Midtown Tap and Tea Room is one of Albany's classiest restaurants. Located in the peaceful University Heights neighborhood on New Scotland Ave., it features some of the highest quality food and largest wine menus in Albany. Weekends feature local jazz bands and other musicians. Midtown also participates in the famous "First Friday" event where artwork from local artists is featured on the restaurant's walls. .
Peaches Cafe, Stuyvesant Plaza, ☎ +1-518 482-3677. A local favourite, reasonably priced and has excellent breakfast food. Try their Irish Eggs Benedict, it's the best in New York. Careful, this place can be very busy around lunchtime or weekend mornings, although weekdays aren't too crazy. �
Koto Japanese Steak House 260 Wolf Road, (518) 869-8888 is a hibachi (teppan-style cooking) and sushi restaurant located right by Albany Airport, and is probably the most popular of its kind in the area.
Ragonese Italian Imports 409 New Scotland Ave, Albany, NY 12208, 518-482-2358. This is an excellent italian and greek deli. You can get sandwiches, subs, soups, and even lasagna. There isn't really any place to sit down, so virtually every customer gets take-out.
Saati Deli and Catering 586 New Loudon Road, (518) 783-1600. Located in Newton Plaza in the nearby suburb of Latham, NY. Excellent homemade salads, soups and sandwiches. Prices are comparable to places like Panera Bread, but you have much better atmosphere and quality here.
Phoenicians Restaurant, 1686 Central Ave (518) 464-4444, is a relatively new Lebanese restaurant. The food here is wonderful and the service is always friendly. Highly recommended. The lunch menu is reasonably priced. Their dinner menu can be on the expensive side, but you get what you paid for -> a lot of food and excellent quality. Great healthy option.
Anton's ,577 New Scotland Avenue (518) 453-9191. They call themselves the King of Gyros. Anton's is a small greek takeout hole-in-the-wall across from Saint Peter's Hospital. Delicious and inexpensive! Friendly staff. Try their daily specials.
Blu Stone Bistro 661 Albany Shaker Rd. is an upscale restaurant next door to the Indigo Hotel, on the corner of Albany Shaker and Wolf Road. Wonderful live music and the food is great too. Blu Stone Bistro can be expensive and the crowd tends to be older.
New World Bistro 300 Delaware Ave (518) 694-0520 is an upscale NYC-style restaurant next door to the indy Spectrum Theater. Wonderful food and service, their specials are heavenly. It's never too crowded, the service is always friendly. One of the city's best spots to go out on a date.
Professor Java's Coffee Sanctuary 217 Wolf Road (518) 435-0843. This is a wonderful cafe and a local favourite. Great atmosphere, the walls are filled with photography or paintings from local artists, all of which are available for sale. The food is excellent. The baked goods are divine. And their coffee and tea selection is endless. Try the Russian Caravan Tea if you dare! Java's typically hosts the indy-college crowd, many of whom come here to write papers and leech of their free Wifi. Very friendly staff. Sometimes, Java's hosts open-mic nights.
Wings Over Albany 1704 Western Avenue (518) 862-9464. are arguably the best wings in Albany. While this is a chain, Albany residents have claimed it as their own. Amazing wings with a large variety of flavors for cheap. Boneless wings are also highly recommended. Their physical location isn't ideal to eat at because its small and noisy. Rather, give them a call and have food delivered (or pickup).
Junior's 1094 Madison Avenue (518) 935-2024 is a good bar and restaurant. Many will argue their wings (as opposed to Wings Over) are the best in the city. Great burgers and grilled sandwiches.
Sutter's Mill and Mining Co 1200 Western Avenue, 518-489-4910, a great local bar and restaurant. It's inexpensive and they have arguably the best burgers in town. They can be pretty large like their Bunker Buster, a mammoth 16 oz. Thermobarrick Burger. Their menu has daily specials and you can get items like Elk Burgers, Ostrich Burgers and occasionally Alligator Burgers. This isn't really a place to bring children as it is foremost a bar. Theres live music occasionally. It's highly recommended you come here in the summertime because there's an large outdoor patio -> Smoke, drink, eat burgers, what more can you ask for?
The Point Restaurant and Lounge 1100 Madison Ave (518) 729-5383, a new restaurant built where the old Peking Restaurant once existed. Great beer selection and food.
Salsa Latina Restaurant 315 central ave (518) 426-7050, is a well established Mexican restaurant. Great food, worth a visit.
Pepper Jack's 192 North Allen St, (518) 426-5505, recently moved from their long established place on Quail, Pepper Jack's has a large variety of inexpensive delicious food. College students and professionals alike love this place. Try their breakfast wraps, simply amazing!
Jack's Oyster House, 42 State Street, +1 518 465-8854. An Albany classic, its walls are adorned with misty photos of Albany's interesting past. The quality and prestige of Jack's has gone down in recent years, though it still may be the best place to get fresh seafood at a place that has defined downtown for almost one hundred years. Don't dress like a slob.
Little Anthony's on Central Avenue near the Albany Indoor Rockgym serves pizza catered to omnivores and vegans.
Justin's is a very popular spot that offers live Jazz Wednesday though Sunday. Lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch.
Gandhi Indian restaurant on the corner of Henry Johnson Blvd and Central Ave boasts the best weekday lunch buffet in the area.
Mamoun's (Middle Eastern) on Washington Ave near Lark Street is a wonderful restaurant. The dim lighting and brick walls gives this place a unique classy atmosphere. Food is healthy and reasonably priced.
El Loco (Mexican) on Madison Ave. is a good Mexican Restaurant, loved by locals. The food can sometimes be a bit expensive for what's being offered.
El Mariachi (Mexican/Spanish) on the corner of Swan St. & Hamilton St. and another location on Washington Ave., is authentic mexican cooking. It's not expensive, and the food is exquisite. Recommended!
Mr. Pio Pio on Quail St. between Washington and Western features Columbian and Ecuadorian Cuisine.
Saso's on Central Avenue is one of just a handful of sushi restaurants owned and operated by a Japanese sushi chef.
My Linh on Delaware Avenue, near the Spectrum Theater. This is an upscale, authentic vietnamese restaurant. Dress accordingly and the place can be quite romantic.
For health food shopping the Honest Weight Food Co-Op on Central Ave (between Partridge and North Main) has a variety of health-minded dishes and baked goods made daily. Grab a "meal deal" for under $5. Check out the amazing cheese selection.
C.H. Evans Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station (a.k.a. The Albany Pump Station) is a restaurant and brewpub in downtown Albany. It serves American style fare burgers, fish and some upscale dishes as well. The highlight is their microbrew, of which they make upwards of 10 different styles and types. The Hefeweizen is outstanding as is their American Brown Ale, Belgian Style Ale and Pale Ale (honestly, all of their beer offerings are good). The building itself is the old Albany Pump Station, which used to pump the water from the Hudson River up to the reservoir, so the building has a ton of atmosphere and history. This place is a local favorite - no trip to Albany is complete without a visit here.
Debbie's Kitchen, Madison Ave. just west of Lark St. Superb for healthful, super tasty and interesting sandwiches and wraps. Beautiful desserts to tempt you if you have room after their generous salads and sandwiches. Highly recommended, an outstanding value.
Karavalli Restaurant, Route 9R off Latham Circle For a nice spicy south India cuisine, this is a nice place to visit. Many will say the atmosphere is lacking but the food will keep you coming back.
The Ginger Man on Washington Ave. A nice atmosphere, a good, diverse menu, a nice selection of wine and beer and it isn't too expensive.
DeJohn's on Lark St. has a good selection of beer, some nice wines and great food (mostly American and Continental fare, with some global influences thrown in for good measure). If you make a reservation and request the upstairs, you can have an incredibly romantic dinner with a great view.
Dale Miller Restaurant 30 S Pearl St # 100 (518) 694-3322 is a new place owned and operated by a Michelin rated chef. The restaurant has a gorgeous penthouse view of the city and is very romantic. The food quality is top notch and is likened as one of the best restaurants in the state (including those in Manhattan). Can be expensive with main plates as much as $40. Call ahead to make reservations, dress accordingly.
Restaurant Paradiso on central and robin. upscale mob-owned italian restaurant featuring superb food.
Cafe Cappriccio on Grand St is an upscale NYC-Style restaurant. Wonderful staff, beautiful live jazz. Dress accordingly, you won't be disappointed.
'*Cafe Italia on Central Ave is an upscale Italian Restaurant.
Sam's on Southern Blvd. (US 9W) offers reasonably priced, but still satisfying and tasty Italian food, as does Mangia in Stuyvesant Plaza on Western Ave., (Mangia now has several locations throughout the Capital District - they're also on New Scotland Ave. in Slingerlands, and in the Shoppers World Plaza off NY 146 in Clifton Park).
McGuire's, corner of Lark St. and State St. An upscale restaurant, a bit expensive, but the food is terrific.
Le Canard Enchaine in Quackenbush Square is an upscale restaurant located in one of Albany's oldest historic building. They have an excellent menu and a nice outdoor dining area near the dumpster.
Some great BBQ includes Jr.'s Barbecue on Saratoga Rd. in Burnt Hills and Smokey Bones BBQ & Grill on Central Ave. in Colonie are both quite good (the former is a smaller scale, "family friendly" place, the latter is a larger place with plenty of TVs for watching whatever sporting event happens to be on). A new BBQ take out place opened in midtown. Located on Ontario st between Morris and Myrtle the Capital Q Smokehouse has 3 different Pulled Pork, Brisket, Ribs and a whole lot of tasty sides. Their website is www.eatmypork.com and the phone is +1 518 GET-PORK.
Beff's. Located on Everett Rd. in Albany (about a 10 minute drive from downtown). They have really good burgers, nachos and a great selection of unique pizzas.
Sushi Yokohama, 1800 Western Ave (in Cosimos Plaza). An excellent place with wonderful food and a relaxed atmosphere. Serve lunch and dinner. Many different choices of Sushi and Japanese dishes. My personal favorite is the "happy ending platter".
Wolff's Biergarten, 895 Broadway, +1 518 427-2461. Wolff's offers a number of authentic German food and beer selections and there is always a futball game on.
Lombardo's, 121 Madison Avenue, ☎ +1 518 462-9180, . Fine italian dining complemented by a welcoming staff. �
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Albany (New York)
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Albany (New York) - updated Apr 2024
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