Gorgers Subs

When you travel, you have to take good with the bad. And food choices for a vegetarian are not only limited, they are a RISK! So image when a risk pays up big time! And I mean big.
We stopped by Gorgers on way back home from finger lakes. When we pulled in front of the place, I was pretty sure I had used up my good food luck (you see we are foodies and don’t eat at chain restaurants. And did I say we are vegetarians). So imagine my utter and absolute joy when I found that the food was beyond delish.
I am not a fan of tofu but the way they cook their tofu is far from anything I have tasted. Any place that sells veg food has me as a customer. Any place that sells delicious veg food has there on repeat.

Best subs in Ithaca! They’re delicious, huge, and feature creative toppings on top of awesome bread made in house. One of my favorite places in Ithaca.

«In order to succeed we must first believe that we can» — Nikos Kazantzakis. This was the first quote that I thought of when I walked through the mouth of this beast of an establishment. Being the Gorgers rookie I was, I found myself intimidated by the gorgeous Gorgers menu. A wide variety of different sandwiches stood before me as my mouth watered due to a strenuous drive through the Ithaca rain. I ordered a Modena sandwich, a Mediterranean twist on a classic chicken sandwich. When my sandwich arrived it almost broke the table, being the behemoth that it was. I tried to finish it but could not succeed. With a full belly and a satisfied tongue I was ready to explore the rest of Ithaca.

I cannot believe it’s taken me this long to write a review of my favorite restaurant in Ithaca. Sorry Gorger’s! Look everybody, I’ve had sandwiches all over the continent. I was an interstate traveler for years, and have been obsessed with sandwiches for most of my life. Have I got your attention? Because this next bit is very important: The Eggplant Bánh Mì is hands-​down the best food I have ever eaten between two slices of bread. I have eaten it dozens of times and it never gets old. Strong and subtle flavors together that you can actually differentiate, nothing is overpowering. If you’re used to bánh mì in the asian districts of big cities, you may cry foul. Or maybe you will wake up and realize the wide variety of bánh mì variants out there. This is one. Perhaps you will say «but there’s nothing like going to Vietnam and getting one with fresh bread and house-​pickled carrots». And I will say you are wrong. Because guess what Gorger’s has? Yes, both of those, and many more things made in-​house. You would literally have to fly me to Vietnam and show me what you meant, and I’m pretty sure I would still disagree, but thanks for the airfare and the sandwich! If you made it this far, you should know that all of the sandwiches on their menu are amazing and should be tried one at a time. Also the fries, my God the fries. Gorger’s is THE place for Vegetarians (me) and Meat-​eaters (all of the friends I bring when I go). So get your ass in there and prepare for a treat. Start with the Eggplant Báhn Mì. You won’t regret it. Thank you, Gorger’s.

Exactly what I needed on a cold day with my family. Great service, great ingredients, quick, cool environment.

Very happy I discovered this place. It’s an underrated sub shop in the commons. But as a vegetarian, I really wish I found this place earlier. You can replace the meat on any sandwhich with seitan or eggplant. I tried both the Sweet Chili Chicken (with seitan) and the BBQ Chicken (with seitan). I highly recommend the BBQ Chicken.
I wish they had a delivery option (to collegetown)

Okay so I was skeptical walking into this place… not because it’s a bit divey and not because it’s more of a quick stop type of place – I go to places like this all the time. The issue was my friends and I came here after hearing here was a 1.5 hour wait at Just a Taste, a place I really wanted to go to. So when you go from Just a Taste to Gorgers Subs, I could not help but feel like I was settling.
I. Was. So. Wrong. When we walked in, the first thing that really caught, y eye was the beautiful blackboard artwork that displayed the menu. I am such a sucker for beautiful chalkboard art. The menu is simple, and easy to read. It is also SO accommodating of dietary needs. I went with a vegetarian and a vegan and I am a carnivore.
My friends ended up getting the Bahn Mi with fried eggplant and I got the Bahn Mi with pork. We shared fries. It was delicious! Sandwiches come in a full and half sizes. A half size sandwich is more than enough for one person with an average appetite. My Bahn Mi was not exactly authentic but definitely flavorful and tastes very fresh. What I enjoyed was the Gorgers Sub bread was toasted but unlike a typical Bahn mi roll that is so toasted, it will cut the inside of your mouth, the toasted sub was perfect.
We got here around 7pm and it were eating within 10 minutes. They cook sandwiches to order and everything is fresh, hot and just great. I’ve been meaning to come here for some and am glad I finally made it. Definitely will be back to try other things.
As a side note, the place has longboards hanging as décor – uh awesome!

I used to champion Gorgers when they first opened. They paid attention to details, the flavors were spot on and the quality and service were great. They are nice people and I hoped they’d do well. Now it seems business has picked up and they are usually busy and sometimes slammed when I go in. I’ve noticed that some of the attention to detail and consistency is being compromised as a result.
Example: I loved the Modena with savory, crispy eggplant but the balsamic reduction is way too concentrated and, when applied too heavily, ruins the sandwich. Lots of mayo also has been slathered. Twice recently, I asked for «light sauces» on it and both times it’s still been drenched with maybe a half cup of very concentrated vinegar. You can’t like, scrape it off, either. Last night, although the balsamic reduction was certainly remembered, they forgot the tomatoes and the onions, two of just four essential Modena components, and we just couldn’t eat it. They were so busy, I didn’t want to bother asking for reparations. At $ 9/​sub, that is disappointing. Guys, taste the food you’re putting out, and be consistent.
The fella at the front who runs the grill also takes the orders and handles the money. Impossible to succeed at and also gross. Hombres, hire a font-​of-​house person to manage orders and keep things together, if only on nights you’re going to be busy. (Maybe a woman?)
The bathrooms could use «a woman’s touch» as well. (Maybe I have a sexism problem but when men get into the food business there are often, shall we say, «certain compromises» made. I’m a monster, I know!)
I used to love this place but I won’t be back for a while.

Easily the best sandwich shop in town. My favorites are the chicken bacon ranch, the shrimp po boy, and the Cuban. And you get a good size sandwich for your money — $ 10 here goes a lot more than most other places.

The Caribbean Fire is fantastic.

Gorgers is an awesome place to go to when you’re ridiculously hungry and want a quick fulling meal that isn’t dirt cheap but manageable. Average cost of a visit here is about 12 – 14 bucks. As people have mentioned it isn’t the cleanest of places, total «bros» run this place, but it’s not to a point where I’m afraid to eat there. The sandwich ideas are amazing, all the sandwiches sound great and nearly all of them can be offered vegetarian, fried eggplant and seitan are alternatives to meat.
Again as people have mentioned before me, but I think bares repeating, the bread is made on location and it’s pretty good bread. They also offer flatbreads if that’s your thing. My issue with Gorgers is although the sandwiches’ components all are great, they aren’t balanced. I keep giving these guys the benefit of the doubt because they are talented cooks it’s just they out WAAAAAAY too much sauce on the sandwiches. Every time I’ve gone, whether alone or with my boyfriend or friends in general, we have the same complaint. Maybe next time I’ll ask for them to go light on the sauce and that’ll fix my problem? I don’t know.
Portions are really what bring me back when I need something super hearty I head over to Gorgers. They offer ½ sandwiches too along with salads and soups so you can have a well rounded meal whether it be huge or not. I usually do a whole sandwich and get two meals. My issue is the fry size, you either get small fries which are an okay size, a little small for me personally, or large fries which are a huge, huge, huge portion. I really wish they’d get an in between size.

Today however something happened outside of the food that didn’t sit well with me. When I entered Gorgers two women had already ordered and we’re getting their food to go. They got their sandwiches but the guys forgot to get them their fries, they were in a rush so they decided not to wait for them to prepare them. To be fair fries are cut and made to order here so they do take a while (worth it in my opinion). Upon exiting Gorgers with their food the cashier decided to talk about these ladies, at least one of them in particular. He mentioned how he «hooked up» with this woman and other things you should generally keep to yourself. Had he whispered this to his coworker I wouldn’t have cared because I wouldn’t have heard it. He said it loud enough for everyone there to hear it, and even said where she worked at some point.
To many people this may not matter and they’ll still eat there. I probably won’t. I’ve given these guys the benefit of the doubt plenty of times and the food is always okay. If I’m paying for something I really want it to be worth it, I’m a broke college student. I don’t want to eat food made by jerks.
BUT if you don’t care about who makes your food and your hungry AF and on a budget and on a tight schedule then go to Gorgers!!!

Honestly I had zero expectations walking into gorgers but it was seriously amazing. One of the best subs I’ve had the mushroom and swiss. Awesome that they bake their bread free daily, also the french onion soup was super delicious

Extremely tasty. I got the $ 7 lunch special of ½ sub (I got mushroom swiss I think it was called) a salad (I got the soy ginger), and a drink. I replaced meat on both salad and sub with seitan, because I’m vegetarian. Sub was insanely tasty, both filling, cheese, and the bread was perfect. Salad was also great, and a nice compliment. The meal altogether was very filling. Will definitely be back to try other types of subs.

Food poisoning. The bahn mi was really tasty. And it poisoned us all. Terribly. So we won’t be returning.
The fries were super soggy by the time they took the fifteen minute car ride back to our house, but their actual flavor was fine.
Also, less of a big deal than the food poisoning, but they forgot to include a salad dressing so we had to drive back and get it and they made no attempt to make amends (I feel like they should have offered something for requiring thirty extra minutes of my life because of their mistake, even something small like a drink.)

On a visit to Ithaca for a campus tour of Cornell, our family was looking for a quick and casual lunch before driving off to visit a friend living in the Rochester area. After some quick searching, we saw some positive reviews for Gorgers and their subs so decided to give it a shot.
It was a pretty hot August day and the temperature inside was quite stifling, even with a few fans propped through the narrow location. Our order was taken quickly and we decided to eat there vs. our car. There was a great aroma and particularly the fresh made bread it appears they make on site. My only gripe about the location is that it was a bit on the dirty side inside — the tables and floor weren’t clean and garbage not cleared.
On to the subs. I debated between the Banh Mi and the Sweet Chili Chicken and opted for the latter. While I really liked my sub, I watched them make several of the former and they looked out of this world (and I had a hankering once I started on my sub for something with a bit more bite). The bread was so fresh and soft, perfect for a sub. I liked that the chicken (and pork as my youngest son had a pulled pork sub) was not chunks but shredded. The meat was fresh, white meat and very soft and moist and the sweet chili sauce added a nice flavor. My oldest had a cheese steak with onions and by the time I looked over to try a bit, I got the last remaining bite. It too was delicious. My wife had a half salad/​half sub sandwich while my daughter had a BBQ chicken sub. The subs were all quite large and well stuffed with meat and fixings and very reasonably priced. I can only imagine the parade of students from around that frequent this place for the large variety of subs at great prices.

Extremely good Southern Border Sandwich! Hands down the best sandwich in Ithaca. Comparable to Spiedie in Binghamton!
Premium quality bread is a plus!

HORRIBLE !!
To the store mangers, I WANT MY MONEY BACK !!
First, the rating on Unilocal is 100% off ! It’s just like Netflix with their ratings. 100% LIES !
This place looked disgusting. There were at least 3 flys flying around landing on people, and no one seem to care. The bathroom look like one of those nasty abandoned gas station bathrooms in the middle of nowhere.
Next, the two guys working here seem not to care about anything. It was sad. They were walking around looking all miserable and what not, throwing saggy French fries into the fryer. My sandwich was gross. I honestly don’t understand how someone can possibly find this good? You either have to be stoned or Brain damage to eat here.
Finally, I am 100% the guy rip me off.
I order one sandwich, small fries & a can of soda and he said it was $ 14 …
The sandwich– $ 8
Small fries — $ 1.75
soda — $ 1.00
How does this come up to $ 14? … I didn’t want to say anything because I had my son with me but another time and day I would have …

Has to be the worst sandwiches I ever ate. Couldn’t finish it. Tried my friend’s sandwich too. Omg! Nasty! The meat smelled.

Amazing sandwich!
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this place while doing some law school nonsense. Their buffalo chicken sandwich is what dreams are made of. And when you swap it out for their amazing ranch it’s heaven in your mouth.
They make their own bread which really makes a difference. The bread is great and you get a whole damn loaf for your sandwich. The whole thing! It’s huge.
Also their homemade fries are great. You can make a fatty meal out of have a sandwich and a small order of fries.

They have some pretty good sandwiches here. It’s a shame they’re not closer to campus.
They’re located just west of the Commons. You can usually find street parking if you park two or three blocks further down.
All of their sandwiches are around $ 8 and they are huge, especially compared to the stuff you get at CTB. You can order an banh mi here, which seems pretty popular. It’s pretty good despite being unauthentic, though it could use less sauce (that stuff just flows out). Fries are pretty good here too. They’re relatively cheap ($ 1.75 for a small order, which is still a fair amount) and go great with the meal. They’re really fast with getting your food ready; the fries are probably gonna be the slowest thing.
Service here is also really good and the guys seem really nice. The place itself is kinda dingy but I assume most people just do takeout anyway.