A staple of life here in the Ithaca area. As a New Yorker, I couldn't live without a bagel store. They are terrific.

1 star for customer service. I guess this place only makes sense if you are used to coming here. Otherwise, you're left to guess what to do. For those of you equally confused as I was, youll need to walk to the back of the restaurant to order. If youre with someone, don't bother to think that just because you're standing with the person at the register (where you don't pay, they just ring you up). Instead, they hand you the ticket with your order and call the next person (who was actually beside you). Next, youll have to guess at what to do. Nevermind the next "line" says Grab and Go and you see people picking up pre-made items. Nevermind that the front of the restaurant has people picking up orders. If you ask what to do next, they'll just tell you to wait in the next line. So, feel free to wait in that line while looking around to see if there is another sign or some indication of what to do next. Again, I'm sure this all makes sense if you've been here before. If you haven't, best of luck but don't ask any questions. read more

First off - what a menu! Sprawling doesn't even capture a part of the thought! It's glaringly obvious that they have everything under the sun! My first visit taught me one thing - they have bagels, and lox and bagels with eggs, bagels with turkey, bagels with pastrami....and pizza bagels! All day breakfast, wraps, bowls, paninis and soup, oh my! Yet, I didn't order a bagel! SMH! But, it's hard to deny, they do many things great! A rather forward bagel shop feel, with a bright interior and plenty of seating, and a busy feel, with so much going on and their bright chalkboard menu gets you printed for poring over their selections. After a thorough analysis of their menu, I saw their pastrami sandwiches and knew I wasn't looking back. Their Tough Tommy - Hot NY Style Pastrami with melted Cheddar, raspberry jalapeño jam, banana peppers served on our hand sliced pumpernickel - amazing! So flavorful, and thicker than thick pumpernickel bread with a crusty ridge!! I paired it with their cheddar / bacon / pepper soup and it was amazing! read more

Collegetown Bagels - Tough Tommy Pastrami - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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Sandwiches were pretty good, but we went at 10:30 am on a Friday and they only had salt bagels left...bagels is in their name. The staff was also a shitshow, took me like 15 minutes to pay and their machine wasn't working. read more

An overrated local institution. The bagels are average at best. The sandwiches can be quite tasty, but they also tend to be quite small. It often takes forever for orders to be prepared, presumably because of the ludicrous size of the menu. Mostly, it's overpriced. If they reduced the price of everything by 20%, this would be four stars. read more

We arrived a few minutes after they opened and it seemed like workers were still asleep. We had to ask for our food a couple of times because they forgot items. The bagels were ok but small and not as fresh as I expected. read more

The servers here dgaf. paid for a pick up order and they substituted something and didn't let me know. when i realized i had the wrong item they made it seem like such an inconvenience to check if they were out. i asked for a refund and the person let out a big sigh and went to find someone who could do that. Took so long i left and won't go back if i can help it. read more

LOVE this place!! So many options!! What to choose??? They have seats outside and inside. Great to eat here anytime and any day. Try something different when you come! I ordered: Tofutti veggie cream cheese bagel on a long island honey wheat bagel - love the bagel but it needed more cream cheese! Veganic on a California bagel - needed ketchup! Great proportion of filling to bread. Great sizes, good prices, lots of options, what could go wrong? The line goes fast too! read more

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For a casual eating experience with a wide variety of choices, I was completely pleased with CBT. I was here for dinner with my teenage son & didn't want or need anything fancy or expensive. Outdoor patio seating was great on a lovely evening. Could totally see this a a terrific place to hang out. In fact as we were walking around the "Collegetown" section of Ithaca, things seemed completely dead until we rounded the corner to the CBT patio - THERE were all the people! Lively conversation and folks enjoying their food and beers. Our food was terrific. Yes, the menu is overwhelming for a newbie. SO many choices!! SO hard to decide!! I went with the 5k because peanut butter, banana, granola, etc just sounded good and it was! Every finger-licking bite! They even had pears so he offered to include this in the wrap, too. Yum! My son got the Round House bagel, super tasty. Loved the Rosemary salt bagel it came on. He was disappointed that the fountain drinks are not refillable. We also got a fruit tart and a cannoli (cuz, hey, we're on vacation and we hiked 7 miles today, so why not!) ;-). Not the best cannoli I've ever tasted, but a nice treat all the same. Fruit tart was also good. All that food, plus the fountain drink set us back $22, which I thought was pretty darn reasonable. I just might be back before we leave town. read more

Collegetown Bagels - The 5K totally hit the spot! Yummy - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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Best bagels and sandwiches in college town. Go for bagel Tuesdays for a deal! Miss the old location though!

Great sandwiches and selections. Easy to order what you want. Numerous soup and salad selections as well. Breads and bagels baked fresh each day. Staff is always nice. Can get busy as it is a very popular place all throughout Ithaca. Highly recommend. read more

Collegetown Bagels was recommended to us by my friend who attended Ithaca College, as well as our Airbnb host... so we knew we needed to check it out for breakfast! I ordered an egg and cheese with chicken sausage (love that they have chicken as an option) on an everything bagel. My partner, Chris, ordered a bacon egg and cheese on a poppyseed bagel. I had the vanilla iced latte and he ordered cold brew. We both really enjoyed our experience--even though there was a long line and it is clearly a very busy and popular spot, we did not wait very long for our food and coffees. Highly recommend for breakfast if visiting the area! read more

Excellent location, great selection for food and coffee or other non-caffeine beverages

CTB is a classic Cornell establishment. It sits strategically on the corner of collegetown and campus, making it the hub of activity. Food: It's a great spot for a bagel on the way to class, a bagel late at night after going to Ruloffs, or a snack at any hour (ice cream, microwaveable meals to go, pastries, soups, salads and so much more.) Top bagel sandwich choices include the pesto pizza bagel, California sunrise, vegetarian, Zoe, CTBLT. As for bagels, get the rosemary salt! It's savory and flavorful, and can only be found at CTB. I also like to make my own bagel that a friend, Allie '14, invented - rosemary salt with avocado, tomatoes, onions and melted mozzarella. We tried to get this added to the board but it hasn't happened yet. Drinks: For a nice afternoon in the spring, summer and fall, sit on the patio and grab a pitcher of beer or sangria. Cornell gathers on this patio for day drinking whenever the sun shines. A trip to Cornell isn't complete without a trip (or three) to CTB!! read more

Collegetown Bagels - Sample of the bagel menu - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Keisha's your gal at CTB. Am very happy with my Ira's Salmon and fish sandwich, and look forward to be back to try the Lox!

So first of all, I wasn't gonna report this but they messed up my order to i'm going to tell it like it is: they messed up my order. I couldn't figure out how to add a picture but here is the link: https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/collegetown-bagels-ithaca?select=aOL5_eKdqjqA-8dDDi_RkQ not sure how they passed their inspection but as somebody who has worked for 4 years in the food service, I know this isn't acceptable. Its not hard to put trash in the trash and not just throw it to the floor. not worth the $7 for the wrong sandwich. xoxo, dissatisfied customer read more

Collegetown Bagels - not trying to be shady but like this is gross - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

I haven't tried any drinks so I can only speak to the food there. The sandwiches are really good and unique with a ton of options. This place is an Ithaca must. Every time I've gone it's been extremely packed and takes quite some time to get your food but it's worth the wait! read more

You order bagels, pay for your bagels, leave and find out you didn't get anything close to what you ordered. Crappy place with too many customers to care... I didn't eat there so couldn't tell you about the atmosphere. Don't go.., read more

Best fast bite in Ithica. Super friendly staff even when they were slammed. Bagels were great and love the variety. Turkey sandwich is legit. read more

Waited an hour for one egg and cheese bagel and every time I asked for updates no one knew how long. Wasn't even warned there was a long wait when ordering. Do not recommend. read more

They exploit their inflated popularity, rope you in with underestimated wait times, make you pay the exorbitant prices, then take nearly twice the amount of time to prepare their stale, mid-tier food. Don't bother coming here unless you--for some reason--love poor service, sh*tty food, and a dimly lit sauna-like environment that makes you feel like you're in the trunk of a car. read more

Got a pizza bagel with black olives here on an Italian bagel and it was very good! Order came in a mannerly fashion and everything tasted very good! It was not that busy when I went though, so I'm not sure how it would hold up in a more crowded setting. I also got a raspberry crumble dessert from this place, and it was very good, but a little too sweet for my personal liking. read more

This was my first time having a bagel as a meal, as opposed to a bagel with cream cheese or the base of a regular sandwich using bagels instead of bread. I had the E.O.D. It consisted of egg salad on a bialy with green olive spread. The olive spread wasn't overpowering and the whole thing was scrumptious. The husband had the Californian I think. It was avocado and egg (and usually cheese, too, but he skipped it). The counter person recommended the rosemary salt bagel with it. The husband liked the sandwich except for the overwhelmingly salty bagel. The kids shared a bagel with egg and melted cheese. We visited in the summer over reunion weekend, and that Friday at 9 a.m. it was packed. We ended up with four of us at a two person table. read more

one of my favorite places in collegetown.. chicken melt is a must try for the cold weather, and ivegan wrap also tastes great. Always great to sit outside when the sun is out. read more

Collegetown Bagels - Interior - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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This place has really gone downhill. Ordered bagel and coffee. Very simple. Employee sends me over to cashier. You don't pay where you order any more it's a weird process now but ok. I pay cashier somewhere else in store and wait. 15 min go by. Nothing comes out. Go back and ask cashier what is status on my order?. She leaves to check. Comes back in couple min and says It's coming. I ask how long? She says I don't know. I say Ok well does it normally take this long to get a bagel and coffee? She says Yes it does. I say Ok well that wasn't clear at all when I ordered that it would take over 15 min to get a bagel and coffee and I have to go so can I pls get refund and speak with manager? Yes you can give me your receipt and I will get manager. I comply and wait another 5 min. No manager or refund. Ask cashier again where is the manager and refund because I need to leave. She says manager is at other end of store and is coming. I say Ok I will wait. 5 more min. No manager or refund. I go to other end of store where I ordered. Tell an employee excuse me I am waiting to speak with manager. Lo and behold the manager is right there in front of me. I ask her to speak privately. She says ok. I say did you know I was waiting to speak with you? She says No I didn't nobody told me. Um ok that's weird. Well I asked for a refund. She says Yes I got your receipt and the refund takes 2-5 days. I say Oh so you already refunded me? She says Yes I did. I say Ok why didn't anyone tell me that? I would have left. She says I don't know. I say wow this service is awful can you take my number and ask owner to call me? She says Yes I can. She takes number. No expectation I will get a call. This never happened before. Been a patron for 33 years. Awful service. While I was waiting I noticed the barista making 6 separate coffee orders in a row and storing them on top of coffee machine and then after all 6 are made he stopped making any more and took a few trips with the 6 he had made out to the bar where customers were waiting. Then he came back and started making more. I have never seen that before. Extremely inefficient process. No wonder it takes 15 min for a coffee. Yikes. Do not under any circumstances go here unless you have lots of time to kill. read more

I have lived in Ithaca my whole life, and this place has unfortunately had a monopoly on the whole bagel/sandwich shop market the whole time. Hot food bar and bakery items always taste like freezer burn. Just now, hungry with no place to turn, I order a simple open face cream cheese bagel with sprouts and tomato. But amazingly, no matter how low I drop my expectations, they never fail to not meet them. They put cream cheese on one half of a tiny bagel so poorly cut and toasted the top half had broken into 3 uneven pieces. And made it closed face. Call me picky, but when you're hungry and have even the slightest expectations, it's really disappointing when they're not met. long story short, CTB is an absolute dud. Try shortstop for lunch sandwiches and dolce delight for breakfast sandwiches and pastries. read more

Collegetown Bagels is a very cool place. I arrived in Ithaca for a reunion and needed some breakfast food. I stopped at Collegetown location first, and walked down the hill to their store on North Aurora street. Families with children, couples and college kids all frequent these stores. I love the bagels, sandwiches and they now serve Purity ice cream! Great for people watching and a good simple meal. read more

Wow CTB moved across the street since I was last here. I snagged a rosemary salt bagel with chives cream cheese. They were very generous with the cream cheese. I loved the bagel but had to scrap off some salt in order to make it edible. I love salt but even this was too much for me lol. Overall plenty of outdoor seating to people watch. They have a nice selection of food, drinks, alcohol. read more

This place brings back so many wonderful memories. Bagels are always fresh and delicious. Every time we are in Ithaca, this is a must-go-to place!! Try the pizza bagels!! read more

Brand new location, and it's beautiful! There are so many options to pick from and although I stuck with a simple egg and cheese bagel, it was delicious and well-priced. There are so many bakery items and to-go items from the fridge and areas in the middle of the line. Everything was clean and well-done. The social distancing efforts are good and there is seating outdoors too. I'll definitely be back! read more

Will always love this place. Came back recently when visiting Cornell and it was still great. My favorite is the Zabs. Coffee is delicious.

Went here for lunch twice during our stay in Ithaca. No complaints. Get the vegetarian melt or the Zoe. Every college town should have collegetown bagels! read more

Amazing bagels! I got the spicy Italian bagel toasted with cream cheese on July 23 and thought it was fantastic. I'll swing by this place anytime in the future when I'm in upstate New York. Delicious bagels! I do recommend getting cream cheese on side because like most bagel places they apply too much but rather it be too much than not enough. There was a line when I visited but it moved quick. read more

Collegetown Bagels - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

If I was a Cornell student, teacher, or just an Ithaca resident, I'm sure I'd be in a tumultuous love-hate relationship with Collegetown Bagels. It's right next to the south side of campus, which is right next to the law school, and has not only a fab selection of bagels and sandwiches, but an almost mind boggling selection of bagel sandwiches! I'm a sucker for hot breakfast bagel sandwiches and they have so many options and combinations of things you can get on your bagel, I would have to try each at least once. But then I could see how you could burn out on bagels, sandwiches and bagel sandwiches after coming here so much due to its enticing menu, availability of coffee drinks and convenient location and come to wish it could be another kinda of breakfast/coffee/lunch location for just a day - just for some variety. However, since I only had to chance to visit it once, I'm a fan and wish I could transplant it to SF for my own selfish reasons. read more

Collegetown Bagels - I believe this is called the Brooklyn (?): Egg, bacon and cheese. Yum! - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

Collegetown Bagels (CTB) is hands down the most popular eatery in Collegetown if not Ithaca itself. If you're passing through it's great for a quick bite or if you're meeting with friends, a convenient spot for brunch/drinks. Breakfast bagels served all day! The Grub -- * Pumpkin Apple Bisque in a Bread Bowl ($5.50) * California Sunrise Bagel (Scrambled eggs with avocado, red onion & melted Pepper Jack cheese, on a plain bagel) ($4.75) Food Review -- I was looking forward to the Pumpkin Apple Bisque because I'm a sucker for seasonal specials. However, I watched as the waiter went outside first to try to find my table (they deliver your food to you) and it came to my table just lukewarm after being exposed to the frigid temperatures outside. Fortunately, the flavors were still intact and the chunks of apple made for a nice thick soup. The California Sunrise Bagel was alright, but the guacamole-like paste resembled a cheap store bought substitute and was not the "avocado" I was expecting. Service Review -- As a Collegetown favorite, CTB is used to a high volume of traffic especially in rushes as students try to grab a bite or a drink before class. That said, they are highly efficient and have a great flow, especially because of their streamlined method of ordering at one end of the restaurant, going through the cash register, and then picking up your order at the other end. The cashiers were cheerful Venue Review -- As mentioned earlier, the flow of traffic is great, which is a necessity because it is often packed with students. The layout is long and narrow, which makes it difficult to squeeze by other people in line if you're trying to get to the refrigerated items in the middle of the store. CTB is very cozy with both indoor and outdoor seating. It's a great spot to grab a quick bite or to sit on the barstools by the window and people watch. Overall Impression -- Having just received a giftcard to CTB, I'm looking forward to putting it to good use. There is an enormous menu with a variety of bagel sandwiches, vegan friendly items, new soups made daily, and even some smoothies. I'm very interested in trying out as many unique items as possible. It's a Collegetown favorite and with good reason! read more

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Do you like bagels? YES. Do you like alcohol? YES. Do you wanna be cool? YES. CTB is the place to be. They have an amazing selection of bagels with all sorts of toppings imaginable. My personal favorites are the Pizza Bagel- its great to have a nice, toasty warm bagel on a cold winter night. I also love the vegetarian bagel - cheese and tomatoes on a nice hot bagel. You can choose what kind of bagel you want, I like the everything bagel so I don't have to choose what kind of topping I want on my bagel. The sangria here is to die for. Get a whole pitcher and split it with your friends (or don't split it... that's fine too!) Come here for green beer on St Patty's Day. This place is open late at night too. If you need a little pick me up on those late nights of studying, come over here! read more

On a visit to Cornell, I stopped by Collegetown Bagels before leaving town. I ordered a few bagels to sample, of which the Rosemary Salt was my favourite. I must admit, while the bagels were okay, I was not greatly impressed. I found them difficult to chew, which leads me to assume they were stale. In all honesty, these bagels were somewhat disappointing. Recommendations: -Ask for their freshest bagels. I found two of three bagels to be stale and chewy -The Rosemary Salt bagels were quite nice Verdict: Wouldn't go out of my way for Collegetown Bagels read more

Food has been pretty consistent. Wait time is usually quite long. Love their rosemary salt bagel + jelepeno cream cheese. However everything is on the pricy side. ATTENTION!!! i don't know why it took me so long to finally look into this today. Apparently they charge $1.25 for a bagel before tax, but then they charge $3.5-3.75 or even more for bagel with cream cheese. That being said, they charge $2.25-2.50 just for the cream cheese in the bagel? And this is the price before tax. That is insane. They don't even give that much cream cheese. I'm sure this is not the only example. Truly feel sad about how much they charge for things... read more

There are very, very few good things about Ithaca, but CTB is definitely close to the top of that list. There is so much to love (and just generally so much - what a menu!) about this quintessential Cornell bagel joint. The ambience is pretty standard for a collegetown breakfast joint - a little divey, but overall a casual and colorful place to get breakfast. Though they do not have everything bagels (which are a notable weakness of mine), CTB does have salt bagels. These seem to be a fancier pretzel bagel - one even comes with rosemary salt, whatever that is. I can't remember the name of either sandwich I had; one was egg & bacon, and the other egg, bacon, sausage & a hash brown. Both killed the breakfast sandwich game, and my only regret was not getting a third bagel to try. I didn't try any of their drinks (see reviews of Gimme Coffee/Press Cafe for info on that) but the menu was equally as large as their breakfast choices, and every single one I saw brought out to a customer looked as insanely delicious as their bagels. This is the only good thing about Ithaca. Go here. read more

Collegetown Bagels - Salted bagels are definitely bae-goals. - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York

CTB is the most popular breakfast place at Cornell, at least from what I have heard. So, I decided to give it a try today. I went to CTB for breakfast. Inside the restaurant was crowded and all menus were written with multiple colors and fonts on a large chalkboard. It was hard to read, so I just asked the seller to get me the most popular breakfast sandwich menu and was recommended "Round House." After ordering, I followed the long line to the cashier. The food arrived after about 10 minutes. It was a Rosemary bagel sandwich with scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, cheddar cheese, and hash brown. The combination between hash brown and the bagel was quiet interesting. The sandwich was however not warm, which disappointed me because I expected a freshly made breakfast meal for the cost and waiting time of $7.XX and 10 minutes, respectively. Overall, delicious breakfast sandwich. Because of the long order line and the price, I would only go there when I am super hungry in the morning. read more

Collegetown Bagels - Round House Bagel - Bagels Near Me - Ithaca, New York