Big Red Barn
Pub · Ithaca
About Big Red Barn
Big Red Barn is a Pub restaurant located in Ithaca, NY. Rated 4.5 out of 5 by guests. Known for: Fast service. Popular for lunch, solo dining, good for working on laptop. The menu features coffee, quick bite. Offers dine-in, takeout, outdoor seating. Casual, cozy, historic, trendy atmosphere.
What Customers Say About Big Red Barn
Big Red Barn is a popular spot, especially for grad students, known for its cheap beer, free snacks, and relaxed atmosphere. It's praised for being a great place to study and socialize, though some find the food average and events can cause unexpected closures.
Popular Dishes
Best For
Tip: Great for grad students with dollar beer in the afternoon and free coffee in the morning. Be aware that Fridays can get crowded and events may cause closures.
Features
What to see nearby
Data from Wikidata
Explore the area around Big Red Barn
Big Red Barn is located in Ithaca, surrounded by cultural and historical points of interest. Here are some of the most notable places nearby.
Parks & Gardens
- Farrand Garden (A 56m) — park in Tompkins County, New York, United States of America
- Rockwell Azalea Garden (A 85m) — park in the United States of America
- Peter Plaza (A 224m) — park in the United States of America
- Deans Garden (A 372m) — park in the United States of America
Other Points of Interest
- Bradfield Hall (A 121m) — building in New York, United States
- Sheldon Memorial Exedra and Sundial (Cornell) (A 201m) — Monument at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- Andrew D. White statue (A 247m) — Statue on the campus of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- Olin Library (Cornell) (A 283m) — library building at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.
- Mann Library (A 376m) — main library of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
- Bill & Melinda Gates Hall (Cornell) (A 386m) — building in United States of America
Data from Wikidata
Frequently asked questions about Big Red Barn
Big Red Barn Ithaca Reviews
Great meeting place for grad students during their happy hour specials on Friday afternoons. Hard to beat the $1 beers and free finger food. Also, a surprisingly good dance space for the monthly salsa night and semi occasional dance party.
food is good, the place is large and comfortable. Employees are really kind!
Great meeting place for grad students during their happy hour specials on Friday afternoons. Hard to beat the $1 beers and free finger food. Also, a surprisingly good dance space for the monthly salsa night and semi occasional dance party.
food is good, the place is large and comfortable. Employees are really kind!
So many friendly people there!
$1 beers is what Friday's are for.
Homely barn with dollar beers!
Nice place for coffee and sandwich
Great hung out joint
Beer on Fridays!
Fun atmosphere
Beer for 1 dollar?! Bomboclaat
Nice place, cheap good quality beer, free snacks and occasional events.
Great hangout for grad students. Lots of events like trivia, cheap drinks, and more
Nice place to sit and write your paper or thesis. Morning 8 am to 11am is writing hours in BRB.
Great place to get dollar beers and hang out with grad students.
Always a good spot to meet colleagues, exchange ideas, and enjoy $1 beers
Cozy, great place to study, free popcorn, and cheap drafts after 2pm!
Favorite in my time was the PhD sandwich and the Tuna melt (but don't eat tuna).
Atmosphere is always inviting and staff is very friendly.
Very chill place for grad students to hang out at
An old nice building with friendly atmosphere
Cheap drinks fun atmosphere!
Had a great time at Trivia night
An amazing place for cheap beer with colleagues (usually Friday). During the school year, it also is a nice place to grab a sandwich or soup around lunchtime. The BRB also hosts a good variety of events (swing dance, trivia, and more) that are always fun.
Located on the Cornell University campus, The big red Barn is a wonderful meeting place for graduate students and exhibits. The parking lot offers a stunning view of Cornell's watchtower and landscape. Indoors is a cafe and plenty of room to stretch out with tables and chairs sofas and nooks here and there to settle in or visit friends. Housed in a renovated Barn the building has an old-time ambience that is accentuated with some new architecture that blends with the building seamlessly. The building is surrounded by lovely gardens.
The best thing about the BRB is the people. The atmosphere is relaxed and warm (wear layers) and, while it can get loud with all the chatter at times, they really know how to host a wicked event.
It is the best place for grad students at Cornell. Free coffee from 8 to 11 am, 1 dollar beer in the afternoon, and its quiet and warm. Just a great place for reading and writing in general, especially in the morning
Beautiful barn and the food is great. The chicken pesto sandwich and the asian chicken are my favorite. Staff is friendly.
Great service! My sandwich chef was very friendly (told funny jokes!)
Only grad students and faculty allowed here. You get one dollar beer here everyday. And beware Fridays can get pretty crowded
It's cool. A spot for grad students to hang out in or outside and there's food and drink along with free popcorn
Great place. Cheap beer and lots of free snacks. Good place to hang out
Great service! My sandwich chef was very friendly (told funny jokes!)
The best thing about the BRB is the people. The atmosphere is relaxed and warm (wear layers) and, while it can get loud with all the chatter at times, they really know how to host a wicked event.
It's cool. A spot for grad students to hang out in or outside and there's food and drink along with free popcorn
Located on the Cornell University campus, The big red Barn is a wonderful meeting place for graduate students and exhibits. The parking lot offers a stunning view of Cornell's watchtower and landscape. Indoors is a cafe and plenty of room to stretch out with tables and chairs sofas and nooks here and there to settle in or visit friends. Housed in a renovated Barn the building has an old-time ambience that is accentuated with some new architecture that blends with the building seamlessly. The building is surrounded by lovely gardens.
Beautiful barn and the food is great. The chicken pesto sandwich and the asian chicken are my favorite. Staff is friendly.
Only grad students and faculty allowed here. You get one dollar beer here everyday. And beware Fridays can get pretty crowded
Great place. Cheap beer and lots of free snacks. Good place to hang out
An amazing place for cheap beer with colleagues (usually Friday). During the school year, it also is a nice place to grab a sandwich or soup around lunchtime. The BRB also hosts a good variety of events (swing dance, trivia, and more) that are always fun.
It is the best place for grad students at Cornell. Free coffee from 8 to 11 am, 1 dollar beer in the afternoon, and its quiet and warm. Just a great place for reading and writing in general, especially in the morning
Decent food
Chill place for grad students
good value/cozy espace gettting drunk for a few bucks in short time
Eh. If you're a Cornell grad you'll end up here one way or another. Don't fight it.
Chicken Petso on Sourdough was good, came with salad
The food is average but the building is great and has a fantastic atmosphere. Problem is that they sometimes hold events there without warning and kick you out very rudely. Has happened to me like 4 times and I've asked and they don't have a public calendar for people to see so you just gotta get kicked out and accept it..... It's really annoying.
I only come for salsa so cannot comment on much else. By itself, it is a very nice building deity a lot of character. Multi level with loft walkway around the main dance floor. The biggest problem is that for salsa, it is too small as the dance floor use a very small portion of the actual barn. Plus, they always put the live band at the same floor, taking maybe 1/3 off. And they store tables and chairs on the same area, reducing the dancing area even more. And it's always crowded as it is on Cornell campus. Mostly newcomers so the dancing is not spectacular.
Pretty good food at a reasonable price. Soup was good and sandwich was acceptable. Nothing too special but not bad either.
Pretty good food at a reasonable price. Soup was good and sandwich was acceptable. Nothing too special but not bad either.
I only come for salsa so cannot comment on much else. By itself, it is a very nice building deity a lot of character. Multi level with loft walkway around the main dance floor. The biggest problem is that for salsa, it is too small as the dance floor use a very small portion of the actual barn. Plus, they always put the live band at the same floor, taking maybe 1/3 off. And they store tables and chairs on the same area, reducing the dancing area even more. And it's always crowded as it is on Cornell campus. Mostly newcomers so the dancing is not spectacular.
The food is average but the building is great and has a fantastic atmosphere. Problem is that they sometimes hold events there without warning and kick you out very rudely. Has happened to me like 4 times and I've asked and they don't have a public calendar for people to see so you just gotta get kicked out and accept it..... It's really annoying.
A good spot in a middle of the campus
It makes for a good study place during the day, as long as there aren't any other events going on. Towards the evening, they start serving beer, and on Fridays it gets LOUD. Otherwise, a great place to chill and write a few academic papers.
Beautiful building closed for operation for summer so idk how the food is
Bad coffee, worse food, but I guess it's conveniently located in the middle of Cornell campus. Prepare to be distracted by tons of undergrads inside and out.
Nice place to relax after a hard day of studying. Also you can call to set up for a event.
Beautiful building closed for operation for summer so idk how the food is
Nice place to relax after a hard day of studying. Also you can call to set up for a event.
It makes for a good study place during the day, as long as there aren't any other events going on. Towards the evening, they start serving beer, and on Fridays it gets LOUD. Otherwise, a great place to chill and write a few academic papers.
Bad coffee, worse food, but I guess it's conveniently located in the middle of Cornell campus. Prepare to be distracted by tons of undergrads inside and out.
No fresh cooking sandwichs brought in
Horrible service.
You have to buy a $20 gift card to get a beer. Beers are only $1-2 so that means you either need to get incredibly drunk or you have to keep track of a card until the next time you frequent this poorly run establishment. Also they random kick you out for 15 min and then let you back in. So don't come here if you are working on an assignment with a deadline. Good thing they have a monopoly in the area of they would probably go out of business.
EXTREMELY rude to my group and I as soon as we walked in the door. I do not frequent this place often, however I decided to go for a lunch break with some colleagues, and the cashier had an attitude with me about the order in which I paid for my food. She then came over to our table on her lunch break to yell at one of my colleagues to move her chair over. She wasn’t even on the clock anymore! THEN the manager came over and accused us of drinking alcohol and said that we loudly stated “We are drinking alcohol at the barn” so she was forced to intervene, which is just not a real thing someone would say normally. Why would anyone proclaim that to an entire restaurant? They literally sell beer here anyway so drinking alcohol isn’t even an issue! And just so we’re clear, we were not doing anything out of the ordinary to get this kind of treatment. We were trying to enjoy our lunch and got rudely interrupted not once but twice. They targeted us for no reason. They need to do some more training. Beyond unprofessional.
You have to buy a $20 gift card to get a beer. Beers are only $1-2 so that means you either need to get incredibly drunk or you have to keep track of a card until the next time you frequent this poorly run establishment. Also they random kick you out for 15 min and then let you back in. So don't come here if you are working on an assignment with a deadline. Good thing they have a monopoly in the area of they would probably go out of business.
EXTREMELY rude to my group and I as soon as we walked in the door. I do not frequent this place often, however I decided to go for a lunch break with some colleagues, and the cashier had an attitude with me about the order in which I paid for my food. She then came over to our table on her lunch break to yell at one of my colleagues to move her chair over. She wasn’t even on the clock anymore! THEN the manager came over and accused us of drinking alcohol and said that we loudly stated “We are drinking alcohol at the barn” so she was forced to intervene, which is just not a real thing someone would say normally. Why would anyone proclaim that to an entire restaurant? They literally sell beer here anyway so drinking alcohol isn’t even an issue! And just so we’re clear, we were not doing anything out of the ordinary to get this kind of treatment. We were trying to enjoy our lunch and got rudely interrupted not once but twice. They targeted us for no reason. They need to do some more training. Beyond unprofessional.
Sign in to leave a review
Sign inRemove ads and manage your menu
Explore Your Area
Kung Fu Tea
De Tasty Hot Pot
Gangnam Station
Pho Time
Xi'an Street Food
Souvlaki House
The Strand Cafe
Coal Yard Cafe
Shi Miao Dao Yunnan Rice Noodle
Amit Bhatia Libe Café
6 Photos
Explore Big Red Barn's photos
About Big Red Barn
How to get there
135 Presidents' Dr, Ithaca, NY 14853
Highlights
Services
Dining Options
Restaurant Info
Amenities
The Neighborhood
Location
135 Presidents' Dr, Ithaca, NY 14853
📍 Explore the Neighborhood
Upcoming Events
park in Tompkins County, New York, United States of America
park in the United States of America
building in New York, United States
Monument at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
park in the United States of America
Statue on the campus of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
library building at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.
park in the United States of America
Gaming
🎮 Earn Points While You Explore!
Play Find Me and redeem points for discounts at Big Red Barn and other restaurants
Earn Points at Big Red Barn!
Play Find Me and redeem rewards here
Earn extra points and redeem them for rewards at Big Red Barn
🏆 Rewards at Big Red Barn
10% Discount
At Big Red Barn
Free Appetizer
On your next visit
VIP Table
Premium experience
to redeem rewards and earn points
📋 How Do Rewards Work?
Play Find Me
Every 100 score points = 1 reward point
Collect Points
Workers earn 2x points per game
Redeem Rewards
Discounts, free food and VIP experiences
Is it yours? Claim it FREE!
Remove ads and manage your menu