Gola Osteria Restaurant & Catering

Celebrated a birthday here and left disappointed. While the food was very good, the service undermined the entire experience. Our waiter was repeatedly condescending, made pointed remarks toward members of our table, and created an atmosphere that felt uncomfortable rather than celebratory. For a restaurant with a reputation like Gola, I feel like attentive and respectful service should be the bare minimum. Spending roughly $300 on a meal where guests feel talked down to is simply not acceptable. The food alone isn’t enough to justify the price if the hospitality falls this short.

I had taken my partner to Gola Astoria for their birthday celebration. The ambiance and wait staff had been on point. We were pleasantly impressed how they had brought our food out very quickly. My partner had mentioned to me that the Tortelloni dish they ordered was not fully cooked. It was hard not Al Dente. We brought it to the wait staffs attention and requested to have the plate replaced. The waiter said they could cook it alittle more for us. I requested it be replaced due to Tortelloni not being a dish that can be reconstituted by cooking it more. He responded ," Are you a food critic " very smugly. 10 plus minutes passed and he had brought back the Tortelloni to our table and it was completely flat and mushy. It looked as if it was microwaved. My partner mentioned it looked well overcooked but said they were hungry and it was ok. On my end i didnt see the need to actually request they taste the food that they had plated for us because I'm wanting to preserve the best experience for my partner on their special day. That was my top priority in regards to my needed attention. I smiled lots and was trying to be as gracious as my partner. I was so disappointed. That was not my 1st time , "Dining" here. I had treated family and friends to dinner at Golla Astoria a few times over the past few years. Overall, with good experiences. But have not returned since. Sadly, in addition to my partners food being sub par. I ordered one of my favorites there, "Grill Octopus". It didnt tasted "Grilled". It was what I would call Charred Octopus. Money not wasted due to being there for my partner. We smiled and continued our celebration that evening. But I will say it was money wasted for sub par food and the disappointment in the waitstaff experience. What i found interesting about the waiter was he had given us Eye Smiles through the initial interactions then after he made the remark," Are you a food critic " he smiled with a full mouth and he had some serious dental issues in the front. They list them selves as the ," Fine Dining Experience " . Hmm, He should have continued with the eye smiles after his mocking me. Eye Smiles worked. The condescending full grill smile not so pleasant for my appetite with having to look at his dental issues. I thought I should bring my experience to the attention of management and followed through with a phone call. They were not available so left a message with staff that I was wanting to bring my experience to the managers attention and asked if they would contact me. I did not receive a return call.

Excellent experience. The grilled swordfish was firm yet buttery and flaky, perfectly charred. Definitely the highlight of the meal. It looks small in the picture, but it was quite thick and and more than a sufficient portion.

After my fourth visit, I have to say I'm not impressed. The pasta is is mediocre, is the only affordable dish for non-wealthy folks. Would have loved to try the pork chop but it's 50 whole dollars. The appetizer and pasta we got was drowning in olive oil. Mostly good flavors, but not exciting or rich. For the price, and delightful atmosphere, the food falls short.

I loved my shrimp piccata and the pasta was delicious, but my in-laws were not blown away by their dishes. We were given the wrong wine once and a different year than what was on the menu twice. The waiter otherwise was fantastic (not his fault the wine list was wrong!)

Gola has a very well earned, and very well deserved, reputation in Ithaca. I came ravenous, determined to maximize my experience. My only question: is the Carbonara made with guanciale, as God intended, or pancetta (or worse). I was delighted with answer and proceeded. The tonnarelli is fatta in casa, as is all their pasta. It was prepared perfectly al dente. The carbonara itself was appropriately heavy, creamy and punctuated with magnificent crispy, buttery bites of guanciale. Carbonara done poorly can be too eggy or too creamy (due to inappropriate addition of extraneous dairy); mine was exactly where it should be and held it's own against any I've had in Roma. Against all better judgement, I ordered the swordfish as a secondi; my GLP-1 agonist failed that night. It arrived, a large filet, on a bed of eggplant caponata and beneath a thin sprinkling of crushed pistachio. I could hear my Sicilian forebears weeping with joy. The caponata was the perfect balance of eggplant sweetness and caper sour. The pistachio added a perfect textural element and an unexpected flavor to every mouthful. Of particular noteworthiness: the wine. I desired an adventure, so I ordered the last bottle of 2003 Aglianico from the Riserva list. I was informed that these bottles were an estate collection bequeathed to Gola by a devoted patron. Further, I was advised that a few of the bottles of that vintage had been found to have been corked. I took my chances. As is consistent with my overall luck, the cork did not survive removal. The wine itself, however, was still very good. The staff went above and beyond to filter and decant the bottle, salvaging an exquisite bottle. I look forward to returning to Gola as soon as possible.

I’ll say this…the food is very good. Being that I share my life with a person raised by Italian immigrants, I feel he knows good authentic Italian cuisine…so I’m comfortable saying the food is good. I have been a few times, pictures display clams and linguine, and oxtail bolognese. With that being said, its best to manage your expectations when it comes to service. The staff are pretentious and feel they are part of some exclusive and elite club. Some servers are better than others…but still lack the demeanor required to do the job with professional elegance, most likely because they’re burnt out. In the summer, sometimes the AC doesn’t work. Parking can be difficult. Nevertheless still worth all that for the food, if you can appreciate proper Italian cuisine…which means al dente pasta. Ciao.

Very disappointed !! This experience was for my Birthday dinner. Menu and website says fresh pasta and that was a lie and the boxed pasta that i was given was way undercooked in my meal. The pancheta was overcooked dark brown and on the cusp of being spoild. Service sucked. Not worth the money or the reservation. I regret it.

Delicious pasta! Better than Thompson and Bleecker and perhaps my favorite restaurant in Ithaca! We tried the eggplant roll appetizer which was warm and very cheesy. The anchovy salad was also good (I prefer the white anchovies which they used). The salad was also quite generous with the cheese. I enjoyed dipping the warm bread in the leftover eggplant cheese/sauce. For mains we tried the chicken, black spaghetti, and the pappardelle. I love mushrooms, so the pappardelle was my favorite. A rather simple buttery sauce which allowed the flavor of the mushrooms to really come through. Delicious! I don't usually like to re-order the same dish when returning to restaurants, but this was so good when I come back I will definitely be getting this again! Black spaghetti and chicken were also good- no complaints here. For dessert we tried the panna cotta which was a tiny bit on the runny side though I am just being picky. It was very tasty and not too sweet. The tiramisu was also good (on the boozier side). The desserts were rather small but the mains were all quite hefty portion sizes. Reservations were rather inconvenient to snag though definitely not too hard. Overall, I really enjoyed Gola Osteria and will have to return to try more of their pastas!

We went to Gola for my wife's birthday, expecting a great Italian dinner--something special, something authentic. Instead, we got one of the most confusingly bad meals I've had in a long time. She ordered the pasta primavera, which was bland and barely seasoned. The vegetables were forgettable, and the dish had no depth at all. It came with a side of polenta that was completely oversalted and somehow didn't even include Parmesan. She also got the tiramisu, which was overwhelmingly boozy--neither of us were expecting that, and it completely overpowered the dessert. The rosemary potatoes were okay, but there was barely a trace of rosemary, and what was there was clearly dried, not fresh. I had the veal, which was just awful. It was a thin, frozen piece of meat that had been pounded flat and fried to the texture of soggy newspaper. The broccoli it came with was so salty it was hard to eat. And I'm a chef--I love salt. I season boldly. But this was just completely unbalanced and excessive. We tried to give dessert a chance, but the so-called chocolate cake was a dense, dry chunk of chocolate with no flour, no sweetness, and definitely no strawberry sauce like the menu claimed. It wasn't a cake, and it wasn't a torte--it was just a brick. To top it all off, I ordered a cappuccino and was served a sad cup of coffee with no foam. It tasted like something you'd get at a diner. Also, the floors are so sticky our shoes literally stuck. The tables are grimy, the walls are cracked, windows dirty, the glasses spotty and the silverware they must have got surplus from the State Diner. For $170 (no alcohol), this was maybe a 2/10--and that's generous. I honestly don't understand why anyone talks about this place like it's good.

Awesome pasta, beautiful space, okay starters, uneven service. We stopped in on a Friday night after making a shopping run to Ithaca. The restaurant is a little out of the way, and not super-easy to find, but not impossible (you have to drive around behind the building). Parking was a little tight. It's a beautiful space, with elegant craftsman furniture and high ceilings. There aren't a huge number of tables, so it's probably wise to get a reservation. We were promptly seated (we did have a reservation) and our server was there relatively quickly. We ordered drinks (which took awhile to arrive, but were pretty reasonably priced) and contemplated the menu. Our server was attentive, and made sure to mention the prices of the specials, which is always helpful. I am a big fan of gnocchi (pasta dumplings, usually potato but sometimes made with ricotta), and have certainly eaten my weight in gnocchi over the years, and have made it a few times at home. When I asked about the "gnocchi lunghi" on the menu (with only the name of the dish in Italian, and no explanation), our server made a big deal about how everybody knows what it is (long, lumpy pasta noodles), and seemed kind of shocked that I didn't recognize it on the menu. I spent years living in San Francisco and Los Angeles, and I'm used to restaurants having some obscure stuff on the menu. I'm also used to staff cheerfully explaining the menu, educating diners about some obscure broccoli from the southern slopes of Vesuvius (I'm looking at you, Incanto, too bad you closed a decade ago!). It was a little weird to get hassled about the dish. I wound up with a simple pasta with butter and cheese, instead, which turned out to be pretty fabulous, with super-soft pasta (house-made?) and just the right amount of sauce. My partner was similarly delighted with her clam dish. Our starter of fava beans and cheese was only so-so -- the fava beans were definitely meh, and, while the chunks of cheese were great, how hard is it to cut up cheese? It was tasty cheese, and they chose it, so I guess there's that. Dinner was unrushed, to the point that we waited quite awhile for our entrees to arrive after finishing the starter. This is a win over places that rush you, but something to keep in mind if you have places to be. Would I come back? Probably. I've had some amazing food in Ithaca, with some awesome service, but this place is a bit cheaper, and the pasta truly was wonderful, and the space was very comfortable.

My wife and I came here for our anniversary. Multiple recommendations for this spot, and we made sure to have a reservation weeks in advance. Little to no wait when we got there. We sat down and they definitely forgot about us initially for about 25 minutes. The place had a decent crowd so we were patient. Approximately 40 minutes later our order was taken and we got some waters. The food came out over 90 minutes later. We ordered the calamari that was the appetizer special. Not fresh, very rubbery. Pasta was so firm it honestly had almost a crunch to it still. Chicken dish was inedible it was so salty. We ordered broccolini and all you could taste was a massive amount of what tasted like jarred garlic and salt. Staff was very friendly. Maybe it was a bad day in the kitchen. We were very disappointed and really wanted to like this place :/

Prices on their website are wrong, the prices for most items are a few more dollars now. If you are stuck going here, choose something with tomato sauce, every other sauce tastes like someone dumped a bucket of salt on top. I should have read the reviews. The only decent thing were the meatballs in tomato sauce. We ordered three different pasta dishes that did not have tomato sauce as the base and all tasted like saltwater. Service was decent, and ambiance-wise some of the songs they played in the background were weird.

Wonderful food and service !! So worth the treasure hunt to find this wonderful restaurant

I'm normally not into Italian restaurants, but Gola Osteria blew me out of the water. WOW. I had a date with someone who was very supportive of my Yelp review ambitions and was enthusiastic about having dinner here. We ended up having 3 courses + drinks and loved EVERYTHING. There's something about the way the chefs pair the ingredients in the dishes. Like we had the arancini for an appetizer and the way they seasoned the food and used ricotta and marinara to balance the cheesy rice balls was well executed. Prices are higher at this spot, but the ambiance and the portion sizes of the food justify it. Photo doesn't do the plating justice because it's a pic of my leftovers lol.

Very disappointed. Took our guests there for an anniversary celebration. We had specifically requested a table in a quiet part of the restaurant. Upon arrival, we were taken to a table in the bar area opposite the kitchen with pots and pans banging around, but were told this was the quiet area ??? We asked to be moved to a different table in the main dining room. We were taken to a nice table a bit more secluded in the corner....which would have been perfect, but was just underneath a speaker which was blasting loud rock and roll music, so we had to be moved again. Some soft jazz would have been so much nicer for a fine dining experience. This was so loud you couldn't have a conversation without having to shout. Ambience is not worthy of the excellent food, and the food is delicious. That said, given the prices you would think that a $44.00 veal parmigiana would come with a side of pasta or SOMETHING without having to pay extra. Server was new and not very knowledgeable or professional. Table settings are very plain for an upscale restaurant. All in all, a major disappointment. Despite the excellent food, the entire experience was not pleasant. We will not go back.

Authentic Italian dishes in a comfortable environment and attentive staff. Homemade pasta and meat dishes, all very traditional southern Italian style. Good wine list and bartender.

Sam! What a chef. Met him on the way out and it was an honor. Eating my leftovers now and you are soo talented. Unique dishes. We loved our meals. Split the arugula salad with mushrooms and I loved my shrimp dish. Pictures attached. Like other reviews have said this restaurant is hidden in a parking lot and you have to buzz to get in and it's in a residential building but the waiter told us that you can get in another way. Very unique wine menu too. Loved our wine overall a great experience. Wish I could bring Sam back to CT to a restaurant here. Soooo amazing!!!!

After reading great reviews, I was disappointed with my dining experience at Gola Osteria. We were seated at a table by the bar and it was so dark you could barely read the menu. Our waiter did not come over to our table for at least 15 minutes. The food was just okay. The Grilled Octopus was a generous portion of octopus, but half of the portion was undercooked and half of the portion was overcooked. The fennel salad that came with the Grilled Octopus was different and flavorful. The Black Spaghetti was okay -- the pasta was not cooked enough, but there was a decent amount of large shrimp which were good. The Linguine alle Vongole was swimming in butter. The Aperol Spritz was very good.

Visiting Ithaca from NYC and it was probably the best Italian meal I've had in a long while! Delicious homemade pasta, and all dishes delectable. Service was terrific, as well.

Wonderful restaurant with delicious food prepared thoughtfully. Service was first-rate, as well. Note that, based on our experience, weekend reservations will likely have to be made well in advance since the restaurant is modestly sized and deservedly popular. After trying to get a reservation during three different trips to Ithaca, we finally succeeded but only by booking 3 weeks out.

Very romantic spot. Great service. However, it is a very hidden location. It's by the fountain in the Collegetown Terrace buildings, you have to really enter inside the building and walk through a hallway. There's a paper-sized sign on the front of the door of the building indicating Gola Osteria is inside. Although it is a bit of a funky and hidden location, the food and vibes was certainly a great experience. I came here on Valentine's Day with my boyfriend (definitely book at least a month ahead of time to secure the time and day you want). We got an octopus dish as an appetizer and it blew my mind. Citrusy, savory, texture, all of it was there. Then, we got our main dishes. I got squid ink pasta with meat - it's a little spicy with very flavorful meat. It tastes almost like a little Asian fusion. My boyfriend got a cacio y pepe which is also pretty good but definitely not as flavorful. We were too full to get dessert, otherwise I would have 100% ordered the tiramisu. The service was very attentive, friendly, and full of smiles. I enjoyed my experience, and it is a really special place to go to. Fun fact: they make their pasta in-house, which is a really cool thing to boast about but they don't really highlight that much for their restaurant surprisingly.

Great Italian restaurant near Collegetown - would highly recommend the octopus appetizer and any of the pasta dishes! A great spot for more intimate gatherings or celebrations.

Would love to love this place, as they have a great menu, solid wine list, make their own pasta, service is good, and they have a cool vibe. It's frustrating because they are sloppy on some aesthetics, details (blotches on wine glasses, spots on flatware) and the atmosphere is a little all over: lights too bright in some areas, sometimes jarring background music etc. While dishes are very flavorful and presented well, the deal breaker after many visits over the years is salt. There is way too much salt in the majority of dishes we have ordered, from appetizers to entrees. Some things have been near inedible.

I really, really want to like Gola. It's the kind of place I *should* like - I love Italian food done well, this seems like the kind of place that would do that. Except.... they don't, at least in my opinion. I've been let down nearly every time I've gone. On one particularly awful occasion, I'd made reservations for my husband and myself and another couple. When we checked in, it seemed that our table was not available, and we waited in the corridor for a few minutes while they figured out where to put us. We ended up in the bar area. After perusing the menu, we attempted to order drinks, but our server seemed to have disappeared. We tried ordering from the bar but were directed back to our table. Eventually our server returned and we ordered our food and drinks. We watched as the bartender made them and placed them on the counter for the server. We watched patiently while the ice melted and condensation formed. Eventually we just got up and grabbed them, and the bartender didn't complain. Another time, again visiting with another couple, I had some questions about the wines. I'm pretty familiar with the local varietals, but wanted to know more about the Italian wines. Our server confessed she hadn't tried any of them and couldn't help me. It astounds me that the service staff would not be familiar with the wines they are serving. I would be embarrassed if I were that server. A good restaurant cares about ensuring that its staff is familiar with the the items on its menu, including wines, and can assist their guests with their choices. And, don't get me started on the food. I was so disappointed by the antipasto station. Grilled zucchini that was brown. Brown, I tell you! So overcooked and mushy, and no sign of it actually being zucchini other than being told that it was. Being served pasta that was *not* what was described on the menu, with no explanation as to the substitution. Did they think we wouldn't notice? Anyway, I've been there enough times to not want to go again.

Order: Pork Meatballs, Rigatoni with Oxtail Ragu and Pecorino Romano, Linguine alle Vongole This place is tucked behind the Collegetown Terrace apartment buildings, wouldn't have known it was there if not for maps. Went for din on a Wed, 5:30 pm. Was quite empty, only like two other tables were taken when we got there. The waiter said the pastas are handmade in house. They gave two thick fluffy pieces of bread and rosemary infused olive oil. The bread was warm too. 10/10 The meatballs were decently flavorful, texture was a bit lumpy in some parts but not too weird. Nothing about them stood out much though, tasted like meatball. 6/10 Rigatoni was very heavily covered in grated Parmesan. There was too much tomato sauce for my liking. The pasta was nicely Al dente though. 4/10 Linguine had a more mild flavor. The clams were very tasty. Enjoyed this one a lot more than the rigatoni. 7/10 The pricing was about as expensive as NYC.

Definitely a bit on the pricey side (as expected), ambiance was great but it is tough to navigate to the restaraunt as it shares the building with an apartment. Service was stellar. Food was alright, got the job done nothing out of this world though.

Delicious food, lovely atmosphere and attentive service as always. A hidden gem that's always worth a visit!

Delicious food and large portions. My wife and I split a salad and entree and left quite full. Good service and good ambiance.

Gola is one of the rare exceptions to my otherwise disappointing experience with the Ithaca restaurant scene. The restaurant is definitely a pain the butt to find, nestled - indeed, almost obscured - as it is among a bunch of seemingly residential buildings, and parking is very limited. But the food is definitely worth the hassle. We had late reservations - 9 pm - but the restaurant was still busy and packed when we arrived (a note here: it seems like a number of the better restaurants in Ithaca don't take reservations, which drives me a bit nuts; so, thanks to Gola for taking reservations and giving a diner a little less to fret about). Despite that, the noise level was not at all bad, and the wait for our table was short. The food was good. Starters for our party of four included eggplant rollatini and an arugula salad, both enjoyable. Everyone had pasta as a main course (their pasta servings are sized to be main courses) , and everyone enjoyed their food (though I should say that if you are looking for transcendant Italian food, this isn't the place; better to think of its offerings as skillfully and competently done) All the dishes were good, though none really stood out. I suppose what did stand out was the following a lot of disappointing dinners in Ithaca, this dinner was well above the average (it was also well above average in terms of price). Bottom line: I'd happily eat there again for a special occasion, which is certainly not true of many Ithaca restaurants. Recommended.

Great Italian food in Ithaca in a hard to find location, but worth looking for. Best Italian in Ithaca since Joe's left a decade ago. Great portions & classic dishes. Terrific charcuterie board - huge, plentiful, and lots of flavor. Pricy, but worth the $ and much better than other similarly priced places. Attentive staff & a warm environment with nice outdoor space as well.

The food was excellent, however the restaurant was a bit run down. Could use fresh paint, clean windows and fix the horrible slamming door. Every time the door was used it would slam very hard, so annoying! The waiter said it's been like that for 3 years, smh.

Creative menu, fun location, and experienced staff. Bravo! This is my favorite spot in Ithaca.

Great Italian food. Quick service. Interesting environment. Parking available. A bit expensive

Absolutely lovely restaurant. A great experience from end to end. The salads, pastas, the wines, the knowledgeable waitstaff- all lovely.

The food was fantastic and the service was stellar. I was there with a small group and everyone seemed very happy with the food and service.

Best place to eat in Ithaca! Food is incredible and staff is so friendly. Everyone I've brought here has absolutely loved it! Pasta is homemade and very delicious!

Final "Teen" birthday dinner for my daughter. We had a great dinner. Both enjoyed the arugula salad: delicate nuttiness of the greens were nicely balanced with the hint of citrus and balsamic glaze. I enjoyed the Bucatini: very flavorful and al dente! The best dish however had to be the black spaghetti: outstanding balance of caramelized peppers, shrimp, and pasta. That will be my choice next time! For dessert, the tiramisu proved to be a hit, especially with my daughter who normally thinks it can sometimes be too bitter. We will definitely eat here again the next time we're in Ithaca.

Very good, sauce was excellent, and I appreciated the char on the lasagna which added some complexity.

Excellent! We had a great dinner here for our anniversary. The fried meatballs were great, and the chicken parm, which they were kind enough to cook off the menu, was mountainous! Wine was very good as well. Service was perfect. Great recommendation from my friend George in New York, who will remind you that he went to Cornell just about every 3 minutes!

Great vibes and food. Friendly service and staff. My friend had a linguine a la vangole and it was made Al denta with a crisp white wine sauce, garlic with fresh water clams. It felt like a dish straight out of Cicely with the crushed pepper. I had a black shrimp pasta and it was delicious. Great dessert. Incredible drinks with bold taste.

Another lovely dinner at Gola with friends. The food overall was delicious- I ordered lasagna, which was huge, friends had the Bolognese and eggplant, both also more than enough for one meal. We started with Suppli (which was divine- highly recommend), fresh mozzarella (maybe skip it) and their house bread and oil ( which was free, so go nuts) There was a time when Gola made a focaccia bread as their "appetizer bread". Unfortunately those days are gone. Our waitress was attentive and even a bit overbearing, pushing specials and her favorite dishes hard despite being told no. With that said, we did not want for anything. Would recommend Gola!

Gola has a rep of being one of the higher end eateries around town, and let me tell you -- they live up to it. It's a bit of a weird maze to find it in the building, but hang in there. It's all part of the experience. It's November, so we weren't able to experience their allegedly beautiful patio seating, but the indoor area by the bar was cozy and had the pleasant din of happy diners. The food itself was truly phenomenal. The ricotta appetizer and the autumn salad were delicious, the pasta with clams was unreal, and the burnt sage apple crisp was OUTSTANDING. It was the type of meal where you are devastated to realize you're very full at some point, you forget to take photos of the food, and you think about for days afterwards. So, so good. And lastly, the service was absolutely wonderful. I can't wait to experience Gola again, hopefully very soon!

This place is amazing!! You won't be disappointed!! The service is great! The food is fantastic!! And the drinks are a healthy pour!! You can't go wrong here

Came for the first time on a busy Thursday night. Had a reservation and was seated immediately. Ordered a specialty spiced rum sour, which was pretty refreshing. Got the ricotta to share and it was unexpectedly very very spicy (3.5/5). Wish they had provided more bread for the amount of ricotta. Got the veal piccata for entree and it was decent (4/5). I knew it wasn't coming with pasta but it was a little subpar and the sauce was pretty watery. My friend got the Bolognese and they said it was really delicious. Server was slow and didn't check up on us enough. Would recommend for a nice dining experience, but make sure to make a reservation in advance.

We had the most odd treatment at Gola. Having been here before we knew the food is amazing and it was. Our server was great also. However I was very disappointed that our graduation reservation, made months before and confirmed was not honored. We arrived and the host asked if we minded sitting outside at the table we reserved even though it was chilly and raining? I insisted that out reservation was for the dining room, and she denied it, and offered us a seat in the bar area. We then sat in a completely empty room during gradation weekend wondering what the story was and why the poor and unprofessional treatment. Later when I went to look at the opentable reservation that the host insisted was for outside, it had vanished, preventing me from writing a review. We will not be back here, but only because my daughter is graduating. The food here is the best in Ithaca! The room is drab and sorely needs a refurbish. Our server was wonderful, although he tried to make excuses saying "the host is 14 and hired yesterday". Wow nobody likes being lied to their face, and then to listen to excuses. Once they saw we were upset, an apology and a glass of free wine would have done the trick. I really should give one star, but I do not want to be a Karen.

This place is such a gem! They do upscale, authentic Italian food in what I believe is a dorm building, so it's a unique experience. The food is fantastic, and I believe they change the menu daily based on what's in season and available. We opted for ordering a few appetizers over the tavola fredda, which is an assortment of cheeses and other antipasti they display as you walk into the restaurant. I highly recommend the mozzarella--they say it's hand-pulled that day and it was absolutely delicious. Everything we ordered was delicious, and I especially appreciated how all of the pasta was cooked to the perfect al dente. They know what they're doing! We came on a Friday night with a reservation, and the only drawback was that the service was slow getting our mains out after the antipasti. Our server was awesome and gave us some great recommendations throughout the meal, I think just the kitchen must have been busy with orders. We were sitting on the deck, which had a pleasant view of the forest, but later on in the evening it got chilly, so we asked one of the servers if the portable heater could be turned on and brought closer to us, and they did it immediately. Overall, Gola was a fantastic experience and I really enjoyed the food and atmosphere of the restaurant.

Four of us went to Gola for dinner on a Thursday night. Service was okay and prices were about normal for fine dining establishment. Everything was a la carte. Music was so loud it was hard to talk and listen even though we were seated in a far corner. Food was so-so. I had veal saltimbocca on a bed of very bitter rapini $38.00. Instead of veal cutlets, it was a large fairly thick piece of veal, semi-tender, with some prosciutto. (I saw no sage leaves.) It was ok but not terribly tasty considering the reputation of this restaurant. I had 2 fried artichokes which were ok for $14.00, coffee $2.50 and a single cannoli for $10.00 that was pretty good. A glass of Chianti was $14.00 but list did not specify if it was "Reserva", denoting the best. I was expecting a spectacular meal based on other reviews but I have to say this was quite disappointing. I would not recommend.

Came here second time after a few years. While the vibe seems cool the execution isn't great. I had the black spaghetti with shrimp and homemade sausage and was very disappointed. It was tasteless. No garlic, no olive oil and very little seasoning at all - never mind Italian. Also had the eggplant parmigiana starter which tasted like premade food from Wegmans. The bread was warm but clearly was bought from Wegmans as well. Lastly our waiter was a bit surly and didn't seem to want to be there. If you are in the mood for a relatively quasi Italian meal that is decent quality in Ithaca head to Taverna Banfi instead.

One of my favorite restaurants in Ithaca. If you are visiting and have the budget for a nicer dinner one night, do not skip this place. Incredible Italian food; I don't even have anything specific to recommend on the menu because truly everything I've had has been delicious!

Gola Osteria is definitely a must try restaurant in Ithaca! The pastas here are made fresh in house each day and they are so unique. The baked rigatoni was good but nothing too spectacular. There was a strong tomato flavor from the sauce and crispy exteriors from the oven. On the other hand, that day's garlic mushroom pasta special was to die for!! I do not like eating mushrooms at all but when I tried it I was floored by the taste. The garlicy oil flavor was very strong and complemented the noodles and the chanterelle mushrooms so well. The mushrooms didn't have the characteristic earthy "mushroom taste" that I usually don't like; instead, they had kind of a meatier taste. I highly recommend trying their daily specials (especially if you can try this mushroom pasta)! Our server was also extremely friendly and helpful answering menu-related questions. While the price is quite high, it's still worth coming at least once to try the food and enjoy the view (sit outside).

Gola Osteria catered my wedding and it was the GREATEST experience my guests and I have ever had! It started with planning and menu selection; Gola was very receptive to our ideas, made recommendations, and combined our creative efforts for a unique and personalized event. Our guests were blown away buy the choices offered which included fan favorites plus delicious chef specials! The staff was attentive to EACH AND EVERY guest and the service was flawless. Our setup was "family style" for 80guests and the usual compliant is that half the room is served warm food and the others cold; definitely NOT here! The presentation was beautiful, details fit our theme, and Gola even had a coordinator available to tie loose ends and collaborate with all the other vendors. The guests left satisfied and my wife was happy...perfect start to our "happy wife, happy life!"

Sam and his staff have created an amazing restaurant out of a very unique location. Rhe hand cut pasta and especially the black spaghetti are amazing dishes. The drinks are always unique and the wine list is outstanding. A must have!

Yelp basically led me to my wife and I dining at Gola Osteria in Ithaca. I was looking for a nice date night type restaurant on my way to a weekend at the Finger Lakes. While Gola was not universally loved by all, the upside seemed to have more potential than the downside from what I read. The location is definitely wild. It will either turn you off or you'll find it charmingly interesting based on your taste. Gola is behind dorms on a dead end street in what appears to be an apartment building. I think the building may have been an old hospital way back in the day. It is that old. You can park in the lot with the residents and need to get buzzed in, much like an apartment building. After some winding halls and some signs pointing you in the right direction, you arrive at a door with "Gola" on it. There is not much of a bar there (3-4 stools) to have a drink before dinner or an after dinner drink. So i suggest showing up around your reservation time. I used Open Table and had no issues whatsoever. The room with the bar has 4 or so tables and the main dining area has maybe 15. I requested a dining room table when I made the reservation. We were promptly seated and waited on. Our waiter was very nice, he came back multiple times to the table, as we weren't sure of what wine we wanted or because we had questions about the menu entrées. He took time to talk with us an gave us good recommendations. Ultimately, for us, it was all great. I started with the pork meatballs ($15) as an app and my wife got a salad much like a Ceasar ($13). The meatballs were incredible and I think my wife enjoyed them more than me. Unfortunately, there were only 4, but with soft ricotta dabbed in the middle of the plate, crispy basil on top, and a delicious sauce, they are a must get if you like meatballs. The Ceasar like salad was good as well. My wife really didn't know where to go with her entree and as I said earlier, the waiter was a huge help. I was dead set on the pork chop ($38). My wife got garganelli pasta ($27) in a truffle butter cream sauce. We chose well. These 2 entrées were pretty much outstanding. The portions were nice and left us room for dessert. My wife and I normally would wrap up a great Italian dinner with some tiramisu, but inexplicably, there was none on the menu. A minor setback, as she got chocolate cheesecake and I got an almond cannoli. There is a nice choice of after dinner Italian liquors to have with coffee and dessert. Overall, we would definitely go back to Gola. The bill was beyond reasonable considering having glasses of wine, 3 courses and after dinner drinks. I wish there was a better bar to get there early and enjoy a drink and some tiramisu for dessert, but these are minor gripes. I'd say 4 1/2 stars for my first experience there.

This restaurant is located in a Cornell University dorm. You heard me right: It's in a dorm. Went here for a Ithaca U Grad party a couple of weeks ago and sat on the patio overlooking the dorm parking lot and a construction crane and some wooded area. I did not select it--we were hosted by the proud parents of the graduate. I am from the Los Angeles/Beverly Hills area, but the prices here are comparable to what we pay for a similar meal in my area--one of the most expensive in the United States. Are Ithaca restaurant lease rates the same as Beverly Hills?? But let's talk about the food: It is good to very good depending on the dish, but not outstanding. But given the prices, I would probably not return here. I did not see the value if I had to pay next time. Service was very good. Here is a summary of what I ate/tasted at this meal: Salmon: 4 of 5. It was fine, a bit overbaked, but fine. (Leave the Olives off next time.) Octopus: 1 of 5: You may like it, I could barely digest it--had a weird taste. Table Bread: 1 of 5: Bland, tasteless. They should be able to do better. Homemade Spinach Fettuccine with Red Sauce:P 4.5 of 5. Loved it. Artichoke Appetizer: 3 of 5. Good, nothing special. Cheese: 3 of 5. Okay Service: 4 of 5. No problems. --- Just a side comment on the rest of the menu: They have pork meatballs and other pork italian dishes. Why not just use beef? Where's the beef? In my area, pork is a poor man's substitute for beef served in low end places. You would insult the owner of a high end classy Italian restaurant if you even asked if there was pork in the meatballs or meatsauce. This place may be your cup of tea, it really wasn't mine--but again, overall we had a great time, the graduate loved it, and the meal was fine. I will remember it forever.

Gola Osteria is home to some of the best pasta this foodie has ever tasted outside of Italy. Stepping into the dining area feels a lot like crossing the threshold into someone's home, with dim lighting and comfortable furniture offering a delightfully cozy ambiance. My dining companions and I started off the evening with the house-made mozzarella, which was served on a bed of sun-dried tomatoes and dressed up with roasted squash. The cheese was splendidly soft with an ideal balance between salinity and creaminess, making my companions and I wish we had each ordered a plate for ourselves! For the main course, I could not help but opt for the spaghetti cacio e pepe. The portion was generous and the flavors sublime, offering a rich blend of Pecorino Romano and black pepper. My acquaintances chose the linguine alle vongole and the gnocchi, each of which looked delicious in their own right. Although we were each stuffed to the brim by the time our plates were clean, it would go against my own personal conscience to skip dessert. I was craving chocolate and thus picked out the flourless chocolate torta, which was perfectly complemented by a topping of slivered almonds and candied cherries. I also tried a bite of the pumpkin tiramisu, which offered a creative twist on a classic by using ginger snaps instead of lady fingers. For a meal you'll be dreaming about for days, make your Gola reservation right away!

I visited the restaurant last year and was so impressed. Very different experience this year. Food was salty beyond being edible . The server did not acknowledge/ apologize . Would not go here again.