On a recent trip back to Ithaca, Mercato's served up the best food of our stay.
We started with a round of cocktails, and of those, I enjoyed the basil-inflected Crespo the best. Â So flavorful, and so well-balanced! Â Complex, crisp and refreshing, with just enough basil for you to know that it was there without dominating the flavor profile. Â Actually, all the cocktails we tried were good, creative and original, and all featured local and seasonal ingredients. Â
On to the main course, which for me was hanger steak with a side of shoestring potatoes. Â The steak was seasoned simply with salt and pepper, which is the way to go with a cut like hanger, as it lets the full, natural flavor of the cut shine. It was cooked perfectly, and was insanely juicy and tender! Â The fries were cut a bit thin for my taste (although, to be fair, they were accurately advertised as shoestring on the menu), but were cooked perfectly and seasoned with a yummy blend of salt and rosemary. Â Dessert - carmel and espresso pot de creme - was also delicious.
Our server was definitely knowledgeable about the menu, polite and attentive, and we enjoyed the early-summer outdoor seating. Â Would definitely come back again next time I'm in town.
One of Ithaca's best for an elegant meal, a good glass of wine, a well-crafted cocktail, and tasty desserts. I have had dinner here several times, and have had an enjoyable experience each time. I usually get the fish in parchment, which is always tender and flaky, dressed simply with oil and lemon and seasonal herbs.
The chicken liver pate is a good starter. I also love their chocolate pots de creme and the panna cotta for dessert.
The best feature of Mercato, though, is their bar. They have developed a nice menu of cocktails, featuring bitters and liqueurs that you don't find everywhere else. They are potent but well-balanced. It's easy (too easy) to down a couple of these before you know it.
Here is my recommendation to anyone wanting to try this restaurant: Sit at the bar and order a cocktail only, they have an excellent and interesting cocktail list that is well executed. However, don't waste your money on the food or stay long enough to allow the charcoal smell to become absorbed by your clothing. I understand they had a recent fire, so I forgive the unfortunate smell. Â What I can not forgive is the pretentious and pompous attitude that you can taste in the food and is reflected in many of the staffs demeanor. I don't like to generalize as many yelpers do by saying all "staff," many are great, the curly haired owner is very affable and they have one exceptional bartender. The food is usually well prepared, meaning the cooks know how to get a sear on a scallop or keep pork moist. However the food is uninspired for how small the menu is and how much you are charged. I mean great you can cook a protein, but can I have something other than tiny fries, a waterey sauce or a raw rabbit's salad with it?! This again I could overlook if the staff did not act like they were operating a michelin star restaurant in the heart of Manhattan. Sorry guys its Ithaca, which means your guest's opinions matter, eye rolls are not a good way to welcome guests and if I say I do not want another course or dessert I should not be made to feel like some sort of second class citizen. Â So in summary: Cocktails are great, food is palatable but not memorable, and the level of service is definitely hit or miss.
Review Source:Mercato is back!
Menu is not very big or exciting. No veggie options so I had scallops, which were  delicious. Gin and tonic pretty good. Very nice atmosphere: dark wood, cozy, feels like the city. Expensive though. Places like Mia, ZaZa's and Just a Taste have more interesting choices. But Mercato definitely fills a niche: classic upscale Italian. I would bring my parents for a special occasion.
This is probably my favorite upscale place on the commons. Mercato makes the best gnocchi in Ithaca, better than any of the Italian restaurants (Zazza's, Taverna Banfi, Lucatelli's), and the service, ambience, and food is executed to perfection. However, for the price, I wish the food were a bit more exciting/daring, everything is very good; it just isn't very unique.
Review Source:Mercato is one of Ithaca's best restaurants (along with Just a Taste). Â We have visited more than 10 times and the food has been consistently superb and sophisticated.
The waitstaff have always been friendly and particularly helpful with wine pairing suggestions. Â
The only drawbacks are as follows:
No reservations (generally not a huge problem in Ithaca)
Desserts not up to the same standard as other courses
Short menu
Still, this is a wonderful place to have dinner in downtown Ithaca!
This place has a great ambience (and wine list!) but the food leaves a lot to be desired. Â I went to Mercato in October with a friend and her family and was somewhat disappointed. Â
For an appetizer, we split the clams casino and the crostini sampler. Â The clams casino were very mediocre-- the ratio of ham/clams/veg made it taste more like a pizza topping than an app. Â The crostini sampler wasn't bad, but the pate one was gross. Â Way too much pate for the bread.
For dinner, I ordered the scallops and my friend ordered the steak. Â Her steak was very good, but my scallops were sort of all over the place-- some undercooked, some overcooked. Â I also wasn't a fan of shoestring friends, but that's probably just my taste, not their quality.
I would not come here for dinner again, but maybe for drinks. Â It's way too expensive for the quality. Â If you're going to drop money on date night, go to Just a Taste.
First of all the service was amazing. Our waitress (and I really regret that I didn't get her name) was professional, attentive, friendly and warm. I don't know that I've ever had better service in Ithaca or anywhere, and we have eaten at many of the best places. The food was very good, but I wanted a little more of it for the price. It was the right size if you wanted dessert and an appetizer but still. It is a little cozy (sort of felt like we were sharing our date with the inebriated freshman at the next table) Â but most places in Ithaca are. Overall though the experience was excellent and totally worth it. Get the pot de creme, it was fabulous
Review Source:I admit it, I'm a bit of a lush. Â I'm a sucker for a well made cocktail. Â And Mercato has it in spades. Â The drinks are a bit expensive for Ithaca standards (it's not Dunbar's here), but everything on their cocktail list is deliciously mixed and phenomenally balanced. Â Best drinks in town, by far. Â It's just a shame they close at 10pm. Â I'd love for them to stay open a touch later, even if it's just the bar.
Oh, and I guess they serve food? Â Maybe I'll give that a shot one day...
Very nice place. The Pan Roasted Pork Chop was excellent. This is the first place i've been to in a long time to properly cook pork chops. Most places overlook the meat. This was served medium rare. It was moist and delicious. I also recommend the meat and cheese plate. Nice selection of Italian wines. The staff was attentive and nice, excellent service.
Review Source:Yum! This is definitely one of the classier joints in town, and you sort of manage to forget that you are still in Ithaca (it's like a mini two-hour vacation!). We had been meaning to come here for ages, and we finally made it in for a good ol' fashioned Friday date night. Mercato did not disappoint and now I'm hoping that we have another chance to go back before Alex graduates and we leave town (though it is a wee bit pricey for something other than a special occasion).
Our waitress was very friendly without being overbearing, and she gladly gave her educated opinion between the two bottles of wine that we were debating. It ended up being a great choice. We shared the watercress salad and the soup of the day (I can't for the life of me remember what it was, but it was good) and then for dinner had the asparagus, ricotta, and goat cheese agnolotti and the pan-seared sea scallops. The agnolotti was bland, in my opinion, but my husband enjoyed it, and that's what really mattered. My sea scallops were cooked perfectly and the celeriac puree around the plate was really interesting. The flavor of celery usually isn't one of my favorite things, but this was quite unique and enjoyable, especially in contrast to the shoestring potatoes.
My only complaint, and it isn't really a complaint at all, is the menu selection. I totally understand the appeal of wanting to have a smaller menu and do those things on the menu really well, but in my opinion, eight entrees--only ONE of which is meatless--is a little skimpy. Regardless, we'll hopefully be back, just without any vegetarian friends!
I took a cooking class from the head chef at Mercato a few years ago and I've been very excited to see that he opened a restaurant. Â Walking into Mercato feels like I've been transported to Manhattan. It's understandable that so many places in Ithaca skimp on the details but Mercato doesn't--the lighting, the finishing, the servers, all feel professional. Â The food is generally competent and consistent and is more likely to err on tasty than daring. Â
My last time there I ordered the sole in papillote and my girlfriend ordered duck. The delicacy of my sole was preserved and was well balanced with the lemon butter, though I personally prefer bolder preparations. Â My girlfriend's duck was tender and delicate, but lacked much duck flavor.
I'll definitely come back, but the price prevents it from being anything more regular than a treat.
My friend and i had a good meal here but it was not "great".  Very good appetizers chicken liver pâtés and a decent beet salad. We shared two main courses to experience more. The hanger steak was good -not amazing,as people report. The gnocchi was a bit bland and light on sauce or flavor so to speak.  Dessert choices looked good and I went for the pine nut tart as a result of another review here and and I'm grateful for yelp. It was really good.  The cocktails were good and interesting.  Service was great but really the only criticism we have is the atmosphere.
This place has the ambiance of a Panera chain-like store. It was way over bright in need of a dimmer switch big time. The walls were decorated with generic posters that had hot spotlights just inches away, reflecting even more glaring light onto the already dental office-lit booths. I wouldn't be bothered if this was just a cafe or sandwich shop but food of this quality and at these prices, deserves better.
This place is a gem in ithaca. Professional, nice atmosphere, and most importantly, great food!
It's expensive but I'll take it for homemade pastas. Everything was just as good or better than I expected and that's all I ask for if I'm paying for a fancy dinner. Everyone I ate with finished their plate.
This is definitely one of the classier, more upscale restaurants in Ithaca. We came here on a Friday night around 6:30pm and were seated immediately.
We started off with the cured meats/olives/cheese plate which was with a good combination of cheeses and meats (manchego, gorgonzola, parmigiano reggiano with sopresata, prosciutto, etc). For our cocktails I ordered the Ithaca 37 (gin + lemon + prosecco) and my boyfriend ordered the Lion's Tail (bourbon + allspice dram + bitters + lime juice + agave). Both were delicious and well made.
Our entrees were fresh sole in parchment and buckwheat papardelle (homemade) with duck ragu. The quality of the food was excellent and so was the service. My sole was tender and juicy and the pasta was as fresh as can be.
Our desserts were the lemon panna cotta and the chocolate pots de creme with homemade graham crackers. Both were absolutely heavenly; you can tell that Mercato takes a great deal of care into preparing their foods well.
Although the food quality was good, I personally think that the price is a little too high for the portions that they serve. The tables were also located a little too close together. Whenever we (or the people at the tables next to us) had to get up and leave, our asses brushed against the tables.
I'd probably come here again, but only for special occasions.
After living in Ithaca for almost two decades, new restaurants come and go. But I had heard good things about Mercato so went with my husband around 8:00 p.m. on a Friday night.
Although packed, there was one two seater left. The noise level was really loud, and I had to lean in to hear my husband but the table was too big. Small stuff. The decor and vibe = good.
(Oh, and the waitress had no personality.)
However, the menu is great - really varied and creative. And the food was delicious. The portions aren't that big, but we split an appetizer and left sated...and not in that gross, guilty over eating way, but truly sated.
I'll definitely go back.
Okay so I've grown fond of the shoestring fries after all!
Once again Mercato delivers an amazing all around dining experience from the lighting and seating to the service and of course the food. Â Mercato is absolutely my favorite "upscaley" restaurant in Ithaca where the food and atmosphere is worth every penny you spend. Â Seriously!
This time around, I had the cream of asparagus soup which was super tasty. Â The asparagus wasn't overpowered by tons of heavy cream. Â In fact the soup was surprisingly light.
For an entree, I had the pan seared scallops with leeks in some kind of buttery sauce with shoestring fries. In this case, the fries worked really well with the delicate texture of the scallops which won me over!
For dessert, I had the caramel espresso pot de creme which was incredibly good but my friend opted for the coconut panna cotta topped with caramelized pineapple which was amazing!! Â
The folks at Mercato are serious about good food and have created what I consider to be the perfect eating establishment.
Dinner for two turned out ok. Â Wife ordered arugula, fennel, goat cheese salad and I had the fish chowder for appetizers. Â The salad was outstanding, fresh and tasty. Â The chowder was "young" and not fully infused with the flavors of the vegetables and fish. Â I ordered the hangar steak after several reviews' raves. Â It was indeed a terrific steak, done perfectly. Â The baby carrots were excellent but the shoestring fries, infused with rosemary, were a bit overdone (dry). Â
The parchment-cooked bass my wife ordered was another issue. Â It was undercooked and she sent it back. Â The chef came out and agreed, saying one of the difficulties of cooking in parchment is knowing when the dish is done, (not wanting to overcook it.) Â So I ate my dish while she waited for hers to be finished. Â Hers came out, re-sealed in parchment, but the juices of the first presentation in the parchment were not fully replaced or the fish simply dried up in the re-cooking. Â This made for less flavorful bites and ultimately it was a disappointment. Â
After a mistake of that magnitude, it would have been a nice gesture for the chef to offer a free dessert or something. Â But, nothing was offered. Â We shared a chocolate cake with our coffee and tea anyway. Â The chocolate cake was very good but not rave-worthy.
So a mixed review here. Â I'm not sure it was worth the $120. including wine and tip. Â Maybe not.
We ate here for dinner during our stay in Ithaca. Â There was a bit of a wait, and this place doesn't take reservations (or at least wouldn't for 2 people). Â But, we had a late lunch so we were fine waiting and one of the servers was happy to get us drinks while we waited. Â The service was fantastic, and everyone was very attentive. Â The food was also incredible; my fiancee had the fish (red snapper) in parchment while I had the hanger steak. Â Definitely, definitely, definitely get the hanger steak. Â It was perfectly cooked, charred over charcoal, and amazingly delicious. Â I'm not sure if it was marinated in anything, but it was one of those meals I'll remember for quite a while and will try to replicate at home. Â Next time we're in Ithaca, we'll definitely stop here again.
Review Source:My new favorite Ithaca restaurant, hands-down. Â Amazing bread, yummy cocktails (the Communist!), a killer meat plate... Â Last night I ate their cioppino special and it was absolutely perfect. Â Great desserts, too - love the cheesecake squares and the chocolate custard thing. Â Everything is a winner.
Service is great and personable, atmosphere nice & with good lighting. Â Love the booths - feels nice and private - great date night place. Â I've also just sat at the bar and that was great too.
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