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    Hill Street Cafe

    4.1 (101 reviews)
    Open 11:30 am - 2:00 AM (Next day)

    Hill Street Cafe Photos

    Business Info

    HILL STREET CAFE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Juke Box
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Hill Street Cafe

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    Good grilled chicken salad
    Pauline L.

    Best onion rings in town! I know I'm not suppose to be eating them since I'm on a diet. Blame it on my husband. He ordered them. If you're looking at them, you can't have just one. I had three or four. I also liked my salad topped with grilled chicken. The salad was very fresh. The chicken was still warm and grilled just right. I like the jalapeño poppers, too. Another thing I'm not suppose to eat, but they're hard to resist. Yes. Hill St. is a sports bar. I like the drinks, but I come for the food and to watch the games on tv. Our bartender/ server was Morgan. She didn't miss a thing. Superb at her job. She knew right away when we were ready to order and when the food was ready. She checked in on us at just the right time to make sure our orders were okay. They were!

    small pizza
    Corie Y.

    The beer list, well I did not see that coming. It is fantastic. It has a few beers you probably can't find in any other bars in Albany. We were impressed. They also have a lot of domestics. The place is very unassuming from the outside, but trust me, you should go on in. The place is kinda dark, old school, all dark wood paneling, but we were greeted by a super friendly bartender, nice cool AC, and a beer list worth talking about. The menu had much of your tavern fare, and pizza. We shared a small pizza since the group I was with was excited and raved about it. The pizza may even look unassuming, but it is awesome. Super cheesy, crispy bottom, flavorful crust, yum. It is a heavier pie, heavier than the NY style pizza, but not super thick and doughy. We had the plain cheese and I recommend it! For my first time trying this place out, I was impressed, and I can't wait to come back for more beer and pizza, soon! This place is so close by to all the happenings in Albany and it should not be missed!

    Wife's Bday beer tour

    Food, service, and beer all 5 star. I'm glad we came here and certainly glad we got pizza. Cool, little joint!

    This small little third of a wing counted as one of my ten.
    Moses I.

    Placed an order for wings for takeout and was told 20-25 minutes. I was close by so decided to stop in earlier, as I'm okay with waiting a bit. From when I called to when I got there was 15 minutes. Mid-day and there were exactly 7 people there, including me. Two people were waiting on their food order-dining in-and the others looked like they already ate and were drinking some beers. Waiting another 5 to 10 minutes, not a big deal. 19 minutes later I get my food. Irksome. Deep-frying wings is not hard nor take over half an hour to do. Worked in many pizza shops and restaurants to know that. The wings were supposed to be 'jumbo'; yea, no. Standard size wings you get from most everywhere. And the insulting thing? Included in the count of my wing order was one that you could hardly consider a wing. When they are charging over a dollar a wing, maybe give a little courtesy and not include a half-sized nugglet-like wing. You know what I'm talking about, everyone has seen it; the wing piece that looks like it got smashed by something and doesn't even show as a half-wing. Disappointing. If you happen to be at the bar and want food, I guess it's your only choice. If you're ordering out, there are many, many other places that do bigger, better wings and cheaper.

    Corner of Madison Avenue & Philip Street.
    Roger K.

    First I want to share a tip with you if you're not already familiar with Hill Street. They have their own parking lot, and it is quite large, across the street and just East of the Café/pub on Madison Ave. I've been there twice recently, both times for an event. The first was for a Yelp, Third Thursday Tavern Time event, and most recently for a Remembrance of a former bar owner, friend, fellow beer lover, and overall nice man. At both gatherings I got to sample a variety of different foods and beer from a good selection of craft brews. The pizza is a medium-thin variety with a good crust. Even a simple cheese slice however, does not have sufficient crispness on the bottom to prevent it from being limp when picked up. I don't say this as a criticism, only to describe the characteristics of the pizza. In any event, a single slice of pizza can be very filling. Add some toppings, like sausage and/or pepperoni, and/or mushrooms, and you will be stuffed after a couple of slices The wings are very good also. Their "Hill Street" version has like a garlic-cream sauce on them. The Medium wings are plenty hot enough. The meat is juicy and the wings are crispy if you eat them while they are hot. My recollection is that the Mozzarella Sticks were OK, but nothing outstanding, and the choice of raspberry sauce is a good one. The Jalapeno Poppers were also OK and pretty standard. Overall, this is a solid neighborhood bar. If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd be a regular.

    Pub style pizza. Tasty and fast.  Really great and a great value too.

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    1 year ago

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    3 months ago

    Something for everyone on the menu, solid food, friendly service. Bar was full, we just did take out.

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    3 years ago

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    5 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Great staff good food awesome drinks! What more could you ask for? Try the wings! Perfect place to catch a game

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    4 years ago

    Great food and friendly service. Parking across the street was great. Welcoming environment.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    Friendly neighborhood dive bar. Great food and friendly staff I went here almost everyday while in Albany.

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    11 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Business owner information

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    Joe A.

    Thank you Michael! Great review!

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    Ask the Community - Hill Street Cafe

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    The Washington Tavern - Good pickle with my Southern Smash burger.

    The Washington Tavern

    3.2(84 reviews)
    1.5 mi
    $$

    Eight years ago I came here on a wing tour of the area and liked their food so I put it on my list…read moreto come back. It has taken awhile. We arrived on a Saturday night around 6PM and there were three people at the bar. By the time we left around 7PM, there had been at most nine people including us. Either it was an off night or it is a quiet bar. The bartender was friendly, though he accidently forgot to bring our drinks and I had to remind him 15 minutes later. We ordered wings and loaded fries, and food came up relatively quickly. From what I understand, the kitchen guy was new. It showed in the fries, which were cooked but not crispy at all. It was like eating a loaded baked potato... not bad, but not fries. (They took them off the bill- thank you!). The wings were good and varied in size, though of our 10 Buffalo wings only one was a drumstick. I like flats so it was okay with me, but odd. We later ordered 10 more wings and my wife said she liked the Lemon-Pepper seasoning. They have happy hour specials from 5-8 which is nice, though three items were out by the time we arrived. I would have loved to try their maple-bacon wings but they had no maple syrup. In the room next door was a pool table and it might be fun to play sometime if we come back.

    New owners, new review…read more There was an everchanging group of friends who would gather weekly, prior to Covid, on a Friday evening at an establishment down the street from the Washington Tavern (better known as WT's to regulars) for a drink or two. Once a year on the Saturday before the St. Patrick's Day parade these friends would shift to WT's for what was known as "corned beef day." With new ownership of WT's it was about time that a call was put out to those friends to reunite. WT's was now the ideal place. Arriving on a Thursday at 4:30 we quickly realized that they didn't open until 5PM. They were kind enough to let us have a seat inside until the bar and kitchen were open and operational. They were not aware of our planned gathering so I will not nitpick about any service. In fact, the bartender who also acted as our server did a miraculous job handling the drinks and separate-check food orders for what grew to about 15 people in the backroom by the kitchen. Kitchen staff also did a wonderful job of getting the food out in a respectable time for our unexpected gathering at the start of their day. All the food I saw coming to our table looked inviting - wings; smashburgers; flatbreads; and someone's salad. I had a pint of Guinness with a Southern Smash burger ($16). There was plenty of flavor and a mix of textures as I took my first bite into the soft roll surrounding the smashed beef patty, a crunchy onion ring, fresh leaf lettuce, sliced tomato, American cheese, and a sweet BBQ sauce. Even the pickle spear on the side was tasty. A true surprise was what I believe were house-made potato chips - so crunchy with an herbed dusting that escapes me but helps to make them addictive. I foresee additional gatherings here in our future.

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    Hill Street Cafe - pizza - Updated May 2026

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