Ithaca Gateway BBQ Kitchen

4 stars for bbq ribs and alligator gumbo. The gumbo was rich, smoky, and not too salty. Alligator was a little tough, but I’ve never had tender alligator before, so hard to compare. Had the combo dinner special with ½ rack of ribs and ¼ bbq chicken and mac and cheese. Both entrees looked great — ribs were juicy and tender (and a little more fatty than I would have liked, i.e. they could have been trimmed a little more perhaps) but very flavorful — some combo of sauce and rub. The chicken was well cooked, and not dry, but not juicy either. Mac and cheese had a hint of garlic — could use more, but was creamy and good texture, not runny.
My companion had the combo platter with ribs, brisket, pulled pork, along with appleslaw and black eyed peas (salad) of some kind. All were just OK for her, except the ribs, which she enjoyed most. I though the pulled pork was good — I don’t usually get pulled pork b/​c it’s so often dried meat drowned in sauce, but that thought it was a good level of moist meat and not too much sauce. The brisket was flavorful, and somehow tender enough to fall apart, but a little tough when chewing. I enjoyed the flavors and freshness of the appleslaw, but the blackeyed peas salad was a little mushy and didn’t have much flavor despite having what looked like a good amount of chopped tomato and veggies and herbs — maybe more salt.
I would definitely go back for ribs, gumbo, and slaw.

The brisket and pulled pork sandwich were awesome. Will definitely return if my son ends up attending Cornell.

Simple décor, a few tables, but the barbecue is delicious. I highly recommend the brisket, and the salted potatoes.

They have great pulled pork and an awesome barbecue salad topped with brisket. Definitely my favorite bbq in town!

I got the pulled pork with Mac and cheese. The Mac and cheese was baked and so delicious! I would say it probably needed a tiny bit of salt, but I didn’t mind too much since the rest of my meal was so flavorful! The pulled pork was very tender and had a great barbecue sauce on it. It was a hefty portion so after finishing my Mac and cheese, I could really only eat half of the meat! It was nice to eat the rest of it as a snack later though. The order also came with a little piece of cornbread that actually had small pieces of scallion in it. It wasn’t too strong of a flavor so I really enjoyed.
They do prepare everything to order but I was confused as to why two other people’s to-​go orders were prepared before our to-​go order was. It took a bit longer than I would’ve liked it to. But overall, a tasty and great value meal! It was $ 8.25 for the pulled pork + one side.

Excellent food and reasonably priced! Be prepared to wait a little longer than your traditional fast causal restaurant because the food is fresh and cooked to order.

For Ithaca, the bar-​b-​q is good. I have enjoyed their brisket, a burger, and mozzarella sticks. All good comfort food.

We ordered 2 fish/​shrimp Friday night combo dinners, one breaded, the other broiled. They were both great, with Apple slaw. Also got a half bbq chicken that was good. Ordered sassy wings– excellent! We were really impressed with our salads, they were fresh, homemade dressing was very good especially the blue cheese. I never write reviews but this place was so good I really want it to stay in business!

I ordered a few items from here and they satisfied the barbecue craving I had, but I wasn’t particularly impressed.
Pulled pork bbq: The sauce was tasty but there was too much of it and the pork was extremely shredded. It was okay, but I like Maxie’s pulled pork more.
Mac and cheese: It was okay but didn’t have any strong flavors and needed some salt.
Baked beans: Tasted like baked beans should.
Cornbread: Was slightly dry, but some salted butter made it much better (no surprise there I guess).
Fries: The fries were really good and I liked the seasoning used in the beer batter.

Boy, I’ll tell ya what. When it comes to butt kickin’ bar-​B-​Q, ain’t no place in these here parts that gives Gateway reason to fear. They’re the undisputed kings, and it’d be a cryin’ shame if no one came to realize that.
I rode in right before the sun began to set, and my stomach was lettin’ me know – loud and clear – that it wasn’t gonna continue to work for free. I hear ya, little stomach buddy. Now, I had an inkling of what this place was, seein’ as I’d encountered the likes of ‘em before (ya know, Chowder Fest an’ all that). I reckoned any half-​decent chow would do, and based on my previous ren-​day-​vous with BBQ in Ithaca, let’s be honest… I din’t exactly have high hopes. But it’s like they say: ask a horse to trot and smile when he gallops. As soon as that food came out, I could tell my prayers were answered (and if you ain’t prayin’ fer good BBQ, the hell you prayin’ fer?).
I’ll be straight with ya: the brisket was tender, moist, fallin’ apart at the seams, and smothered in a sweet, tangy sauce. (By the way, some other yahoo down below complained about his brisket fallin’ apart. Complained. I swear, what’s this world comin’ to when they let heretics like that write anythin’ they want?) Anywho, the sides were just right, and I gotta be extra clear on this: the cornbread was the real McCoy. I mean to say, it was obviously from scratch, baked in with herbs and corn kernels, not like them boxed squares that try to pull a fast one on my tastebuds. Hat’s off to you, Gateway, for doin’ a hard day’s work of cookin’ the way it was meant to be done.
Now, here’s the thing: Gateway’s a small place in a less-​than-​hoppin’ part of town. That’s alright with me, and it don’t amount to nothin’ in terms of their quality. But I reckon it don’t do much for their publicity, so I’m declarin’ my intentions to go back, and I suggest you do the same.

We first caught wind of this place during the Ithaca Chowder Fest. Their Chowder was, for me, hands-​down the best of the bunch.
We finally had an opportunity to check them out today. Being a vegetarian, I was planning on a paltry selection for me to choose from. I was delighted to find that I was wrong.
I ordered the portobello mushroom sandwich and macaroni salad. They don’t have much of a seating area, (they must do most business through their deliveries) but they were very helpful and attentive.
My boyfriend ordered the brisket and fried petal onions. I was actually pleased that it took a fair amount of time for the food to come out. I loathe pre-​made food just sitting in a warmer waiting to be scooped out.
My «burger» was amazing. Super juicy marinade made for a delicious, sloppy mess. I loved it. My boyfriend took one bite of his brisket and said «this is the barbecue place that I have always wanted Ithaca to have.» The petal onion fries were yummy, though I wasn’t a fan of the dipping sauce they had. it was kind of like a Chipotle aioli, that wasn’t *bad* per se, but it didn’t seem to fit with the rest of the meal.
I’m glad we went there, it was absolutely delicious, and I look forward I trying more from their menu.

Excellent BBQ at a great price! Large portions. Brisket was very tender and didn’t require a knife to cut it. Would highly recommend!

Good:
— Brisket
— Zucchini fries
— Friendly cashier
— Happy to take coupon we had
— Nice presentation
— lots of good stuff on the menu
Okay:
— Corn bread — not the best, shaped like churros
— Wings
— Small amount of seating inside, not good for groups
Bad:
— Mac and cheese. Really bland.
— Ordered at restaurant, takeout took about 40 minutes (they said 20 – 30)
I would probably go again and order slightly different things.

Ordered a «Havana» sandwich to go. Sloppy mess of pulled pork, ham, and pickles that was nothing special really and they forgot to give me cornbread. I have had their turkey legs and pulled pork before and they are good but heavily sauced and just OK.

I have to spread the word about the Summer Salad. Whether it’s Summer or you just wish to be reminded of warm weather you just have to try this dish. The taste was complex, unique and ingeniously put together. Simply put, it’s the best salad I have ever eaten.

They have generous portions for good prices, and I was pleasantly surprised to have wait service. However, I was disappointed that they didn’t have brisket at 6pm on a Friday night. I had the bbq pulled pork instead. I thought it had good flavor, but it was drowning in sauce. I prefer to add sauce myself.
I liked the outdoor seating, but next time I will avoid sitting near the exhaust vent (kind of near the doors). I smelled like smoke for the rest of the day.

Some of the best pulled pork I have ever had! If you’re looking for a bite to eat with a ton of BBQ flavor go here. I ordered the Mac n Cheese with pulled pork (special) and it was amazing. So much pulled pork for only $ 9! I’ll definitely be going back when I’m in Ithaca again.

for being a relatively new restaurant they put out some pretty solid food, but there’s room for improvement. there’s a few tables outside and a few tables inside, but it’s pretty cramped inside, so i suggest getting it to go. the cashier was extremely friendly and the price was fair, especially for the portions.
i’ll start off with the meats. so far i’ve tried the ribs and the brisket. the brisket was a little overdone because it fell apart too easily when i went to pick it up with my fork, but it was still fatty and moist as a brisket should be. the smoke flavor was pretty decent on it but could have been a little stronger. there was also no smoke ring on it. the ribs didn’t have a smoke ring either, but the smoke flavor on the ribs was stronger than the brisket and that’s what really matters. it seems like they ran a clean fire because there was no dirty bitter taste at all from it, although i didn’t smell any smoke at all when i was at the restaurant. the ribs were weird. they were very meaty and while the bones fell right out, the meat was still tough. a good rib is supposed to have a little chew/​clean bite to it, but i do wish these ones were a little bit more tender. the sauce here is good too. it’s not the best i’ve had, but it’s not as generic as the sauce at Fat Jack’s, but still overall i do favor fat jack’s food more.
now for the sides, this is where it’s hit or miss. i’ll start with something positive… the apple slaw. this is a great idea and the flavor was good, i would love to try this on a pulled pork sandwich, which i will probably do on my next visit (and yes, i do plan on coming here again sometime). there’s a few different styles of potato salad, and this one is creamy with no mustard, which isn’t my favorite style but these guys did a decent job with it. i don’t like too much egg in my salads and there were pretty big chunks of it in Gateway’s potato salad. the baked beans weren’t anything special, they just tasted like canned pork and beans with maybe a little bit of their BBQ sauce tossed in. i also tried the mac n cheese and i can’t figure out whether or not i like it! there’s a good amount of cheese on it, and i feel like there’s a unique cheese in it too, but i wish it was a little creamier because the cheese doesn’t really stick to the noodles, so the flavor of the elbows comes through a little more than it should. the cornbread was pretty gross in my opinion. there were corn kernels in it which i’m not a fan of. there were also jalapenos and cheese in it, which i am a fan of, but yet somehow it was still off. it seemed stale, i looked to see if there was any mold on it and i didn’t see any (unless maybe there weren’t jalapenos in it afterall!), but it tasted like it was on the verge of going bad. it wasn’t very moist, but i blame that on the shape of it. it was an oval, i’m guessing it was supposed to look like and ear of corn, which is kinda cute, but bbq isn’t supposed to be cute!
so overall they made a pretty decent first impression on me. Fat Jack’s is my favorite ithaca area BBQ but these guys aren’t too far behind, and they’re def better than The Haunt and Bookers. give em a shot if you haven’t done so yet.

Great stuff! My wife tried a sandwich with zucchini fries, and I had the BBQ on mac and cheese plate special. Everything was hot, delicious, and for a very good price. The food was spiced and cooked correctly – sauces were good, meats were tender and delicious, and the veggies were fresh. There are a lot of nice touches like a pitcher of ice water brought out to the table, nice places and silverware, etc.
I have to say that the staff is very pleasant as well, and this is a huge factor in getting me to go somewhere over all the other offerings. The Gateway areas contains several eateries, and there are dozens of choices within a 2-​block walk. Go to Gateway Kitchen for great, friendly service and eagerness to earn your repeat business.

Fresh food, great portions. And just great take out. Probably the best take out in Ithaca. The salads are great.
Congratulations on a job well done. Many details are executed very well.
Thank for a great meal.