King David's Restaurant

This was the last place I ate at in Ithaca. My spouse and I had just finished cleaning out our rental house in Brooktondale, said goodbye to the neighbor’s dog Tessie, and were passing through town on our way to Seattle. I decided I wanted to stop downtown one last time for some food, so we went up the spiral parking ramp (perhaps finally gone now) behind Center Ithaca and went in for a falafel. Afterwards, I stepped outside onto the Commons and looked around at all the people attending the Ithaca Festival and thought “I’ve lived here are freaky long time and now I am actually leaving”. It was still a little hard to believe. I did not sink into immediate nostalgia all that long because it would be a long drive to the West Coast.

I always ordered their special: a falafel pita with lentil soup and a diet coke. I have used Quicken since its inception, so I know that I spent the most money here of any other restaurant in Ithaca. Although technically, that may not be true since as I lived in Ithaca for a few more years without rechecking… I have never bothered to piece together all my Quicken archives to find out such cute facts again.

Anyways, I used to think “how many falafels could I buy instead” when considering buying some other thing or service. Crazy, I know.

The place has changed ownership a few times, but years after I had first eaten here, the original owner remembered exactly when I had first dropped by and that that was the only time I had ordered something different (excluding the times when I was also ordering for other people). I had ordered a hummus pita the first time. She was surprised she remembered that. Pretty crazy, too.