Fresh. Local. Simple. That is the Grano way! Came here for a celebratory dinner in which our waiter Bryan was very accommodating. The decor, especially in the great room, is really nice and the music selection and volume was perfect. Pasta is where they shine but it's made to order so expect a bit of a wait. No one at the table added salt or pepper to their dish so, kudos to the chef. Salmon was a lil one dimensional for me but others at the table loved it. Priced very well, btw. read more

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Average Italian place. My wife's meatball was brick-like. My chicken parm was ok, not great. Service was excellent. Friendly servers.

I have been ordering a lot of takeout during the pandemic. I like to support local businesses. What I don't like is dishonest and fraudulent advertising. I kept seeing ads for Grano's four course menu popping up, and when I looked at the website it looked delicious and like a great deal. Turns out there is an extra $10 per person takeout charge in the four course menu. It is not disclosed on the website or the ads on Facebook. It was not disclosed when I ordered. After calling to complain when I saw the charge, they said I should have known because they stated the charge in the Daily Gazette. Which is not a newspaper I have a subscription to, and frankly not an acceptable only source for information. They were not receptive to my questions about this and I think such a large hidden charge is unacceptable. The food was ok but I would never return and will tell everyone I know about this scam. read more

Great experience, service was top notch, all employees were very accommodating, food was excellent from appetizer to desert. If you have not experienced this establishment it is a must. read more

Sorry to leave a poor review but I feel it is necessary . Nice greeting by the man at the front , was seated promptly . Then things got confusing . I knew what I wanted to order but had to be patient as two different people came by , the second was to make sure I had bread and a beverage . Usually the second employee is the server who will actually take the dinner order . Finally got the server and ordered Cavatelli with chicken and broccoli . I was happy to see it came with a side salad and especially happy to hear they made all the salad dressings in house . Decided on the ranch dressing . The bread was excellent and came with good butter. Then got the salad . Took one bite and realized it was ridiculously salty. Tried a second bite to make sure ... yes. Told the server and she offered to get me something else so I asked for another salad with blue cheese dressing on the side. The blue cheese was good although could have used some garlic and was very chunky and thick. Then came the cavatelli. Great chewy texture on the pasta , good chicken strips , good broccoli rabe. Problem though : the sauce on it was over salted! Tried a few bites hoping I'd adjust to it but no. Told the server who didn't apologize but instead let me know that everyone's taste is different . Asked if I wanted something else , I said no because by that point I was rather frustrated . Then another maybe higher up person came over and offered they could re make the dish however I wanted. They had given me bowls with grated Reggiano Parmesan and red pepper flakes to add if I wanted so that gave me the idea to ask for the dish to be remade without the salty sauce .. instead just some olive oil to finish it and I planned to add the grated cheese and crushed pepper flakes at the table. Chef asked if I'd like some garlic in it and I said yes. The dish came out and turned out great .. I also squeezed some fresh lemon over it. It was very good but in a way I might as well have cooked it myself . I was happy to get my cavatelli but doubtful the oversalting will stop, given the reaction I got from the staff. But I hope they will take my comments to heart . read more

Great food and plenty of it! Attentive service, another great Italian restaurant in Schenectady

I'm always partial to try new restaurants in my home town Schenectady of almost 40 years. The facility was well executed. Cocktails were very good and priced nicely. My wife and I Went with the small plates and this is what we found. Calamari in marina was excellent. The Braccol fair. Much better at another place cross town which I consider the best including NYC. The clam dish was very good if a tad salty. The Risotto was very good. My wife has made this dish for years and she's a pretty tough critic. She enjoyed it. Was well made, not crunchy and smooth. I'd suggest add some more Parm cheese but still excellent. Took some time to get our food, but I didn't come here to be rushed so that was fine. Some may find that less than optimal. We'll be back to explore then menu further. The restaurant scene in Schenectady, a city of barely 60K people is pretty solid. read more

Outstanding! Party of six. Diverse entrees. All delicious. Terrific waitstaff. Highly recommend!

When this place first opened it had a few hiccups. Those hiccups continue especially in the service department. Our waitress couldn't answer basic questions about the food and had to call another server to our table to discuss wine options. Our food was brought out without the prior course being removed. IT was a shame as I took three friends out for a belated holiday dinner as they had yet been but really wanted to try Grano. Needless to say we were all disappointed. At first we were seated in a back room at a folding table that was covered with oversized tablecloths. That's right plastic folding table. I was so embarrassed I excused myself from the table and inquired if we could be moved. It was a firm no yet several tables of our size sat empty in the dining for our entire stay. The food was mediocre at best and lacked any sort of creativity. I give both chefs restaurants by themself 5 stars. They just don't marry well together which is a shame. A $300 dinner at a folding table doesn't work for me! read more

Let me start by saying that the food was great. The incident happened on October26 at 5:35pm. I went to the desk area after being seated in the middle room to see the WiFi password. On my way back to our table, when the bar was just on my left, a waitress on my right suddenly turned and literally crashed into me and knocked completely down to the tile floor. I was stunned! Several people came to my aid including the waitress, but once they yanked me off the floor and I wanted to go to table where my husband was, they let me go to the table alone and it took the host more than a half an hour to come to our table to check on me. He was gracious but didn't offer any compensation of any type. I am banged up: right side, shoulder, leg bone(quite swollen), and knee. I am 77years old and will not go to this restaurant again. read more

Bad Hospitality and Bad Prices: We came here for dinner one night and we had calamari as an appetizer. It was good but we never got our drink order until after our appetizer came out. My boyfriend then ordered pasta and I ordered the arugula salad with steak on top. His pasta was great but I was served an entire steak cut up into slices on the side of super small salad. Before I got a chance to say anything about how I didn't order a whole steak our waitress was gone and never returned. Now you might wonder why I'm so upset about receiving a whole steak, first off I ordered a salad with steak because I wasn't super hungry and we were heading to a play so I couldn't take any leftovers. I never saw our waitress again until we had to track her down to get the check. Then they CHARGED US $18 for the steak (which I couldn't even finish since I didn't order a whole steak) on top of the salad price. A SALAD WAS $30. So ridiculous. read more

I didn't take any pictures of the food or inside because the wife and I were on date night and I didn't want to have my phone out but ... the food was really good and the service from Chris and Vicki was great. The food was really well plated hot fresh and seasoned perfectly. We started with the ricotta lemon fritters which were good not my favorite ever but we enjoyed them. I had the ribeye with mashed and Brussels and the wife had a pasta dish with vegetables and a white wine butter sauce. Both were great. We had some drinks which were good. Wife didn't love her first martini and with out any hesitations Chris our server got her a new one very graciously. I had draft peronis which were cold and fresh. We finished with the chocolate flourless and and an espresso martini both were amazing. Super nice spot, rustic and friendly. We were also introduced to Armando one of the chef owners and he was very down to earth and thanked us about 100 times. Definitely would recommend to all. read more

This restaurant is top notch! I've been to a few Italian places in the upstate, but this one is a whole other level! From the warm & friendly staff, to the clean & trendy atmosphere, and lastly the amazing & authentic Italian food they serve, it was fantastic! My husband & I had made a reservation at 6:30, arrived 5 minutes early & were taken to our seats immediately! They served us nice warm Italian bread & water immediately. We got our drinks in a timely manner & our appetizer as well. Our server was nice & friendly & helpful. The person who took us bread & water was also friendly & frequently made sure we were doing well. Our food came out after a small wait due to the Proctors show, they had to get all the people who we're going to that served before, but it wasn't too long of a wait! The food was so warm, flavorful, & delicious. Cooked perfectly! My husband ordered the sea scallops & shrimp pasta & I ordered the Cavatelli pasta with chicken & broccoli. It was so yummy! We will definitely be coming back, we were very pleased! read more

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I can't enough good things about this restaurant. We were a party of four and we all ordered different dishes. Every dish was delicious! The waitstaff was friendly, efficient and helpful. I will definitely be going back. read more

First time at Grano last night. What amazing food! We started with the Utica Greens & Beans - a great twist on greens & beans and nice to honor a local dish. They were incredible. All pasta there is home made so I ordered the Spaghetti with white clam sauce. Best I've ever had. Hubbie ordered the halibut. He raved about it and the side of pasta that came with it (he could have had potatoes/veggies but once he heard the pasta was fresh there was no question about it). Portions were a good side. And the halibut was so good Hubbie ate it as left overs today. He usually won't eat leftover fish. We left very happy and will definitely return. read more

Very good gourmet Italian Food in the heart of downtown Schenectady. Formally Apperitivo. Chefs Danny Pettosino and Armondo Cioccke make the food a wonderful dining experience. The place has been brightened up to make it more cheery. Gone are the dark brown tables replaced with lighter tables. White shiny tiles on the wall. Comfortable padded bar stools to make the place cozy. This was the second day of opening and found everything to be expertly prepared the presentation of the food was a BIG WOW in my book. A few things need tweaking but overall a wonderful dining experience. Menu has many delicious choices using fresh homemade pasta which you can purchase to take home if you want. I feel this venue will do well. Being it just opened, spread the word and try it out. It will not disappoint! read more

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If you enjoy fine dining and wonderful service, Grano in downtown Schenectady is the place for you, there were 4 of us for dinner, everyone enjoyed the food very much, you can't go wrong with anything on the menu. It is more than obvious that a lot of experience has gone into the creation of this restaurant, from Frank greeting you at the door to Jeff mixing the drinks at the bar, and everything in between. We will definitely be back we all want to have each other's meal, it was all so good. Save room for desert, it was FABULOUS! read more

Grano - Italian Near Me - Schenectady, New York

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Grano picked up right where they left off. Servers and host were super friendly and engaging. My wife had the braciole and I had the veal with 3 cheeses! Both were perfect and delicious. You need to get there if you have not tried it yet. read more

Grano - Veal with 3 cheeses. Good to be back at Grano. Food and service was fantastic! - Italian Near Me - Schenectady, New York

This restaurant is right next to proctors theater. So you know parking is going to be a challenge for this place. If you don't mind a short walk then there is plenty of parking around. We were excited to try this place, we heard it was another one of Armando's restaurants. We LOVE Armando's and we could not wait to go. I made reservations, this time in our lives you never know what the seating situation is going to be like. They have freshened up the inside. It is very nice. Almost a warm feel. We ordered our drinks and then decided to try the 4 for $25 meals. The menu had a lot of great choices, for us the $25 meal was appealing. Our drinks came. I ordered a cosmo off the drink menu. The flavor was very bland. I would not recommend it, and I would not order it again the next time we visit. Our first course was risotto meatballs and oysters. There were 2 large meatballs with some red sauce on the bottom of the dish. These were probably the best risotto meatballs I have ever eaten. They were spicy and delicious. The oyster appetizers was small. 3 oysters in a very delicious sauce. I gave rick half of one of my meatballs balls because he looked so sad when only 3 were on his plate. The next course was soup and salad. Tomato soup. It was so good. Rick got salad. It was a standard salad and he said the dressing was good. Our next course was Cavatelli in a garlic butter sauce and ziti with red sauce. Both dishes came out in red sauce. This was a huge disappointment to me. I asked the waitress why it was in a red sauce and she said, thats how it comes. Well, not according to the menu description. The pasta was homemade and it was very good. I am not a huge fan of red sauce so I only ate a few bits of the Cavatelli. Our 4th course was veal and peppers and chicken in Alfredo sauce. The Alfredo sauce was fantastic, the chicken was slightly over done. Rick liked his veal and peppers, no complaints from him. We did not get dessert. Were were stuffed from 4 courses of food. We will 100% return here. I would just ask for a different sauce and something totally different to drink. We we thankful for the walk back to the car to settle our very full stomachs. read more

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Despite the title, this place is open NOW. The service was a little slow, but then the place was packed with show people because of next door "Hamlington" play. Food was out standing, taste unbelievable! Just in town for a visit, but I was here longer, then I return every night. Perfecto!! read more

Grano - Open for business and buzzing. - Italian Near Me - Schenectady, New York

The meal was not bad but was ruined for us by how rude and disrespectful our waitress Jennifer was. Missing the class and sophistication of Apertivo in this location. read more

What an awesome spot! Brought a large group in for dinner and couldn't have been happier. Everyone was friendly and helpful from the moment we walked in. Our servers (two great young ladies) were terrific the entire time. Food was top notch as well, from house salads, to chicken Parm, through tiramisu for desert. Would definitely come back anytime we are in the area. Thanks Grano! read more

Poor service, mediocre food . Restaurant stuffed us by the kitchen (only table there) and forgot about us.

Companion and I had dinner this evening. There were several problems with our dinner and we also noticed there were several patrons that also had issues with their drinks and dinner. The waitstaff was also not on this evening. There are too many good options when eating out to have to settle for inconsistent product and service. read more

Excellent Italian food and great service. Absolutely would recommend Grano. From the fresh bread, to the homemade pasta, this was a fabulous dining experience. read more

I am sad to post a three star rating for this restaurant, which has opened in the space of beloved "Aperitivo." Sigh. First visit there on Jan 1 for an early dinner. Group of 3. When I walked in a few days earlier and asked to make a reservation for the New Year' Day, first the host told me they were fully booked. I was surprised and asked to check the date. It turned out that the host mistook "New Year's Day" for "New Year's eve", and that they had a lot of openings. No biggie. My error, possibly. So we had a nice dinner on Jan 1 before our show at Proctors. The menu looked nice (although, does Schenectady really need one more Italian restaurant?). I actually preferred the Grano's choices to Aperitivo's, which had switched to very spicy options in their latter months. My companions like spicy but I do not. Anyway, the food was very decent, but service ... I am afraid the staff there needs more training. They had not rehired the staff from Aperitivo, a pity. When I ordered a hot tea, it was brought without a tea spoon. I had to ask the server twice for a tea spoon. First she glibly told me to check the silverware on the table. I had to explain that, no, there had not been a teaspoon there to begin. It took another request before I got the spoon. Also it was disturbing to see other servers carry plates and bowls to the table next to ours while placing their thumbs INSIDE the bowl or on the plate. Isn't it against state regulations? So this place had the makings of a nice modern Italian eatery so long a they train wait staff better. read more

Love Grano! Food never disappoints. Drinks are great and wait staff goes out of your way to meet any of your requests.

After mostly glowing recommendations we went to Grano Schenectady for the 4 course meal for $25 and we were not disappointed!!! For appetizers I had the oysters and boyfriend had the broccoli rabe. My oysters were absolutely delicious, fresh, and as a raw shellfish lover, they got the spot! The broccoli rabe, with tons of tasty sausage was amazing!! (Picture of this was after we already dug into it!) Two generous salads later, we did have a pretty long wait for our pasta and entrees ( we requested them together) however the restaurant was very busy and our server continually checked on us and we never felt forgotten or neglected. Everything was well worth the wait. My boyfriend's swordfish was absolutely delicious. I ordered the zuppe de pesce- all the fish and seafood was perfectly cooked and I could just drink the sauce with a straw. I try to avoid bread but the bread was also so flaky and and necessary side to absorb these amazing sauces. For pasta we had the primavera and the carbonara. Both excellent and tomorrow's lunch! Really loved the lighting and feel of the place and cannot wait to go back !! read more

Grano - Broccoli rabe - Italian Near Me - Schenectady, New York

Absolutely amazing dining experience! The service, the atmosphere, and the FOOD all on point. This is my new fav in Schenectady!

Everything was yummy. The only bad thing is it's SO bright in here. If you're looking for a romantic place, it is way to light in there. They need to dim lights. Other than. That waitress Amanda is da best and food was good. The risotto we got was not my fave though. The pasta dish I got was really tasty. read more

We went for dinner on Saturday night and surprisingly was seated right away - this place is bigger than you think! The service was great and the food even better. I like that they have a seasonally rotating menu and daily specials. The menu had a lot of selections (but not too many) and the waiter assured us anything could be customized because it was made fresh. I would recommend the pork chop - it was well seasoned and perfectly cooked. We also tried a bunch of appetizers that were all delicious, my favorite was the cauliflower. read more

If you have been complementing going to grano, i would 100% suggest going. Their happy hour is amazing, the staff is beyond words, and the food is delicious. We started with the bread (free), the fries, the badabing shrimp and parm fries. The shrimp was the best thing we ate all night and i would come back every night just for the shrimp. Our drink we're delicious, alcoholic and flavorful (Angela and Jen were both fantastic and hard workers- i would come back just for them). For the meal we got veal parm and chicken with vodka sauce and pasta. The service, ambiance, food and drink were all amazing and I would go back every single weekend. Please go to Grano; you won't regret it! And again Angela is the best bartender I've ever had!!! read more

My girlfriend and I went last night for the first time. Admittedly, when we saw the 4 course $25 menu we couldn't refuse. When I first walked in I absolutely loved the atmosphere with the Christmas decorations, brick walls & beautiful chandeliers. Our waitress was very attentive and did a good job checking in with us to see when we were ready to order. I ordered the arancini, salad, Rigatoni Bolognese and salmon. I assumed the portions would be smaller because it was 4 courses. Definitely not! I had 2 good size arancini's for the appetizer and a huge bowl of the Rigatoni. I was so full, that I ended up taking my entire salmon home (which was fantastic as well). My favorite of all the dishes was definitely the Rigatoni; it was homemade and perfectly el dente! I highly recommend if you love Italian food. They also have a great wine list as well! read more

Had dinner 10/21. Waitress was totally overwhelmed; food took an hour+. We were advised a couple of times that our food would be right out. When I questioned the waitress, she said she didn't know why our meals were delayed. She was very indifferent, although others around us ordered, were served and were paying their bills. Food was not great; pasta was overcooked and bland. No management available to report to as we were leaving. A review left on their site has mysteriously disappeared. read more

Love this new place! We're so happy that it has opened in Schenectady, and right next to Proctor's. GREAT food, wonderful service, several rooms to accommodate many diners, allowing us to feel we're in a more intimate setting. GREAT food, GREAT food, GREAT food! read more

Every time I go I'm astounded anew. Best pasta and steak in this strange food town. And on top of that, fabulous ambiance, cocktails and service. read more

New, with good food and room for improvement. The pasta is made fresh (and can be bought separately if you want to cook it at home). The food is very good and the service is as well. The drink selection is robust. The decor, music, and vibe are a bit mismatched. The decor is 1950s Italian, but the music is 1980s American POP and R&B, the bathrooms have TVs installed with nothing playing, also the TV in the dining room plays black and white Italian movies with no volume. This leaves a really disjointed experience. At the end of night the waiter asked if our group wanted separate checks and when we said yes he wasn't willing to actually separate it and instead would only split it equally. It's not a big deal, but it is a routine request from business and friend groups. At a moderate price point for food ($20 and up), just take the extra time to make a cohesive vibe and separate a check if that's what the customers need. read more

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The food was absolutely superb and the service was fantastic! First time there and couldn't have asked for a better experience.

We were looking for a place to eat before a show and I called for reservation. No one answered and no voicemail so thought I would try later. Within 10 minutes someone called ME back saying they were sorry they missed my call. Who does that?? So immediately had high expectations and they were met. From the charming hostess to our server Jill to the young man filling our water and clearing plates-top notch! Food was terrific-too much so took it home but great! So reasonably priced-everything was great! Highly recommend-atmosphere intimate -so glad we discovered this gem! read more

My date and I tried Grano and enjoyed the salmon and a seafood dish. Everything was fresh and excellent. We did not wait long for our food. I was expecting for the bill to be higher but it was reasonable and well worth it! I wish Grano success!! read more