Dad and I went here for dinner. What appeared to be the fanciest place in town certainly met our expectations. The ambience is pretty intimate with a nice clean white and blue look. The service was pretty good, the food fantastic, and the prices slightly outrageous for Ithaca, New York. I get that Ithaca is home to a private college and Ivy League university, but Simeon is getting away with charging Manhattan prices, with apparent success. We split a dozen oysters to start. They have quite a selection and they let you order individually, so we tried two of three different kinds. Delicious, but how can you screw up oysters? Dad had the cup of chowder and red curry mussels as his main. I tried both and could easily see why he was in love. The chowder was on point and the mussels had a nice kick. I went with the seabass topped with artichoke over mashed potato and broccoli. The sea bass was cooked perfectly, but I wasn't blown away by the creativity or flavor profile for $42. Overall, the food was very good and the service was more friendly that attentive, but my biggest gripe is the acoustics in the main dining room a half-level up to the right of the entrance. It gets so loud to the point where you can't even hear. Kind of a shame that in a nice place like this it's hard to enjoy a conversation. read more

Simeon's. From 1981-1985, this was my place. I went to Ithaca College and come Friday afternoon, I'd be downtown visiting my favorite places. I spent a lot of time in Simeon's. The place wasn't a restaurant in my day but it is now. This past summer, my son and I did a road trip to the area so I could show him where I went to school. First night in town, we made our way to this old familiar place. The beers were great and the both of us had ribeye steaks and fries which were prepared to our liking and extremely tasty. The both of us were very pleased. The service was excellent and we were checked on frequently. So, even though there have been some changes here, it was wonderful to be in my favorite bar once again. Not sure when I will be back in this neck of the woods but I'll be sure to pay a visit when I return. read more

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Food is standard American and usually pretty good. My go to place for oysters. Drinks are pretty good too. Service is sometimes hit or miss. Seating area is quite nice and if you want a bit of privacy, you can go upstairs and sit in booths or even in an armchair off to the side, with a nice look over a balcony. read more

Partner and I stopped here for lunch in time to get shelter from a storm and lucked out incredibly! Ordered one of their sandwich specials, gf had salad, and we shared a shellfish plateau. Everything was delicious! Service was excellent! read more

Simeon's On The Commons - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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Dog friendly alert. While on a road trip we stopped here for lunch. I noticed they had patio seating and approached the hostess. She looked at Truman and said "Table for two?" It was such a great way to greet guests with dogs. We were promptly seated and our waitress arrived with water. She noticed Truman's travel bowl and offered to take it and fill it. Truman was thrilled for some nice cold water on such a warm day. I ordered a wedge salad, the cheese and meat plate, a root beer, and for dessert the berry crumble. I loved the cheese and meat plate (and so did Truman). My wedge salad was perfectly crisp. The berry crumble was to die for- seriously- I could have eaten 5 more. My waitress was so great and so was the rest of the staff. Whenever a staff member walked by they greeted Truman and told him he was very cute. Such a great experience. I look forward to going again in the future. read more

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Food price / quality (value) rating 8.5. The atmosphere is contemporary chic, very well designed and decorated. The dining areas have plenty of windows giving nice views of the street scene outside .I had a special, Seafood fra diavolo (shrimp, lobster, scallops over a house made linguine) with plenty of sauce. Excellent, and the presentation was beautiful. The wife had a small house salad and stated that the cherry tomatoes were excellent, as was the house made dressing. Service was excellent, as was the food. Everything is served a la carte, and the prices are pretty steep, but you have to expect to pay for quality. read more

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Overall food and atmosphere was good. My table had ordered 4 of the NY strips medium rare and all came out closer to medium well or well (and these were THICK cuts). The service wasn't bad but agree with other reviews that there is something slightly off with them. read more

I went to Simeon's for brunch with my friends. There was six of us and the total without tax was below $100, which was quite reasonable given we each ordered an entree and the portions of each. Everything looked and tasted delicious, and the menu had a wide variety of options. Service was great and the staff were all super friendly and accommodating. I will say, if you want to dine in, make a reservation, especially for weekend brunch as that is a popular time and the space isn't super big. read more

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Everything was wonderful, food is top drawer, staff helpful and professional and it was a hop, skip and a jump from my hotel!

Great service sitting at the bar. We loved the bartender who wasn't messing. And the food was excellent. Clean and very pretty restaurant.

Amazing food, service, and ambiance! Have been here many times and will be back, I have no doubt :) In particular the cocktails are amazing and I also really enjoy the lobster mac and cheese! read more

Great food and service Casual atmosphere but primo food! Awesome cocktails Make a reservation!!! read more

Great spot in Ithaca for dates and celebrations. The place is really well invested. We started with the pear vanilla martini which was not too strong so that's great! We got the Arancini and there are 5 to a servicing. Arancini was the best thing I ate. The marinara was so good! We got the chicken Parmesan which had the same marinara so it was amazing. The lobster Mac and cheese was ok. I wish the lobster was cut smaller and there wasn't a lot of the dried tomatoes in it. Regular Mac and cheese would've been a better move. The desserts were soooo good! Cute perfect portions. Pineapple upside down cake was a little dry. Cannoli one was perfect read more

Simeon's On The Commons - Pineapple upside down dessert and cannoli dessert - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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This place is so beautiful, but what are the servers wearing? They look like they are working at the little house on the prairie! Poor girls. read more

Top notch experience! So the minute you step foot you enter classic elegance. The restaurant is tastefully decorated and just feels like you stepped into the past, yet with a modern flair. Our Server was out of this world. I wish I kept the receipt to have his name , but he was a younger guy with a ponytail and facial hair. Absolute professional, courteous, pleasant and great at his job. The food was absolutely outstanding. We were a party of 3 and we all had a great meal. We started with the clam chowder, which was by far one of the best I've ever had. Then we had a meat and cheese plater which was great. For the main course, my daughter had a New York Strip, well seasoned and cooked to perfection, my wife had the lobster, which was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed the Miso Glazed Salmon. Every meal was just amazing. Then when we thought we were done and ready to wrap it up, our server offered us the dessert option. He brought out the dessert display which were prepared in glasses. We all decided to indulge with those as well as cappuccinos. This is a must try if you are in the area! read more

My beautiful daughter and I stopped in on a Friday night. No tables available, but they happily let us order dinner at the bar. We started with Oysters, how can you ever go wrong? I then had the ribeye, and my daughter had a Chilean Seabass, both were specials. Delicious. Highly recommended. We will be back! read more

Simeon's On The Commons - Eating at the bar - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Lovely environment and service with fresh food! Love oysters!!! Next time for beef :) read more

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I did not expect that the best meal of my recent trip to the east coast would be in Ithaca -- but it was! When we checked into our hotel the clerk informed us that there are lots of options for dinner around the Ithaca Commons. After a quick search on Yelp and reviewing the menu on Simeon's On The Commons website we decided it was the place for us. When we walked in the door I was immediately struck by the attractive, upscale yet casual ambience and decor. We were seated right away at a high table in the bar area with a nice street view on one side and an unobstructed view of the impressive two story high, mirrored back bar on the other. Within a minute a runner brought us a bottle of chilled water. A moment later our server was there to tell us about the menu and take our drink order. It was oyster night at Simeon's (and they looked pretty darn good) but having just visited Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Maine and eating fresh seafood every day (including oysters) we decided to go with the Beef Tartare. The prime beef was fresh and nicely seasoned and garnished with pickled scapes, cornichons, mustard, celery root and horseradish. I was not fond of the accompanying potato chips. They were a bit too salty and not substantial enough to support a dip of tartare. A simple crostini would have been better. I selected the daily special for my entree -- braised beef short ribs served on a bed of cauliflower purée, roasted asparagus & broccolini. The plate was beautiful and the combination of veggies nicely complemented the tender, flavorful, boneless short ribs. My friend ordered Seared Scallops with grilled broccolini, pomme purée, shaved fennel and pickled radish. He tells me that everything was well prepared and tasty. After the dinner plates were cleared our server asked if we would like to see the desserts of the day. I'm not sure I wanted anything for dessert but I figured it doesn't cost anything to look so I said, "Sure, let's see them." A minute or two later our server returned with a platter of six or seven offerings, each one in a small (4-6oz.) dish, all for the same price ($3.95). How could anyone say, "No!" I took the Pot-de-Crème. What a smart way to sell desserts! I've never encountered this method before. I hope it becomes a trend. I know I'll order more desserts if it does! I've been presented with a dessert menu thousands of times -- but you never know just how the dish will be prepared and presented. I've seen dessert carts hundreds of times -- but more often than not the portions are larger than I have room for (or not very attractive). And I've split deserts with my wife (or others) -- but it often feels like one of us compromised and ended up with their second choice. So, "Bravo!" to Simeon's. And BTW -- the dessert was really good! Rich and chocolatey! I actually thought about asking for another!! read more

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Stopped for lunch on. Weekend trip to Finger Lakes. Wife ordered the salmon omelette special and I ordered half dozen black points and the lettuce wraps. Everything was amazing, my wife polished off the omelette and the black points were super tasty. Prices were great, make sure you make a reservation if you can! read more

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They didn't have a kids menu, but were able to make just pasta with "chicken tenders". Although we ordered penne and linguine, everyone got cellentani. The chicken seemed like a deep fried chicken breast with very little flavor. The server was wearing a mask and it was hard to understand her. Plus, she kept forgetting stuff we would ask her. I got a spicy seafood pasta which was really good. The mussels were also good. When we asked for a dessert menu, they brought out a tray of several different dessert cups, and we decided to pass. I used to think it's a 5 stars place from eating here 2 years ago, but I have to lower the rating to 3 due to poor service and high price. read more

Simeon's On The Commons - Seafood pasta special - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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Today was our 20th wedding anniversary and we wanted to combine a scenic drive with a nice lunch at a new-to-us location. We parked near Restaurant Row/Ithaca Commons and walked around trying to decide which of the lovely restaurants to choose. We were delighted with our experience at Simeon's. While waiting for our table, we sat at the bar and had delicious beverages - Chardonnay for my husband and a Margarita for me. Once seated, we were promptly greeted by Alex, our very kind and attentive server. We both ordered the Penne & Artichoke dish, which was delicious. To our surprise, Alex treated us to our choice of dessert "on the house" in honor of our anniversary. All in all, a lovely way to celebrate our special day. read more

Simeon's On The Commons - Penne & Artichoke Sauce - penne, lemon basil artichoke sauce, roasted squash, tomatoes, spinach, pecorino-romano ... YUM! - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

We ate here twice while visiting the area--one for lunch and another day for dinner. While the service was better at lunch than at dinner, I can understand since this place was very busy even late at dinnertime! There is plenty of outdoor seating here, adjacent to other neighborhood restaurants in the Commons area. Currently, the city of Ithaca has closed off part of the street along the side of Simeon's to make it safe and more spacious to eat outside. We enjoyed our food both times! The lobster mac and cheese at lunch was very good, and they were also accommodating to making a change on the menu for my husband's order. When we returned for dinner a couple of days later, both of our meals were excellent. This place is not overly fancy, but the food is good. Definitely worth a try! read more

I've never been really tempted to try this place when visiting Ithaca since the menu never looked super interesting to me, but we opted to give it a try for lunch recently since their outdoor seating setup looked nice, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. Our waitress was very friendly and struck the right balance between being attentive and giving us space to eat. The food also came out super fast - I didn't get an appetizer, but my dad who I was eating with did, and it came out just a few minutes after we placed the order, and the rest of the food was out as soon as he finished. I had the Ahi Tuna Burger and quite enjoyed it. It was cooked perfectly, the chili sauce was a perfect balance of sweet and slightly spicy, and the slaw added a nice tang and crunch to round it off. It wasn't anything super complex or exciting, but I liked the simplicity and good food doesn't need to be complicated. I also tried the Thai Corn Chowder that my dad ordered and it was delicious as well. The prices are quite high, so I wouldn't come here regularly as there's plenty of great food in Ithaca for cheaper, but it was nice to give it a try. I also think they could stand to expand the menu just a bit. I think under the main entree section of the menu there's a decent selection, but I would have liked to see more choices for sandwiches and lighter meals, especially more vegetarian options. read more

Simeon's On The Commons - Ahi Tuna Burger - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Thursday afternoon, back to school week for Cornell and Ithaca College but seated right away at 1:30pm. Her broiled half lobster was rubbery & dry. The mashed potatoes were ok and green beans were perfect. My "hand cut" penne was like gnocchi-but thick, pasty gnocchi-with a sauce with a name but the taste was of flour. Server was obviously inexperienced but very friendly. read more

This place is really hard to rate. Food was good, and bartenders excellent. However the owner Dean Zervos congregated with a loud group around the bar (where I was) -- speaking aloud, without masks all around me. Moved from the bar. Employees said that they "completely understand, it happens all the time"...left tip for bartender only, the problem is that this "owner Zervos" was everywhere controlling the process. Dean's response to my complaint about the situation? "Don't go to bars" he said...think about that, how illogical an answer for the pandemic era. read more

Usually here for dinner with my husband but also pop in for brunch with my girls on the weekend. Higher end-ish feeling, great location and overall a lovely place to sit indoors or out, people watch a bit and enjoy a meal. Service has always been unremarkably consistent and we have never had trouble with reservations (we made them for brunch) or dinner seating (we eat at the bar) Price wise you're paying not only for the food, but for the location and the ambiance. Potato chips with cheese on them are $9, it only goes up from there- Their menus are relatively static with one or two specials rotating in and out. I'd love to see a small seasonal menu or updates to the wine list, something to shake it up- just a suggestion. read more

Mediocre at best. All the dishes for a part of four were really underwhelming. The dishes were bland, the proteins weren't cooked right. The pastas were clumpy. read more

Great drink selection, Good service and amazing food! I got the short rib for the 3rd time. Best I've ever had! read more

Simeon's On The Commons - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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We have tried twice to eat at this restaurant, first time we asked the hostess when was the best time to get a seat, she suggested after 8, since 7:30 was the rush, we show up at 8:15, "we can't seat anyone else", So we try again the next night, Sunday, 7:00 pm. Same thing. Obviously they don't need the business or we are not the clientele they are looking for. Would not recommend this restaurant to ANYONE! read more

Delicious mussels and burgers. Quick service and good price. Nice view of commons. Parking a block away in garage.

Back and better than ever. Steak while we people watched. Daughter had the lobster Mac. Awesome. Wife had bass. Awesome. Loved every second! read more

My friend and I went to Simeon's on our last night in Ithaca for a nice dinner and we had a great experience. We had a reservation for 7pm on a Saturday and I would definitely recommend that - it was very busy. We were quickly seated in the oyster room and greeted by a very friendly server. I ordered the ginger pear martini and it was one of the best martinis I've ever had. We started with half a dozen black point oysters that were fresh and salty just how we like them, as well as the meat & cheese board that came with a cheddar, bleu cheese, pickles, honey, and jam. When there's only two cheeses, I don't love when one of them is bleu, but it was still delicious. We finished with the vino blanc mussels and the kettle chip cheese dip. The mussels were excellent and I loved the sauce. The kettle chips were lackluster and were drizzled with cheese, meaning most of them were just dry. We finished the night with a pistachio cannoli and a peach cobbler, both of which were excellent. Overall, a wonderful experience and I would love to go back and try more things! read more

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I was a little disappointed with Simeons. On the plus side, they have an excellent selection of bourbons. The Caesar was really good, and my companions really enjoyed their selection of oysters on the half-shell (take note - the oysters are served, among other condiments, with a horseradish that is as mind-blowingly powerful as any I've tasted. It was like wasabi on steroids). And they were very nice about serving a birthday cake we brought for one of our party. However... For a restaurant that implies it specializes in seafood, the cider-glazed salmon was a disappointment. I like the crispness of the exterior, but it was overdone - that's not good for a modestly sized piece of salmon that costs $30 or so. A cod special was a bit better. The restaurant includes sides (not every place does anymore), but that didn't save the experience. And the place was loud - quite a din. More of a 3.5-star than a 3-star; nevertheless, I don't see us eating there again. read more

They were booked up but still found us a table when calling just a few days before a busy parent's weekend for a reservation. The food was awesome. The service on point. Fun time. Would definitely go back. read more

Great place. The whiskey list was fantastic. Had a 12 year old Pappy Van Winkle. The homemade chips are a must. Service was great and Allen was hustling with many tables but never seamed to forget us. Great ambiance. Cool individual deserts. read more

I actually really enjoyed my dinner at Simeon's. It was a bit slow on a summer weeknight. Menu here was mildly interesting, but you can still find some comfort staples. Specials sounded good, maybe I'll have it next time if I'm in Ithaca again. I believe I had the chicken parm and it didn't disappoint. Service was fantastic, a lot better than some places that charge three times as much in big cities. read more

Simeon's On The Commons - Chicken parmesan $21 - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

The service was very good and the food was excellent. Our chicken Parmesan was not over cooked and the rigatoni and sausage was wonderful. Our server was attentive and pleasant. read more

Delicious food with great atmosphere! Tough to get through phone line to make reservations. We walked in on a Saturday night and we were lucky to grab a table. Shrimp and lobster cocktails a must. read more

Simeon's is a very good restaurant in Ithaca (which is also full of other really good restaurants). I really like their food here, the menu is classic and approachable. They also have a very good brunch. It is one of the more "upscale" restaurants in the area but it still isn't terribly expensive or stuffy, which I really like. Will be back here on my next visit I hope! read more

Simeon's On The Commons - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Simeon's is the crown jewel of the Ithaca Commons. It has long been my favorite spot to suggest to family when they decided to make the trek over to Ithaca to visit during my school years. The ambiance is just superb, with a dining area bathed in sunlight and simple decor that yields a beautifully simple, classic feel. The service has been just marvelous upon each visit, with impressively friendly and knowledgeable staff making each experience unique. Simeon's is home to one of my favorite meals of all time, and after tasting it for the first time I have never strayed from its perfection while perusing the menu. The Brioche French Toast is just pure magic, served with a topping of seasonal fruit alongside luscious vanilla whipped cream and Pennsylvania maple syrup. I'd suggest making a reservation, especially if you're aiming to dine during the popular weekend brunch slots. Be sure to stop at Simeon's during your next Ithaca adventure for a meal you and your dining companions will be eager to repeat! read more

Simeon's On The Commons - Brioche French Toast @ Simeon's on the Commons - New American Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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