The Heights Restaurant and H Bar

I have had some excellent fine dining experiences in France, Spain, and Washington, DC. but
Wow, this is easily one of my worst dining experiences. The prices alone are absurd. Fortunately/​unfortunately we were using a gift card.
The main courses lack composition and flavor complexity. The portion sizes are out of control.
I got a trout special ($ 36), which was the entire fish. I don’t think I need to eat the entire fish but perhaps whence cometh thine price. Likewise, my husband ordered the steak ($ 59), which was also an obscenely large pile of meat.
In addition to the inordinate portion sizes, the dishes weren’t really «dishes» with a balance of sides, textures and complementary gastronomical pairings. Rather, they were large portions of protein with accents and garnishes. For example, my husband’s steak came out on a bed of plum-​saucy (more on that next) version of A1 with a token amount of potato wedges draped about it. My fish was on a what was described as roasted eggplants in the menu but came as a sugary vegetable chutney.
The flavor profile was, «sugar».
The steak sauce was very sweet and dominated the entire dish. I was not expecting «roast eggplant» to taste like sugar so I asked our server to ask the chef why it was so sweet. She was quite accommodating and honestly the best part of the whole experience. When she came back she told us that the chef said, «it’s not sweet; it has honey in it». Ok. In addition to this ignorant statement, he sent the dish back out this time with more sweet accents: balsamic reduction, more of the saccharin chutney on the side, and a new sauce for my fish that was essentially spicy-​sweet-​chili sauce that you might dip your fried spring roll in.
Pros: The ambience is promising. The service was great. The wait staff was courteous and professional.
Go to NYC. Go to Boston. Go to Philly. Go to DC. Don’t waste your money.
(Don’t come here if you’re diabetic or insulin resistant either!)

Came here for graduation weekend:
It wasn’t my graduation but I had heard a little about the nightmare of getting reservations basically anywhere for the entire weekend. As The Heights is indisputably one of the best restaurants in Ithaca, it unsurprisingly was one of the most competitive reservations, so we ended up with a 5:45 reservation despite my boyfriend calling the second it opened up to the general public. I’m not faulting The Heights for this, though; I’m sure they did the best they could.
We went in and were seated after 10-​ish minutes of waiting, which (coming from someone who has worked in restaurants before) is surprisingly low for such a busy night, especially when people are celebrating and therefore stay for unpredictable amounts of time.
Our server was older, maybe in his 60s, and did kind of the bare minimum to ensure we had a nice time: said hello, asked who was graduating, offered congratulations, and then read the specials– it wasn’t super personable or attentive service. I understand that he must have been busy, but I didn’t think the service was as outstanding as the place’s reputation might imply. It was just okay.
We started out with a round of drinks: I got something gin-​based with rosemary flavors which was pretty good but not the best drink I’ve ever had. The rosemary was unique, though, which I appreciated. My boyfriend’s bourbon-​based drink had blueberry and soda water, which was a strange choice with bourbon and kinda missed the mark. My second drink, which was something fizzy with pomegranate, was forgettable.
My boyfriend and I split the frutti di mare as an appetizer, which was advertised on the menu as having scallops, calamari, crab, and shrimp. It was basically calamari though. I think there were 2 scallops, one shrimp, and as far as I could tell, no crab in the appetizer. It was nice and fresh, but I thought it was misadvertised. I’m not a big calamari person so was going to nibble on the other seafood, but was disappointed.
The Heights is notable for having huge portion sizes, but I didn’t find this to be true across the board. I thought that was the strangest thing about the meal. I ordered the pork shoulder, which satisfied my relatively small appetite but I genuinely don’t think most people would have been filled. There were like 4 small pieces of pork shoulder atop a small pile of pasta. It was above average but not as good as I would have expected. Meanwhile, my boyfriend ordered a steak, which was like an entire cow and he couldn’t even finish it, so he doled out pieces to members of his family who had ordered smaller entrees. Overall it ended up being enough food for everyone, but I just thought it was so bizarre how some entrees were like 4x the size of others.
Overall, it was a decent meal, but in my opinion you’re better off getting a reservation outside of Ithaca for graduation, because if this is the best Ithaca has to offer, I can’t imagine what the other restaurants would have been like during the weekend.

I’ve lived in Ithaca for two years and I can say with complete confidence that you’re better off at Café Cent Dix (
) or John Thomas (
). At The Heights you’ll pay too much for a mediocre steak at a place that is inconveniently located on a busy intersection across the street from a Talbots. I made an $ 80 deposit for a reservation during graduation weekend. A family issue came up and I dared to ask The Heights to move my reservation later in the week. Instead of a simple favor, the employee on the phone laughed at me and I lost my $ 80. I’d expect this treatment from an Applebee’s, and I honestly believe this rudeness is very telling of the way you will be treated if you come.

(³⁵⁄₁₀₀) I probably should have taken a course on fine dining before making my reservation at this restaurant. This is a very fancy restaurant. If you’re going to splurge though, this is absolutely the place to do it.
From cocktails to dessert, this place is dynamite. Our server was personable and ensured we had a great evening. The T-​Bone special was worth every one of the $ 65 we paid for it. The Chocolate Martini paired with a berry dessert was my second favorite part.
I don’t live in Ithaca, which might be a good thing or I’d be putting $ 150 in my belly much more frequently.

It’s a good place for gastropubish food. Huge portions and moderately high prices. I personally am not a fan of the restaurant and it seems like everything I try is just ok and nothing I would order again. But my friends seem to like this spot much more than me. I think for me, Its probably a combo of taste and lack of creativity that bugs me but I wont hold this against their rating. The quality is good and service for the most part is good.
This place does get packed so I’m completely comfortable admitting that I may just not be their target customer. I suggest you give them a shot and judge for yourself.

Went on Valentine’s Day with my girlfriend. The atmosphere isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s not off-​putting either. The food is pricey, but it’s a fancy food place, so it’s expected. The food isn’t life-​changing, but it’s still excellent. We split the signature steak, which was delicious, though it didn’t quite reach my girlfriend’s high expectations given the price and how it was their «signature» steak. The dessert was good as well, though I couldn’t eat the whole thing and I was unpleasantly surprised to find blackberries inside my chocolate soufflé (though I probably should have asked what was inside it since it changes day-​to-​day). Aside from that, it was delicious.
The best thing by far was the service, though. Our waiter was friendly, helpful, patient, responsive, knowledgeable, and attentive, and this was in spite of how busy it was due to the holiday. No complaints whatsoever.
If the prices were lower or the food quality was a little more stellar, I’d probably give this place 5 stars. Still, if you don’t mind spending a little more than usual and you want an above-​average fine dining experience in Ithaca, this should easily be on your short-​list.

As someone who normally doesn’t splurge on dinners, I was hesitant to try The Heights. I was very pleased with our experience here.
We ordered steaks off of the specials menu, — I couldn’t have asked for a better steak or dining experience for that matter. The service was fantastic and friendly, the cocktails were well made and our food was cooked perfectly.
I was very happy with our experience here and the next time we want to splurge, we have our go-​to place!

Great lunch menu with great prices!

We (party of 6) went to celebrate for my daughter’s graduation from Cornell on Dec 18, 2015. Because we followed the suggestions from other Unilocalers, three of us ordered two Signature rib eye steaks and one Signature New York steak @ $ 65 each that night. Anticipating nice succulent steaks, we were astonished and flabbergasted that the meat was tough to chew and seemed like coming from old dying cows instead. It was not enjoyable to say the least. However, we kept our composure well and did not want to create a scene because of the presence of my daughter’s friends. Almost one month went by, I feel terribly compelled to correct the notion of how fantastic their signature steak is. I am not sure it was just that night that the quality was so bad but certainly it ruined and erroneously redefined our understanding of what an excellent steak is supposed to be, having been spoiled for years at Mastro, Flemings and Morton in the West Coast area. I was mentally tormented for weeks and stayed away from any kind of beef for weeks after our dinner at this restaurant which we were told naively to be excellent and pricey. Please note that I do not mind spending big bucks for best quality at all but definitely not at this restaurant that night. We barely ate our steaks and any common sense servers should have suspected why. He never asked! We refused to box the steaks because I think they were not even good for the homeless. The other two persons ordered Chicken and Sea Bass while we wrapped up our torturing dinner with delicious Lava Cake which at least served as a consolation for the night. Most of the servers were not friendly at all and probably they were not used to having minority customers eating steaks at their restaurant and we were the only group that night. If the signature steaks served today are still the ones we had, I strongly do not recommend this restaurant. Only the chef (I think he’s the owner) warmly greeted us when we were on the way out of the restaurant thanking us profusely. If only he knew…

Came with high expectations and recommendation from prof. Started with jumbo shrimp and smoked salmon. Both were TOO sweet. The mixed greens salad had more vinegar than it should. For entrees we had the beef short ribs and the pork shoulder, very mediocre and still a little on the sweet side. Liquor menu was pretty good with an abundant selection of malt whiskeys as well as wines and cocktails. Soufflé was ok and tiramisu was soaked. Anyways, probably won’t come again.

Great menu, really delicious options. Everything on the menu is excellent. Have been there to the bar a number of times and the food is an great compliment to the wine menu.
Update: Was there Thursday night, arrived in late to Tompkins County and feared that there would be no dinner to be found. On a chance, stopped by. Not only were they open, but they graciously allowed us to have a leisurely meal and drinks. Of particular note, the ravioli was outstanding and the chocolate lava cake was decadently good. If you’re traveling back to Ithaca, and think that late night pizza is the only choice, think again! But call ahead to make sure they will be open!

One of the best restaurants in Ithaca! Amazing service! I do not remember our waitress’ name but she was lovely.
I ordered the special for the day, a swordfish over spanish rice with a mango salsa. The portion was very large and the presentation was beautiful. Every bite was amazing!
For dessert I had the chocolate lava cake and it was delectable. There were crunchy bites of granola on top which was the perfect mix with the cake. I also liked how the cake was not too sweet, which usually happens with lava cakes. I will definitely be returning!

Had a business meeting in Cortland with a group of VIPs and wanted to take them to a nice restaurant in the area. Our hosts spoke highly of this restaurant so we made reservations only to have our guests bail on us. What the heck, we still have to eat right? The drive from Cortland to Ithaca was beautiful and the 6 of us were warmly greeted and led to our table. A basket of olive and pita bread with garlic hummus promptly showed up on the table. The bread was fresh and tasty as was the hummus — full of minced garlic! We ordered calamari and cauliflower for appetizers which were excellent! We wanted a couple of bottles of heavy reds and the waitress recommended a Cabernet Sauvignon from Pico and Vine (Napa) which was excellent and a perfect match for the red meat that most of us ordered. The meals come with either Cesar or mixed salad (with garbanzo beans and cauliflower). You know they knew what they are doing when anchovies were offered with the Cesar. I ordered the special boned-​in filet with braised lamb. The lamb was full of flavor and melted in your mouth. The filet was also excellent albeit slightly over done for medium, and slightly rare near the bone for medium rare. Still, the pairing with the sauces and the well flavored butternut squash was like a wee-​orchestrated symphony in the mouth. Everyone seemed to enjoy their meals, including our vegetarian who ordered an excellent eggplant dish. This is definitely a place worth visiting if you are in the area!

My wife and I ate here for our anniversary while we were visiting Ithaca. The restaurant is on the small side, so I would definitely recommend reservations. We were impressed with just about everything we had from start (bread/​hummus, cocktails, beer) to finish (wine/​halibut/​salmon). The main dishes were creative — my salmon was served over watermelon, feta, and polenta — and delicious. Definitely worth a visit if you’re looking for a nice meal.

I was traveling in the area, and found this place looking for a place near my hotel with decent Unilocal reviews.
I ordered a cocktail and food off the bar menu, although the cocktail was not listed. I ordered a half gin/​half vodka dirty martini, and the bartender easily made it to my exacting specifications (barely stirred, not shaken).
The bartender also served my food, and she was pleasant and attentive throughout. Service was prompt, my water glass was always full, and she was engaging without being pushy.
For my solo dinner, I ordered the teriyaki short rib with sticky rice, which was delicious and falling off the bone. I also received warm pita bread and olive bread with sides of olive oil/​balsamic vinegar and wonderfully garlicky hummus. For dessert, I could not resist the chocolate peanut butter torte with bananas foster sauce. The slim slice was just enough; it’s so dense and rich more would have been way too much.
No, it’s not cheap, but the presentation and quality are so high it didn’t bother me in the least. Would definitely dine here again when I am back for business.

Table clothes not on tables, silver not polished. Wine service was terrible. Mussels were full of sand and Fresh Fish of the Day was not very fresh and cold. Soufflé’ was very bad sauce was from a jar not the lava cake soufflé I know? Ordered coffee and had to ask three times to get it and the soufflé’ was cold and ice cream was melted by the time it arrived. Extremely expensive and definitely way over priced for below average quality. $ 28-​$ 38 Entrees without a starch! Salad greens were old and it is in season in NY. Stay far away Mcdonalds is better. First visit and the last! Very bad !!!

Overall we were quite happy with our experience at The Heights. We sat at a bar table with another couple so I can’t speak to the dining room menu and experience, but we will certainly be back.
We arrived at around 5:30 on a Thursday evening and there might have been one other occupied table in the entire restaurant. It did get busy later, but it appears pretty easy to get a table at The Heights. We found the servers and staff to be very friendly and eager to please.
The drink menu is quite frankly awesome – they have a lot of interesting cocktails and the serving sizes are large. My wife ordered a mixed drink and it came out in a huge tumbler. They have a few beers on tap, many bottled beers, and a pretty good selection of whiskeys and other liquors. For those of you who are bourbon aficionados, they have a few hard-​to-​get bottles, albeit probably for high prices. I stuck with beer because I found the whiskey prices to be a bit steep.
The food was very good all around. We ordered a chips-​and-​salsa appetizer that came with what appeared to be house-​made flour tortilla chips. I had the fish and chips. The fish was perfect, crispy, and delicious – although the fries were a bit limp and disappointing. The other dishes at the table were enjoyed by all. We also ordered a cheesecake dessert which was simply amazing.
Check it out if you’re in the area and don’t mind splurging – it is quite pricey here. Don’t hesitate to sit in the bar and order off the bar menu, which is pretty extensive.

This is definitely a 5 star place in Ithaca. I went here for a business dinner and it did not disappoint. The space is very nice and the service was quite good. We started off with some crab arancini for appetizers, these were spot on and had enough crab in them to make them super tasty. From there we did both steaks they had on the menu, the salmon, and the trout. The portions were good and no one was complaining the whole time we were eating, in fact it was silent which is always a good thing. For dessert we went with 2 orders of the chocolate soufflé which was amazing. If you go to The Heights this is the one thing that you must get. I have to say that I was impressed by The Heights and it is definitely the go-​to dinner spot when I am there next.

Didn’t reach the heights
the Heights didn’t live up to its reputation during Cornell graduation weekend. After reserving a 9:30 pm spot in January, and signing an agreement that had a lot of harsh sounding stipulations (15 min late, you lose your reservation and forfeit your deposit), we arrived 5 min early. The place was crowded with families waiting for tables. Weren’t seated until after 10. Bread for the now very hungry table? You’ll have to wait until we heat more up — we ran out the nice but clearly stressed waitress explained. The food, when it came, was fine but nothing special. You got the feeling they had stretched too far all evening and just couldn’t wait to get everyone out of there!

Food: One of my two favorite restaurants in Ithaca. When I want to splurge on steak, I eat at John Thomas, for everything else, I go to The Heights. They bill themselves as Mediterranean-​inspired American cuisine. The menu has a decent variety of options, though vegetarians may find it lacking. Huge wine list. Most recently, I had the sicilian cauliflower and the fish of the day, a fire-​roasted branzino. Both delicious and highly recommended, though I don’t think you can go wrong with most of the menu. Entrees come with a garden/​caesar salad, and the table starts with some amazing olive bread, pita, and in-​house hummus.
Service: Professional and friendly. We were seated quickly with an advanced reservation. Our waitress was familiar with the menu and answered our questions about several preparation methods. No formal dress code, though most customers tend to be more dressy than casual. Dining room feels a bit cramped, so neighboring conversations can get pretty loud.
Value: Excellent food, high prices. The general consensus is that the restaurant is overpriced for the quality of food and service you receive. Still, portions are larger and prices are lower than John Thomas, making this place my preferred dining experience in Ithaca. Good for a date, celebration, or best of all, if someone else is picking up the tab.

Pan seared bass: Incredibly crispy that paired so well with the yogurt sauce. Carrots had a sweet glaze that made it delicous.
Rack of lamb: tender, flavorful, with a slightly sweet wine reduction.
Teriyaki braised short rib/​gnocchi– never knew gnocchi could taste so good with an Asian inspired sauce. Best gnocchi ever!
T-​bone steak– tender, ginormous, the length of the bone was as big as my forearm.
Very nice service. The waiter gave us dried apricots and a chocolate sauce as a complimentary since they were not able to make us their famous lava cake (we came near closing time).

New to the area from NYC & this is hands down our favorite. Lunch & dinner are both great. Some of our faves are flatbread caeser (lunch menu), cheese steak (lunch menu), meatball (dinner) & lava cake (dinner). Only miss has been the pizza. Great spot to meet girlfriends for lunch or have a date night.

Who would’ve known I’d find some of the best pork I’ve ever had in Ithaca? But it’s true! James is a culinary genius! I was fortunate enough to not only experience his restaurant but also the off site catering portion of his business. It’s brilliant and exactly what Ithaca needs. High end, great tasting, excellent quality food that won’t leave your wallet empty.
You can definitely tell that James truly cares about his guests and clients just by interacting with him. It was an honor to try his food which you can tell he’s truly passionate about. I got to try some amazing grilled oysters and the BEST pork shoulder ever. And to finish off my meal? Pure decadence and indulgence in chocolate soufflé form topped with a homemade marshmallow.
I look forward to my return next year solely for this restaurant. Thank you for my amazing meal!

I thought I would check out what other people are saying about The Heights. It’s my favorite place in Ithaca; it never disappoints.
A few comments about other comments —
David S — I like the Antlers, but it is not in the same category as The Heights. The Antlers is a good, dependable restaurant but not as creative and accomodating as The Heights; the Antlers should cost less. And I do eat light at the Heights. If you let the staff know, they are very accommodating. Plus, the bar menu is a good alternative if you wish to pay less and still eat wonderful food.
Tamiko, you sound like an agreeable person who is not demanding. Alter! I have always found the attitude at The Heights is that they want to serve you delicious food that YOU want. Some restaurants won’t deviate from their menu compositions — by golly, if the menu says broccoli comes with the chicken, you can’t substitute the spinach. Not so here. They are happy to give you what you want. This is a place you can go to with any dietary restrictions and get something you will enjoy without a compromise on your part.
My own comments — the food is creative and delicious. Yes, sometimes I wonder about some of the dishes, but the chefs are trained at the Culinary Institute and know their foods. The staff is attentive but not intrusive. Need to get out quickly or want to linger? No problem.
My only complaint is that too many people have found their way to The Heights. So, do call ahead if you really want a table at a specific time.

On Saturday June 28^th, 2014 at approximately 5:30 pm, my girlfriend called the Heights to make a reservation for the two of us. The manager/​host said that they were not busy and we could come in. We arrived at the restaurant about twenty minutes later to see that there were few cars in the lot. When we entered it was extremely quiet (only two other small parties being served) when we entered and the host quickly directed us to our table. Immediately after being sat, a waitress brought us over two menus and our water. When I opened the black leather-​bound menu casing, there was no menu to be found. I laughed, as the waitress walked away, her not realizing I was without a menu. My girlfriend grabbed her and she got me a new one.
About five minutes later, my girlfriend and I realized that the waitress had not returned to take our drink order (by this point we also knew what we were ordering for dinner). Also at this point, I started the stopwatch on my phone to see how long it was going to take before anyone came over to us. Approximately eight minutes later, the waitress who brought us water/​menus peaked her head over towards us and quickly disappeared. Shortly after this, another waitress walked by, glanced at us, and continued walking. Since we were sitting at a table in the front room we could hear the two waitresses that passed us inform a waiter that we had put our menus down and were probably ready to order. The waiter replied, «well excuse me, I can’t see through walls!»
After waiting so long for any type of interaction and hearing the discussion amongst the wait staff, we opted to get up and leave. While walking out the door, the wait staff, manager/​host, and bartender all informed each other that we were leaving. We walked out to my car and sat there for about five minutes trying to figure out where to go. At this point, the manager/​host finally walked out to my car and asked if there was anything he could do. We said no, he said ok, and we parted ways.
This was our third time at The Heights. Originally we thought the first two experiences were relatively pleasant, but looking back on it, they were somewhat similar to this one (just not to that extent). The food is pretty good (we enjoyed the asparagus and speck both times), but the service is terrible. I would definitely recommend against having a meal here. If you want to have an upscale dinner in Ithaca, I would suggest Mercato for a consistently better meal; a friendlier and harder working staff; and an altogether better experience.

Perfection. The signature hand cut steak was made even more delicious with a rich, tangy sauce to tie it all together and the signature chocolate cake was the best way to top it all off– a symphony in my mouth. (The lava cake wasn’t bad either.) We tied the whole meal together with a great bordeaux (Château Brown).
Loved this little spot and will definitely be back next time I’m in Ithaca.

This is one of the nicest places to wine and dine in Ithaca. I came here for dinner, all dressed up. It is not cheap, especially for Ithaca, so make sure you’ve got some spare cash to spend.
We had a nice table for our group of 6. The service was impeccable.
We started with some wine. There was a guy there who knew all about wines and was let us sample a few before we decided on one.
For starters, we had the fried calamari and sicilian cauliflower. The cauliflower was amazing! Its amazing how they made such a plain vegetable so delicious.
For my main course, I had the grilled atlantic salmon with tompkins county vegetables (local vegetables!) and stick rice. It was very very filling!
By the time we made it to desert, I was pretty full. I was so full– I don’t even remember what I had (or perhaps too drunk to remember).
Anyways if you are looking for a nice meal in Ithaca, come here.