Bandwagon Brew Pub

Bandwagon Brew Pub

Restaurant Info:
114 N. Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY 14850
607- 319-0699

Siddharth heard about this restaurant down near the Commons through the actual restaurant's food blog, where the chefs design interesting 8 oz. burgers decorated with any ingredients on hand to challenge their friend to eat under 7 minutes. So far, according to the blog, the challenger has yet to come across a burger that he couldn't finish. The restaurant is also known for brewing their own beer in addition to serving many other American beers.

I made reservations on a Friday night for 7:30pm. One thing nice about this is you can make reservations in advance via email or call for same day reservations. There are several restaurants in Ithaca that do not take reservations and at most, you can call ahead. That can be quite annoying especially when you have already called ahead but there are still 10 parties ahead of you on a weekend and you're starving. We mistakenly arrived at Bandwagon Brew 15 minutes late and our table was given away. The host was deeply apologetic but we knew it was our fault. He suggested we wait in the lounge and have a drink at one of the two bars. We asked if we could sit and eat at the bar instead of waiting for another table and he said that was fine too.

We started with our meal by sharing an appetizer of breaded and fried pepper jack cheese with spicy marinara sauce. This is a twist from your typical mozzarella sticks, but better. Mozzarella doesn't have that much flavor in general and the taste is mostly dependent on the breading. But the pepper jack cheese is a better cheese to hold in breading plus it has its own flavor. 







For drinks, we decided to try one of BWB beers called Strawberry Cream Ale and also my favorite, Abita Purple Haze. Since I'm not expert in beers, I'll let Siddharth comment on them. They restaurant also served flights of beers which were pretty popular that night.

BWB offers customers several beer flights as well.

When it was time to order our entrees, Siddharth was torn between 2 dishes, the shrimp, andouille, spinach,  and cherry tomatoes in red pepper-chili sauce over cornmeal waffles or the roasted duck with orange-ginger-parsley sauce over mashed sweet potatoes with steamed broccoli. After careful consideration, he chose the shrimp and andouille.

I chose the local maple-horseradish pork chops with BWB's own bbq sauce, mashed sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Here is a full review:



TASTE

Siddharth:
9/10

This was honestly one of the best meals I've had in an Ithaca Restaurant in a while. To me, Ithaca is filled with restaurants that advertise based on their use of local and organic ingredients but end up creating dishes lacking in flavor. I often find that contemporary American cuisine like the offerings at Bandwagon don't have enough salt or seasoning. Bandwagon surprised me and delivered a really flavor packed meal. Fried pepper jack was as good as it sounds, and the spicy marinara it was in was filled with fresh herbs and aromatics (not bland like many Italian restaurants in this area). My dish was excellent - it was innovative and packed with flavor. The red pepper sauce was creamy and had a nice spicy finish to go with the clear infusion of garlic. The cherry tomatoes in the dish was extraordinarily fresh, juicy and sweet. The shrimp were perfectly cooked (I'm pretty used to shrimp being overcooked at restaurants, but this was not the case at Bandwagon), and the Andouille was a great touch with its smoky flavor (I could taste the smoked paprika in it very clearly). The corn waffles actually held up to the sauce well while providing a nice substrate to absorb the rep pepper flavors. I had a few bites of Tricia's pork, and while the BBQ sauce was predictably good, it's worth noting that the chops were cooked perfectly, and the chef managed to avoid making the meat tough.

The strawberry cream ale was tasty - it was clear and crisp and fairly light for an ale. It was not very sweet like many fruit beers, with just a subtle note of the berry taste. I enjoyed it, but for those who prefer a more full-bodied beer, the acidity of this brew may be a bit much.

Tricia:
8.5/10

The fried pepper jack cheese was a great start. I typically don't like pepper jack cheese by itself but the bread crumb breading that they utilize was very flaky and crunchy while the cheese was soft but not runny. The marinara sauce wasn't spicy like it was described on the menu, but added some sweetness to the cheese. 

The pork chops were even better. There were 2 large chops on a plate of sweet mashed potatoes. I'm glad there were only 3 pieces of broccoli because the pork chops were huge and filling. The pork chops were nicely grilled (I wish you could see the grill marks!), leaving the pork nice and tender and juicy. The BWB bbq sauce wasn't as unique as I expected since it was suppose to be a horseradish bbq sauce. Unfortunately, I didn't taste any horseradish, just a simple bbq sauce that you would find in a bottle and the amount that they put on top of the pork chops overshadowed the actual meat. Had it not been the sauce, BWB would have a higher score in taste for sure. The sweet potatoes were also tied in well with the sweet pork chops, cutting the overpowering bbq sauce in half.
 
MENU

Siddharth:
8/10

The menu was very diverse and managed to present really original and novel options. It's not the largest menu you'll ever see, but at each step of ordering, I was conflicted about what to pick. It's also not a tiny menu like some of the vogue restaurants where there's only 3 choices. It was a great balance of selection and well-thought out complexity for each dish. The one thing I would have liked to have seen is more options for sides. Most of the meat plates came with broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes, and with the sophistication demonstrated in the preparation of the meat, I think that the chef is capable of more creative sides. That being said, the broccoli and sweet potatoes were great!

The choice of beers on tap rivals any of the dedicated bars in town, so no complaints there.

Tricia:
9/10

The menu offers several local meats and vegetarian dishes with Asian and Indian influences. To our dismay, after reading their burger blog, we were hoping there would be some interesting burgers on the menu, but I guess they reserve those burgers for the challenger to eat. Either way, everything sounded tasty. Both Siddharth and I had a hard time choosing an entree because all looked quite interesting and the portions were quite large. After looking around to other tables, many customers chose burgers and their large pasta dishes.

 AMBIANCE


Siddharth:
9/10

This was a very cool looking place with a great vibe. There was clearly attention to detail in the interior design. The bar was extremely roomy, and the unique copper surface-top had ample space for our drinks and entrees. They utilized the space in a basement extremely well. The lighting was dim but not eye-strainingly so. There was loud music in the background coming from the attached lounge, but the place managed to resonate with the combined feel of formal dining and upscale nightlife. 

The only negative for me was that the music that was constantly pumping was some sort of weird rave genre that did not appeal to me. Personal taste though, and it pretty much blended into the background ten minutes after arising.

Tricia: 
8.5/10

The restaurant is on the lower level of a building across the street from the State Theater. From the pictures, it looks like we were eating in a wine cellar that was dimly lit and quite romantic. The lounge was really nice with several booths and tables for patrons to enjoy their beer. The bar we ate was quite nice with a copper countertop and chairs. My only complaint about eating at the bar was that the chairs sloped awkwardly downward so I had to use my feet to push myself back up on the chair every few minutes. The other complaint was that the music was quite loud that it was difficult to hear each other talk at times. I think the DJ turned up the volume when a favorite song was being played.

SERVICE

Siddharth:
7/10

We ate at the bar, and the two bartenders we interacted with were both real friendly. Initially being seated was a bit delayed because of being late for our reservations. The host was not that helpful with this. But once being seated, everything was pleasant. I think that overall they do a good job of managing large crowds.

Tricia:
7.5/10

When we first arrived at the bar for our dinner, it took some time for the two bartenders/waitresses to give us any attention. But after putting in our order for beer and appetizers, they both arrived quite quickly. But our entrees took a little bit longer, I'm assuming because the restaurant was quite busy. But that gave us the opportunity to look at the menu and see their drink selections. The cocktails look pretty interesting as well. The waitresses later ended up being quite social with us and talked about their favorite dishes. 

VALUE


Siddharth:
9/10

The prices were pretty reasonable given the size and quality. While the place emanated an upscale feel, they did not go with the trend of really small portion sizes. I was stuffed at the end of my meal. I already raved about the taste of the meal, so given the size, I rate this an excellent value. The craft brews were also fairly cheap compared to what you get at other local bars. This was probably the best value for any meal I've ever had in the Commons, and that's a really honest assessment.

Tricia: 
8/10

After spending quite an amount of money at restaurants in Orlando, I felt that the prices and the amount of food at BWB were worth it. Despite the fact that most ingredients were locally grown, the prices were not outrageously expensive or pretentious. The dishes we ordered were quite unique and absolutely delicious. And the portions were very big. Beer prices were less expensive than most restaurants we have encountered to about $5-7 a glass. All entrees were about $10-15 each, but those with meats were a bit more expensive but no more than $18. 

Given the taste, value, and vibe of Bandwagon, It is a Must Try for all Ithacans. It's a great place for an after-work gathering with colleagues, drinks with a few friends, or even a romantic date. Make sure to get reservations for those weekend nights though, as this place has really caught on. It's worth noting that this place is open until 1 AM every night, and they serve about 50% of their dinner menu right up until last call (the other 50% stop being served at 10 or 11PM), so if you're looking for some late night gourmet snacks, this is a good option as well. We can't say enough good things about Bandwagon, so we'll let you form your opinions and comment!