Latest reviews from Albany
| 72 /100 450 NORTH PEARL ST. “Visited here early on a Wednesday evening in early May '24. Warehouse kind of feel to the place, open aired with the serving area right in with the brewing equipment. Good crowd, there was a cornhole tournament going on, Have ten of their own on tap, common styles, no boundary stretchers. Cans, crowlers and growlers available for take-out. I had a Porter and a pale, both were decent. Snacks available, food trucks on weekends I understand.“ |
| 74 /100 The Hollow Bar + Kitchen (Restaurant) 79 N PEARL ST “Visited here in mid-April '24 on a Wednesday evening for dinner. Classic downtown restaurant in an old, restored building. Small bar area, a few high-top tables. Several rooms in the back for when it gets busy. Have about 15 or so on tap, mainly all NY regional craft. Solid menu, steaks, seafood, pasta. I had short ribs, and they were excellent. Solid prompt service. Prices reasonable for the area.“ |
| 78 /100 The Excelsior Pub (Restaurant) 54 PHILIP ST “Visited here for dinner on a Tuesday evening in early May '24. Great little neighborhood bar full of friendly locals. Have about 20 or so on tap, mainly New York regional craft and a few everyday lagers and seltzers. Pub grub menu, wings, sandwiches, and such. I had a Beef on Weck sandwich and it was excellent. Tight quarters, long bar and a few small tables, understand they have a separate room in the back with pinball tables. Prices on par for the area - $7 to $9 for a pint. Great stop.“ |
| 78 /100 The Olde English Pub and Pantry (Restaurant) 638 BROADWAY “Visited here in late April '24 on a Wednesday evening. Quaint old building in downtown Albany, supposedly been around since 1736 according to their website. Tight quarters in the bar area, more tables in the back and an upstairs as well. Patio seating for the warmer weather. Have about 15 on tap, about half are British/Irish standards, a few locals and some ciders. Short menu, a few English selections, I had the fish and chips, pretty tasty. Prices on the higher side, most pints were $9. Plenty of local flavor, kind of like Cheers. Glad I stopped by.“ |
| 76 /100 897 BROADWAY “Visited here on a Thursday evening in mid-April '24. Brand new, clean, industrial feel to the place, lots of space, large bar area with several seating areas. Have about 25 on tap with an overabundance of NEIPAs and West Coast IPAs (at least 15). I stuck to a stout, NE Pale Ale and their flagship lager and was impressed. Solid, varied menu, sandwiches, salads, burgers, lots of appetizers. I had a Reuben and it was pretty solid. Virant crow, a few TVs , but not the focus. Prices just a tad above average, prompt service. Great addition to the Warehouse district.“ |
| 74 /100 Wolff’s Biergarten (Restaurant) 895 BROADWAY “Visited here in mid-April '24 on a Tuesday evening. Stone's throw from Nine Pin, which I visited earlier in the evening. German soccer bar, weather was warming up, so the garage door was open and gave it a nice airiness. About a dozen or so classic Germans on tap. three sizes - all the way up to liters (boots). Alos have a few local beers and ciders on tap. Menu is German oriented, wursts, pretzels, also have mac and cheese, and wings. Has several TVs with soccer on, fun atmosphere, lively crowd,“ |
| 56 /100 929 BROADWAY “Visited here in mid-April '24 early on a Tuesday evening. Warehouse kind of feel to the place, seating indoors and out. Good crowd on a Tuesday, trivia night and they were starting some new "26" punch card promotion. No real bar to sit at, walk up and order. Limited food menu, pizzas, small plates and empanadas. They were all out of all but one of the pizzas. Have nine of their own ciders on tap and a few local beers. The two ciders I had were great.“ |
| 68 /100 McGeary’s Pub (Bar) 4 CLINTON SQUARE “Visited here on a Wednesday evening in late March '24. Quaint Irish Style pub located on the outskirts of downtown. Have a pretty solid selection of local craft and some old standards, finally found Utica Club which I had been seeking since coming up for a few weeks now. Pub oriented menu, lots of sandwiches, I had an Au Jus sandwich, pretty tasty. Plenty of TVs for sports, decent prices for the area.“ |
| 78 /100 1053 BROADWAY “Visited here on a Tuesday evening in late March '24. Old converted warehouse, lots of exposed beams, view of the equipment behind glass, big fireplace, very cozy for such a large place. Large square bar, lots of tables and booths. Have about 15 or so of their own on tap, all I had were solid and true to style. Menu has lots of options to keep it interesting. I had a hanger steak, and it was delicious. Also have sandwiches, burgers, wings, salads and flatbreads. Barkeep friendly and timely. TVs above the bar for sports. Prices on the higher ide, but not outrageous.“ |
| 84 /100 19 QUACKENBUSH SQ “Visited here for dinner in mid-March '24 on a Tuesday night. Located in what appears to be an old, restored factory building with high ceilings, big windows, and plenty of exposed bricks. Large bar area and plenty of table tops and a space for private functions. have about 20 of their own on tap, menu is situated by style groups which is nice. The three I had, a porter, schwarz and an IPA were excellent. Pub grub menu, burgers, sandwiches, salads, bowls, pizzas - had a burger and it hit the spot. Take home pint cans available in 4 packs, Friendly, prompt service. Just opened up in February from what I understand. Will be back on subsequent visits to Albany.“ |
| 74 /100 Hill Street Cafe (Restaurant) 180 MADISON AVENUE “Visited here in on a Thursday evening in late February '24. Just a stone's throw from downtown in an urban residential neighborhood. Classic corner neighborhood bar, tight and quaint, lots of locals streaming in and out. About 20 on tap, about half local craft, enough to keep it interesting. Pub grub menu, very reasonable prices for the area, The pizzas are solid, that is what I chose for my dinner. Friendly, efficient barkeep, Worth a stop if in the area“ |
| 78 /100 City Beer Hall (Restaurant) 42 HOWARD ST “Visited here in mid-February '24 for dinner on a Monday night while in town for business. Cozy, classic type corner downtown bar in an old, restored building. Has a pretty solid tap lineup with lots of regional craft on tap, Hill Farmstead, Dutchess, Unified Beer Works, Long Trail to name a few, solid can and bottle list as well. Pub grub menu, lots of sandwiches, chicken, mussels and small plates. I had a grilled chicken sandwich and it was pretty tasty. They appear to have different specials all week and special events. Prices were decent for the area. Good service, friendly locals.“ |
| 74 /100 897 BROADWAY “Worthwhile stop, perhaps currently the best in the Albany area for beer at the time of writing. As a business, everything functioning. Good overall crowd drawing in different ages. The beers were hit and miss for an old veteran goat.“ |
| 96 /100 897 BROADWAY “This place is amazing. Big open space. Walk up and order your beer. Order your food at the counter and they bring it to your table. Can accommodate so many people and faster than a sit down and order type place. Food was amazing. Beer, as we know already, is amazing. Selection was great. Absolutely love the place. So so good!!“ |
| 94 /100 Delaware Supply (Bar) 292 DELAWARE AVE “Holy cow what an amazing place! I wish I had discovered it earlier in my Albany adventures, but I'm glad I tried it once before leaving. Smallish storefront place, away from the main bar area of Albany, so you have to make a special (small) effort to get here - and it's well worth it. L-shaped bar and scattered tables. No phone calls or TVs allowed. Taplist had three Fox Farms beers - so you already know you're in a special place. Bottle list had three or four Tommie Sjef beers - even more special. Lauren and Colin and the rest of the staff make you feel right at home. A dozen taps including a polotmavy poured from a Lukr faucet. Holy cow! Food is tasty nand creative sandwiches. So worth the short trip from downtown. A must-visit in Albany. And if you only come here and nowhere else - you'll still have an awesome beer experience in Albany.“ |
| 64 /100 Wolff’s Biergarten (Restaurant) 895 BROADWAY “Just a few steps down from Nine Pin Cider, so this was a logical combo stop. Next door to the old Fidens Brewery, now sadly scheduled for demolition, apparently. This is a large bier hall with a long bar and a bunch of picnic tables inside, mplus a very small Covid-style sidewalk area with just a couple of hi top bar tables. Maybe there's a biergarten someplace, but I didn't look too hard. A handful of German beers, best of which was Weihenstephan, but nothing very exciting. One beer from Fidens, a NEIPA that seemed incongruous in a bierstein. probably fun on the weekend.“ |
| 74 /100 929 BROADWAY “Corner location with lots of nooks and crannies. Large outdoor space, a handful of bar tables under a covered roof on what looks like an old loading dock, and an interior with multiple rooms. Ciders are available individually or in flights of four or nine. I chose nine, obviously. This was New York's first "farm" cidery back in the day, and the ciders are solidly old school and very American - low abv (which means water is added) and all are carbonated. My favorites were the only two pure ciders - a Northern Spy and a Shaker Russett. Food is empanadas, pizza and hand pies. Classic place.“ |
| 72 /100 261 NEW SCOTLAND AVENUE “Small neighborhood bar with some restaurant tables. Decent ber list with just one macro and the rest local or regional. Food is comfort pub food. Friendly service and locals. Solid option after I was turned away at Albany Ale & Oyster.“ |
| 56 /100 Albany Ale & Oyster (Restaurant) 281 NEW SCOTLAND AV “Cozy place, bar tables up front and a small bar, plus restaurant tables.
Taplist is solid, with more than just flagships. I stopped by for dinner and they wouldn't give me a table since I was on my own - my choices were the last seat at the bar, or a window seat. I chose the bar, only to find out that the girl next to me had a poodle that she let walk on the bar, and the barman didn't seem to mind. So dinner was not gonna happen. If you're a couple, this seems like a nice place to eat and drink. If you're single, I'd find somewhere else.“ |
| 74 /100 The Excelsior Pub (Restaurant) 54 PHILIP ST “Corner bar near my Airbnb, recommended by Jay at Bull and Bee. Long bar and a handful of tables, a few more sidewalk tables. A dozen or so microbrews on tap. Happy hour prices mean that four of them are four bucks a pint for four hours a day. Very friendly staff. Comfort food. Nice neighborhood hangout.“ |
| 86 /100 140 HAMILTON ST “This was easily the most fun place I visited in Albany. Small basement location on a corner overlooking two sexy parking lots. Owner slash meadmaker knows his mead and has a great variety thereof that he serves you directly from the carboy, as well as a good beer list if you get bored. Most importantly, it's a meeting place for the whole neighborhood, and everybody knew everybody. That said, people did not hesitate to pull up a stool at my table and start chatting. The meads are tasty and interesting, the beers are good, but it's the company that will make you the happiest.“ |
| 78 /100 1053 BROADWAY “Huge place, high end brewhouse behind glass at one end, large square bar and tons of restaurant tables. Taplist had a decent variety of styles, each one I had was tasty and petty creative. Bar staff knew the beers well. Food was tasty as well. Just a block from Fort Orange Brewing, so easily combined. Worth a stop.“ |
| 74 /100 450 NORTH PEARL ST. “Named after a fort built by the Walloons (when Belgium was occupied by the Dutch) in 1624. Warehouse feel with an overhead door, bunch of picnic tables, long bar. Brewhouse at the back of the taproom. Friendly servers, helpful in choosing beers and generous with samples. No food but sometimes food trucks. Just a block from Druthers, so easily combined. Beers were decent.“ |
| 74 /100 City Beer Hall (Restaurant) 42 HOWARD ST “This place is really loud but turned out to be a lot of fun. Music blasting when I entered, replaced by trivia that was even louder to compete with the music, so mI had to scream my beer orders. That said, the taplist was worth the pain, at least for a few hours. And the twenty-something staff trivia team were happy that I fed them some answers that only old people would know. First draft beer comes with a free pizza, like an 8n inch cracker crust sort of thing that was actually pretty tasty. Worth a look.“ |
| 72 /100 Hill Street Cafe (Restaurant) 180 MADISON AVENUE “Neighborhood bar in a gradually transitioning area very close to the capitol, so it attracts suits as well as blue collar workers. Tap list has macros, of course, but enough craft tuff from the state and region to make it interesting. Food is decent and very filling. Both customers and staff are friendly. Pizza was tasty and very very filling. Worth a look.“ |
| 64 /100 City Beer Hall (Restaurant) 42 HOWARD ST “We came here on 20.12.2019. Bar with a few tables and a separate room. Roughly 20 beers on tap. Highlights were beers from Hill Farmstead and Allagash. Both were excellent. Nothing special, but in case you stay in downtown definitely to be considered.“ |
| 74 /100 Pint Sized (Bar) 250 LARK STREET “Hip bar in the cool area of Albany, advertise themselves as a bar and bottle shop. Pretty good selection at decent prices. A good dozen taps and around a hundred cans and bottles. Love the music. Looks like the craft beer place to be in Albany.“ |
| 72 /100 450 NORTH PEARL ST. “Visited first weekend in March 2018. Newer place in Albany. Open less than a year. Nice open feeling garage / warehouse space. Found their beers prior day at a beer fest in Albany. Stopped in after visiting Druthers. They're a two minute walk from Druthers, straight through parking lot. Do not go by what Google maps tells you and walk seven minutes. It is a two minute walk.
10 tap lines when I visited, but only six of them had beer. They had a couple of empty slots waiting for production to catch up with demand. One of the taps is local cider.
Prices are decent, $6 pints, $10 flights of 4 (in a custom flight paddle in the shape of the original Fort Orange). Beers are decent, and I'd imagine like most places will improve as they get more accustomed to their system.
Outside food allowed.
Worth a visit.“ |
| 84 /100 Oliver’s Beverage Center (Beer Store) 105 COLVIN AVE “Incredible selection of NY state microbreweries, as well as other states, besides a robust international selection. The $3 discount for every mix-an-match six pack is the cream of the top. A must visit place.“ |
| 84 /100 Oliver’s Beverage Center (Beer Store) 105 COLVIN AVE “Great selection, not only abundant in State, but plenty I have never seen from distant states. Arranged by state, which is great for tickers. Service is goid, friendly and informative. Prices are okay, but 3 dollar discount on six packs. Ambience is rather warehouse like, not up to TW standards. Parking is easy enough in blah neighborhood.“ |
| 78 /100 Oliver’s Beverage Center (Beer Store) 105 COLVIN AVE “Sister bottle shop of Westmere, so they basically have the same delivery of beers. So the selection is through the roof with awesome stuff. Still, an exceptionally clean warehouse like store that looks just a tad cleaner than Westmere on the outside. Check it out if you’re in the area.“ |
| 56 /100 Trader Joe’s - Albany/Colonie (Grocery Store) 79 WOLF RD “Just another Trader Joe’s in the grand scheme of it all. Going from Vermont to Pennsylvania, well, what does want really want me to say. Honestly, if you’re in Albany, use this place as a last resort and head on over to Oliver’s or Westmere’s.“ |
| 80 /100 Madison Pour House (Bar) 1110 MADISON AVE “A cozy upstairs and downstairs spot with a European feel by SUNY Albany. 40 taps with some nice offerings, and a limited but good (and rich) selection of food. Service and value are solid too. A must-stop if near campus.“ |
| 82 /100 Westmere Beverage Center (Beer Store) 1756 WESTERN AVENUE “Beer pit stop number 2 on my way back to Vermont from PA (visiting parents). Looked it up on ratebeer, seemed like a good stop. Pulled up to the store and thought it looked like a drug drop. OK, do I go in? I did and was quite impressed with their selection, holy crap! Talk about not judging a book by it’s cover, Night Shift Whirlpool and Santilli, Burial (NC), Kent Falls (CT) plus some up and coming NY brewers that I didn’t know of but got to talking with one of the sales guys and he talked about them and gave me some free samples of these up and coming brewers. So service is definitely up there. Value seemed reasonable for the Albany area. Plus, their mix-a-six packs they take $3 off. I know where I’m stopping at in Albany next time I’m there. Just ignore the outside and you all will be fine.“ |
| 82 /100 Oliver’s Beverage Center (Beer Store) 105 COLVIN AVE “Visited August 7th 2016 at 10AM. Located in a huge warehouse 5 min from I-87 and 2 from I-90. Incredible selection of both americans and imports. They also have a reasonable ciders selection. Divided by brewery with a lot of rarities and OMG-I-will-spend-a-2-weeks-pay-here-s. They had a dozen of different FiftyFifty Eclipses, BA Firestones, weighty Bruerys and so many more. You can spend an hour in there and find something you didn’t see the first time you passed by. Nobody came to me but I saw an employee with someone else. They gave me a rebate because I bought a dozen of bottles and this was nice. Small concern: they don’t have air conditioning and a lot of bottles on shelves...“ |
| 68 /100 Westmere Beverage Center (Beer Store) 1756 WESTERN AVENUE “Visited August 13th 2016 around 7pm. Last beer stop before returning home after a week with Uncle Sam. Messy store without air conditioning (it was like 80 degrees Inside) 2 minutes from I-87. Fridges are reserved for 4 and 6-packs and generic brands. Great selection of american beers divided by brewery and a full aisle of imported from Belgium, Canada and UK. I found some rarities and barrel aged I didn’t see elsewhere. You can grab a single from pack. There was 2 employees they never came to me. At least they helped my girlfriend in her fruit beer searching. This place could be more serious if they would remove dust on bottles. I wouldn’t have the impression that most of the stuff is out of date. Nice place overall but I prefer the Oliver’s Beverage a few miles away.“ |
| 64 /100 1053 BROADWAY “bustling family restaurant with lots of their own styles on tap. occasionally above average beer made to the style. some sample glasses reeked of bleach.“ |
| 80 /100 Madison Pour House (Bar) 1110 MADISON AVE “serious tap selection. one of the best i have seen thisfar from new york with hill farmstead and the like pouring. 40 taps all good.little table service but fast at the bar.“ |
| 94 /100 1053 BROADWAY “Big selection of awesome food, great beer, and probably the coolest decor and feel of any of this area's breweries. IMO better than Brown's (even though they're awesome too) and definitely better than driving all the way up to Glens Falls to visit Davidson Bros.“ |
| 90 /100 Oliver’s Beverage Center (Beer Store) 105 COLVIN AVE “Probably the best selection in the Capital Region that I've seen so far. Great location right off central too.“ |
| 76 /100 1053 BROADWAY “Came in a little after opening on a Sunday. They open at 11:30, but can’t serve alcohol until noon. I thought the rest of civilization in our state had done away with those archaic blue laws by now. Which really makes me wonder why you would bother opening before noon then. So I sat down with a water and 20 minutes to kill. Perused the food menu which looks pretty nice, but a touch expensive with salads at 11/12, pizza and sandwiches at 13-15, burgers at 14-15.
The space itself is large and open. Re-purposed old factory style building (apparently with an interesting history. Formerly a plumbing supply warehouse, beer distributor, offices, and a carriage house way back when). Glass near the bar to see back into the brewery, shiny new 30 barrel with at least 5 or 6 fermenters back there. 12 things on tap, 11 of their own beers and a guest cider from Nine Pin down the street from them. I’m guessing that they do a pretty impressive amount of business on Sundays given the large number of staff who were on, though it was still slow at the beginning so there were usually 3-6 staff hanging out at the service pick up area of the bar for the first half hour or so. The place did start to fill, though given how large it is, it never seemed croweded. One of the servers didn’t have a shift until 4:30, but was in early solely to hang out. Clearly a place people enjoy working. That translates well. The bar seats at least 30, and hit a third of that within the first 90 minutes I was there. Servers were incredibly friendly and fun. Overall, I don’t know if this is a place I’d come for beers and a meal (especially with Pump Station not too far away and a touch more reasonable for food prices), but for a few beers and hanging out, absolutely. Flights are $14 for 6x5oz pours. On the higher side, but still reasonable, especially considering they’ll given you 1-2 ounce samples of a beer or two if you ask.
“ |
| 60 /100 City Beer Hall (Restaurant) 42 HOWARD ST “A handsome old building with big arched windows and a bouncer on the door, even though it wasn’t at all busy. There were sixteen taps and the service was acceptable but a bit off hand.
(Visited 8 November 2012).“ |
