Temple of Zeus

This place is located on the Cornell campus — but it doesn’t accept Cornell’s campus currency, Big Red Bucks (BRBs). Coffees are undersized and overpriced, as are the sandwiches (they also charge $ 1.50 extra for a single slice of cheese).
This place is a scam. It’s a shame and a sham that Cornell has chosen to allow them a place on campus to exploit students.

This neat café is located in the new Klarman Hall. Their espresso drinks are great and you have the option of having your drink in a ceramic mug (for here) or in a portable to-​go cup (if you want it to-​go). The downside is that it’s a bit overpriced ($ 4.76 for a small 8 oz latte), they don’t take BRBs, and seating is limited.

Temple of Zues is the best place. Get there at 11:30 for some awesome, homemade soup! Great for vegetarians, too.

Easily one of the best on-​campus cafes. The soups are very good, but be warned they sell out. Limited seating in the café but a great grab and go type of spot. Also bear in mind, they don’t take BRBs. They will, however, accept CornellCard.

BY FAR my favorite spot to eat on campus. If you’re confused by the menu, don’t be shy, ask the staff what they recommend and work from there.
ToZ also has THE BEST SOUP ON CAMPUS. MAYBE THE BEST SOUP EVER (** If you can get there on time — usually before 1:00pm).
Though their lines can sometimes be long, I’ve never been more happy to wait for food. Their ingredients are fresh, local and often organic. Sandwiches, salads and wraps are made to-​order, and the staff is friendly and sociable.
Their pita’s are unlike anything else you’ll be able to purchase on campus, and because they are not associated with Cornell Dining, they have the advantage of keeping their prices low and being able to use the best ingredients out there.
Definitely try some salad dressings on your pita if you’re feeling adventurous. Personal recommendations:
–BLTease (Tofu, Gouda, Mayo) with Miso Ginger (hold the mustard, though)
— BLTease with Tomato Basil
— Fresh Mozzarella with Tomato Basil & Balsamic vinaigrette
— Turkey with fresh mozzarella and balsamic vinaigrette
— BLTease with tobasco!
— Egg Salad with Tomato Basil
— Roast Beef with Honey Mustard
Choklay and Nyima are culinary wizards.

They always have great soup – that is unless you get here late and it’s SOLD OUT! There are good sandwich options and of course they have vegetarian and VEGAN foods available including seitan or hummus for sandwiches, soups (I’m eating chickpea tomato now!) and various snacks! The staff each semester is very friendly as well. This is not Cornell dining, the prices are fair!
Oh and if you’re planning to get soup don’t show up near closing and expect there will be any left and also, BYOB/​M Bring your own bowl or super-​sized mug (such as my Pyrex mug with lid) the staff appreciates that you’re not using a paper bowl, so you’ll get a smile and a Bonus of soup!

The best place for lunch on Cornell campus, especially for soup. Great fresh and healthy sandwiches too. Friendly employees. $ off for bringing your own container for soup.

The soup here seems a bit overrated. Sometimes good, sometimes just okay, rarely very filling for some reason. None of the other offerings often really excite me, either; Zeus often only wins out over other options because of its convenience (and the fact that they offer Gimme coffee).

Not a lot of people know about this place for some reason!
— They have homemade soups, usually two kinds everyday and runs out fast. Their bean soups are great and don’t forget to get a pice of bread from your right.
— Their sandwiches are good, but especially on pita and topped with bean sprouts.
— The lines are way too long from 12:00pm to 12:45 pm, not worth the wait.
Best part: When Ithaca gets warmer, grab a coffee and a croissant and sit outside in their patio chairs overlooking the Arts Quad and the beautiful campus that this is.

On a cold winter day in Ithaca, there is no cheaper or better soup than that of Temple of Zeus.
This restaurant provide a healthy, affordable lunch to students.

Amazingly fresh and delicious soups!

I honestly don’t know why people love the soup here. I’m a BIG fan of soups, so I was excited to try the famed Temple of Zeus soups, but I was sorely disappointed. Both soups I tried were nearly inedible. I believe one was groundnut and the other one was a tomato one. They didn’t taste good, and they had a weird grainy texture. The soups at Big Red Barn are much better.
I do like the sandwiches here. You can build your own with meats like turkey and roast beef, veggies (cucumber, tomato, sprouts, onions), and cheese. They build them fresh and really pile on the ingredients.
They also have pastries, bagels, and to-​go foods. It’s 10 cents for a cup of water, free if you bring your own cup. They have a microwave and a toaster, too!

Soup!!! I can’t think of any place that made me look forward to lunch more. As Chris B said, the recipes are on-​line, but being able to get this type of belly-​filling, taste-​bud dancing goodness day in and day out makes all the difference. Don’t miss it… and do get there early! Mulligatawny, tomato, or the groundnut… you can’t go wrong!

Do not miss Temple of Zeus! A must-​eat lunch spot for anyone who finds his or her self on the hill. It’s all about the soup.
Most of their soup recipes (which are all vegetarian, by the way) are available online:
Get there early! I’d often miss the soup by about 2 or 3 bowls if I dawdled after my 11:15 ended.

Every student who ever has a class on or near the Arts Quad has to check this place out at least once. The homemade soups are made fresh every morning with local ingredients (can’t get any more Ithacan than that) with the experience of Choklay, who’s trained at the world-​famous (also local) Moosewood Restaurant. There are 2 soups offered daily (favorites: groundnut, tomato garlic, crema de elote, mulligitawny, ratatouille), along with a selection of salads, sandwiches (you can get meat), and pitas (I was a big fan of the vegetarian pita, A. because it was cheap, at something like $ 1.50, which might seem expensive for just half a pita with greens/​tomato, but B. it was totally stuffed with said veggies and it made me feel good. They also have things brought from an Asian eatery somewhere in town, which include v. delicious peanut/​sesame noodles.
Sure, you can sell out to the man (a.k.a. CU Dining) and go for a prepackaged salad/​sandwich at the Green Dragon, Big Red Barn, or leg it a bit further to the Ivy Room, but when you can spend half as much for better food… why don’t you?

This is my favorite lunch place on the blue speck. I love great soup, and I sample soups wherever I go. Drum roll, please… or, you can do that finger thing instead… … … I sometimes don’t have my drum on me, either… … … … …okay: This is the tastiest soup there has ever been, or ever will be, until the end of time. No joke.
Zeus is a small café that’s sort of in-​between the first floor and the basement of Goldwin Smith Hall on the Cornell campus. Their focus is on fresh and healthy lunch-​time options, with a special focus on vegetarian and vegan options (all of their soups are vegetarian, one of the two daily soups is vegan). Soups are fragrant, uplifting, colorful, savory, euphoric, and impossible to ever forget. Try Groundnut or East African Stew, and be transported to a far-​away land where ginger, peppers, peanuts, and spice toy with basmati and the luckiest yams in the world. Try Thai Carrot with its silky orange purée and coconut-​lime-​chili medley. Or, sip cilantro-​strewn gazpacho to tame a 90-​degree summer’s day. All soups are made fresh that morning by a couple of the most under-​appreciated culinary geniuses (C and N) the heavens ever gave us.
If you can get past the soups (which you can’t), go for a B.L. Tease (cooked tofu mixed with smoked gouda and a bit of mayo; bacony for the vege kids!) or the seitan-​and-​hummus, with it’s garlicy garbanzos.
Heaven should taste like Temple of Zeus soups. If it doesn’t, it should shape up now so it’s ready by the time I get there.