Restaurants in Elmira

Lime green walls surround guests at Mesa Grande Taqueria as they wait in a cafeteria-style line for their turn to watch cooks create customizable Mexican dishes. Tacos, burritos, nachos, and quesadillas materialize out of the restaurant’s fresh ingredients and meats, which include grilled chicken or steak that’s been marinated in chipotle adobo sauce, or vegetarian guacamole and black beans. As they diner, guests might also notice the restaurant’s energy-efficient lighting, reusable silverware and baskets, and biodegradable to-go utensils, which help the taqueria take its commitment to staying green well past its vivid walls.

Every week, one of Broadway Café’s baristas scrawls the weekly coffee special on the pastel chalkboard menu, eking out space alongside specialty pizzas, deli-style sandwiches, and salads. In addition to classic pies, such as meat lovers or margarita, cooks bake inventive iterations that include the buffalo chicken and the Rueben pizza, topped with shredded corn beef, swiss cheese, and kraut with a russian dressing sauce. Guests can also saunter in for breakfast sandwiches and wraps, all of which are available for catered events, such as birthdays, bat mitzvahs, and upscale bee attacks.

Outside, under a mammoth ice-cream cone, Arctic Island stands at the ready to sate sweet teeth and cool down overheated palates. Broadway Cafe's sister business slings soft-serve cones, scoops Premium Homemade Ice Cream flavors such as peppermint patty, and sprays whipped cream onto banana splits.

Ryan MacNamara spent his childhood summers on the south New Jersey shore, where he grew to love the philadelphia cheesesteaks he and his family picked up from local delis. The restaurateur adored the sandwiches so much that he opened a shrine to the cheesy treat: Mac’s Philly Steaks. One of his biggest obstacles was finding an authentic roll on which to serve his cheesesteaks; in the end, he decided to import Amoroso’s rolls directly from Philadelphia. To dovetail with the City of Brotherly Love–inspired food, the decor at the Geneva location features red-and-white-checkered flooring, mural depicting urban splendor, and Rocky beating the bread to the right level of softness.

The eatery's menu catalogs classic chicken and steak phillys as well as a few versions with a twist, such as the bacon-blue and chicken finger parmesan. Metromix praised the sandwiches for their soft bread and ideal ratio of toppings, a “generous but manageable” portion.

India Bazaar imports international ingredients for Indian cooking at home and also supplies ready-to-eat dishes for instantaneous consumption. Spices, Indian breads, and fragrant teas lead shoppers or Wolverines by their noses through well-stocked aisles. Indian beauty supplies embellish faces, and cookware helps patrons transform hefty sacks of rice into biryani. India Bazaar accommodates visitors from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. seven days a week, and as an added bonus, students of Syracuse University can call to request a complimentary shuttle.

Located inside The Brookwood Inn, LaRosa's Italian Kitchen + Bar serves classic Italian dishes made from fresh local and regional ingredients. Executive chef Dan Ambron quiets hunger pangs with samplers of cured Italian meats, plates of fresh seafood, and bountiful forkfuls of pasta. Elegant flower arrangements adorn white linen-topped tables as guests sip selections from the eatery's wine list and bite into flower petals in order to test their authenticity.

McNamara's expands the welcoming charm of its pub-like atmosphere into vast event spaces and a spread of breakfast and dinner fare to enjoy while watching sports or hosting catered gatherings. The in-house kitchen dishes omelettes and sandwiches as the hour of the day dictates, and the newly renovated Dublin Room hosts enormous bashes, seating up to 280 guests with room left to dance or stage a Civil War reenactment.