling out the so-called proper amount. I should have walked away before he sat it in front of me. I took one sip and surprise-surprise, it's basically just tonic water with a touch of a tanqueray. This was my first drink of the night, and I know it's wrong, but neither the guy nor the girl behind the bar were interested in making it properly. Pour out two shots. It's not that hard. But if you're purposefully pouring short booze to drunk people knowing you'll get away with it, it IS too hard. Don't come here. I know at least one local likes it, but nobody likes being charged double for a single anything. Or maybe the play here is to just order stuff in bottles. That way they can't cheat you out of liquor I paid $14 for a glass of tonic and MAYBE a shot of tanqueray. MAYBE. I feel like I paid $14 for the privilege of writing a crappy review. I absolutely got my money's worth.

    Would have given 5 stars until they closed "temporarily" but fired the staff and didn't tell them;…read morethey found out when they saw the sign on the door. That is a d**k move and reveals the character of the owners. Without the local staff this place is awful. The only reason 99% of ppl went there was BECAUSE of the staff. And considering that their customer base was primarily locals they really hurt themselves doing this. I will NEVER EVER go here again AND I will advise everyone (I get asked a lot about good spots to hit, and where to avoid) to stay away, and will explain that the owners are terrible and don't care about their staff. Wow, they really shot themselves in the foot. AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!! If you're in this area and are looking for a drink at a local place I will recommend going 1/2 a block away to Pete's. Do not spend your money here; they embody everything Ithaca isn't---selfish, unconcerned w the community and pretty much all around horrible business owners!!! If you want a local "hole in the wall" vibe I can recommend at least 3 other businesses that actually care about our community and their staff! I wish I could give zero stars!!!!!

    Uncle Joe's Grill & Sports Bar

    Uncle Joe's Grill & Sports Bar

    (49 reviews)

    $$

    After reading highly rated reviews on Yelp, I decided Uncle Joe's would be a great local spot for…read moredinner during our Friday night in Ithaca. Many restaurants in town had long waits, so I was pleasantly surprised when we were able to walk right in... until I realized the place was nearly empty. There were two men playing pool and a couple of people sitting at the bar, and everyone seemed surprised to see us walk through the door. Our server was friendly and told us to sit anywhere. When I asked why it was so quiet, she explained it was the slow season. We looked over the menus and tried ordering chips and guacamole--only to learn they were out of guacamole. Next, we tried mozzarella sticks--also unavailable. As we looked for a third option, my son asked if their chicken wings used a dry rub. The server said she'd check with the cook... and went over to ask one of the guys playing pool. She returned to tell us he was not only the cook but also "a very good pool player." We then noticed no one in the restaurant had food in front of them, the air had a dingy smell, and the whole atmosphere felt off. At that point, we decided not to stay. Back in the car, I checked Yelp again and realized most of the glowing reviews were from five years ago. This might have been a great spot in the past, but based on our experience, it seems it's no longer the vibrant local hangout it once was. Unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend it.

    Had every single football game on Sunday. Food was decent, greasy bartenders and service. Go Bills.read more

    Glenwood Pines - Side salad

    Glenwood Pines

    (194 reviews)

    $$

    Glenwood Pines jumped out at me given its great location on the west edge of Cayuga Lake just a few…read moreminutes from the heart of Ithaca. I figured it'd be a good, no frills lunch option with some distant lake views based on the pictures I'd seen online. There's no formal wait service as you have to order food/drinks at the bar, and also head back to the bar to pick up your food when it's ready. Food is served in clunky plastic take out containers. It was a slow wait as it took 20-25 minutes for them to prepare the food. While waiting, I had a chance to explore the interior of the place, and was quite impressed with their collection of bobbleheads on display. Some were of presidents, while many were of pop culture like superheroes/villains and animated television characters (I liked their line up of Simpsons bobbleheads)...definitely gave off some quirky dive bar vibes. We ordered a local beer, mozzarella sticks, a cheeseburger, and a chicken sandwich. The mozzarella sticks were the frozen food service kind without much of a taste, and served with bland marinara sauce. The cheeseburger was quite small and also lacked any seasoning/flavor. The side of onion rings were also underwhelming and not worth the cost. The chicken sandwich was probably the best of the items we ordered, but was mediocre otherwise. All in all, the food was average at best, with nothing being particularly memorable, so worthy of an overall 3/5 Yelp rating from me. While I wasn't expecting a gourmet meal, it seems many of the reviews you find online are inflated due to the views of Cayuga Lake off in the distance. While it's a really nice location, they could do better in terms of food quality, so I likely would not return, and recommend others to drive an additional 8-12 minutes into Ithaca for better quality food.

    Great place to watch sports. Excellent crab cakes and…read morejalapeño poppers. The deep fried mushrooms were just so-so. The happy IPA on tap was delicious. Order at the bar. Bus your own table. Enjoy the view of Cayuga Lake.

    D P Dough

    D P Dough

    (107 reviews)

    $

    I was really hungry and ate my DP dough before taking a picture. I'm sorry it's open late like…read morereally late comparatively to any other place in the area 4 AM you know service is going to self. Serve the guy on the counter and they have the kiosk it's very easy and a lot of people just order and pick up. It looks like a typical fast food, sporty place we got a chalkboard we could buy propane things and some offensive things which I just like to cross it out like if I see something really like offensive on the chalkboard I'm just gonna like make a face over it, but I got the Roni zoni. I don't know. It's the one with pepperoni. It was tasty. Got the marinara and the garlic sauce Yum Yum cheesy crispy delicious what's the complain about? I could see this is like great drunk food. I recommend it if you're drunk, especially. I thought, was not drunk.

    Genuinely can't remember if DP Dough was around when I was a student but I never had it if so. I…read morehave had calzones from other college locations but this would have been nearly a decade ago and I don't remember if I liked it or not. I got the bbq chicken zone for around $11. It was a decent size for the price and was fairly filling. It just tasted like it was cooked ages ago and reheated poorly (which is probably accurate realistically). It was definitely mostly bread (not fillings) and what was inside didn't seem high quality. It's a late night spot in a college town so I didn't expect much. And they are open until 4 which is pretty clutch. I'd probably rather grab something from 7-11 for cheaper though. Wouldn't return unless desperate.

    College Town Pizza - Interior

    College Town Pizza

    (46 reviews)

    $

    I am big fan of their burgers and gyros. I am actually surprised by how good their burgers are!…read moreThey don't have the nice 5 guys grill flavor, but they are beefy, salty and juicy. Juicier than 5 guys (if you can believe that). Yum! They also have the "Costco" style French fries that are very crispy on the outside. Overall, this place hits the spot.

    Today was a very surprising day regarding our CTP order. We've ordered from there 2 times before…read morevia Grub Hub once they popped up as serving our address. The first time they delivered normally, and the food was very good, the second time we ordered our order was canceled right away as there was no driver available. That's totally understandable no issue there. Then a few days ago we called and ordered an extra-large baked ziti pie to pick up on the way home and that was also excellent. This order however was one of the most bizarre experiences I've ever had in my life. About 90 minutes after our order was placed we received a call from CTP telling us that their delivery driver walked out once they saw the order was going to Brooktondale. And that they don't deliver to our area / have been having trouble with Grub Hub showing that they do. But they're going to have the owner or manager on duty deliver our food personally and not to worry because it has been under a heat lamp, so it'll still be hot. At this point I'm wondering why they didn't just cancel our order right off the bat, I mean if you don't want to deliver to where we are then don't do it. Take responsibility for your business and take care of the issue with Grub Hub while canceling orders out side of your delivery area. Without fail the food comes and the pizza is barely luke warm, basically cold and not very appealing. The sides we ordered however were fine, so we called Grub Hub hoping to either get our pizza replaced or get a refund so that we could order from somewhere else. The Grub Hub rep calls CTP and is told by a manager named John that they won't issue a refund for something they can't see but they offered to send out a driver with a new pizza and pick up the old one. I asked if there would be some kind of time estimate / guarantee that this wouldn't happen again since they don't deliver to our area but are now willing to re-deliver to our area??? The Grub Hub rep talked to John and came back with the following options that all required us to call CTP directly to set up a replacement. 1. Schedule a replacement / pickup delivery with no time guarantee because it's a busy Friday night. 2. Drive the pizza back to CTP ourselves and pick up a refund for the pizza and a new pizza. We decided to go with option two, so we got off the phone with Grub Hub and called CTP only to be told that John wasn't there and there's not going to be a manager available until Wednesday. When I asked if there was anyone else to talk to we were told no that we needed to call back on Wednesday. I asked how we were supposed to get our pie replaced and if I was supposed to keep it until Wednesday and I was put on hold and then hung up on. Not wanting to give up without checking on all options we called the number back that had called us earlier to tell us why our order was so late. Immediately I was met with someone yelling at me about how I was told to never call them again which isn't true. I then tried to ask about what I'm supposed to do with the pizza and the man yelled that "They know where we live" so I need to stop calling them back. When I said "What?" the man repeated himself that we need to stop calling because "They know where we live". At this point after clearly being threatened I got off the phone and called the Tompkins county Sherriff and described the situation. They dispatched a trooper to our house for my wife and I to give them a statement as I wanted to make sure this was documented in case this individual wound up doing something crazy. After the trooper left we then called Grub Hub back and due to the new circumstances, they refunded our pizza and the tip. It's important to note that I only wanted to be refunded for the pie and now tip because of the complete lack of service and being threatened. We still paid for the sides because we're not greedy or bad people just trying to get a free meal. If I could give this place negative stars I would, suffice to say we will never be going back to this place again and I will tell anyone that will listen about the terrible experience that we had tonight. If you value your family's safety I'd recommend not ordering from this establishment.

    Bar Argos - clarified lassi and queen bee

    Bar Argos

    (95 reviews)

    $$

    The atmosphere is cozy and has a homey vibe. The staff is always pleasant. Get classic drinks are…read moregreat. Not a huge fan of there signature drinks.

    I really enjoyed Bar Argos. My girlfriend and I wandered in right at 4 pm - opening time lol - and…read morewere immediately greeted by a woman who checked our IDs and handed us menus with quiet efficiency. The place was totally empty, which is to expected at that time. Bar Argos is definitely a vibe. Think: antique chic with a touch of eccentric elegance. Ornate chairs, old-school lamps, and fancy mismatched furniture are scattered throughout, making you feel like you've wandered into a vintage movie set where cocktails play a leading role. There are multiple rooms, including one with a long table and huge windows that let the light spill in dramatically. I was lowkey stunned by how pretty it all was. Girlfriend and I shared the Clarified Lassi ($13), which is under the "Delightfully Unusual" section of their cocktail spectrum - right in between "Colloquial" and "What?!" It was fruity, creamy, and weird in a cool, sophisticated way. My Hotelie friend later explained in the car (upon mention of the drink) that clarified cocktails use a process where milk is added to a mixed drink and then curdled on purpose. The curds trap impurities, and when you strain them out, you're left with a crystal-clear drink that still has the creamy mouthfeel. Definitely checks out with the Clarified Lassi that we drank... Overall, the experience felt like stepping into a fancy secret. 10/10 would come back, undoubtedly!!

    Pete's Cayuga Bar - divebars - Updated May 2026

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