Bandwagon Brew Pub

Asked the bartender for a drink and he said that he’s got it. He walks over to someone he must know (a customer) and stands with him, making him a couple drinks. 20 minutes pass and I still don’t have my drink. I ask again for the drink, he continues to talk to his friend. I ask what I assume to the owner for the check and he asked how it went. I told him I asked that bartender twice for the same drink. He had a talk with the bartender and he offers to make up for the never served drink with a couple free shots. I say yes. He walks away and never returns with said drink…
Unless you don’t want to be served alcohol at a bar after asking many times, avoid this place.

I am not a big review writer but this place called for it. Me boyfriend and I were in Ithaca for the night and Bandwagon looked like a cool basement kind of bar. Not so much. 1) The décor of the place was pretty bad, not sure what they were going for, but whatever! Me and the owner don’t have the same aesthetic taste, no big deal, just a little off putting. 2) For a place with a hop as their logo, I was thinking cool extensive beer menu. Not really. 3) I think the beer that I chose was about to be kicked so the bartender did this weird shuffling of drinks and poured the beer into different glasses then combined it into one pint. Never seen than done before but I’m no bartender, so who am I to really say. 4) This was the absolute ICING ON THE CAKE, which made me think I was never going back again. I was a young crowd working there, which is great! Although, its not great when, in the half hour/​hour that it took me to finish my beer, I witnessed a server behind the bar making herself a mixed drink, then followed later by a shot with her friends, calling them back into the kitchen, going back behind the bard and topping her drink off again. I get that servers get a shift drink, but this seemed excessive to me and totally unprofessional.

We have been here a few times but not recently. Had dinner here the other night. Nice cozy place underground. They have expanded since we were last here. Now there is a lounge area. Brew their own beer as well as have a nice selection of other local brews and ciders. Good quality bar selections.
For food, I had the Big Kahuna Burger. Burger with local ham and a slice of pineapple. It was quite tasty. May have been better if I knife and forked it as the sandwich failed to maintain its structural integrity about halfway through between pineapple juice, mustard, and beef juices. This did not diminish the taste though.
My wife had fish and chips. There were enough fries for both of us and my wife said both were quite good.
The best thing we had though was a brussel sprout appetizer/​family style side. This was amazing. I could have just eaten this and big perfectly content.

We had dinner here on november 10^th. I chose them because they take reservations and we were on our way to a show at the state theater and didnt want to be late. My husband had a few beers, which he liked very much and we each ordered the burger. The burgers were really good and i think everything is house made. The ketchup was GREAT! The burger seemed to us to have a little bit too much bun. All in all, it was a great experience and we will be happy to go back. We tend to avoid the commons area because parking is a nightmare, but we had no trouble parking a block away.

Update– November 2015. Changed from 5 to 4 stars. Brought out of town friends. Everyone ordered a burger but me and everyone agreed: «Meh” — nothing special about the burgers. I got the Vegan Coconut curry (the only dairy-​free option on the menu) and the spice totally over powered the other flavors. It was not labeled as «hot» or «spicy» but the dish was very unbalanced. I couldn’t taste the sweetness of the coconut after the first bite, and every bite tasted the same. I got the fried chicken on top, and it was very mediocre and overcooked. Still a fine restaurant with good service and nice ambiance, but there was nothing special about the food on this visit.

This was a nice little gem we came across while spending the night in Ithaca. Just follow the stairs down and you’ll enter a little space with some big food and brew.
The food here is extremely fresh! They use local farms for their meat an veggies! The French fries are made from potatoes in Interlaken, NY and ohhhhhh my gosh — SO good!
I had the Chipotle Chicken sandwich which was delicious. the chicken was juicy, tender, and blackened, cheddar cheese, chipotle aioli and some free lettuce, tomato, and onion. It was very flavorful. I chose Mac Salad for my side and it was different because it didn’t just taste like it was mixed with mayo — very herby and light which was awesome!
Get their Bandwagon Flight — lots of variety on the taste of the beers. It’s $ 12 and you’ll be feeling nice after you finish!
Service was fast and friendly — can’t go wrong!

Service was great, very friendly and quick. Nice atmosphere. Drinks are good (not watered down or filled with ice) and not overpriced. The burger I ordered was literally one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Has that nice charcoal fresh & smokey taste. They also don’t skimp you out on the fries! Definitely worth trying.

Horrible service, wait staff was obviously not trained. Food was okay, not worth the wait. Go for the beer & fries basically. Probably won’t be going back.

Mediocre service obviously untrained and uncaring. Food was ok, chicken strips overcooked, blue cheese funky flavor, burger undercooked, menu inaccurate. Beer was great. Stick with Beer skip the food.

Stopped in for a beer and had fried cucumbers, too. Typical college bar, but the craft beer — Slime — was excellent! Fried cucumbers were also very tasty.

Stopped in here for a drink and some grub before going to the commons. The food was great. We shared potato cheddar wontons and grilled zucchini and squash. The potato cheddar wontons were delicious. Perfect crunch and flavors. They weren’t overly filling either. The grilled zucchini and summer squash were grilled perfectly and topped with cheese and balsamic drizzle which was absolutely amazing. The rest of the menu looked fabulous as well and I will definitely be back to review more items. Friendly service.

Loud, slow service and menu was likely created by drunk 21 year old frat boys. How many bottles of Frank’s Red Hot perished in making the sauce for the «Waffle»? Furthermore, how creative is the mixture of Frank’s with sour cream?
I wouldn’t recommend this joint to a stranger let alone a friend.

This was our first– but not last– visit to Bandwagon. We were looking for great food and a relaxed atmosphere with really REALLY good beers and we hit the nail on the head.
The wait staff really knows their beers, and don’t be afraid to ask them for advice. My husband, not really a beer drinker, started with the only hard cider on the menu. My boss ordered a classic flight, and we all were able to sample other tastes. By the second round, my non-​beer-​drinking husband had found one to try, and by the third round he was buying a growler to take home. wow!
I won’t recommend a specific beer because if you’re a beer drinker you’ll know what you’re looking for.
When you’re enjoying beer like that, good food is important. Great food is even better, and we picked perfectly.
I wanted us to try a plate of Ithaca’s Best Fries (how can you not, with a name like that??) so I ordered the «And Zack». They seriously taste like Buffalo wings. I ate most of that plate, sorry guys! I highly recommend it, and one plate is enough for three people to share if you’re also ordering dinner.
My husband and I both had the waffles– shrimp and andouille sausage atop the most amazing cornmeal waffles and a spicy red pepper and chili sauce. I’m pretty sure we were having a competition to see who would finish first, only we both were a little sad when it was gone.
Our partner-​in-​beer had the shrimp and grits, and it was pretty incredible. The grits were really more of a polenta, and this dish does include jalapeños, so be armed with a cold one.
Great staff– great food– incredible beer!

At first I seen the sign out front but wondered where’s the bar?! Well look down the steps and you’ll find it in the cellar.
I liked the art work on the walls as well as the adjacent lounge bandwagon has. This is beyond a doubt a laid back place to order a drink or brew and just kick back and relax. The beer selection is good here and I did try the udder milk stout which was creamy with a touch of cocoa tastes as milk stouts should be.
We did order some loaded fries and they do claim there the best in town and they where crispy and fantastic, I did enjoy those! I also heard the burgers here are fantastic and the next time I’m definitely going to have to try one of these out for sure as well as trying a selected flight of brews!

Great beers, good food, good service. The beer is well priced. Plates first struck me as just slightly pricy but the portions are large. There is a wonderful vein of southern comfort food running through a lot of the menu. Particularly enjoyed the spicy chicken tenders, theirs is a rare recipe this far north in the U.S.
One thing on my wish list would be a larger bar, it had 5 – 6 seats. I could see wanting to come here just to try beers as opposed to a sit-​down dinner, but it’s not really set up for that despite the brewery + pub namesake.

PROS: $ 3 fries on Wednesday nights? Amazing! They come with a curry dipping sauce, a dill dipping sauce, and regular ketchup.
A year ago, I tried the beet salad — again, AMAZING, and huge portions.
Beer aficionados have assured me that this is the place to get some craft brews.
A lot of their menu items can be made vegan.
CONS: Their chipotle chicken sandwich — very dry and lackluster. Friends have also complained about dry veggie burgers more recently.
Their vegan curry wasn’t great.

Visiting the University we were recommended by students to eat here late on a Sat night.
Good hamburgers, good beer, good atmosphere, kind of help yourself place – they will bring the food out to you after you order and pay. It’s downtown where all the stores and shops and bars are.
It’s not a cheap place to dine – beer and burger will run you approx. 15 a head, but I think most people will be satisfied with the quality.

Gotta say after last years chilifest I did not ever want to come here as this was the worst chili of the day for me, but I am glad I stopped in!
This little hole in the floor pub is amazing. Walked in, got seated immediately and ordered drinks. I got the ginger soda which was amazing. They brew it in house and it tastes better than any ginger ale I’ve ever had. The ginger flavor is that of real ginger and it’s not overpowering and the sweetness level of this is spot on! Definitely can’t wait to come back and try this again!
Anyways one of the specials was house made poutene with curds, house made beef gravy and their fries.
This poutene was off the hook. The beef gravy was flavorful, the fries salty, crunchy and we had a large portion and the curds were great, just wished there had been more.
We followed this up with their burger.
The burger here has pretty much become my favorite in Ithaca but it had one caveat.
So it seems that many restaurants love to use Ithaca Bakery for all their bread needs because Ithaca bakery. Just because we have this place doesn’t mean it’s the best and doesn’t mean you should use it. Personally I think their bread is overrated and honestly people, come on, make your own rolls in house because you certainly can do better.
That’s the caveat here. The roll. It was dry, flavorless and just unappealing which upsets me because the beef patty here win’s me over. The beef here is not just flavorful it’s FLAVORFUL! You can tell they not only season the burger before hand, but also when it’s hit the grill. The patty is a great size and it was cooked perfectly to my liking. This beef patty I could’ve just taken it off the darn roll and eaten it alone! The lettuce, tomato and onion were definitely fresh and there was a great amount of them too which I loved. Everything about this burger was amazing if it just had a different roll!
I know I keep harping on this but if you get down here and try this burger I know you’ll say the same thing.
The bacon, cheddar and dressing on the sandwich were amazing too! I had a thick piece of bacon on this thing and it was awesome. I definitely tasted this as part of the burger. The cheese was great too, a nice thick cheese that didn’t overpower but added it’s flavor into the mix and the dressing was great. The Tarragon Russian dressing was great! Perfect lather for this burger!
The reason this place get’s knocked a star isn’t actually because of the roll (yes surprising I know) it’s because of the price.
The plate of poutene cost us $ 9…NINE DOLLARS!
Granted I knew this when I ordered it but had there had been more cheese curds I probably wouldn’t have complained. For fries, gravy and curds the size of what they gave us, it was a $ 6-​$ 7 dish, not $ 9.
The Burgers were $ 14. Now I understand you use fresh local meat and I understand this is not a chain and things are pricey but seriously? $ 14? Stop using Ithaca bakery, make your own rolls, and drop the darn price to $ 11-​$ 12. Ithaca Bakery is overpriced anyways.
Now okay your thinking «you’re complaining about 1 – 2 dollars on both items» but seriously that add’s up! For two guys that would’ve made our $ 40 dinner, $ 34. $ 34 is reasonable for two apps and two burgers but $ 40 makes me question whether or not I’m going to return.
I understand this review is long but it’s only because I want to love this place so much and I hope they read this and take what I’ve said into thought maybe.
I’ll definitely come back as it was still a great experience but I’ll choose the ale house over this for my go to burger place even though they make a killer patty here.

Love this place. When I was in college, Bandwagon was me and my friends’ favorite bar in town.
We always liked Bandwagon because it had a kind of low lit, basement feel that made the place homey and warm, a place where you could kind of just chill with friends. However, because of the bar’s layout and size, it was also a great place to party a little bit! There’s lounge chairs, little nooks in the wall, traditional dining tables, etc. I’ve had mixed experiences with their beers, but the staff is alway super friendly, and they don’t have a credit card minimum! Also, their fries are legendary in Ithaca.
It’s always a good time for me at Bandwagon.

We picked this spot to celebrate a birthday.
We started with a beer flight and a 14 year aged scotch. They have lots of interesting craft brews. Good times.
Reached out to the server to ask about our appetizer. He assured us it should be coming out shortly and ran to the kitchen. He walked out holding our entrees instead. «The kitchen lost the ticket.» he claimed. This is usually code for «I forgot to put in your order.»
The curry was a boring, bland mush. Colorless and lacking flavor. The presentation was decent but there was almost no flavor. I wouldn’t order it again.
The waffles entrée is the standout dish here. It’s a cornmeal waffle cooked crispy to hold up to the amazing sauce. Shrimp, andouille sausage, spinach, onions and tomatoes in a red pepper-​chili cream sauce. The flavors popped and the presentation was excellent. A real winner.
The steak course was a ribeye with combination butter, garlic mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. The mashed was boring but the steak had flavor.
To finish our meal we ordered the apple & pear crisp on the recommendation of the server. The fruit tasted fresh and wasn’t overcooked as is common. The taste of cinnamon really came through but wasn’t overpowering. Light and tasty. A nice end to the meal.