Delivering Classic Comfort Food Ithaca Style | Restaurant Reviews

I was disappointed when Sushi O Saki permanently closed their doors in the winter of 2014. Despite its questionable yellow décor, it was my favorite Japanese restaurant. However, on May 4, 2014, my concerns were assuaged when red’s, as management refers to itself, opened in the same space featuring a wonderful affordable selection of creative soups, sandwiches, burgers, flatbreads, salads, sharable plates, and a “kid’s menu” for children eight and under. I used the word affordable because all nineteen sandwiches and burgers cost between $15.75 and $18.00. 

A note about the soups: I am not familiar with any other restaurant in this area offering better homemade soups. They change frequently and are $5 for a cup and $7 for a bowl. Recently I had the Creamy Brussels Sprouts with Bacon which was so hearty it could have been a meal in itself. There was so much bacon and Brussels sprouts, there was barely room for the liquid. Soup is included as one of their eight side dishes to accompany an entrée and I always choose it.  

The owner obviously wants dining to be an enjoyable experience and has named all of his offerings with, what I think of as “cutesy”, names, and water is served in Ball jars and replenished from glass milk bottles.  

I recently had “the funnier fun guy”. This is a basil balsamic, portobello mushroom cap which is marinated and grilled with mozzarella, garlic aioli, arugula, and pickled red onions.  It sounds like a vegetarian dish and it is.   

Another dish I really enjoyed is “at high bRISKet”. A large amount of brisket gets a dry rub and then is roasted and placed between two pieces of ciabatta*, which is grilled along with some smoked gouda, apple cider slaw, and some whole grain Dijon mustard. All of these items coming led to provide a crunchy, tasty, original sandwich. I would be happy ordering it every time I went to red’s if there weren’t so many other interesting and unique offerings.  

There are a half dozen “entrée size”salads ($15) including “please romaine calm” and“unbeleafable” and many truly vegetarian items. 

gramps slow roasted honey turkey is served open faced on a toasted sub roll. It features pieces of turkey breast, crisp bacon, fontina, a small bit of house made cranberry walnut compote, and some mild garlic aioli. The menu says arugula however I received a clump of watercress which I actually liked better.  If you like turkey sandwiches this one is interesting and flavorful.  

farm to ciabattais a vegetarian artisan sandwich with lots of ingredients including grilled zucchini, eggplant, red pepper, red onion, fennel, fontina, arugula and roasted tomato aioli on grilled ciabatta.  It’s a very pleasant sandwich however with all those ingredients, it’s difficult to pick out any particular flavor.  

There are a handful of desserts ($5-$7). I’ve tried the fruit cobbler with “rotating” fruits and have mixed feelings. Currently, the fruit is peaches which arrive in the restaurant frozen. The cobbler is assembled in the kitchen and then placed in a convection oven, the same one they use for bread, and delivered to our tables steaming hot…I had to wait, literally more than five minutes, until the steam abated and I could place the cobbler anywhere near my mouth as I watched the small scoop of vanilla ice cream melt in front of me.  

BEVERAGES: The beer menu is amazing.  There are ten draught selections ($7-$9) and I’ve never seen a menu with such lengthy descriptions of beers. For example, the description of Ithaca Beer’s Lakeside Lager runs more than three dozen words. There’s a marvelous collection of draught beers and it that wasn’t enough, there are thirty more in bottles!Another nice touch is they serve some of the beers in brewery glasses, for example Guiness comes in a glass marked Guinness and Allagash Brewing Co. made in Portland, Maine, comes in a brewery glass with an orange slice on the rim as it’s served in Maine. The dozen wines offer a perfectly adequate selection and there are eight original cocktails ($8&$9).  

red’s is as good as it gets if you’re looking for a light lunch or dinner in the greater Ithaca area. 

*Ciabatta is a rustic white bread created in Italy in 1982 to try to capture the popularity of the baguette in France at that time. Ciabatta in Italian means a flat, oval shape.  I prefer it to baguettes because they’re softer and easier to chew. 

The piped in music is kept to a low volume which is fortunate as the vocal groups that are featured can’t possibly be everyone’s taste.  

red’s was named, by the owner, out of respect, for his deceased grandfather.